Rabbinic Authority And Personal Autonomy

Author : Moshe Sokol
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 250 pages
File Size : 41,5 Mb
Release : 2006
Category : Autonomy (Psychology)
ISBN : OCLC:1022758593

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Rabbinic Authority and Personal Autonomy by Moshe Sokol Pdf

Does traditional Jewish life encourage or discourage personal autonomy? To what extent are decisions of Jewish law influenced by subjective factors? Does rabbinic authority extend to all areas of life or does it confine itself to a narrower field of influence? What freedom does a rabbinic authority have to make innovations, and are there grounds for pluralism within the system of Jewish law? These questions cut to the core of Jewish life in the modern world. With the advent of modernity, great emphasis has been placed on the value of personal autonomy. Yet traditional Judaism has historically emphasized the authority of the rabbinic decision maker. The essays in this volume are concerned with exploring the tension between these two poles. Experts from such diverse fields as history, sociology, philosophy, and Jewish law explore the questions raised above. Their analyses are informed not only by their academic expertise but by their deep understanding of the Jewish legal system and Jewish life and their abiding concern for what it means to live that life in the modern world. The contributors to this volume were participants in the Orthodox Forum, an annual gathering of scholars who meet to consider major issues of concern to the Jewish community.

Author : Michael S. Berger
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 241 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 1998-10-15
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780195352719

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Rabbinic Authority by Michael S. Berger Pdf

The Rabbis of the first five centuries of the Common Era loom large in the Jewish tradition. Until the modern period, Jews viewed the Rabbinic traditions as the authoritative contents of their covenant with God, and scholars debated the meanings of these ancient Sages words. Even after the eighteenth century, when varied denominations emerged within Judaism, each with its own approach to the tradition, the literary legacy of the talmudic Sages continued to be consulted. In this book, Michael S. Berger analyzes the notion of Rabbinic authority from a philosophical standpoint. He sets out a typology of theories that can be used to understand the authority of these Sages, showing the coherence of each, its strengths and weaknesses, and what aspects of the Rabbinic enterprise it covers. His careful and thorough analysis reveals that owing to the multifaceted character of the Rabbinic enterprise, no single theory is adequate to fully ground Rabbinic authority as traditionally understood. The final section of the book argues that the notion of Rabbinic authority may indeed have been transformed over time, even as it retained the original name. Drawing on the debates about legal hermeneutics between Ronald Dworkin and Stanley Fish, Berger introduces the idea that Rabbinic authority is not a strict consequence of a preexisting theory, but rather is embedded in a form of life that includes text, interpretation, and practices. Rabbinic authority is shown to be a nuanced concept unique to Judaism, in that it is taken to justify those sorts of activities which in turn actually deepen the authority itself. Students of Judaism and philosophers of religion in general will be intrigued by this philosophical examination of a central issue of Judaism, conducted with unprecedented rigor and refreshing creative insight.

Author : Moshe Sokol,Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
Publisher : Jason Aronson
Page : 250 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 1992-01-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0876685815

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Rabbinic Authority and Personal Autonomy by Moshe Sokol,Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary Pdf

Does traditional Jewish life encourage or discourage personal autonomy? To what extent are decisions of Jewish law influenced by subjective factors? Does rabbinic authority extend to all areas of life or does it confine itself to a narrower field of influence? What freedom does a rabbinic authority have to make innovations, and are there grounds for pluralism within the system of Jewish law? These questions cut to the core of Jewish life in the modern world. With the advent of modernity, great emphasis has been placed on the value of personal autonomy. Yet traditional Judaism has historically emphasized the authority of the rabbinic decision maker. The essays in this volume are concerned with exploring the tension between these two poles. Experts from such diverse fields as history, sociology, philosophy, and Jewish law explore the questions raised above. Their analyses are informed not only by their academic expertise but by their deep understanding of the Jewish legal system and Jewish life and their abiding concern for what it means to live that life in the modern world. The contributors to this volume were participants in the Orthodox Forum, an annual gathering of scholars who meet to consider major issues of concern to the Jewish community.

Author : Elliot Stevens
Publisher : CCAR Press
Page : 138 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 1982
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 0916694887

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Rabbinic Authority by Elliot Stevens Pdf

Prominent rabbis from both the pulpit and academia examine how the rabbinate is affected by halacha, personal charisma, semichah, Reform minhag and the rabbi's own religious views.

