See also: Jewish philosophy, Christian philosophy

He spent ten months lecturing on Jewish philosophy and Torah at Warsaw's Institute for Jewish Studies.

Heschel explicated many facets of Jewish thought including studies on medieval Jewish philosophy, Kabbalah, and Hasidism.

In all, Steinsaltz has authored some 60 books and hundreds of articles on subjects including Talmud, Jewish mysticism, Jewish philosophy, sociology, historical biography, and philosophy.

[...] This is the approach of philosophy, and its appearance in Ecclesiastes probably reflects a Jewish awareness of this type of thinking among foreign intellectuals.

The philosophy upon which A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice is written is stated in the foreword: " The premise on which Torah is based is that all aspects of life-leisure no less than business, worship or rites of passage ( birth, bar mitzvah, marriage, divorce, death )-are part of the covenant and mandate under which every Jew is to serve God in everything he does.

Judaism ( from the Latin Iudaismus, derived from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, and ultimately from the Hebrew יהודה, Yehudah, " Judah "; in Hebrew: י ַ ה ֲ דו ּ ת, Yahadut, the distinctive characteristics of the Judean ethnos ) is the religion, philosophy and way of life of the Jewish people.

** Jewish philosophy

Jewish philosophy refers to the conjunction between serious study of philosophy and Jewish theology.

Modern Jewish philosophy consists of both Orthodox and non-Orthodox oriented philosophy.

Conservative Judaism's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, which until December 2006 held the same position as Orthodoxy, recently issued multiple opinions under its philosophy of pluralism, with one opinion continuing to follow the Orthodox position and another opinion substantially liberalizing its view of homosexual sex and relationships while continuing to regard certain sexual acts as prohibited.

It is remarkable that despite all this he managed to fit in the composition of massive treatises, including not only medical and other scientific studies but some of the most systematically thought-through and influential treatises on halachah ( Rabbinic law ) and Jewish philosophy of the Middle Ages.

But Maimonides was also one of the most influential figures in medieval Jewish philosophy.

His primary work, wherein he describes Jewish philosophy, is his Histories ( ca.

Kaplan, a critic of both Orthodox and Reform Judaism, believed that Jewish practice should be reconciled with modern thought, a philosophy reflected in his Sabbath Prayer Book ..." Due to Kaplan's evolving position on Jewish theology and the liturgy, he was also condemned as a heretic by members of Young Israel.

The classic work of Jewish mysticism whose origins date back 2000 years, the Zohar, is quoted liberally in all Jewish learning ; in the Zohar the idea of reincarnation is mentioned repeatedly.

Other views of God affirmed by members of the Conservative movement include Kabbalistic mysticism ; Hasidic panentheism ( neo-Hasidism, Jewish Renewal ); limited theism ( as in Harold Kushner's When Bad Things Happen to Good People ); and organic thinking in the fashion of Alfred North Whitehead and Charles Hartshorne, also known as process theology ( such as Rabbis Max Kaddushin, William E. Kaufman, or Bradley Shavit Artson ).

During the Middle Ages, passages from the Sefer Yetzirah ( Book of Creation ) were studied as a means to attain the mystical ability to create and animate a golem, although there is little in the writings of Jewish mysticism that supports this belief.

Alongside this, there was also a rise in interest in a form of Jewish mysticism known as the Kabbalah, which was spread across the continent by Pico della Mirandola and Johannes Reuchlin.

Her story was greatly developed, during the Middle Ages, in the tradition of Aggadic midrashim, the Zohar and Jewish mysticism.

This bodily position and the practice of rhythmically breathing while invoking a divine name seems to be common to both Jewish Merkabah mysticism and Christian Hesychasm.

Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the — () in Sephardi Hebrew, () in Ashkenazi Hebrew and Yiddish, meaning " piety " ( or " loving kindness "), is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith.

Its charismatic mysticism has inspired non-Orthodox Neo-Hasidic thinkers and influenced wider modern Jewish denominations, while its scholarly thought has interested contemporary academic study.

In Poland, where the bulk of Yiddish-speaking Jewry had established itself by the 18th century, three branches of Yiddishkheit emerged: those who opposed the predominant study of Kabbalah ( Jewish mysticism ) and those who supported it ; and the Yiddish theater culture of secularism also in Lithuania originally but getting to the whole Yiddish speaking society.

In Lithuania and Estonia, the Jewish masses lived mainly in densely populated towns where anti-kabbalistic ( mysticism ) rabbinical academic culture ( in the yeshivot ) flourished based on just the simple understanding getting deeper from there.

His role and unique talent as a teacher and communicator of mystical revival began a new era in Jewish mysticism.

Historically, Kabbalah emerged, after earlier forms of Jewish mysticism, in 12th-to 13th-century Southern France and Spain, becoming reinterpreted in the Jewish mystical renaissance of 16th-century Ottoman Palestine.

