Prague’s Rabbinic Culture: Halakhah and Kabbalah

2010 ◽  
pp. 40-63
Author(s):  
Sharon Flatto
Keyword(s):  
Court System ◽  
Jewish Mysticism ◽  
Unique Approach ◽  
Jewish Philosophy

This chapter chronicles the continued importance of halakhah and Kabbalah within the rabbinic culture and surveys Prague's largely overlooked talmudic academies, Jewish court system, and numerous rabbinic scholars. It considers the kabbalist and poet Avigdor Kara, who composed the well-known elegy Et kol hatela'ah and the famed Judah Loew ben Bezalel, who was commonly referred to as the Maharal. It also explains that the Maharal was a prolific and influential author who was best known for his unique approach to the aggadah, ethics, Jewish philosophy, and mysticism. The chapter describes Prague's leading rabbis during the late sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, such as Ephraim Solomon of Luntshitz, popularly referred to as Keli Yakar. It recounts Pragues' long tradition of Jewish mysticism, kabbalistic study, and publication of important kabbalistic works.

The Rabbinic God and Mediaeval Judaism

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 369-390
Author(s):  
Dov Weiss
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Jewish Mysticism ◽  
Rabbinic Judaism ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
History Of ◽  
Essential Unity ◽  
Jewish Philosophy ◽  
The One ◽  
Modern Judaism

From the earliest stages of Wissenschaft des Judentums, scholars of Judaism typically read statements about God in the classical sources of Judaism with a mediaeval philosophical lens. By doing so, they sought to demonstrate the essential unity and continuity between rabbinic Judaism, later mediaeval Jewish philosophy and modern Judaism. In the late 1980s, the Maimonidean hold on rabbinic scholarship began to crack when the ‘revisionist school’ sought to drive a wedge between rabbinic Judaism, on the one hand, and Maimonidean Judaism, on the other hand, by highlighting the deep continuities and links between rabbinic Judaism and mediaeval Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah). The revisionist scholars regarded rabbinic Judaism as a pre-cursor to mediaeval Kabbalah rather than mediaeval Jewish philosophy. This article provides the history of scholarship on these two methods of reading rabbinic texts and then proposes that scholars adopt a third method. That is, building on the work of recent scholarship, we should confront theological rabbinic texts on their own terms, without the guiding hand of either mediaeval Jewish framework.

The Exegetical Craft of the Zohar: Toward an Appreciation

AJS Review ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliezer Segal
Keyword(s):  
Jewish Mysticism ◽  
Rabbinic Judaism ◽  
The Past ◽  
Way Of Thinking ◽  
Jewish Philosophy ◽  
Biblical Commentaries ◽  
Guide Of The Perplexed

As a consequence of the specialization that thrives in current humanistic studies, it is not surprising that scholarship has tended to classify the literary creations of the past into fixed compartments. In the study of medieval Judaism, it is particularly common to follow the traditional division of disciplines into philosophy, Kabbalah, and rabbinism—a categorization that was indeed promoted by the medievals themselves. Following this way of thinking, the study of Rashi's biblical commentaries would be assigned to one class of scholars devoted to the study of rabbinic Judaism; Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed to experts in Jewish philosophy; and the Zohar to yet a third group consisting of specialists in Jewish mysticism.

Jewish Mysticism Looks at the Human Potential

PsycCRITIQUES ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 52 (35) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Sales
Keyword(s):  
Human Potential ◽  
Jewish Mysticism

State Statutes That Govern the Transfer of Juveniles to the Adult Court System

2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Austin ◽  
Kelly Dedel Johnson ◽  
Maria Gregoriou
Keyword(s):  
Court System ◽  
Adult Court ◽  
State Statutes

Dilemmas of Justice and Reconciliation: Rwandans and the Gacaca Courts

2010 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amaka Megwalu ◽  
Neophytos Loizides
Keyword(s):  
Conflict Resolution ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Due Process ◽  
National Court ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Widening Participation ◽  
Court System ◽  
Trained Personnel ◽  
The United Nations

Following the 1994 genocide, several justice initiatives were implemented in Rwanda, including a tribunal established by the United Nations, Rwanda's national court system and Gacaca, a ‘traditional’ community-run conflict resolution mechanism adapted to prosecute genocide perpetrators. Since their inception in 2001, the Gacaca courts have been praised for their efficiency and for widening participation, but criticised for lack of due process, trained personnel and attention to atrocities committed by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). To evaluate these criticisms, we present preliminary findings from a survey of 227 Rwandans and analyse their attitudes towards Gacaca in relation to demographic characteristics such as education, residence and loss of relatives during the genocide.

