Judaism and Economics: The Link between Judaism and Economic Life

Author(s): Stanisław Fel,Magdalena Zdun / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2014

This article deals with the relationship of Judaism to economic activity. The subject is the typical approach of Jewish ethical thought, concerning the understanding of money, wealth, jobs and economic initiatives. Issues related to fundamental economic life are shown to be covered in the books that the Jewish community considers sacred. Particularly important are the Old Testament and the Talmud. Also important are references to the cultural interpretation of Judaism, including the classical works on the subject – Jacques Attali and Werner Sombart. The key concept is the subject of “wealth,” the meaning of which is derived from the Bible’s Book of Exodus and the Talmud. Finally, the foundations for Jewish economic thought can be expressed as the product of an embedded culture, which is founded on religion, in which property acquires ethical legitimacy. The argument is crowned with historical examples of the noble economic activity of the Jewish people, which also give evidence of the interrelatedness of religion and the proper use of wealth.

Symbolika liczby siedem w traktacie kabalistycznym Sefer ha-temuna

Author(s): Dominika Górnicz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2016

In recent decades, there has been increasing criticism of the dichotomy which is deeply rooted in research on religion and Judaism, namely the dichotomy between linear and cyclical notion of time with categories of history and myth respectively related to them. The aim of this article is to point out how in one religious tradition different models of time can coexist and be inextricably intertwined. The text which supports this idea is the anonymous kabbalistic treatise entitled Sefer ha-Temunah, probably composed in the mid-14th century within areas of the Byzantine Empire. The main topic of this treatise is the kabbalistic doctrine of cosmic cycles (shemittot and yovel), which is an idea of worlds periodically created and returning into a state of chaos. In this work I adapt Moshe Idel’s view, according to which the elementary structure of time in Judaism in its ritual dimension is based not on relations between precisely defined events, but on the central role played by the number seven and the process of counting to seven itself. The paper examines what role is played by the number seven and the system of associations constructed over it in the cyclical concept of time presented in Sefer ha-Temunah. I also adopt the assumptions of theory of ritual by Roy A. Rappaport to indicate that the source of the idea of cyclical time in cosmic scale is the experience of repeatability of events in ritual. This view is confirmed on the basis of the hermeneutics of Sefer ha-Temunah and allows a better understanding of this text.

Od Jehudy Halewiego do Johanna Buxtorfa Młodszego: Sefer ha-bahir w żydowskiej i chrześcijańskiej debacie na temat punktacji masoreckiej

Author(s): Jan Doktór / Language(s): Polish Issue: 03/2017

The Masoretes of Tiberias, who determined the binding consonant text of the Tanakh as well as vocalizing it, preformed a virtual revolution in the Judaic world, which also had serious implications for religions stemming from the Biblical tradition, first of all Christianity, and to a smaller extent for Islam, too. By presenting the final, as it appeared, comprehensible and unequivocal text of the Revelation, the Masoretes were raising the status of the Hebrew Bible to the rank of a firm, immovable foundation of religions, especially the Jewish religion. The theological implications for Christianity were far-reaching too: the established text of the Bible undermined the status of the binding translations of same: the Greek Septuagint in the Eastern churches and the Latin Vulgata in the Roman Catholic Church, which had been translated from other versions of the Hebrew text.In the debates on the significance of the mesorah it was crucial to establish whether the punctuation constituted a part of Moses’ revelation or whether it was added to the text of the Bible later and as such, would not be an object of faith. The Christian students of Hebrew were critical of this “novelty,” which undermined the prestige of the Vulgata and even falsified the Biblical prophecies at many places. Most of the Jewish scholars sought to enhance the prestige of both the text as determined by the Masoretes and the vocalization proposed by them. It was much the same with the Kabbalah. The first Kabbalist print in which the Masoretic signs were discussed and interpreted at length was Sefer ha-bahir. Its editors regarded the Masoretic signs as a key to the understanding of creation and redemption. A similar position was taken by Sefer ha-zohar and other writings. It was only in the mid-16th century that the grammarian Elias the Levite began to argue that the Masoretic punctuation must have been devised already after the edition of the Talmud. The Christian students of Hebrew were similarly divided as regards the Masoretic punctuation: the Protestant theologians began to support the antiquity of the mesorah, while contradicting the Catholic theologians, who still regarded the vocalization signage as a Jewish “novelty” and defended the authority of the Vulgata. When embarking on a public dispute with the critics of the revealed nature of the mesorah, the Calvinist students of Hebrew referred to Jewish sources and sought to make them available to the public at large. Johannes Buxtorf the Younger published Sefer Kuzari in Basel in 1660 in a bilingual version. However, he dared not publish Sefer ha-bahir himself, having presumably decided that it will be more practical for the Jews themselves to do it. That task was undertaken by the first Ashkenazic printing house in Amsterdam, with the help of Calvinist scholar Jacob Bartolin. This must have been the reason why the text was not printed using the rashi font, typically employed for this kind of texts and also used in subsequent editions of the Bahir, but a square type, which was easier for a non-Jewish reader to read.

