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Jewish Views On Love
Judaism offers a variety of views regarding the love of God, love among human beings, and love for non-human animals. Love is a central value in Jewish ethics and Jewish theology. Love among human beings One of the core commandments of Judaism is "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18). This commandment stands at the center of the central book in the Torah. The Talmudic sages Hillel and Rabbi Akiva indicated that this is the central commandment of the Torah. The commandment emboldens individuals to treat each other as equals which requires first valuing oneself in order to be able to mirror that love onto others. Similarly, another significant commandment is to “not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor” (Leviticus 19:16), which can be exhibited in many forms. Some Jewish sources have emphasized the importance of self-sacrifice in regards to putting our needs second to another's, but Rabbi Akiva's teaching of "Your own life takes precedence to that of another ...
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Love Of God
Love of God can mean either love for God or love by God. Love for God (''philotheia'') is associated with the concepts of worship, and devotions towards God. The Greek term ''theophilia'' means the love or favour of God, and ''theophilos'' means friend of God, originally in the sense of being loved by God or loved by the gods; but is today sometimes understood in the sense of showing love for God. The Greek term ''agape'' is applied both to the love that human beings have for God and to the love that God has for them. Baháʼí Faith The teachings of the Baháʼí Faith hold that the love of God (''philanthropia''). ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, the son of the founder of the religion wrote: "There is nothing greater or more blessed than the ''Love of God''! It gives healing to the sick, balm to the wounded, joy and consolation to the whole world, and through it alone can man attain Life Everlasting. The essence of all religions is the Love of God, and it is the foundation of all the sacred ...
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Hayyim Vital
Hayyim ben Joseph Vital (; Safed, October 23, 1542 (Julian calendar) / October 11, 1542 (Gregorian Calendar) – Damascus, 23 April 1620) was a rabbi in Safed and the foremost disciple of Isaac Luria. He recorded much of his master's teachings. After Vital's death, his writings began to spread and led to a "powerful impact on various circles throughout the Jewish world." Fine 2003, p2/ref> Early life Born in Safed, as a young boy Hayyim Vital was educated by the scholar Moshe Alshich. Joseph Karo is said to have paid special attention to Vital's early talents and in 1557 requested that Alshich take special care in his education as he was destined to succeed his teacher in the world of Torah study. That same year, Vital first became acquainted with the kabbalist Isaac Luria, who would have a lasting influence on him. Vital apparently married at a young age. It was an unhappy marriage, and when he left his wife, the prophet Elijah appeared to him in a dream and led him to a ...
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Oral Law
An oral law is a code of conduct in use in a given culture, religion or community application, by which a body of rules of human behaviour is transmitted by oral tradition and effectively respected, or the single rule that is orally transmitted. Many cultures have an oral law, while most contemporary legal systems have a formal written organisation. The oral tradition (from the Latin ''tradere'' = to transmit) is the typical instrument of transmission of the oral codes or, in a more general sense, is the complex of what a culture transmits of itself among the generations, "from father to son". This kind of transmission can be due to lack of other means, such as in illiterate or criminal societies, or can be expressly required by the same law. There has been a continuous debate over oral versus written transmission, with the focus on the perceived higher reliability of written evidence, primarily based on the "linear world of academia" where only written down records are accepted. H ...
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Mishnah
The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is the first work of rabbinic literature, written primarily in Mishnaic Hebrew but also partly in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic. The oldest surviving physical fragments of it are from the 6th to 7th centuries. The Mishnah was literary redaction, redacted by Judah ha-Nasi probably in Beit She'arim (Roman-era Jewish village), Beit Shearim or Sepphoris between the ending of the second century CE and the beginning of the third century. Heinrich Graetz, dissenting, places the Mishnah's compilation in 189 CE (see: H. Graetz, ''History of the Jews'', vol. 6, Philadelphia 1898, p105), and which date follows that penned by Rabbi Abraham ben David in his "Sefer HaKabbalah le-Ravad", or what was then ''anno'' 500 of the Seleucid era. in a time when the p ...
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Judah HaNasi
Judah ha-Nasi (, ''Yəhūḏā hanNāsīʾ‎''; Yehudah HaNasi or Judah the Prince or Judah the President) or Judah I, known simply as Rebbi or Rabbi, was a second-century rabbi (a tannaim, tanna of the fifth generation) and chief redactor and editing, editor of the ''Mishnah''. He lived from approximately 135 to 217 CE. He was a key leader of the Jews, Jewish community in Syria Palaestina, Roman-occupied Judea after the Bar Kokhba revolt. Name and titles The title ''Nasi (Hebrew title), nasi'' was used for presidents of the Sanhedrin. He was the first ''nasi'' to have this title added permanently to his name; in traditional literature he is usually called "Rabbi Yehuda ha-Nasi." Often though (and always in the Mishnah) he is simply called ''Rabbi'' "my teacher" (), the master par excellence. He is occasionally called ''Rabbenu'' "our master". He is also called "Rabbenu HaQadosh" "our holy master" () due to his deep piety. Biography Youth Judah was born in 135 in the newly-es ...
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Jill Jacobs (rabbi)
Jill Jacobs (born 1975) is an American Conservative rabbi who serves as the executive director of T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, formerly Rabbis for Human Rights-North America. She is the author of ''Where Justice Dwells: A Hands-On Guide to Doing Social Justice in Your Jewish Community'' and ''There Shall be No Needy: Pursuing Social Justice through Jewish Law and Tradition''. This book includes chapters on tzedakah, poverty, health care, housing, labor, criminal justice, and environmental justice in America, seen through a Jewish viewpoint. She has served as the Rabbi in Residence of Jewish Funds for Justice and as the Director of Outreach and Education for Jewish Council on Urban Affairs. Jacobs is also the author of a teshuvah (legal position), passed by the Rabbinical Assembly's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards that says that Jews should pay their workers a living wage, create dignified workplaces, and hire union workers when possible. She was named to ...
