“Maimonides ”

Shlomo Pines

PINES, SHLOMO (Solomon; 1908–1990), historian of philosophy and science. Born in Paris, Pines taught at the Institut d'Histoire des Sciences et des Techniques de l'Université de Paris from 1937 to 1939. He settled in Ereẓ Israel in 1940. From 1948 to 1952 he served in the Middle East division of the Israel Ministry for Foreign Affairs. In 1952 he began teaching at the Hebrew University and in 1961 Pines became professor of general and Jewish philosophy. He was a fellow of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and in 1968 received the Israel Prize... read article

Kafaḥ (Kafih), Yiḥye ben Solomon

KAFAḤ (Kafih), YIḤYE BEN SOLOMON (1850–1932), Yemenite scholar. Kafaḥ was orphaned as a child and was brought up by his grandfather. Though a goldsmith by trade, he dedicated most of his life to study and teaching. He excelled in halakhah and many of the responsa of the bet din of San'a which were sent to inquirers from Yemen and other parts of the world were written by him. He studied the works of medieval Jewish scholars and Haskalah literature while his preoccupation with secular studies and languages (Arabic and Turkish) and his connections with scholars outside Yemen rendered him unique among his Yemenite contemporaries... read article

Kamelhar, Jekuthiel Aryeh ben Gershon

KAMELHAR, JEKUTHIEL ARYEH BEN GERSHON (1871–1937), Galician rabbi and author. Kamelhar was born in Kolaczyce, Galicia. During his youth, his parents moved to Tarnow, where he received a thorough talmudic education, and in 1897 took up residence in Rzeszow. In 1906 he was appointed head of the yeshivah Or Torah in the town of Stanislav, Eastern Galicia. At the outbreak of World War I he went to Vienna as a refugee, returning to Rzeszow after the war. In 1926 he accepted an appointment as rabbi of the congregation Reisha-Kurtshin in New York. In 1933 he emigrated to Ereẓ Israel, and lived in Jerusalem for the rest of his life... read article

Tamakh, Abraham ben Isaac Ha-Levi

TAMAKH, ABRAHAM BEN ISAAC HA-LEVI (d. 1393), Spanish paytan, talmudist, and philosopher; d rabbi of Gerona. Abraham may have come from Provence, although according to some he originated from Barcelona. Abraham with other scholars was requested by Pedro IV of Aragon to decide on the family purity of the family of one Isaac Castellon. He lived in Gerona, where he was one of the leaders of the community. He was a contemporary and colleague of Profiat *Duran who eulogized him after his death in a letter written to Tamakh's son Joseph which was intended to be read publicly at the memorial service for his father... read article

Apikoros

APIKOROS, in popular usage, one who negates the rabbinic tradition. The designation apikoros first occurs in rabbinic literature in the Mishnah (Sanh. 10:1), enumerated among those who forfeit their "share in the world to come... read article

Pruzhany

PRUZHANY (Pol. Prużana), city in Brest district, Belarus. Situated on the road which leads from Brest-Litovsk to Moscow, it was under Polish rule until 1795; in the third partition of Poland it was incorporated into Russia, and in 1919 regained by Poland until 1939. Jews lived in Pruzhany during the middle of the 15th century and around 1450 there was a ḥevra kaddisha which noted its activities in a register. In 1463 the first synagogue (destroyed by fire in 1863) was erected near the center of the Jewish quarter. In 1495 the Jews of Pruzhany were included in the general expulsion of Jews from Lithuania, but they returned after a few years... read article

Jacob Moses Toledano

TOLEDANO, JACOB MOSES (1880–1960), rabbi and scholar. Toledano's father Judah had immigrated to Ereẓ Israel from Morocco. Jacob was born, educated, and ordained in Tiberias. During 1899–1909, his first articles appeared in the Jerusalem Hebrew paper Ḥavaẓẓelet, under the title Ḥiddushei Torah. They were written in elegant Hebrew and in a scholarly style. Toledano was also interested in ancient manuscripts preserved in the libraries and yeshivot of Oriental countries... read article

Maskileison (Maskil Le-Eitan), Abraham ben Judah Leib

MASKILEISON (Maskil le-Eitan), ABRAHAM BEN JUDAH LEIB (1788–1848), Russian rabbi and author. Born in Radoshkovich, Belorussia, Maskileison studied under his father, who was av bet din of Khotimsk in the district of Mogilev. Abraham served as av bet din in Novogrudok. Toward the end of his life he moved to Minsk, where he died. He lived in poverty all his life. He was the author of Maskil le-Eitan (Vilna, 1818), novellae to the tractates of orders Mo'ed and Kodashim. His reputation as a result of this work was such that the title of his book (from Ps. 88:1) became his own designation and family name... read article

