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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Non-Christian religions > Judaism > General
What's the problem with Messianic Judaism? Stan Telchin, a
Messianic Jew and former pastor, explores in depth the heart and
soul of Messianic Judaism. He exposes the motive behind its
creation, its controversial doctrines, and its ineffectiveness in
Jewish evangelism. Messianic Judaism has grown significantly in
fewer than four decades. While intended originally to appeal to
Jewish people, unexpectedly it appeals also to Gentiles. Telchin,
in following the teaching of the apostle Paul, sees Messianic
Judaism as divisive. With a firm and loving approach, he addresses
the dangers of this movement, reiterates God's intention for his
church to serve as "one new man" and, most importantly, advocates
unity among the body of believers. Perhaps you're a pastor
concerned with the enticing pull of Messianic Judaism on your
congregation. Perhaps you've merely wondered about the validity of
this movement. Or maybe you're a Gentile who has been made to feel
less than worthy. Whatever the reason, if you believe that God sees
a difference between Jews and Gentiles in the Body of Christ, then
this book will help you think again. "It took courage for Stan to
write so pointedly from his broad and insightful experiences within
the Messianic movement. Forthright and comprehensive, these
chapters deal with a problem all followers of Jesus face-the desire
to be accepted by those who have yet to experience God's
transforming love."-Arthur F. Glasser, Ph.D., dean emeritus, School
of World Mission, Fuller Theological Seminary "What Stan tells you
in this book may come as a revelation. Certainly it will be
controversial. Questions should arise, and much discussion should
be the result."-Moishe Rosen, founder, Jews for Jesus "Whether you
agree with everything he says or not, you will find the book
interesting and enlightening."-D. James Kennedy, Ph.D., senior
minister, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church
For centuries, Jews have been known as the "people of the book." It
is commonly thought that Judaism in the first several centuries CE
found meaning exclusively in textual sources. But there is another
approach to meaning to be found in ancient Judaism, one that sees
it in the natural world and derives it from visual clues rather
than textual ones. According to this conception, God embedded
hidden signs in the world that could be read by human beings and
interpreted according to complex systems. In exploring the diverse
functions of signs outside of the realm of the written word, Swartz
introduces unfamiliar sources and motifs from the formative age of
Judaism, including magical and divination texts and new
interpretations of legends and midrashim from classical rabbinic
literature. He shows us how ancient Jews perceived these signs and
read them, elaborating on their use of divination, symbolic
interpretation of physical features and dress, and interpretations
of historical events. As we learn how these ancient people read the
world, we begin to see how ancient people found meaning in
unexpected ways.
The Jewish coming-of-age ceremony of bar mitzvah was first recorded
in thirteenth-century France, where it took the form of a simple
statement by the father that he was no longer responsible for his
thirteen-year-old son. Today, bar mitzvah for boys and bat mitzvah
for girls are more popular than at any time in history and are
sometimes accompanied by lavish celebrations. How did bar mitzvah
develop over the centuries from an obscure legal ritual into a core
component of Judaism? How did it capture the imagination of even
non-Jewish youth? Bar Mitzvah, a History is a comprehensive account
of the ceremonies and celebrations for both boys and girls. A
cultural anthropology informed by rabbinic knowledge, it explores
the origins and development of the most important coming-of-age
milestone in Judaism. Rabbi Michael Hilton has sought out every
reference to bar mitzvah in the Bible, the Talmud, and numerous
other Jewish texts spanning several centuries, extracting a
fascinating miscellany of information, stories, and commentary.
