Jewish Thought

Nachman Krochmal: A Guide for the Perplexed of His Era

Nachman Krochmal pioneered the idea of historical-critical study of Judaism in the Austro-Hungarian province of Galicia

Keva and Kavanah

How the balance of keva (routine) and kavanah (intention) inform Judaism and the thought of Abraham Joshua Heschel.

Berkovits & Cohen: The Free Will Defense

The deviant use of human freedom, not God, is the source of evil and suffering.

The Holocaust as Revelation: Fackenheim & Greenberg

According to some thinkers, the events of the Nazi era initiated changes in the nature of Judaism.

Haskalah in Russia and Galicia

The development and expansion of the Jewish Enlightenment.

Medieval Jewish Responses to Suffering & Evil

The philosophers and mystics of the Middle Ages suggested an array of solutions to the problem of suffering.

The Covenant: A Relationship with Consequences

At Sinai, the Israelites pledged their allegiance to God and accepted the punishments that would result if they betrayed God.

Wissenschaft des Judenthums

The new academic study of Judaism examined Jewish religion from the scholarly perspectives of theology, literature, and history.

Jewish Views on Partial Birth Abortion

Most (but not all) rabbinic authorities consider "partial birth abortion" on the same terms as other abortions.

The Soul of a Fetus

In Judaism, the question of when "ensoulment" takes place is both unanswerable and irrelevant to the issue of abortion.

What Hasidic Jews Believe

Though Hasidism is not a homogenous philosophy, there are certain ideas common to its many subgroups.

Jewish Ethics Confronts Modernity

The adaptation of the Jewish ethical tradition to modern life.