This volume offers a new reading of Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed. In particular, it explores how Maimonides' commitment to integrity led him to a critique of the Kal?m, to a complex concept of immortality, and to insight into the human yearning for metaphysical knowledge. Maimonides' search for objective truth is also analysed in its connection with the scientific writings of his time, which neither the Kal?m nor the Jewish philosophical tradition that preceded him had endorsed. Through a careful analysis of these issues, this book seeks to contribute to the understanding of the modes of thought adopted in The Guide of the Perplexed, including the 'philosophical theologian' model of Maimonides' own design, and to the knowledge of its sources.

How did medieval Jewish scholars, from Saadia Gaon to Rabbi Isaac Abarbanel, imagine a world that has experienced salvation? Is the Messianic reality identical to our current world, or is it a new world entirely? This work explores how a rationalist can remain calm in light of the seductive promises of the various apocalyptic teachings of Antiquity regarding the Messianic world. This book deals with the encounter between thinking based on pure reason, on the one hand, and the imagination seeking a vision of the future, on the other. The tension between a naturalistic approach and an apocalyptic approach to the history of the messianic idea--which is fundamental to this history of Jewish philosophy in the Middle Age--is surveyed here expansively, relying on dozens of print sources as well as manuscripts

'Faith: Jewish Perspectives' explores important questions in both modern and premodern Jewish philosophy regarding the idea of faith. Is believing a voluntary action, or do believers find themselves within the experience of faith against their will? Can faith be understood through other means (psychological, epistemic, and so forth), or is it only comprehensible from the inside, that is, from within the religious world? Is a subjective experience of faith fundamentally communicative, meaning that it includes intelligible and transmittable universal elements, or is it a private experience that we can point to or talk about through indirect means (poetic, lyrical, and so forth), but never fully decipher? This book presents various manifestations of the concept of faith in Judaism as a tradition engaged in a dialogue with the outside world. It will function as an opening and an invitation to an ongoing conversation with faith.

The third of a three-volume series, this book contains Eva Jospe's Reason and Hope: Selections from the Jewish Writings of Hermann Cohen, together with two essays examining Cohen's continuing importance and relevance. As Dov Schwartz suggests in his introduction to the volume, Jospe believed that Cohen's Jewish Writings had the potential for influence and impact on the American Jewish intellectual, and would enrich the ethical and religious life of the Jewish community in America. Her selection of passages to translate, as well as her decisions regarding what to omit, served these purposes. Volume One of this series contains Jospe's study of the Concept of Encounter in the Philosophy of Martin Buber and Volume Two her translations of Moses Mendelssohn. Together, these volumes offer a multidimensional view of Jospe's work and thoughts.

The second of a three-volume series, this book contains Eva Jospe's Moses Mendelssohn: Selections from His Writings, together with an article dealing with Mendelssohn's enduring significance. As Raphael Jospe observes in his introduction to the volume, despite the welcome growth in recent years in the availability of English translations of Mendelssohn's works, Eva Jospe's Selections (including some of Mendelssohn's private letters) remain valuable for their clarity, for the logic of their organization, and for the important insight they provide into Mendelssohn's personality and convictions. Volume One of this series contains Eva Jospe's study of the Concept of Encounter in the Philosophy of Martin Buber , and Volume Three her Reason and Hope: Selections from the Jewish Writings of Hermann Cohen. Together, these volumes offer a multidimensional view of Jospe's work and thoughts.

The first of a three-volume series, this book offers access to a rich selection of Eva Jospe's most distinguished works on Jewish Philosophy. Here, the editors unveil Jospe's previously unpublished study "The Concept of Encounter in the Philosophy of Martin Buber," presented alongside several of her published articles on the life and work of Buber, and on modern Jewish thought. The second volume of this series contains Jospe's translations of Moses Mendelssohn, and Volume Three is comprised of her Reason and Hope: Selections from the Jewish Writings of Hermann Cohen. Together, these volumes offer a multidimensional view of Jospe's work and thoughts, including a heightened awareness of the paradox noted by Ephraim Meir in his introduction-Jospe's appreciation and admiration of Martin Buber, reflected in her clear presentation and analysis of his dialogical philosophy, simultaneously coupled with her pointed criticisms of the standpoint of her one-time teacher.