Because a welter of details sometimes conceals the Torah's aura of
holiness, Jewish mystics and spiritual teachers have for centuries
attempted to reveal that aura through creative interpretation of
the Torah text. The Aura of Torah explores these attempts in an
effort to bridge the gap between the Torah text and the modern
Jewish spiritual quest.The book collects a wide variety of
interpretations of Torah passages, commentaries, and midrash rooted
in the mystical side of Jewish tradition, translated by Rabbi Larry
Tabick, with original Hebrew and Aramaic texts included. The quoted
authors span many centuries and speak from many schools of thought:
kabbalists writing within the tradition of the Zohar and other
gnostic works; Hasidic teachers from the modern movement founded by
the Ba'al Shem Tov in eighteenth-century Ukraine; and German
pietists, or Hasidei Ashkenaz, of the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries. Tabick examines how these texts build on the underlying
principles of the Torah--the supremacy of God, the
interconnectedness of nature and morality, and the unique (though
not exclusive) role of the Jewish people in the divine plan for all
humanity--to point to a deep spiritual truth in the world of the
divine and the soul.
Rabbis and other Jewish leaders discuss Jesus Christ as a Jew.
Their thoughtful responses can help Jews and Christians alike to
more deeply understand one another as well as renew and deepen our
understanding of Christ.
In The Other Judaisms of Late Antiquity the late Alan F. Segal is
at his very best. This reissued and expanded editionanow containing
his celebrated "Heavenly Ascent in Hellenistic Judaism, Early
Christianity, and Their Environment"adelineates the variegated
nature of both Judaism and Christianity in their formative periods.
As Segal demonstrates, it is more accurate to speak of Judaisms and
Christianities. Through his deft deployment of social-scientific
methods and due attention to Jewish primary sources from the Second
Temple period, Segal is able to trace the intricate, internecine
struggles among Jewish, Christian, and gnostic communities in the
earliest days of the Common Era. In doing so, Segal masterfully
validates the importance of inductive historical reconstruction and
analytical comparative study for illuminating the complex religious
world of the first three centuries.
The latest in the series based on the popular History of Philosophy
podcast, this volume presents the first full history of philosophy
in the Islamic world for a broad readership. It takes an approach
unprecedented among introductions to this subject, by providing
full coverage of Jewish and Christian thinkers as well as Muslims,
and by taking the story of philosophy from its beginnings in the
world of early Islam all the way through to the twentieth century.
Major figures like Avicenna, Averroes, and Maimonides are covered
in great detail, but the book also looks at less familiar thinkers,
including women philosophers. Attention is also given to the
philosophical relevance of Islamic theology (kalam) and
mysticism-the Sufi tradition within Islam, and Kabbalah among
Jews-and to science, with chapters on disciplines like optics and
astronomy. The book is divided into three sections, with the first
looking at the first blossoming of Islamic theology and responses
to the Greek philosophical tradition in the world of Arabic
learning. This 'formative period' culminates with the work of
Avicenna, the pivotal figure to whom most later thinkers feel they
must respond. The second part of the book discusses philosophy in
Muslim Spain (Andalusia), where Jewish philosophers come to the
fore, though this is also the setting for such thinkers as Averroes
and Ibn Arabi. Finally, a third section looks in unusual detail at
later developments, touching on philosophy in the Ottoman, Mughal,
and Safavid empires and showing how thinkers in the nineteenth to
the twentieth century were still concerned to respond to the ideas
that had animated philosophy in the Islamic world for centuries,
while also responding to political and intellectual challenges from
the European colonial powers.
Providing a unique anthropological perspective on Jewish mysticism
and magic, this book is a study of Jewish rites and rituals and how
the analysis of early literature provides the roots for
understanding religious practices. It includes analysis on the
importance of sacrifice, amulets, and names, and their underlying
cultural constructs and the persistence of their symbolic
significance.
Providing an excellent overview of the latest thinking in
Maimonides studies, this book uses a novel philosophical approach
to examine whether Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed contains a
naturalistic doctrine of salvation after death. The author examines
the apparent tensions and contradictions in the Guide and explains
them in terms of a modern philosophical interpretation rather than
as evidence of some esoteric meaning hidden in the text.
