SHULA JACOBS,
NEW and BRILLIANT Upload!Originally published in the Journal of Semitic Studies 1:1 (1956), pp. 87-8. J. B. Agus, Guideposts in Modern Judaism: An Analysis of Current Trends in Jewish Thought. 1954. Pp. 446. (Bloch Publishing Company, New York. Price: $4.30.) The old ... Continue Reading ➨
H. M. Kallen, ‘“Of them which say they are Jews” and other essays on the Jewish struggle for survival’
Originally published in the Journal of Semitic Studies 1:1 (1956), p. 87. H. M. Kallen, “Of them which say they are Jews” and other essays on the Jewish struggle for survival. Ed. J. Pilch. 1954. Pp. xviii + 242. (Bloch Publishing Company, New ... Continue Reading ➨
Sukkot
Originally published in Mircea Eliade (ed.), Encyclopedia of Religion (1987), vol. 14, pp. 131-2. SUKKOT is the Hebrew name for the Jewish autumnal festival, also called the Festival of Booths, or Tabernacles. Sukkot begins on the fifteenth day of ... Continue Reading ➨
Shavu’ot
Originally published in Mircea Eliade (ed.), Encyclopedia of Religion (1987), vol. 13, p. 229. SHAVU’OT, or Pentecost, is the Jewish festival that falls on the sixth day of the month of Sivan (and also on the seventh day, outside Israel). In the ... Continue Reading ➨
Shabbat
Originally published in Mircea Eliade (ed.), Encyclopedia of Religion (1987), vol. 13, pp. 189-92. SHABBAT. The Hebrew word shabbat is from a root meaning “to desist” or “to rest,” that is, from work and labor. The Sabbath is the day of rest each ... Continue Reading ➨
Rosh ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur
Originally published in Mircea Eliade (ed.), Encyclopedia of Religion (1987), vol. 12, pp. 473-6. RO’SH HA-SHANAH AND YOM KIPPUR, holy days prominent in the Jewish religious calendar, mark the beginning of the new year and set off the special ... Continue Reading ➨
Purim
Originally published in Mircea Eliade (ed.), Encyclopedia of Religion (1987), vol. 12, p. 100. PURIM (“lots”) is a minor Jewish festival (one in which work is not prohibited) that falls on the fourteenth day of Adar. It celebrates the deliverance, ... Continue Reading ➨
Passover
Originally published in Mircea Eliade (ed.), Encyclopedia of Religion (1987), vol. 11, pp. 204-6. PASSOVER is the joyous Jewish festival of freedom that celebrates the Exodus of the Jews from their bondage in Egypt. Beginning on the fifteenth day ... Continue Reading ➨
Hanukkah
Originally published in Mircea Eliade (ed.), Encyclopedia of Religion (1987), vol. 6, pp. 193-4. HANUKKAH (“dedication”) is the Jewish winter festival that falls on the twenty-fifth of the month of Kislev and lasts for eight days. It celebrates ... Continue Reading ➨
God, in postbiblical Judaism
Originally published in Mircea Eliade (ed.), Encyclopedia of Religion (1987), vol. 6, pp. 11-17. God in Postbiblical Judaism Postbiblical Jewish thought concerning God can be divided into four distinct periods: the rabbinic or Talmudic (from ... Continue Reading ➨
Attributes of God: Jewish concepts
Originally published in Mircea Eliade (ed.), Encyclopedia of Religion (1987), vol. 1, pp. 509-11. ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. [This entry consists of three articles on the characteristics attributed to the divine being in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. ... Continue Reading ➨
Introduction to Achad Ha’am, ‘Ten essays on Zionism and Judaism’
Originally published in Achad Ha'am, Ten Essays on Zionism and Judaism (1973). Asher Hirsch Ginzberg, known to the world of Jewish letters by his pen-name Achad Ha-Am (‘One of the People’) was born in the Russian town of Skvira in 1856. His ... Continue Reading ➨
Torah is coming your way this summer
Dear Friends, Another busy month has passed. The time has come, therefore, for a new blog post, with big events coming your way! First of all, many new documents have been uploaded on the website. It is certainly worth highlighting some of the ... Continue Reading ➨
Zava’at Ribash
Originally published in Encyclopaedia Judaica, Decennial Book 1973-1982 (1982), pp. 635-6. Hasidic work; full title, Zava’at Ribash ve-Hanhagot Yesharot (“The Testimony of Ribash [Rabbi Israel Ba’al Shem] and Upright Rules of Conduct”), published ... Continue Reading ➨
Meshullam Feivush Heller of Zbarazh (d. c. 1795)
Originally published in Encyclopaedia Judaica, Yearbook 1975-76 (1976), pp. 361-2. Galician hasidic author, descendant of Yom Tov Lippmann Heller, disciple of Jehiel Michel of Zloczow. Though there are numerous hasidic legends about Heller, few ... Continue Reading ➨
The Lubavich Movement
Originally published in Encyclopaedia Judaica, Yearbook 1975-76 (1976), pp. 161-5. Habad (initial letters of Hokhmah, “Wisdom”, Binah, “Understanding”, Da’at, “Knowledge”) is the movement within Hasidism founded by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Lyady ... Continue Reading ➨
Unlearned and the ignorant, the
Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), pp. 520-1. Hasidism has a marked tendency to treat with greater sympathy and understanding than was usual on the part of the older tradition the religious ... Continue Reading ➨
Tzavaot Haribash (Testimony of R. Israel Baal Shem Tov and Upright Rules of Conduct)
Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), p. 511. First published in Zolkiev in 1793, it is attributed to the Besht. R. Shneur Zalman of Liady writes, “The truth is that this is not his ethical will, ... Continue Reading ➨
Truth
Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), pp. 499-500. Truth (emet) in hasidic thought is more a moral than an intellectual virtue, denoting especially self-knowledge; lack of sham and hypocrisy in ... Continue Reading ➨
Tobacco
Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), pp. 496-7. The legends told about the Besht speak of his long pipe, the lulke, over which, it is said by some sources, he would even recite a benediction. Many ... Continue Reading ➨