Jewish Practices & Rituals: A Healthy Body and Soul

In Judaism, the prevention of sickness and the sanctity of the body, both in physical and emotional health, is an important concept. The word for “healthy” in Hebrew is beri’ut (from the root “to create”). One is considered healthy, even with bodily imperfections; as long as an individual is constructive and has the capacity to add to society then they are healthy. It is taught that every person is responsible for the well-being of their bodies, and are required to seek medical assistance when needed... read article

Isaac ben Solomon Abi Sahula

Biography of Hebrew poet, scholar, physician and kabbalist Isaac ben Solomon Abi Sahula... read article

Skeptics and Skepticism

Skepticism in philosophy refers to the principle that all knowledge, whether sensory or conceptual, is subject to the limitations of the human mind and, thus, unreliable. No certain or absolute knowledge can be attained by man. This position was advanced by such Greek schools as the Sophists and the Pyrrhonists. They did not, however, consider revelation. In religious philosophy some thinkers, while accepting the skeptical view concerning knowledge acquired by natural means, have held that certain knowledge can be attained through the supernatural act of revelation... read article

Inclination, Good and Evil

There is a biblical basis to the idea of the existence in man's nature of an instinctive tendency or impulse (yeẓer as in Ps. 103:14 from yaẓar, i.e., to "form" or "create" as in Gen. 2:8), which, left to itself, would lead to his undoing by prompting him to act in a manner contrary to the will of God (whence the term yeẓer ha-ra or "inclination to evil"). Thus, in Genesis 5 it is stated that "every inclination of the thoughts of his – i.e., man's – heart is only evil continually" and again in Genesis 8:21 "for the inclination of man's heart is evil from his youth... read article

Ani Ma'Amin

ANI MA'AMIN (Heb... read article

Jewish Concepts: Mitzvot

At the heart of halakhah is the unchangeable 613 mitzvot that G-d gave to the Jewish people in the Torah (the first five books of the Bible). The word "mitzvah" means "commandment... read article

Kavvanah

KAVVANAH (Heb. כַּוָּנָה; lit. "directed intention"), the phrase used in rabbinic literature to denote a state of mental concentration and devotion at prayer and during the performance of mitzvot. Although the demand for kavvanah as an obligatory component of religious prayer and action is not explicitly mentioned in the Pentateuch, it is clearly referred to by the prophets. Isaiah, for instance, condemns those who "with their mouth and with their lips do honor Me, but have removed their heart far from Me" (Isa. 29:13).Kavvanah in PrayerThe Talmud attaches considerable importance to kavvanah in prayer... read article

Homosexuality in Jewish Law

A brief explanation of Jewish law pertaining to homosexuality... read article

Rozin (Rosen), Joseph

ROZIN (Rosen), JOSEPH (1858–1936), Polish talmudic genius, called "the Rogachover" after his birthplace (Rogachov). His erudition and profundity were phenomenal. It is said that when he was eight years old, the local scholars felt incompetent to teach him, for he knew the whole of the talmudic order of Nezikin with its commentaries. When he was 13, his father took him to Slutsk where J.B. *Soloveichik taught him together with his own son Ḥayyim. From there he went to Shklov, where he frequented the court of the ḥasidic rabbi of Kapost, of the Chabad sect. He spent the next eight years studying in Warsaw... read article

American Jewish Organizations: B’nai B’rith International

The history of the B’nai B’rith organization... read article

Coffin

The only biblical reference to a coffin is to the one in which the embalmed body of Joseph was kept (Gen. 50:26), which the Talmud described as being made of metal (Sot. 13a). However, in the Midrash, R. Levi interprets the biblical phrase that Adam and Eve hid themselves in the wood of the garden to mean that their descendants would be placed within coffins of wood (Gen. R. 19:8). The custom of using wooden coffins is recorded in the Talmud (Sanh. 98a–b; TJ, Kil. 9:3, 32b)... read article

Gemilut Ḥasadim

GEMILUT ḤASADIM (Heb. גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים; lit., "the bestowal of lovingkindness"), the most comprehensive and fundamental of all Jewish social virtues, which encompasses the whole range of the duties of sympathetic consideration toward one's fellow man. The earliest individual rabbinic statement in the Talmud, the maxim of *Simeon the Just, mentions it as one of the three pillars of Judaism ("Torah, the Temple service, and gemilut ḥasadim) upon which the [continued] existence of the world depends" (Avot 1:2)... read article