Training in rhetoric - the art of persuasion - formed the basis of
education in the Roman Empire. The classical intellectual world
centered around the debate between philosophers, who boasted
knowledge of objective reality, and sophists, who could debate both
sides of any issue and who attracted large audiences and paying
students. The roles of the Talmudic rabbis as public orators,
teachers, and jurists, parallel that of Roman orators. Rabbinic
literature adopted and adapted various aspects of the classical
rhetorical tradition, as is demonstrated in the Talmudic penchant
for arguing both sides of hypothetical cases, the midrashic
hermeneutical methods, and the structure of synagogue sermons. At
the same time, the rabbis also resisted the extreme epistemological
relativism of rhetoric as is evident in their restraint on
theoretical argumentation, their depiction of rabbinic and divine
court procedure, and their commitment to the biblical prophetic
tradition. Richard Hidary demonstrates how rabbis succeeded in
navigating a novel path between platonic truth and rhetorical
relativism.
It is generally accepted that Jews and evangelical Christians have
little in common. Yet special alliances developed between the two
groups in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Evangelicals
viewed Jews as both the rightful heirs of Israel and as a group who
failed to recognize their true savior. Consequently, they set out
to influence the course of Jewish life by attempting to evangelize
Jews and to facilitate their return to Palestine. Their
double-edged perception caused unprecedented political, cultural,
and theological meeting points that have revolutionized
Christian-Jewish relationships. An Unusual Relationship explores
the beliefs and political agendas that evangelicals have created in
order to affect the future of the Jews. Additionally, it analyses
Jewish opinions and reactions to those efforts, as well as those of
other religious groups, such as Arab Christians. This volume offers
a fascinating, comprehensive analysis of the roots, manifestations,
and consequences of evangelical interest in the Jews, and the
alternatives they provide to conventional historical
Christian-Jewish interactions. It also provides a compelling
understanding of Middle Eastern politics through a new lens.
The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible created
by Jews seeking a place of legitimacy for diaspora Jewishness and
faith among the traditions of Hellenistic culture, was a monumental
religious and culturalachievement. ThisGreek Old Testament, in its
original form and revised versions, providedthe scripturalbasis for
Judaism in the Greek-speaking diaspora, enabledthe emergence and
spread of Christianity, and influenced translations of the Bible
into African and European languages.Over time, however,
theSeptuagint's relevancefaded for Jews,and the Hebrew text
eventually reasserted its dominance within Judaism.This led many to
neglect the Septuagint as an authentic witness to the biblical
tradition. But the Septuagint remained important, inspiring
biblical writings and further translations into Latin, Coptic, and
Armenian. In combination with the Qumran biblical texts, it
provides yet further indication of the multivocal state of the
Hebrew Bible around the turn of the eras and proves to be a text of
continuous interest for biblical scholarship and
cultural-historical studies. Siegfried Kreuzer's Introduction to
the Septuagint presents, in English,the most extensive
introductionofthe Septuagintto date.It offerscomprehensive
overviews of the individual biblical writings, including the
history of research, current findings and problems, and
perspectives for future research. Additionally, this survey
presents a history of the Septuagint in its Greco-Hellenistic
background, theories of its genesis, the history of its
revisions,its lore in antiquity,andan overview of the most
important manuscripts and witnesses of the convoluted transmission
history of the text. The text includes extensive bibliographies
that show the ongoing interest in Septuagint studies and provide a
reliable basis for future studies. A collaboration representing
multiple nationalities, professional perspectives, and
denominational traditions, this dependable guide invites newcomers
and experts alike to venture into the rich world of one of the most
influential works of literature in history.
Jews have been a religious and cultural presence in America
since the colonial era, and the community of Jews in the United
States today -- some six million people -- continues to make a
significant contribution to the American religious landscape.
Emphasizing developments in American Judaism in the last quarter
century among active participants in Jewish worship, this book
provides both a look back into the 350-year history of Judaic life
and a well-crafted portrait of a multifaceted tradition today.
