Hot answers tagged hashkafah-philosophy
15
This kind of question is addressed by Maimonides in his Guide for the Perplexed (3:15), in which he states that we cannot ascribe to God the ability to do that which is impossible, thus, "it is impossible that God should produce a being like Himself, or annihilate, corporify, or change Himself. The power of God is not assumed to extend to any of these ...
14
The verse probably most commonly cited is Devarim 30:19 (translation from Mechon-Mamre):
הַעִדֹתִי בָכֶם הַיּוֹם, אֶת-הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת-הָאָרֶץ--הַחַיִּים וְהַמָּוֶת נָתַתִּי לְפָנֶיךָ, הַבְּרָכָה וְהַקְּלָלָה; וּבָחַרְתָּ, בַּחַיִּים--לְמַעַן תִּחְיֶה, אַתָּה וְזַרְעֶךָ
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before ...
11
The discrepancy has been raised repeatedly over the centuries, by scholars Jew and non-Jew, Orthodox or not, alike.
Rabbi Shimon Schwab penned an essay on it whereby he very much raised the possibility that the non-Seder-Olam chronology may be correct, though later referring to it as a "thought experiment."
In his taped lectures on the history of the ...
10
HodofHod gives a pretty good example and explanation as to why our tradition is important, but I'll try to expand on that a bit to explain what the tradition is and where it comes from (and explain it in a bit more of a straightforward way).
Judaism relies heavily on generation-to-generation, teacher-to-student, parent-to-child tradition. This is known as ...
9
In the Guide of the Perplexed, Chapter XIV, the Rambam comments on "behold the height of the stars, how high they are!" (Job xxii. 12)
that is to say, learn from the height of the heavens how far we are
from comprehending God, for there is an enormous distance between
ourselves and these corporeal objects, and the latter are greatly
distinguished ...
9
According to this collection of notes on the siddur arranged by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi -- http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=30450&st=&pgnum=122 --
the source is Pri Eitz Hayyim, Sha'ar Olam Ha-Assiyah, end of perek alef, which was then mentioned by the Magen Avraham, beginning of siman mem vav.
Pri Eitz Hayyim is a book by Rabbi ...
8
Tradition.
tl;dr:
You need the Rabbis' commentaries to understand the Torah correctly.
The Torah is a book that cannot be understood (and was not meant to be) unless you also have the oral teachings that came with it when it was given. These teachings were passed down verbally, until the times of Rebbi, who compiled many of the different traditions of ...
8
Hatred has many sources. And sometimes it seems to have none.
One could attribute it to a divine decree, or to biblical stories which pit people against people. Or you could look at historical or sociological trends. Here is a random selection of "reasons":
Jews are separate and distinct. When any group defies the will of the masses or the powerful, it is ...
8
Mesorah has it that Rabbi Elimelech from Lizensk was famous for starting out as a massive talmid chacham whilst Litvish, and converting to Chasssidus later after being persuaded by his brother Reb Zusha.
Lehavdil Rabbi Yochanon Kohein Gadol after serving for 80 years became a Zedoki.
8
That reminds me of the anecdote from Rabbi Emanuel Feldman's book, Tales Out of Shul. A woman once told him, "Rabbi, I'm really not enjoying this week of mourning."
Not everything in life (or Judaism) has to be enjoyable. Nor is it meant to be. At least not in the immediate gratification, self-centered sense of the word. Sometimes your enjoyment should not ...
8
I will tell you something that has completely changed my avodas Hashem. You have to stop focusing on yourself and start focusing on God. This sounds very simple but in practice is very hard to do. That means coming to terms with the fact that, in whatever way we can understand this, God is (k'vayachol) pained or unhappy that his children are in exile and ...
8
I think that the question presupposes that the coming of Moshiach is a reward for our work during the era of exile, and in that case that's a fair point, since we're supposed to do mitzvos "not in order to receive reward" (Avos 1:3).
However, the Lubavitcher Rebbe zt"l cites in this connection a statement by R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi (Tanya, ch. 37) that ...
7
We are fortunate that these great people recorded such personal moments, because it shows us that they were human, and they struggled with situations no less difficult than any of us. Lest anyone say "this and this posek was not grounded in reality; he never experienced the real world," these words demonstrate an involvement in the same emotional struggle of ...
7
You have several assumptions in your question.
First: "deadly virus that can never be reversed, cured, or stopped". It's a basic assumption in your question, but it is not supported. There is no such thing. Just from a biological basis a virus depends on its host to survive, if it kills the host the virus dies too. This balance prevents any virus from ...
7
Not a complete answer, but the first step is to truly learn about Moshiach and the Messianic era. Understanding the fundamentals about why Judaism necessitates a belief in Moshiach in the first place.
Yoel Kahan wrote a Sefer (book) explaining why Moshiach and the Resurrection of the Dead are two of the Rambam's 13 principles of faith. Why does he consider ...
7
By the way, generally a "Talmudist" means someone who studies the Talmud; the rabbis who wrote the Talmud are known as The Sages, Hazal (an acronym for "our sages of blessed memory"), or the Tannaim (those before the year 200) and Amoraim (from 200 to 500).
