Jewish Thought

American Jewish Feminism: The Movement Matures

Moving beyond equal access to express women's sensibilities and experiences in Jewish life and organizations.

“Whose Leaves Do Not Wither”

In Jewish sources, the leaf is a metaphor for the fragility and durability of life.

Rav Kook & Vegetarianism

This major 20th-century Jewish thinker saw vegetarianism as the biblical ideal to which humankind should work to return.

Sabbatical and Jubilee Years as a Social and Political Vision

Behind these biblical practices is a vision of how politics, economics, and relations to the environment should be structured that makes manifest spiritual concerns as well.

The Denial of Free Will in Hasidic Thought

According to some Hasidic thinkers, human free will is an illusion; God causes all human actions.

The Influence of Non-Jewish Thinking on Jewish Thought

Jewish thinkers have both embraced and directly reacted to foreign ideas and philosophies.

Jewish Thinkers & Thought 101

It is difficult to speak of a single or official Jewish worldview, theology, or philosophy. Instead, we must speak of Jewish theologies and philosophies: the various and varied religious worldviews articulated during Judaism's long history.

Free Will in Judaism 101

Jewish tradition assumes that our actions are significant.

Medieval Jewish Philosophy: Reason in a Religious Age

The philosophers of the Middle Ages believed they were unearthing existing wisdom, not creating new ideas.

Hardened Hearts: Some Explanations

Medieval commentators suggested justifications for God's hardening Pharaoh's heart.

Free Will Problem in Judaism

The idea that God controls the world, determining the trajectory and details of its history, is strong in Judaism and is one of the theological issues that contributes to the Jewish problem of free will.

Jewish Theology of Business Ethics

Themes and Theology of Business Ethics in the Jewish Tradition. Jewish Business Ethics. Jewish Work and Commerce.