Combining extensive research into synagogue archival records and
secondary sources as well as interviews and observations of worship
services at more than a hundred Jewish congregations across the
country, Raphael's study distinguishes itself as both a history of
the Judaic tradition and a witness to the vitality and variety of
contemporary American Judaic life. Beginning with a chapter on
beliefs, festivals, and life-cycle events, both traditional and
non-traditional, and an explanation of the enormous variation in
practice, Raphael then explores Jewish history in America, from the
arrival of the first Jews to the present, highlighting the
emergence and development of the four branches: Orthodox,
Conservative, Reconstructionist, and Reform. After documenting the
considerable variety among the branches, the book addresses issues
of some controversy, notably spirituality, conversion,
homosexuality, Jewish education, synagogue architecture, and the
relationship to Israel. Raphael turns next to a discussion of eight
American Jews whose thoughts and/or activities made a huge impact
on American Judaism. The final chapter focuses on the return to
tradition in every branch of Judaism and examines prospects for the
future.
The history of the Venice Ghetto, how it developed, its
architecture, the concrete life of its inhabitants and their
relations with the whole city form the subject of this book. A
reconstruction of the Ghetto in its various historical phases makes
it possible to see exactly how the quarter grew. Along with that
are closely analysed the Jewish religion s customs and rites, the
outstanding importance of Venetian Jewish printing the first in
Europe, the cultural, artistic and artisanal, linguistic, familiar
and economic contexts. In short, the story of a complete and
enthralling microcosm that grew and prospered for over four
centuries within the Serenissima Republic.
Weaving together Jewish lore, the voices of Jewish foremothers, Yiddish fable, midrash and stories of her own imagining, Ellen Frankel has created in this book a breathtakingly vivid exploration into what the Torah means to women. Here are Miriam, Esther, Dinah, Lilith and many other women of the Torah in dialogue with Jewish daughters, mothers and grandmothers, past and present. Together these voices examine and debate every aspect of a Jewish woman's life -- work, sex, marriage, her connection to God and her place in the Jewish community and in the world. The Five Books of Miriam makes an invaluable contribution to Torah study and adds rich dimension to the ongoing conversation between Jewish women and Jewish tradition.
Reveals nostalgia as a new way of maintaining Jewish continuity In
2007, the Museum at Eldridge Street opened at the site of a
restored nineteenth-century synagogue originally built by some of
the first Eastern European Jewish immigrants in New York City.
Visitors to the museum are invited to stand along indentations on
the floor where footprints of congregants past have worn down the
soft pinewood. Here, many feel a palpable connection to the history
surrounding them. Beyond the Synagogue argues that nostalgic
activities such as visiting the Museum at Eldridge Street or eating
traditional Jewish foods should be understood as American Jewish
religious practices. In making the case that these practices are
not just cultural, but are actually religious, Rachel B. Gross
asserts that many prominent sociologists and historians have
mistakenly concluded that American Judaism is in decline, and she
contends that they are looking in the wrong places for Jewish
religious activity. If they looked outside of traditional
institutions and practices, such as attendance at synagogue or
membership in Jewish Community Centers, they would see that the
embrace of nostalgia provides evidence of an alternative,
under-appreciated way of being Jewish and of maintaining Jewish
continuity. Tracing American Jews' involvement in a broad array of
ostensibly nonreligious activities, including conducting Jewish
genealogical research, visiting Jewish historic sites, purchasing
books and toys that teach Jewish nostalgia to children, and seeking
out traditional Jewish foods, Gross argues that these practices
illuminate how many American Jews are finding and making meaning
within American Judaism today.
First published in 1991. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor &
Francis, an informa company.
This watershed book by a leading Old Testament scholar presents an
alternative perspective in the ongoing debate about the formation
of the Hebrew Bible. It marshals all of the important
counterarguments to the standard theory of Old Testament canon
formation, showing how the Pentateuch and the Prophets developed
more or less simultaneously and mutually influenced each other over
time. The widely praised European edition is now available in North
America with an updated bibliography and a new postscript
reflecting on how the study of the Old Testament canon has
developed over the last twenty years.
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