Creator and Creation

Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), pp. 74-5. Hasidic thought follows the kabbalistic understanding of creatio ex nihilo (creation out of nothing, yesh me’ayin) in terms of the emanation of the Sefirot and the universe (of yesh, that which is) from Ein Sof (the Limitless, the Ground of Being), known…...

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Cordovero, Moses ben Jacob (1522-1570)

Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), pp. 72-3. Moses, known as the Remak, was one of the most profound and systematic exponents of the teachings of the Zohar and a leading figure in the circle of mystics for which sixteenth-century Safed in Palestine was renowned. Few details of his life…...

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Bittul Hayesh

Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), p. 48. Annihilation of selfhood: the hasidic ideal of self-transcendence. In hasidic theory a person’s ego interposes a barrier between the real self and God. A saying attributed to R. Uri of Strelisk, for example, interprets the passage “I stood between the Lord and…...

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Asceticism

Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), p. 27. The early hasidic masters claim that the Besht taught a new way in the service of God—one in which the asceticism prominent in the Lurianic Kabbalah was abandoned in favor of avodah begashmiut, (worship through corporeality). The basic argument says that the…...

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Aaron of Starosselje (1766-22 Tishri 1828)

Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), pp. 3-4. Son of R. Moses Horowitz, a descendant of R. Isaiah Horowitz, he was born in Orsha in the district of Moghilev. In his youth, Aaron became a disciple of R. Shneur Zalman of Liady, and he stated that he sat at R…....

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Judaism

Originally published in Peter Bishop & Michael Darton (eds.), The Encyclopedia of World Faiths: an illustrated survey of the world’s living religions (1987), pp. 32-53. HISTORICAL OUTLINE Judaism is centred on a people, the Jews, of whom in the second half of the twentieth century there are around twelve million, residing mainly in the USA and…...

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A direct line to Heaven – Rosh Hashanah

Originally published in the Jewish Chronicle – New Year Section, 2nd September 1983. What exactly is it that we are trying to do when we pray? To say, as is often done, that prayer is a dialogue with God might seem helpful at first glance. Yet a dialogue, as normally understood, implies a conversation between two…...

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J. David Bleich, ‘Contemporary Halachic Problems’, Vol. II

Originally published in the Jewish Chronicle, 18th May 1984. Despite recurring taunts of “legalism”, Jews throughout the ages have seen in the halacha, the legal side of Judaism, the religion’s most distinctive feature. Judaism has been defined as the religion of doing God’s will, so that the halachic process becomes a mighty attempt, by the luminaries…...

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Assembly of Rabbis of the Reform Synagogues of Great Britain, ‘Days of Awe: The High Holy-Day Machzor’

Originally published in the Jewish Chronicle, 12th September 1986. Days of Awe: the High Holy-day Machzor: Assembly of Rabbis of the Reform Synagogues of Great Britain. Oxford University Press, £13.95. This attractively produced, thoroughly revised edition of the Reform machzor for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur contains, in addition to the prayers and a commentary on…...

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The problem of evil

Originally published in the Jewish Chronicle, 2nd July 1954. Yannai said: It is not in our power to explain either the prosperity of the wicked or the afflictions of the righteous. (Ethics iv, 19.) The problem of pain, of why the wicked prosper and the righteous meet with adversity, is the most stubborn obstacle to a…...

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Alexander Samely, ‘Rabbinic interpretation of scripture in the Mishnah’

Originally publishes in BSOAS 66:1 (2003), p. 80-1. ALEXANDER SAMELY: Rabbinic interpretation of scripture in the Mishnah. xi, 479 pp. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. £55. This reviewer of Samely’s massive volume is torn between admiration for the author’s skill in applying modern linguistics and philosophy of language to the Mishnah and amazement at…...

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Jacob J. Staub, ‘The creation of the world according to Gersonides’

Originally publishes in BSOAS 46:2 (1983), p. 338-9. Jacob J. Staub: The creation of the world according to Gersonides. (Brown Judaic Studies, 24.) xii, 422 pp. Chico, California: Scholars Press, 1982. Levi ben Gershon, or Gersonides (1288-1344), generally considered to be the leading philosophical successor to the great Maimonides, was undoubtedly the boldest of the medieval Jewish…...