General Remarks on “The Serpent” as the Central Notion of the Torah and the Symbol of Life Itself.

Author(s): Aryeh Mikołaj Krawczyk / Language(s): English,Hebrew Issue: 03/2017

This paper presents a tentative outline for the research field, dedicated to the “serpent” theme within the tradition of Torah’s commentaries, with the special focus on kabbalistic tradition. The analysis of this theme is followed by hypothesis claiming that “serpent” is – among other meanings – a symbol of “life”. This text is a prelude to broader research on such defined notion of “serpent” in the kabbalistic tradition. Point of reference for this research is a small treatise by 13th/14th century, r. Yosef Gikatilla, entitled Sod ha-Nachash u-Mishpato, “The Secret of the Serpent and Judgment upon Him”. Segments of a preliminary version of translation of this treatise are presented therein. A preliminary version of the original text is also included.

Bezpieczne zamieszkanie izraela - orędzie ezechiela

Author(s): Andrzej Sebastian Jasiński OFM / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2015

This article examines the concepts of the secure dwelling of Israel in the Book of Ezekiel in four parts: 1. Ezekiel: The prophet of the turning point of the time. The Book of Ezekiel attempts a complete program of restoration of the Israel in the time of the Ехіїе. Just a prophet Isaiah (Is 33:18) wrote about ПІШЕ? ЛПІІПЭ1 (tranquil dwellings). This vision was far away for Ezekiel’s time because he lived through the greatest crisis in ancient Israel’s history the loss of independence in the promised land, ехіїе of the leading citizens to ВаЬуІопіа. In that time the new act of revival by Yahweh will consequently consist in his creating his people as an obedient and law abiding people. 2. The root П£2Л as ,,a self-confidence”. The root ПЙЛ has the meaning: to feel secure, be unconcerned or to feel a false security, like in Ez 16:15: But you became infatuated (,палГ11) with your oum beauty and used your fame to play the ivhore, lavishing your debauchery on ali comers. Ezekiel is uncompromising in his condemnation of Israel’s infidelity to Yahweh. 3. The root пал as „a security” offered by Yahweh. Yahweh had promised that after the judgment of Jerusalem he would remember his covenant: I shall tаке a covenant of peace with them; I shall rid the country of wild animals. They will be able to live secure (ПШ/1) in the desert and go to sleep in the woods (Ez 34:25). In this words Ezekiel shows the way of the secure live for Israel. 4. A security guaranteed by Yahweh. Israel will be separated off as a holy people, and nothing profane would defile the tribes in the new land. Yahweh is the unrivaled Lord of the Israel’s history. The orade against Gog foresees the people of the Lord as prosperous and secure in his land: So, son of man, prophesy. Say to Gog, “The Lord Yah- tveh says this: Is it not true that you will set out at a time when ту people Israel is living secure (ПуЛ7 Ь^ПІІГ)? (Ez 38:14). The glory of Yahweh in the temple of a new city (Ez 43:1-9) guaranteed a security live of Israel: The пате of the city in future must be: Yahweh-is-there (Ez 48:35).