Author : Daniel H. Frank
Publisher : State University of New York Press
Page : 244 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2012-02-01
Category : History
ISBN : 9781438403175

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Autonomy and Judaism by Daniel H. Frank Pdf

This volume brings together leading philosophers of Judaism on the issue of autonomy in the Jewish tradition. Addressing themselves to the relationship of the individual Jew to the Jewish community and to the world at large, some selections are systematic in scope, while others are more historically focused. The authors address issues ranging from the earliest expressions of individual human fulfillment in the Bible and medieval Jewish discussions of the human good to modern discussions of the necessity for the Jew to maintain both a Jewish sensibility as well as an active engagement in the modern pluralistic state. Contributors include Eugene Borowitz, Elliot N. Dorff, Daniel H. Frank, Robert Gibbs, Lenn E. Goodman, Ze'ev Levy, Kenneth Seeskin, and Martin D. Yaffe.

Author : Kenneth Seeskin
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 269 pages
File Size : 53,7 Mb
Release : 2001-09-06
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781139430432

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Autonomy in Jewish Philosophy by Kenneth Seeskin Pdf

Autonomy in Jewish Philosophy examines an important theme in Jewish thought from the Book of Genesis to the present day. Although it is customary to view Judaism as a legalistic faith leaving little room for free thought or individual expression, Kenneth Seeskin argues that this view is wrong. Where some see the essence of the religion as strict obedience to divine commands, Seeskin claims that God does not just command but forms a partnership with humans requiring the consent of both parties. Looking at classic texts from Biblical, Rabbinic, and philosophical literature, Seeskin shows that Judaism has always respected freedom of conscience and assigned an important role to the power of human reason. The book considers both existing arguments and presents its own ideas about the role of autonomy in Judaism. Clear and concise, it offers a refreshing alternative to the mysticism and dogmatism prevalent in much of the literature.

Author : Suzanne Last Stone
Publisher : KTAV Publishing House, Inc.
Page : 206 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2006
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 0881259535

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Rabbinic and Lay Communal Authority by Suzanne Last Stone Pdf

Author : Goktug Morcol
Publisher : CRC Press
Page : 663 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2006-11-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781420016918

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Handbook of Decision Making by Goktug Morcol Pdf

Handbook of Decision Making includes the wisdom of the long theological and philosophical traditions of human society, as well as a systematic exploration of the implications of contemporary evolutionary theories. Common patterns in decision making styles are identified as well as the common variations that different contexts may generate. The text covers the multiplicity of mainstream decision making styles such as cost-benefit analysis, and linear programming. It also explains alternative and emerging methods such as geographic information systems, Q-methodology, and narrative policy analysis. Practical applications are discussed using decision making practices in budgeting, public administration and governance, drug trafficking, and information systems.

Author : Rochelle L. Millen
Publisher : UPNE
Page : 268 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 2004
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 1584653655

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Women, Birth, and Death in Jewish Law and Practice by Rochelle L. Millen Pdf

A sensitive exploration of the development of pivotal life cycle rituals as they touch Jewish women's lives.

Author : Jonathan Frankel
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 416 pages
File Size : 40,9 Mb
Release : 2001-02-08
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0195349776

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Jews and Gender by Jonathan Frankel Pdf

Volume XVI in this well-received annual series contains an up-to-date survey of gender issues in modern Judaism. It includes original essays on Orthodox Judaism and feminism, American Jewish women, female rabbis, the impact of feminism on rabbinic study, masculinity, Jewish women in the Third Reich, and gender and military service.

Author : Roberta Rosenthal Kwall
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2015-01-22
Category : Law
ISBN : 9780199706174

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The Myth of the Cultural Jew by Roberta Rosenthal Kwall Pdf

A myth exists that Jews can embrace the cultural components of Judaism without appreciating the legal aspects of the Jewish tradition. This myth suggests that law and culture are independent of one another. In reality, however, much of Jewish culture has a basis in Jewish law. Similarly, Jewish law produces Jewish culture. A cultural analysis paradigm provides a useful way of understanding the Jewish tradition as the product of both legal precepts and cultural elements. This paradigm sees law and culture as inextricably intertwined and historically specific. This perspective also emphasizes the human element of law's composition and the role of existing power dynamics in shaping Jewish law. In light of this inevitable intersection between culture and law, The Myth of the Cultural Jew: Culture and Law in Jewish Tradition argues that Jewish culture is shallow unless it is grounded in Jewish law. Roberta Rosenthal Kwall develops and applies a cultural analysis paradigm to the Jewish tradition that departs from the understanding of Jewish law solely as the embodiment of Divine command. Her paradigm explains why both law and culture must matter to those interested in forging meaningful Jewish identity and transmitting the tradition.