In a lecture title "Jewish Philosophy: An Obituary," Paul Mendes-Flohr observed that "Jewish philosophers seem to be a dying breed." However tongue in cheek the statement may have been at the close of the twentieth century by a scholar of modern Jewish thought, a similar pessimistic observation was made quite seriously at the beginning of the twentieth century by Isaac Husik in his History of Medieval Jewish Philosophy (1916), which he sadly concludes with the words, "There are Jews now and there are philosophers, but there are no Jewish philosophers and there is no Jewish philosophy." This volume, as one more modest contribution to the exponentially increasing publications, in Hebrew and in other languages, of original thought and of scholarly analysis, proves that obituaries for Jewish philosophy and thought are exaggerated, premature, and ultimately far off the mark. Husik's own work helped start the revival of a field for which he - like nineteenth century scholars of Wissenschaft des Judentums - mistakenly thought he was writing an epitaph. This collection includes two symposia, on "The Renaissance of Jewish Philosophy in America" and on "Maimonides on the Eternity of the World," as well as other studies in medieval Jewish philosophy and modern Jewish thought. Contributors include: Leora Batnitzky, Ottfried Fraisse, William A. Galston, Lenn E. Goodman , Raphael Jospe, Steven Kepnes, Haim Howard Kreisel, Charles Bezalel Manekin, Haggai Mazuz, Paul Mendes-Flohr, Alan Mittleman, Michael Morgan, David Novak, James T. Robinson, Norbert M. Samuelson, Dov Schwartz, Yossef Schwartz, Kenneth Seeskin, Roslyn Weiss, and Martin Yaffe.

This book offers a new insight into the political, social, and religious conduct of religious-Zionism, whose consequences are evident in Israeli society today. Before the Six-Day War, religious-Zionism had limited its concern to the protection of specific religious interests, with its representatives having little share in the determination of Israel's national agenda. Fifty years after it, religious-Zionism has turned into one of Israeli society's dominant elements. The presence of this group in all aspects of Israel's life and its members' determination to set Israel's social, cultural, and international agenda is indisputable. Delving into this dramatic transformation, the book depicts the Six-Day War as a constitutive event that indelibly changed the political and religious consciousness of religious-Zionists. The perception of real history that had guided this movement from its dawn was replaced by a "sacred history" approach that became an actual program of political activity. As part of a process that has unfolded over the last thirty years, the body and sexuality have also become a central concern in the movement's practice, reflection, and discourse. The how and why of this shift in religious-Zionism - from passivity and a consciousness of marginality to the front lines of public life - is this book's central concern. The book will be of interest to readers and scholars concerned with changing dynamic societies and with the study of religion and particularly with the relationship between religion and politics.

This book is devoted to Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik's discussions on the practice of prayer. Prayer is analyzed across a broad and complex spectrum in Soloveitchik's work, and his writings describing and analyzing the experience of prayer afford a profound insight into its diversity, ranging from existential crisis to communion with God. Through a careful reading of R. Soloveitchik's texts dealing with this topic, the book follows the consciousness of prayer across its various stages until maturity, starting with an analysis of Worship of the Heart, through to Reflections on the Amidah and other writings.

This book offers a new insight into the political, social, and religious conduct of religious-Zionism, whose consequences are evident in Israeli society today. Before the Six-Day War, religious-Zionism had limited its concern to the protection of specific religious interests, with its representatives having little share in the determination of Israel's national agenda. Fifty years after it, religious-Zionism has turned into one of Israeli society's dominant elements. The presence of this group in all aspects of Israel's life and its members' determination to set Israel's social, cultural, and international agenda is indisputable. Delving into this dramatic transformation, the book depicts the Six-Day War as a constitutive event that indelibly changed the political and religious consciousness of religious-Zionists. The perception of real history that had guided this movement from its dawn was replaced by a "sacred history" approach that became an actual program of political activity. As part of a process that has unfolded over the last thirty years, the body and sexuality have also become a central concern in the movement's practice, reflection, and discourse. The how and why of this shift in religious-Zionism - from passivity and a consciousness of marginality to the front lines of public life - is this book's central concern. The book will be of interest to readers and scholars concerned with changing dynamic societies and with the study of religion and particularly with the relationship between religion and politics.

The postmodernist experience is associated with a strong interest in the concepts of saints and religious genius. In this volume, Dov Schwartz considers the questions related to these ideas through his close analysis of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook. This figure is revered by Zionists as a founding father of the Zionist movement. Religious Zionists see him, additionally, as an unquestioned spiritual and altruistic authority with extraordinary halakhic, philosophical, and Kabbalistic intuitions. While Rabbi Kook has often been studied through historical and philosophical disciplines, this book addresses the degree to which his writings can prove to be beneficial to the postmodern discourse. It examines Rabbi Kook's ideas in the religious Zionist context, analyzing the concept of the perfect man in Rabbi Kook's philosophy in light of the postmodern discourse on saints.