Człowiek odpowiada sercem na dary Boga

Author(s): Sławomir Stasiak / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2015

God knows the heart of man examining his emotions, feelings, moods, passions, thoughts, the will of the believer, and even his conscience (Rom 8:27). The only proper human response is to take such action regarding the rights granted to him by God as to gain admiration in his eyes. Metaphor of this attitude is the “circumcision of the heart” (Rom 2:28-29), which opposes both circumcised only the body and the heart that is uncircumcised. Showing the positive response of people to the Gospel preached to them, the Apostle remains grateful to the Romans for the fact that they accepted it and became totally obedient. This is what he means when he writes that they became “obedient from the heart” (Rom 6:17). Even such an attitude does not guarantee the avoidance of doubt, which is why the Apostle warned the recipients of his letter before thinking and issuing judgments on a basis other than faith in Jesus Christ (Rom 10:6-7). This State is due to the fact that already in the hearts of the Gentiles the law had been inscribed that makes proper functioning of conscience (Rom 2:15). The situation becomes even more evident with the adoption of faith in Jesus Christ, for then the love of God was poured out in the hearts of believers (Rom 5:5). This reality, however, is not a constant and static, because it is associated with the Word which is proclaimed, and that is on the lips and in the heart of the Christian (Rom 10:8). To allow this to come to fruition faith must gain a dual dimension: the outer expressed with lips and internal adoption in the heart (Rom 10:9-10). But man can respond negatively to gifts offered him by God. Wandering in their thinking he indulges in idolatry, and as a consequence his heart plunges into darkness (Rom 1:21). For Paul wandering in thinking and bad behavior is a manifestation of God’s wrath. Only the adoption of the light of Gospel can deliver him from such a State. But if man allows his heart to donate to the lusts (Rom 1:24), they become prey to all kinds of ritual impurity, cultic and sexualabuse. Especially the latter contributes to its degradation. The man confirmed as unable to understand the change of mindset, the conversion results in the accumulation of anger in the day of judgment (Rom 2:5-6), in place of good works. Such a degraded man does not serve Christ, but only their own lusts. And by far deceives those who have not experienced evil (Rom 16:18). So it is impossible for a perverse heart not to bring negative conseąuences to other people.Paul used interesting references to his heart (he kardia mou, he eme kardia) writing about his great desire for the salvation of his countrymen. He saw clearly the danger of exclusion of Israel as a result of their rejection of the Gospel. Therefore, first he wrote about his great sorrow and unceasing pain (Rom 9:1-2), and then with great desire and prayers for their salvation (Rom 10:1).

Liturgia trzech głównych świąt żydowskich

Author(s): Karol Jasiński / Language(s): Polish Issue: 19/2012

The paper concerns to the liturgy of the three main festivals of Judaism (Passover, Harvest Festival and Festival of Shelters). There are the following common elements of it: liturgical community in the shrine (Gilgal, Shiloh, Gibeah, Jerusalem), pilgrimages with psalms, processions (with lamps, sprigs and water), renovation of the covenant (reading of Torah) and offerings (animals, grains, bread, oil, wine, water). The author presents not only the liturgical rites, but mentions the spiritual dimensions of them.

TEURGIA ŚWIATŁA. Wybrane zagadnienia mistyki światła w judaizmie

Author(s): Tomasz Sikora / Language(s): Polish Issue: 3/2017

This article presents selected issues of light mysticism in the texts of medieval Kabbalah. First, the author focuses on the basic considerations that place this topic in the context of general anthropological and religious studies. Following that the description of the semantics of Hebrew light terminology, as well as notes on the concept of space and ether, and the function of meditation practice in early Kabbalah, serve as an introduction to the translation of relevant source texts by Azriel of Gerona (?) and Moshe de Leon illustrating the discussed issues. The article results in comments on problems and limitations of understanding and interpretation of the Kabbalistic sources.

