Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism

Author: Neil Gillman

Publisher: Behrman House, Inc

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 9780874415476

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With the State of Israel and Orthodox and reform Jewry.


Our Father Abraham

Our Father Abraham

Author: Marvin R. Wilson

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 1989

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 9780802804235

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This volume delineates the link between Judaism and Christanity, between Old and the New Testaments, and calls Christians to reexamine their Hebrew roots so as to effect a more authentically biblical lifestyle.


Holiness and Law

Holiness and Law

Author: Benjamin Brown

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2024-06-04

Total Pages: 238

ISBN-13: 3111359212

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Hasidic groups have myriad customs. While ordinary Jewish law (halakhah) denotes the “bar of holiness” mandated for the ordinary Jew, these customs represent the higher threshold expected of Hasidim, intended to justify their title as hasidim (“pious”). How did the hasidic masters perceive the enactment of these new norms at a time in which the halakhah had already been solidified? How did they explain the normative power of these customs over communities and individuals, and how did they justify customs that diverged from the positive halakhah? This book analyzes the answers given by nineteenth-century hasidic authors. It then examines a test case: kedushah (“holiness”), or sexual abstinence among married men, a particularly restrictive norm enacted by several twentieth-century hasidic groups. Through the use of theoretical tools and historical contextualization, the book elucidates the normative circles of hasidic life, their religious and social sources and their interrelations.


The Blackwell Companion to Judaism

The Blackwell Companion to Judaism

Author: Jacob Neusner

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2008-04-15

Total Pages: 578

ISBN-13: 0470758007

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This Companion explores the history, doctrines, divisions, and contemporary condition of Judaism. Surveys those issues most relevant to Judaic life today: ethics, feminism, politics, and constructive theology Explores the definition of Judaism and its formative history Makes sense of the diverse data of an ancient and enduring faith


Modern Conservative Judaism

Modern Conservative Judaism

Author: Elliot N. Dorff

Publisher: U of Nebraska Press

Published: 2018-06-01

Total Pages: 484

ISBN-13: 082761389X

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A major Conservative movement leader of our time, Elliot N. Dorff provides a personal, behind-the-scenes guide to the evolution of Conservative Jewish thought and practice over the last half century. His candid observations concerning the movement’s ongoing tension between constancy and change shed light on the sometimes unified, sometimes diverse, and occasionally contentious reasoning behind the modern movement’s most important laws, policies, and documents. Meanwhile, he has assembled, excerpted, and contextualized the most important historical and internal documents in modern Conservative movement history for the first time in one place, enabling readers to consider and compare them all in context. In “Part 1: God” Dorff explores various ways that Conservative Jews think about God and prayer. In “Part 2: Torah” he considers different approaches to Jewish study, law, and practice; changing women’s roles; bioethical rulings on issues ranging from contraception to cloning; business ethics; ritual observances from online minyanim to sports on Shabbat; moral issues from capital punishment to protecting the poor; and nonmarital sex to same-sex marriage. In “Part 3: Israel” he examines Zionism, the People Israel, and rabbinic rulings in Israel.


Orthodox Judaism in America

Orthodox Judaism in America

Author: Marc Raphael

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 1996-05-14

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 0313367728

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The last in a series of three volumes edited by Marc Lee Raphael surveying some of the major rabbinic and lay personalities who have shaped Judaism in America for the past two centuries, this work focuses on Orthodox Judaism. Along with a basic description of the achievements of some of the most notable leaders, a bibliography of their writings and sources for further study is included as well as an essay on Orthodox rabbinic organizations and a survey of American Orthodox periodicals. Of interest to scholars, students, and lay persons alike, this volume will inform readers about the earliest communities of Jews who settled in America as they developed the institutions of Orthodox Jewish life and set a public standard of compliance with Jewish law. These early American Jews followed a Spanish-Dutch version of Sephardic customs and rites. Their synagogues used traditional prayer books, promoted the celebration of Jewish holidays, established mikvahs, acquired Passover provisions, and arranged for cemetery land and burial services. While many of these Sephardic immigrants did not maintain halakha in their daily regimen as did their European counterparts, they set a public standard of compliance with Jewish law, thus honoring Jewish tradition. Further immigration of thousands of Jews from Western and Central Europe in the middle of the 19th century brought a world of traditional piety and extensive Jewish learning to America, exemplified by Rabbi Abraham Rice, who served in Baltimore, and Yissachar Dov (Bernard) Illowy, who served communities from Philadelphia to New Orleans. Such men marked the beginning of a learned and scholarly rabbinate in America. This volume provides valuable biographical insights regarding some of the most notable religious leaders in American Orthodoxy.