Observation ·
The Mysterious Glossary of Maimonides
By PhilologosWhat might the great scholar have been intending with a recently discovered list he made of seemingly random words from random European languages?
Maimonides
Latest Mosaic Content for Maimonides
Observation ·
Shlomo Pines: The Jewish Philosopher Who Presupposed Nothing
By Warren Zev HarveyEven at the Hebrew University at mid-century, when the likes of Martin Buber and Gershom Scholem walked the halls, Pines stood out for his prodigious knowledge of everything.
Observation ·
How to Situate Maimonides: An Exchange
By Lawrence J. Kaplan, Arnold E. FranklinTo where and what language does the great Jewish philosopher and his name belong?
Observation ·
The Mystery of Maimonides’ Puzzling Name
By Arnold E. FranklinWhy would the most famous Jewish philosopher of all not have a Jewish name? Or did he?
Observation ·
What Kind of God Is the God of the Jews?
By Neil RogachevskyFor thousands of years both friends and enemies of Judaism have labeled it a religion of deed rather than creed, of law rather than faith. A new book firmly and fervently disagrees.
Observation ·
A Radical 18th-Century Jewish Philosopher and His Misbegotten Quest for Total Truth
By Michah GottliebSolomon Maimon abandoned his wife and children in search of intellectual perfection, thereby entirely missing the point.
Response ·
The Difference between a Biblical Scholar and a Philosopher
By James A. DiamondThe former seeks answers; the latter seeks the questions that can help situate human beings existentially and rationally within the universe.
Monthly Essay ·
Is the Torah a Work of Philosophy?
By Jon D. LevensonAs the latest attempt to draw universal ethical principles from the Bible shows, philosophical investigation of its text offers the prospect of great rewards—and grave dangers.
Response ·
The Crisis in Jewish Law Today
Orthodox rabbis need to stop worrying about 200-year-old battles with “Reformers” and allow Jewish law to develop organically, as it always did in the past.
Response ·
The Paths Not Taken
By Chaim SaimanThere have been two moments in the last 150 years when the assumptions behind Jewish law seemed poised to change. Nothing happened. Is today different?
Response ·
Making Jews out of Zionists
By Dr. Micah GoodmanA new-old paradigm is taking hold in Israel: a secularism based on a renewed embrace of Judaism.
Observation ·
Locusts, Giraffes, and the Meaning of Kashrut
By Rabbi Meir SoloveichikThe most famous Jewish practice is really about love and national loyalty.