The Israel Philosophy Association 16 Annual Conference (February 18, 2013, Bar-Ilan University, Bet Harav Jakobovits for the Study of Philosophy, Ethics, and Jewish Thought)

Author(s): Martin Vacek / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2013

The Israel Philosophy Association 16 Annual Conference (February 18, 2013, Bar-Ilan University, Bet Harav Jakobovits for the Study of Philosophy, Ethics, and Jewish Thought)

The primeval waters in israelite and jewish religious thought

Author(s): Radu Cosmin Săvulescu / Language(s): English Issue: 01/2017

The aim of this paper is to discuss the most important aspects concerning the presence of the primeval waters in the Israelite and Jewish thought, with an emphasis on the first book of the Torah. The research took into account the similarities and differences between the creation narrative from Genesis and from the Mesopotamian poem “Enuma elish”. The main conclusion is that although the concept of primeval waters from the Israelite and Jewish religious thought is essentially similar to its Mesopotamian counterpart, the Biblical authors managed to transform and integrate it into the general framework of their strict monotheism.

Vajda Lajos zsidósága: rétegek és kontextusok

Author(s): Dániel Véri / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 4/2018

VJERA BIBLIJSKOGA ČOVJEKA

Author(s): Karlo Višaticki / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 2/2013

Faith is always a kind of adventure in which a person engages. It is a gift , and also a personal position that must be consistent and in line with God on one hand, and on the other hand, with the society in which man lives. Behind the word faith is the Hebrew word aman, which came to us through the Septuagint and the Vulgate. The article brings the etymology of the Hebrew word, which presents the starting point for further theological reflection. This word appears in the Hebrew forms nifal, hifil, and we also find derivatives amen, emunah and emet. We are given an overview of the most important places in the Bible containing these phrases. The classic places that are most discussed in theology are Gen 15:6; 2 Sam 7; Isa 7:16. These are intensive forms (hifil), suggesting in addition at the linguistic level that it is a serious matter, a person’s position. Abraham believed in God’s words, he had faith in them and for that he was rewarded. He thus becomes the prototype for the faithful. The prophet Nathan comes to David and speaks to him about the future, not the house that David wants to build for the Lord, but about his family, his lineage. It will be established, and endure before the Lord.

Mistyczny kontakt z Bogiem w Księdze światła ukrytego (Sefer ha-bahir)

Author(s): Wojciech Brojer / Language(s): Polish Issue: 01/2019

Sefer ha-bahir, The Book of the Hidden Light, written around the middle of the 13th century, was the response of the Languedoc mystics milieu to the appearance of the Talmud among European Jews. In the 12th and 13th century, the tosafists, the successors to Rashi, the first Ashkenazi commentator of the Babylonian tradition, were exerting increasingly strong pressure on the diaspora to accept Talmud as the only true (written) Oral Torah (Tora she-be-‘al pe), revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai. The authors of Sefer ha-bahir were forced to record their own tradition as the Oral Torah. The dispute concerned not only the content of the competing traditions but first of all the paths of the Divine revelation thereof. The Talmudists ruled out the presence of the spirit of prophesizing in Israel following the demolition of the Temple. As they built the tradition of Talmud over the centuries, they believed that they only predict and reproduce based on rational rules the Sinai revelation, received by means of a continuous relay of the generations (seder ha-kabala) going back to Moses and Aaron. This approach was countered by the mysticism of the merkava and the abundant visionary literature (hekhalot), based on the view that also after the demolition of the Temple an uninterrupted contact with the Divine world, the discovering of its secrets, the gift of prophecy and a new revelation are possible, provided that certain conditions are met. This conviction was cherished by the leading authorities of the diaspora, Jehuda ha-Levi, Maimonides, the Rhineland pietists. It was also shared by the Languedoc mystics. According to their declaration, it was precisely in this manner, through mystical contact with God, that Israel actually received the direct revelation of the Oral Torah, recorded in the Book of the Bright. The article seeks to demonstrate that the authors of the treatise accomplished a profound change of the mystical perceptions and of the model of contact with God. The mechanism serving such communion, developed by traditional mystics and commonly accepted in the Middle Ages, was the individual ascension (‘ala) of the mystagogue, or his soul and thoughts, over the successive stages of the journey toward the Divine chariot and the attachment (devekut) to God or Its aspect (glory, shekhina, sefirot). In Sefer ha-bahir the study of the Torah and prayer release an immediate and collective contact with the superior world, they force the descent of God (jerida Jhvh) to Israel, its communion with the latter and the vesting of the gift of prophecy in it. At the same time, this act has a theurgical dimension, influencing the condition of the Divine world and restoring unity (jichud) to the Divine pleroma. In The Book of the Hidden Light, we see the creation of a mystical mechanism that will dominate the imagination of the Polish Hassidim in the future.

