Theology and Philosophy
« Previous EntriesShould Yad Vashem Honor Gentiles Who Saved Converted Jews?
Saturday, May 2nd, 2009Sometime in the last week of April, 230 cosignatories sent a petition to Yad Vashem, requesting that they give special recognition to two particular families, the Hollebrands and the Egginks, who hid three children from the Sanders family, which had converted to Christianity before World War II.
In this tragic WWII story, the father registered the family as Jewish and sent the children into hiding with the Hollebrands and Egginks. The Gestapo arrested the father in 1943 and tortured him into divulging their whereabouts. In the end, he, his wife and children—Eline, 10, Egbert, 8 and Marie Lena, 6—were murdered that year.
Yad Vashem’s Commission for the Recognition of the Righteous among the Nations decided that the Hollebrands and the Egginks were ineligible for the title since the honor is reserved for non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews in the Holocaust; since the children were not Jewish, they could not receive the award.
What was wrong with Cain’s sacrifice?
Friday, May 1st, 2009A reader may wonder: What was wrong with Cain’s sacrifice?
Professor Robert Alter writes that the biblical narrator used several techniques to convey meaning, e.g., statements by the anonymous narrator, by God, by heroes or heroines, by verbal clues, by juxtaposition of material, by characterization, and by effects of actions. Applying [...]
Maimonides’s View on Sacrifices
Friday, May 1st, 2009Despite some ambivalence Maimonides felt about the institution of animal sacrifices, the great Jewish philosopher argues that animal sacrifice can reflect a noble impulse that pushes one to give one’s very best in areas that go far beyond the cultic sector.
For example, Maimonides considers Abel’s sacrifice as a paradigm for all types of [...]
Why don’t the Haredim (Ultra-Orthodox) in Israel honor Memorial Day?
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009Rarely do we have a chance in the American Jewish communities to hear a Jewish point of view that many of us would frankly find offensive. Yet, in the interest of communication, it is imperative we understand the words of the ultra-Orthodox critic-if for no other reason-because he forces us to think about what he is really saying. Oftentimes, it is the hidden and unspoken message that speaks louder than the audible one. Let me tell you about a story that happened this past week in Israel ….
In an interesting article that appeared in the YNET News from Israel, a Haredi rabbi attempts to explain the perennial question people in Israel always ask around this time of the year, when Israelis and Jews all around the world remember Israel’s fallen soldiers and victims of terror: Why don’t the Haredim (the Ultra-Orthnodox and Hassidic) communities observe Israeli Memorial Day or Independence holiday? Why don’t they stand up during the siren?” “Why are they so indifferent towards Independence Day?” And so on. Without missing a beat, the writer explains, “The Haredim simply don’t care … this day symbolizes nothing to them.” Unlike the Neturei Karta of Jerusalem, who mourn on this day much like many Palestinians do-howbeit for altogether reasons. In their eyes, all Jews must wait for the Messiah and not place their trust in a secular Jewish State.
How do I know whether there is an Afterlife or not?
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009I have a friend who is slowly dying of cancer. She is very bright and we often have stimulating intellectual conversations together. Although she does not consider herself to be very “bright,” she is one sharp cookie! She is slowly coming to terms with her mortality, as we all will, sooner or later. Here is a copy of an email correspondence I had with her. Perhaps others who are reading this little article of mine, might find some solace to the pastoral and spiritual issues it raises:
Maimonides as a Postmodern Jewish Philosopher
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009Some of my congregants often ask me: Who is your favorite Jewish philosopher? Typically, I answer it depends upon which time period we are talking about. I am very fond of Philo of Alexandria, the celebrated Jewish philosopher who was the first person to create a synthesis of Jewish and Hellenistic thought. Then again, there is Saadia Gaon, whose theological arguments and understanding of religious metaphor is strikingly modern. But of all the Jewish philosophers I enjoy the most, it is by far Maimonides. Maimonides believed that as a faith, Judaism must do constant battle against the false ideologies that undermine true authentic faith. In an age such as ours, religion is often the source of considerable bigotry and intolerance. Here are some other amazing features one discovers in Maimonides’s works:
(1) He attempted to replace the confusing arguments of the Talmud, many of which were never resolved, with his Mishnah Torah, but unfortunately forgot to include his footnotes!
