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#31 Eretz Yisrael, Land of Holiness, according to the Kuzari
What is the most central aspect of a Torah life, the axis of all spiritual experience? Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi gives a surprising answer which is foundational to his system of man’s connection to the divine: the Holy Land. If a land can be hallowed, then the dimension of holiness can be manifest in the physical […]
#30 Man, Center of Reality
Man searches for absolute truth, a precise system of God’s ways. But is there one definitive solution? What if our opinions themselves affect nature and determine how God acts? It may sound like science fiction, but Chazal state it clearly: God modifies His ways according to human opinion. His connection with man is absolutely imperative, […]
#29 The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Empire, part 2
How did the city so full of people become so alone? So begins the great lament, with a question that also hints – in coded language – to an answer. What made Israel a godly nation and what led to their downfall? Seen through the lens of Moshe’s parting speech to his people in the […]
#28 The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Empire, part 1
How did the city so full of people become so alone? So begins the great lament, with a question that also hints – in coded language – to an answer. What made Israel a godly nation and what led to their downfall? Seen through the lens of Moshe’s parting speech to his people in the […]
#27 Negative Theology; from Rabbeinu Sa’adiah Gaon to the Mekubalim
What do we know about God? This is the most central dispute between the rival philosophic and esoteric schools of Jewish thought. Armed with ink and quill, the opposing camps have waged impassioned and heated battles throughout the centuries. Rabbeinu Sa’adiah Gaon, Rambam and others assert that it is impossible to understand Hashem’s essence. We […]
#26 The Chosen People, according to Kuzari and Shaarei Orah
Why was one nation chosen from among the seventy – are all human beings not equal before the one God? No, says Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi, most emphatically not. In the sublime system of the Kuzari, the nation of Yisrael alone is a metaphysical, divine people. Only its members can be prophets, and only in their […]
#25 Reincarnation of Souls, from Rabbeinu Sa’adiah Gaon to Ramchal
Rabbeinu Sa’adiah Gaon considered it preposterous. Mekubalim attributed it to Eliyahu HaNavi. Abarbanel and others adduced the authority of Pythagoras in its support. Hotly debated for thousands of years, the mystical doctrine of gilgul is given cogent form by Ramchal. The recurring rules of reality are based on divine attributes that appear and reappear throughout […]
#24 The Relationship between Man and Woman
After completing each creation God saw “that it was good” and after completing the whole of creation “that everything He made was very good.” All was complete and perfect – except for just one thing: “It is not good for man to be alone.” Cosmic goodness was in jeopardy, hinging on the rectification of this […]
#23 Torah vs Prophets: Knowing God
The Torah’s message differs from the prophets’: the former focuses on law, the latter on morals. Concomitantly, the prophets taught knowledge of God, while the Torah indicates that this is an impossibility: He is utterly unknowable. If you can know Hashem, then you should emulate Him; if you cannot, then you should obey the fixed, […]