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Will Herberg
William Herberg (June 30, 1901 – March 26, 1977) was an American writer, intellectual, and scholar. A communist political activist during his early years, Herberg gained wider public recognition as a social philosopher and sociologist of religion, as well as a Jewish theologian. He was a conservative thinker during the 1950s and a contributor to the ''National Review'' magazine. Biography Early years William Herberg, commonly known as "Will," was born on June 30, 1901, to a Jewish family in the shtetl of Lyakhavichy, Belarus, located near the city of Minsk in what was then part of the Russian Empire.Harry J. Ausmus, ''Will Herberg: From Right to Right.'' Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1987; pg. 1. His father, Hyman Louis Herberg (1874–1938), and mother, the former Sarah Wolkow (1872–1942) were themselves born in the same provincial village. Although no records remain to document the family's financial status, Herberg's biographer indicates that the fa ...
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Chessed
(, also Romanized: ) is a Hebrew word that means 'kindness or love between people', specifically of the devotional piety of people towards God as well as of love or mercy of God towards humanity. It is frequently used in Psalms in the latter sense, where it is traditionally translated as "loving kindness" in English translations. In Jewish theology it is likewise used of God's love for the Children of Israel, and in Jewish ethics it is used for love or charity between people. in this latter sense of 'charity' is considered a virtue on its own, and also for its contribution to '' tikkun olam'' (repairing the world). It is also considered the foundation of many religious commandments practiced by traditional Jews, especially interpersonal commandments. Chesed is also one of the ten Sephirot on the kabbalistic Tree of Life. It is given the association of kindness and love, and is the first of the emotive attributes of the . Etymology and translations The root has a primary mean ...
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Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler
Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler (; 1892 – 31 December 1953) was an Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and Jewish philosopher of the 20th century. He is best known for being the ''mashgiach ruchani'' ("spiritual counselor") of the Ponevezh yeshiva in Israel and through collections of his writings published posthumously by his pupils. Biography Lithuania Eliyahu Dessler, who was known throughout his life as ''Eliyahu Leizer'' or ''Elya Lazer'', was born in 1892 (5652) in Gomel. His father, Reuven Dov Dessler, was a disciple of one of the main leaders of the Mussar movement, Musar movement, Rabbi Simcha Zissel Ziv, best known as the ''Alter (Elder) of Kelm''. Eliyahu was orphaned of his mother at a young age. His father remarried, and would become a successful timber merchant in the city of Homel over the ensuing years, although he would lose virtually his whole fortune after the Russian Revolution of 1917, Russian Revolution, which would prompt his son to relocate to ...
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Simcha Zissel Ziv
Simcha Zissel Ziv Broida (; 1824–1898), also known as Simhah Zissel Ziv or the ''Alter of Kelm'' (the Elder of Kelm), was one of the foremost students of Yisrael Salanter and one of the early leaders of the Musar movement. He is best known as the founder and director of the Kelm Talmud Torah. Early life Simcha Zissel Ziv was born as Simcha Mordechai Ziskind Broida in 1824 in Kelmė. His father, Yisroel, belonged to the well-known Lithuanian Braude family. His mother, Chaya, was a descendant of Zvi Ashkenazi, "the Chacham Tzvi". Chaya's family name was Ziv, and her son took on his mother's family name when he moved to Grobin in 1880. Ziv married Sara Leah, the daughter of Mordechai of Vidzh, a small town near Kelm. Following his marriage he travelled to Kovno, where he studied under his foremost mentor, Yisrael Salanter, the founder of the Musar movement, at the Nevyozer Kloiz. Among the other outstanding students were Yitzchak Blazer, and Naftali Amsterdam. Ziv establi ...
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Purim
Purim (; , ) is a Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that commemorates the saving of the Jews, Jewish people from Genocide, annihilation at the hands of an official of the Achaemenid Empire named Haman, as it is recounted in the Book of Esther (usually dated to the late-5th or 4th centuries BCE). Haman was the Vizier, royal vizier to the List of monarchs of Iran, Persian king Ahasuerus (Xerxes I or Artaxerxes I; and in Old Persian, respectively). His plans were foiled by Mordecai of the tribe of Benjamin, who previously to that warned the king from an assassination attempt and thus saving his life, and Esther, Mordecai's cousin and adopted daughter who had become queen of Persia after her marriage to Ahasuerus. The day of deliverance became a day of feasting and rejoicing among Jews. According to the Scroll of Esther, "they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor". Purim is celebrated among Jews by: *Exchangi ...
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Nachman Of Breslov
Nachman of Breslov ( ''Rabbī'' ''Naḥmān mīBreslev''), also known as Rabbi Nachman of Breslev, Rabbi Nachman miBreslev, Reb Nachman of Bratslav, Reb Nachman Breslover ( ''Rebe Nakhmen Breslover''), and Nachman from Uman (April 4, 1772 – October 16, 1810), was the founder of the Breslov Hasidic movement. He was particularly known for his creative parables, drawing on Eastern European folktales to infuse his teaching with deeply kabbalistic yet universally accessible remedies, pieces of advice, and parabolic stories. He emphasized finding and expressing one’s uniqueness while steering away from despair in a world he saw as becoming more and more uniform. Through Martin Buber's translation, his teaching is thought to have influenced some 20th-century writers, including Franz Kafka. Rabbi Nachman, a great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, revived the Hasidic movement by combining the Kabbalah with in-depth Torah scholarship. He attracted thousands of followers during his ...
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