Messianic ideas in Jewish mysticism

1991 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-99
Author(s):  
Karl Erich Grözinger
Keyword(s):  
Jewish Mysticism ◽  
King David ◽  
The Core ◽  
Theological Thought

The Jewish belief in a final redemption brought about by a kingly messiah, the descendant of the dynasty of King David, emerged in biblical times under specific historical and ideological circumstances which are gone long ago. Nevertheless, the core of the messianic idea remained within Judaism and became even stronger and stimulated Jewish yearnings and thought. Around this core of messianic belief grew, in the course of time, a garland of interpretations which sought to accommodate the persisting messianic hope to the new historical situations and even more to the changing philosophical and theological thought. Regarding all the messianic testimonies handed down to us, we might find three major types of interpretation depicting the messianic events: There is the more traditional apocalyptic view, then a somewhat distinct philosophical-rationalistic one and finally a mystical approach to messianism.

Public Libraries: Their Role in Smart City Strategies

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (2(116)) ◽  
pp. 26-43
Author(s):  
Mariusz Luterek
Keyword(s):  
Smart City ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
National Language ◽  
General Strategy ◽  
Language Version ◽  
Strategic Plans ◽  
Unique Approach ◽  
New Perspective

  Purpose/Thesis: This paper examines the position of public libraries in smart city strategies. To that end, I verify two hypotheses, H1: Cities analyzed employ strategic plans to define their path to “smartness”, and H2: Public libraries are a part of these strategies. Approach/Methods: Top 30 cities from the ranking of IESE Cities in Motion Index 2019 were se­lected. The hypotheses were tested through the analysis of strategy documents and web portals. In most cases, the analysis relied on English versions of said documents/portals, occasionally compared with the national language version . Results and conclusions: The process of verifying the first hypothesis led to identifying four groups: G1, comprising cities with a general strategy, presumed to include smart initiatives (3 cities), G2: cities with a separate “smart city” strategy, published on their own portal, or a related website (15 cities); G3: cities with subsites/portals briefly summarizing their activities in the area of ‘smart’ development (10 cities), and G4: cities with many sectoral strategies, presumed to include smart initiatives (2 ci­ties). The analysis allowed the identification of a number of areas in which public libraries already contribute to smart development: smart building, smart infrastructure, smart services, digital skills and life-long learning, sustainability, creativity, digital citizenship and smart business Originality/Value: Although many library and information science scholars study smart cities, no similar study has been conducted, and therefore, this paper, with its unique approach, offers a new perspective on the discussion on smart libraries.

Herbal Products for Common Auto-Inflammatory Disorders - Novel Approaches

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shanoo Suroowan ◽  
Fawzi Mahomoodally
Keyword(s):  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Chronic Conditions ◽  
Herbal Medicines ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Herbal Products ◽  
Inflammatory Disorders ◽  
Treatment Regimens ◽  
Synthetic Agents ◽  
Unique Approach ◽  
Novel Approaches

Background: Common auto-inflammatory disorders (CAIDs) constitute a wide array of ailments ranging from acute allergies to chronic conditions. Globally, CAIDs remain one of the leading causes of disability and morbidity. Despite playing a leading therapeutic role, the vast profusion of anti-inflammatory synthetic agents have not been able to fully resolve a panoply of CAIDs. Additionally, contemporary synthetic therapy approaches remain bounded by a wide array of limitations essentially being adverse effects and unaffordable costs. In this advent, the use of herbal products provides an interesting avenue to explore in view of developing such treatment regimens. Objective: This review article endeavors to highlight potential herbal products and isolated phytochemicals which can be of benefit in the prophylaxis, management, and treatment alongside avoiding the relapse of CAIDs. Conclusion: This review article has highlighted that herbals, herbal products, and isolated metabolites hold a huge potential in the prophylaxis, management, and treatment of CAIDs. Herbals can act on various targets involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory disorders. In addition, novel approaches for the management of CAIDs are numerous. Indeed, nanoparticles loaded with phytochemicals have been developed to specifically target the colon for IBD treatment. In silico approaches using herbals also offer unlimited avenues to decipher new pharmacophores. Investigating the potential of polyherbal formulations is another unique approach which can be investigated. Given the inefficacy of conventional medicines, the concomitant use of conventional and herbal medicines can also be explored.

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