The postmodernist experience is associated with a strong interest in the concepts of saints and religious genius. In this volume, Dov Schwartz considers the questions related to these ideas through his close analysis of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook. This figure is revered by Zionists as a founding father of the Zionist movement. Religious Zionists see him, additionally, as an unquestioned spiritual and altruistic authority with extraordinary halakhic, philosophical, and Kabbalistic intuitions. While Rabbi Kook has often been studied through historical and philosophical disciplines, this book addresses the degree to which his writings can prove to be beneficial to the postmodern discourse. It examines Rabbi Kook's ideas in the religious Zionist context, analyzing the concept of the perfect man in Rabbi Kook's philosophy in light of the postmodern discourse on saints.

Faith: Jewish Perspectives explores important questions in both modern and premodern Jewish philosophy regarding the idea of faith. Is believing a voluntary action, or do believers find themselves within the experience of faith against their will? Can faith be understood through other means (psychological, epistemic, and so forth), or is it only comprehensible from the inside, that is, from within the religious world? Is a subjective experience of faith fundamentally communicative, meaning that it includes intelligible and transmittable universal elements, or is it a private experience that we can point to or talk about through indirect means (poetic, lyrical, and so forth), but never fully decipher? This book presents various manifestations of the concept of faith in Judaism as a tradition engaged in a dialogue with the outside world. It will function as an opening and an invitation to an ongoing conversation with faith.

Religious-Zionist historiography has at times attempted to emphasize continuity, turning Abraham into the first Zionist and Nahmanides' travel to the Holy Land into another landmark in the realization of the religious-Zionist ideal. By contrast, this book approaches the creation of the Mizrachi as a genuine revolution, when the religious and rabbinic world entered institutionalized politics and, to some extent, assumed the demands of modernity. This is the first study in English tracing the course of religious-Zionism since the creation of the Mizrachi in 1902 until recent years, when traditional structures have changed or even collapsed and the movement confronts a new horizon.

Religious-Zionist historiography has at times attempted to emphasize continuity, turning Abraham into the first Zionist and Nahmanides' travel to the Holy Land into another landmark in the realization of the religious-Zionist ideal. By contrast, this book approaches the creation of the Mizrachi as a genuine revolution, when the religious and rabbinic world entered institutionalized politics and, to some extent, assumed the demands of modernity. This is the first study in English tracing the course of religious- Zionism since the creation of the Mizrachi in 1902 until recent years, when traditional structures have changed or even collapsed and the movement confronts a new horizon. Dov Schwarz was Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at Bar- Ilan University (2003-2006) and head of the Department of Philosophy (1999-2002). He occupies the Nathalie and Isidore Friedman Chair in the Teachings of Rav J. B. Soloveitchik, and currently heads the Department of Music at Bar-Ilan University. He is the author of Religion or Halakhah? The Philosophy of Rabbi J. B. Soloveitchik, 2007; Central Problems of Medieval Jewish Philosophy, 2005; Studies on Astral Magic in Medieval Jewish Philosophy, 2005; and others.

This book is devoted to Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik's discussions on the practice of prayer. Prayer is analyzed across a broad and complex spectrum in Soloveitchik's work, and his writings describing and analyzing the experience of prayer afford a profound insight into its diversity, ranging from existential crisis to communion with God. Through a careful reading of R. Soloveitchik's texts dealing with this topic, the book follows the consciousness of prayer across its various stages until maturity, starting with an analysis of Worship of the Heart, through to Reflections on the Amidah and other writings.

This volume offers a new reading of Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed. In particular, it explores how Maimonides' commitment to integrity led him to a critique of the Kalam, to a complex concept of immortality, and to insight into the human yearning for metaphysical knowledge. Maimonides' search for objective truth is also analyzed in its connection with the scientific writings of his time, which neither the Kalam nor the Jewish philosophical tradition that preceded him had endorsed. Through a careful analysis of these issues, this book seeks to contribute to the understanding of the modes of thought adopted in The Guide of the Perplexed, including the "philosophical theologian" model of Maimonides' own design, and to the knowledge of its sources.