HEIDEGGER ŞI KABBALA. REPERE PE DRUMUL NIMICULUI

Author(s): Radu Cernătescu / Language(s): Romanian,Moldavian Issue: 4/2019

In theauthor’s opinion, Heidegger approached Jewish mysticism more than the exegeteshave accepted. Through Kabbala denudata of Knorr von Rosenroth, which inspiredthe Leibniz’s theodicy and his principle of “abyssal ground”, seen by Heidegger as the“revelation of nothingness in the heart of being”1, a mystical point of view seems tohave influenced Heidegger with an essential concept: ain soph. Ttranslated by theZohar as “the non-existent” or “the great nothingness”, this abiguous term can give usby its connotative loading a more accurate perspective of what Heidegger wanted toexpress through das Nichts, and helping us to understand why being can be seen as asublime transcendence of nothingness. This parallel between Heidegger and Jewishesotericism make more comprehensive the Heidegger’s ontocrony, as a metaphoricrelocation of transcendence in time.

My Żydzi…

Author(s): Artur Sandauer / Language(s): Polish Issue: 6/2018

Грчки превод јеврејских светих списа

Author(s): Ljiljana Jovanović / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 3/2019

The paper deals with the Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures, the characteristics of the translation, the scientific theories about the origin and process of translation. The aim of the paper is to define the term “Septuagint” and the status this translation occupies in modern science, that is, to point out the importance of the Greek translation as an important testimony to the development of the biblical text.

Vademecum Księgi światła ukrytego

Author(s): Bohdan Kos / Language(s): Polish Issue: 04/2019

The short dictionary of the Book of the Hidden Light (Sefer ha-bahir) is an analysis of the theology of the 13th century mystical Hebrew treatise Sefer ha-bahir, considered to be the most important testament of the early Kabbalah. Inevitably, this analysis is sketchy and fragmentary, yet it looks into a number of notions that are fundamental for this treatise: the relations between numbers and their significance for Genesis, the Hebrew language with its interplay between consonants and vowels as the medium of divine revelation, the Hebrew alphabet and its symbolical pronunciation. The text is to be included in a bilingual, Hebrew-Polish edition of Sefer ha-bahir, The Book of the Hidden Light. At the same time, it conveys a very personal view of the treatise, which should facilitate its reception by its readers.

Kései virág és örökkévaló vallás Löw Immánuel válogatott művei. Virág és vallás

Author(s): Vilmos Voigt / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 2/2019

Löw Immánuel válogatott művei. Virág és vallás. Szerkesztette: Hidvégi Máté – Ungvári Tamás. Scolar Kiadó – Löw Heritage Alapítvány, [Budapest], 2019, 303 lap, XVI képmelléklet

Heller Ági 90

Author(s): Niszán Hirschmann / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 4/2019

„Járványos” gondolatok

Author(s): Szilvia Czingel / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 1/2020