Bk. Reviews on: The Lord is My Shepherd: The Theology of the Caring God
Saturday, March 28th, 2009From Amazon.com
You can buy this book for practically pennies of the original price!!
Challenging, spiritually healing work!,
January 21, 2009
By
loves life (NC
Using the shepherd imagery of Psalm 23, Michael Samuel powerfully depicts God as a shepherd who constantly cares for His sheep. The Lord Is My Shepherd: The Theology of A Caring God awoke in me afresh [...]
Cain and Abel: According to Levinas
Thursday, March 26th, 2009Emmanuel Levinas was in France in 1930 and reveals that, even at this early stage, he enlisted in the French army. In 1940 he was captured and spent the remaining five years of the war in two prisoner-of-war camps. Upon being liberated he returns to Lithuania and finds-out that his parents and siblings had been killed by the Nazis, while his wife, whom he had left behind in Paris, had survived thanks to the help of French nuns who hid her. Levinas eventually became one of the greatest ethical philosophers of the 20th century. In one of his books, Levinas writes a special dedication that reads:”To the memory of those who were closest among the six million assassinated by the National Socialists, and of the millions of all nations, victims of the same hatred of the other man, the same anti-Semitism” (OB, vii).
Did Scientists Discover a “God Spot” ?
Sunday, March 15th, 2009Q. For centuries scholars have long wondered why the belief in God is so ubiquitous in cultures all around the world. Recently, neurologists propose a possible explanation suggesting that the belief in God is deeply embedded in the human brain. Simply put, the brain is hardwired and programmed for religious experiences.
A study involved forty participants, including Christians, Muslims, Jews, atheists, and Buddhists. For the analysis, researchers used a functional MRI machine, which can identify the most active regions of the brain. Each of the individuals was asked to ponder religious and ethical dilemmas dealing with issues of faith. As they answered, three areas in the brain began to light up, indicating that these same areas control religious belief and has been dubbed as the “God spot.”
Feminine Imagery in the Bible
Saturday, March 14th, 2009In a gender conscious society, people often ask if there are any specific references in the Tanakh and within Jewish tradition where God is depicted in feminine terms. Without going into considerable detail, we will briefly one example:
Similarly, in Isaiah 42:14, the prophet also depicts God’s biocentric passion for justice in feminine terms:
For a long time
I have held my peace,
I have kept still
and restrained myself;
now I will cry out
like a woman in labor,
I will gasp and pant.
Isaiah 42:14
The imagery of God acting as a mother giving birth to her child, portrays a Divine Presence that is present alongside those people who are trying to midwife a new world where human degradation, apathy and suffering no longer exist. This organic depiction of God does not portray the Divine Reality as being extrinsic or unaffected by the harsh presence of evil that is incarnated by malevolent people. The Talmud and the Midrash both describe the unfolding of the Messianic Redemption as the “Hevlay HaMashiach”-the birth-pangs of the Messiah.
According to the Talmud, the Messiah was born on the day of Tisha B’ Av, the Ninth of Av for the number nine symbolizes birth and new life. One of the most popular and intimate rabbinic names for God is Rachmana – “The Merciful One.”
The Hebrew word for “compassion” “rahameem” comes from the Hebrew word “rechem” for “womb.” God’s compassion and mercy are not extrinsic for in a metaphorical sense, we come from God’s womb. The womb is the place where all life is mysteriously conceived, carried and born. Throughout the Talmud and Midrashic literature, the Divine Presence as it is manifested among earthly mortals is called the “Shechinah.” The Talmudic depictions always convey a feminine quality that one does not find in the more traditional masculine metaphors of the Divine.
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