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Mordecai Akiva Friedman, ‘Jewish marriage in Palestine: a Cairo Geniza study’

Originally publishes in BSOAS 46:1 (1983), p. 141-2. Mordecai Akiva Friedman: Jewish marriage in Palestine: a Cairo Geniza study. 2 vols, i: The Ketubba traditions. ii: The Ketubba texts. xxiv, 492 pp.; ix, 517 pp., 32 plates. Tel-Aviv: Chaim Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies, Tel-Aviv University; New York: Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1980-81. $15 each. From…...

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Jacob Neusner, ‘A history of the Mishnaic law of women, parts 1-5’

Originally publishes in BSOAS 44:1 (1981), p. 160-1. Jacob Neusner: A history of the Mishnaic law of women. Parts 1-5. (Studies in Judaism in Late Antiquity, Vol. 33.) xxi, 220; xix, 145; xix, 204 ; xix, 281 ; xxiii, 281 pp. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1980. Guilders 96, 64, 84, 112, 112. Professor Neusner’s output is astonishing…....

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Jacob Neusner, ‘A history of the Mishnaic law of purities, parts 20-22’

Originally published in BSOAS 41:2 (1978), p. 367-8. Jacob Neusner: A history of the Mishnaic law of purities. Parts 20-22. (Studies in Judaism in Late Antiquity, Vol. 6.) xvi, 253; xxiv, 359; xxvi, 314 pp. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1977. Guilders 344. Part 20 contains Professor Neusner’s commentary to the final tractate of the Mishnaic Order Tohorot…....

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Jacob Neusner, ‘A history of the Mishnaic law of purities, parts 15-19’

Originally published in BSOAS 41:1 (1978), p. 213. Jacob Neusner: A history of the Mishnaic law of purities. Parts 15-19. (Studies in Judaism in Late Antiquity, Vol.6.) xviii, 183; xviii, 229; xviii, 236; xviii, 218; xxii, 233 pp. Leiden : E. J. Brill, 1976-7. Guilders 472. Parts 12-14 of Professor Neusner’s commentary to the Mishnah of the…...

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Jacob Neusner, ‘A history of the Mishnaic law of purities, parts 6-11’

Originally published in BSOAS 40:1 (1977), p. 137. Jacob Neusner: A history of the Mishnaic law of purities. Parts 6-11. (Studies in Judaism in Late Antiquity, Vol. 6.) xvi, 286; xvi, 231; xviii, 292; xvi, 272; xxii, 264; xvii, 246 pp. Leiden : E. J. Brill, 1975-6. Guilders 600. In these volumes Professor Neusner continues his massive…...

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Jacob Neusner, ‘Talmudic Judaism in Sasanian Babylon’

Originally published in BSOAS 40:1 (1977), pp. 210-11. Jacob Neusner: Talmudic Judaism in Sasanian Babylon: essays and, studies. (Studies in Judaism in Late Antiquity, Vol. 14.) xii, 187 pp. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1976. Guilders 80. This collection of previously published essays by Professor Neusner has as its main and unifying theme the consideration of two…...

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Baruch M. Bokser, ‘Samuel’s commentary on the Mishnah: its nature, forms, and content. Part 1. Mishnayot in the order of Zera’im’

Originally published in BSOAS 39:2 (1976), pp. 435-6. Baruch M. Bokser: Samuel’s commentary on the Mishnah: its nature, forms, and content. Part 1. Mishnayot in the order of Zera’im. (Studies in Judaism in Late Antiquity, Vol. 15, Pt. 1.) xvi, 257 pp. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1975. Guilders 80. The Mishnah, compiled in Palestine around A.D…....

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Lee I. Levine, ‘Caesarea under Roman rule’

Originally published in BSOAS 39:1 (1976), pp. 166-7. Lee I. Levine: Caesarea under Roman rule. (Studies in Judaism in Late Antiquity, Vol. 7.) xvi, 297 pp. Leiden: E.J.Brill, 1975. Guilders 80. In this very erudite work (ch. v alone has no fewer than 623 notes, many of them packed with information and discussing important scholarly questions)…...

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