In addition to bridging this class gap, Hasidic teachings sought to reintroduce joy in the performance of the commandments and in prayer through the popularisation of Jewish mysticism ( this joy had been suppressed in the intense intellectual study of the Talmud ).

22b, 23a, 49b ), the book of Jewish mysticism and collection of writings on the Torah written by first century tannaic sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai ( Rashbi ), tells of a celestial manifestation, which causes the crowing of the roosters ; known also in the Talmud, is " blessed be He who has given the cock intelligence ,"( Ber.

Category: Jewish mysticism

Following the dissemination of the Zohar in the 13th century, Jewish mysticism took on a metaphorically anthropomorphic erotic element, and Song of Songs is an example of this.

Jewish mysticism depicts the tree of Life in the form of ten interconnected nodes, as an important part of the Kabbalah.

Over time, the general view in the Jewish community came to be one of acceptance of Moses de Leon's claims, with the Zohar seen as an authentic book of mysticism passed down from the 2nd century.

Two influences on Boole were later claimed by his wife, Mary Everest Boole: a universal mysticism tempered by Jewish thought, and Indian logic .. Mary Boole stated that an adolescent mystical experience provided for his life's work:

* Kabbalah, system of Jewish mysticism

He taught them that true Divine service consisted of not only religious scholarship, but also a sincere love of God combined with warm faith and belief in the efficacy of prayer ; that the ordinary person filled with a sincere belief in God, and whose prayers come from the heart, is more acceptable to God than someone versed in and fully observant of Jewish law who lacks inspiration in his divine service.

The Talmud suggests that this was a result of Divine Providence: God had granted the Jewish people another leader of great stature to succeed Rabbi Akiva.

Orthodox Judaism holds that, given Jewish law's Divine origin, no underlying principle may be compromised in accounting for changing political, social or economic conditions ; in this sense, " creativity " and development in Jewish law is limited.

In this world view, the Mishnaic and Talmudic rabbis are closer to the Divine revelation ; by corollary, one must be extremely conservative in changing or adapting Jewish law.

Furthermore, Orthodox Judaism holds that, given Jewish law's Divine origin, no underlying principle may be compromised in accounting for changing political, social or economic conditions ; in this sense, " creativity " and development in Jewish law is held to have been limited.

Through beneficent deeds and Jewish observance, the Jewish people restore cosmic harmony in the Divine realm, healing the exile of the Shechina with God's transcendence, revealing the essential Unity of God.

In Kabbalah, while God is an absolutely simple ( non-compound ), infinite Unity beyond grasp, as described in Jewish philosophy by Maimonides, through His Kabbalistic manifestations such as the Sephirot and the Shekhinah ( Divine Presence ), we relate to the living dynamic Divinity that emanates, enclothes, is revealed in, and incorporates, the multifarious spiritual and physical plurality of Creation within the Infinite Unity.

See Divine Providence in Jewish thought.

* Divine Providence in Contemporary Jewish thought

This accords with Maimonides ' philosophical ruling of Divine Jewish principles of faith | incorporality, and the stress by Kabbalah | Kabbalists of the metaphorical nature of their anthropomorphic concepts.

Sometimes the hands are arranged to form an overlapping lattice of ' windows ', referring to a ceremony sometimes called Nesiat Kapayim, the " lifting of the hands ", in which Jewish tradition states the Divine Presence would shine through the fingers of the priests as they blessed the people, who close their eyes as the light could be blinding.

The word, sometimes rendered by its English translation " service ", may refer to an elaborate formal ritual such as the Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy () and Catholic Mass, or a daily activity such as the Muslim salat and Jewish services.

In traditional Jewish thought, Divine punishment is the unfolding of the processes of God's attribute of strict justice, usually mitigated or delayed by God's attribute of benevolent mercy.

This view of suffering as stemming from Divine love, is articulated in different language by the different levels of traditional Jewish thought, from the " Revealed " dimensions of Torah, to its mystical " Hidden " dimensions.

Both traditional Jewish thought and revisionist views may look to different conceptions of the Eclipse of God, from temporary removal of the Divine countenance to inherent limitations to God.

The power of mystical interpretation to sweeten traditional Jewish notions of Divine judgement was vividly demonstrated by Hasidim in the concentration camps, who often retained their faith and fervour.

Traditional Kabbalists see it as the inner, metaphysical interpretations, hidden within the Divine Scripture and voice from Sinai, while non-Orthodox seekers of mysticism have seen it as a profound and insightful attempt by man, to probe the Jewish mysteries of the Divine.

In later works, he makes it clear that Jewish sovereignty is dependent only on Divine Providence.

This widely-held belief, this most unusual Jewish concept is based on a Talmudic statement to the effect that in every generation 36 righteous " greet the Shechinah ," the Divine Presence ( Tractate Sanhedrin 97b ; Tractate Sukkah 45b ).

This articulation of Hasidic thought could incorporate the different disciplines of mysticism and philosophy, together with the other aspects of Jewish study, by relating to the Divine soul within each approach.