Author : Daniel Rynhold
Publisher : OUP Oxford
Page : 276 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2005-03-17
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780191534546

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Two Models of Jewish Philosophy by Daniel Rynhold Pdf

In a work that illustrates how Jewish philosophy can make a genuine contribution to general philosophical debate, Daniel Rynhold attempts to formulate a model for the justification of practices by applying the methods of modern analytic philosophy to approaches to the rationalization of the commandments from the history of Jewish philosophy. Through critical analysis of the methods of Moses Maimonides and Joseph Soloveitchik, Rynhold argues against propositional approaches to justifying practices that he terms Priority of Theory approaches and offers instead his own method, termed the Priority of Practice, which emphasizes the need for a more pragmatic take on this whole issue.

Author : Kim Treiger-Bar-Am
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 217 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 2019-07-25
Category : Law
ISBN : 9781000008029

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Positive Freedom and the Law by Kim Treiger-Bar-Am Pdf

This book explains why we should stop thinking of freedom as limited to a right to be left alone. It explores how Kantian philosophy and Jewish thought instead give rise to a concept of positive freedom. At heart, freedom is inextricably linked to the obligation to respect the autonomy and dignity of others. Freedom thus requires relationships with others and provides an important source of meaning in liberal democratic societies. While individualism is said to foster detachment, positive freedom fosters relations. Moving from moral theory to law, duties are seen as intrinsic to rights. The book considers test cases involving the law of expression, regarding authorial rights and women's prayer at Jerusalem's holy site of the Western Wall. Affirmative duties of respect are essential. Rights held by copyright owners require that all authors – including so-called users – are shown respect. Moreover, rights held by the authorities at the Western Wall require that all worshippers – including those whose interpretation of Jewish law differs from that adopted by the authorities – are respected.

Author : Joan S. Friedman
Publisher : Hebrew Union College Press
Page : 353 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2013-09-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780878201228

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Guidance, Not Governance by Joan S. Friedman Pdf

Solomon Bennett Freehof (1892-1990) was one of America's most distinguished, influential, and beloved rabbis. Ordained at Hebrew Union College in 1915, he was of the generation of rabbis from east European immigrant backgrounds who moved Reform Judaism away from its classical form toward a renewed appreciation of traditional practices. Freehof himself was less interested in restoring discarded rituals than in demonstrating how the Reform approach to Jewish religious practice was rooted in the Jewish legal tradition (halakhah). Opposed to any attempt to create a code of Reform practice, he nevertheless called for Reform Judaism to turn to the halakhah, not in order to adhere to codified law, but to be guided in ritual and in all areas of life by its values and its ethical insights. For Reform Jews, Jewish law was to offer "guidance, not governance," and this guidance was to be provided through the writing of responsa, individual rulings based on legal precedent, written by an organized rabbinic authority in response to questions about real-life situations. After World War II, the earlier consensus about what constituted proper observance in a Reform context vanished as the children of east European immigrants flocked to new Reform synagogues in new suburbs, bringing with them a more traditional sensibility. Even before Freehof was named chairman of the Central Conference of American Rabbis Responsa Committee in 1956, his colleagues began turning to him for guidance, especially in the situations Freehof recognized as inevitably arising from living in an open society where the boundaries between what was Jewish and what was not were ambiguous or blurred. Over nearly five decades, he answered several thousand inquiries regarding Jewish practice, the plurality of which concerned the tensions Jews experienced in navigating this open society-questions concerning mixed marriage, Jewish status, non-Jewish participation in the synagogue, conversion, and so on-and published several hundred of these in eight volumes of Reform responsa. In her pioneering study, Friedman analyzes Freehof's responsa on a select number of crucial issues that illustrate the evolution of American Reform Judaism. She also discusses the deeper issues with which the movement struggled, and continues to struggle, in its attempt to meet the ever-changing challenges of the present while preserving both individual autonomy and faithfulness to the Jewish tradition.

Author : Peter Y. Medding
Publisher : OUP USA
Page : 386 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 1995
Category : History
ISBN : 9780195103311

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Studies in Contemporary Jewry: XI: Values, Interests, and Identity by Peter Y. Medding Pdf

This collection of original articles addresses the often conflicting roles of values, interests, and identity in contemporary Jewish politics. with its focus on Jews and contemporary politics - particularly the interplay of politics and jewish history - this new work makes an outstanding contribution to the scholarly literature.