Okay, let's back up here.
The reading of Deuteronomy is a very nuanced one, which your translation ...
6
Judicial execution is not the same as murder. The same torah that says "do not murder" also calls for the death penalty for certain transgressions, so there must be a difference.
Tractate Sanhedrin discusses capital punishment in a fair bit of detail. There are strict rules, but nonetheless a death sentence is possible and does not violate lo tirtzach.
6
The Ohr HaChaim writes (Bereishis 1:1 note 3):
אמרו ז''ל (חגיגה טו.) במעשה מט''ט שדנוהו לפני אלישע ומחיוהו שתין פולסי
דנורא, וגם אליהו וכו' (ב''מ פה:) וכמה משפטים לשרי מעלה, והגם שאין להם
יצר, עם כל זה ימצא בהם הטעות, כי לפעמים לא יכוונו אל האמת וישגו, וצא
ולמד ממעשה המלאך מט''ט ואליהו כי שגגו וכן יקר מקרה ויענישם ה' אפילו על
השוגג מה שאין שופט ...
6
I think the question is the phrase "crying for chinam". My suspicion is it's not "you cried about something unimportant", rather it's "you cried when there was every reason not to."
G-d had promised them they'd enter the land, and here they were crying "oh boo hoo we won't enter the land", there was no reason for them to be sad.
Whereas if my favorite team ...
6
The Shulchan Aruch Harav writes (597:1) (based on Rishonim and Tur/Shulchan Aruch):
ומצוה לאכול ולשתות ולשמוח בראש השנה כמ"ש בסי' תקפ"א אמנם לא יאכלו כל
שבעם למען לא יקילו ראשם ותהיה יראת ה' על פניהם
My translation:
It is a mitzvah to eat and drink and rejoice on Rosh Hashana, as is explained in Siman 581. However one should not eat to full ...
6
Disclaimer: As recommended by @DoubleAA and mentioned above by @SethJ, the translation of "Moshiach" is "anointed". It has been used to refer to other people besides the final redeemer. Nevertheless, it has come to refer, nowadays almost exclusively, to the final redeemer. Herein I will use Moshiach to refer to the final redeemer, as is common.
The Tanach ...
6
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman has an excellent article entitled "What is the Purpose of Existence?" He thoroughly examines the classical answers to the question of G-d's purpose in creating the world (to reveal His abilities, to be able to practice good etc), and explains the difficulties with them, and concludes with the explanation offered by the Chassidic masters:
...
6
Basically, it's prohibited.
Deuteronomy states "there shall not be a prostitute among the sons or daughters of Israel"; so clearly there is a prohibition on prostitution. (For Jews. Jews expect non-Jews to follow some basics of ethical monotheism, known as the Seven Noahide Laws; this means we expect non-Jews to not commit adultery, however prostitution per ...
5
Rav Yaaqov Medan wrote this article about using the Exodus from Egypt as the reference point for years on 5/11/315. That's right: he wrote it on the 5th of Shevat in the year 3315 AE (After the Exodus). He claims to use that notation for all of his "dating in memoranda that he sends to academics, legalists and government officials with whom he comes into ...
5
Your first question is a duplicate of When did we start counting the Year since Creation?
In answer to your second question, I have no source, but I would be shocked if the answer was more complex than that the originators of this counting system simply believed (as many still do, myself included) that it was completely accurate.
I suppose that those ...
5
The Mishnah (Uktzin 3:12 - the concluding mishnah of Shas) states that "in the future Hashem will cause each tzaddik to inherit 310 worlds." These are understood to be spiritual realms (R. Shmuel of Lubavitch, Maamar Shabchi Yerushalayim 5627); but since the physical is an outgrowth of the spiritual, it may well be that there is actual physical "real estate" ...
5
Some time before the 18th of Av, 1943, The Lubavitcher Rebbe wrote a letter to R' Moshe Dov Ber Rivkin, Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva Mesivta Torah Vodaath.
That letter is translated into English in a book called "Led By G-d's Hand".
In the letter, the Lubavitcher Rebbe outlines "An overview of the different conceptions advanced by the Torah sages preceding the ...
5
The famous comment of the Ramban at the end of Parshas Bo
“And from the great and well-known miracles a man comes to admit to
hidden miracles which are the foundation of the whole Torah. A person
has no portion in the Torah of Moses unless he believes that all our
matters and circumstances are miracles and they do not follow nature
or the general ...
5
This amounts to a non-religious perspective that is informed by a deep personal familiarity with the history and beliefs of Christianity, and by having several close Jewish friends, one a rabbi, with whom I've had many delightful conversations.
I would first note that on a personal level, antisemitism baffles me in a way that makes me wonder if I missed the ...
5
The Baal Hatanya explains in Torah Ohr (נה,ד) that
ישראל מפרנסין לאביהם שבשמים
Israel are providers to their father in heaven.
Which he brings from The Midrash Rabbah Shir Hashirim 1:9:
רעיתי מהו רעיתי אמר רבי יונתן מפרנסתי הן
What does "My Beloved" mean? Rabbi Yonasan says they are my provider.
According to chassidus, this is an ...
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