Pinchas Polonsky (, ; born 11 February 1958) is a Russian-Israeli Jewish-religious philosopher, researcher, and educator active among the Russian-speaking Jewish community. He has written original books and a number of translations of works on Judaism. During his underground activities in Moscow (1977–1987), he taught Judaism and was one of the founders of Machanaim. He lives in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, is an activist in the process of the modernization of

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

and is a researcher on the topics of

Rav Kook Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook (; 7 September 1865 – 1 September 1935), known as HaRav Kook, and also known by the Hebrew-language acronym Hara'ayah (), was an Orthodox rabbi, and the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine. H ...

. Polonsky is the author of a commentary on the

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

under the title "Bible Dynamics". Polonsky initiated EJWiki, an academic encyclopedia on Jewish and Israeli topics.

Biography

Born 1958 in Moscow into a family of

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

assimilated Jews,«Восемнадцать», составитель З. Вагнер, издательство «Шамир», Иерусалим, 1989, с. 202—217 he attended Special Math School No. 7 with a focus on math and physics. Upon graduating in 1975 a decision to leave the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and move to Israel took shape. He began to study

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

in a clandestine group, and then subsequently

and Judaism. Between 1975 and 1980 Polonsky studied mathematics at the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute. Starting in 1979 Polonsky became one of the founders of a clandestine network for the study of Torah in Moscow. He was involved in

Samizdat Samizdat (, , ) was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the documents from reader to reader. The practice of manual rep ...

, publishing (through photocopying) guides for observing Judaism and maintaining a Jewish lifestyle, including a series of books on Jewish holiday observance and Torah commentaries. After applying for immigration to Israel, Polonsky became a

refusenik Refusenik (, ; alternatively spelled refusnik) was an unofficial term for individuals—typically, but not exclusively, Soviet Jews—who were denied permission to emigrate, primarily to Israel, by the authorities of the Soviet Union and oth ...

for 7 years and finally

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

in 1987 at the onset of the

Perestroika ''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...

. Rabbi Polonsky has been living in

Beit El Beit El or Beth El () is an Israeli settlement and local council (Israel), local council located in the Binyamin Region of the West Bank. The Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish town was settled in 1977–78 by the ultranationalist group Gush Emu ...

since 1991., in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

since 2022.

Education and academic work

1975: Master's degree in mathematics and education, Moscow State Pedagogical Institute. 1987: one of the initiators in the founding of the Israeli branch of Machanaim; remained a faculty member and editor-in-chief until 2012. 1989–1990: attended

Yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

" Machon Harry Fischel" in

. 1994–1997: attended Yeshiva Beit Morasha, Jerusalem, majoring in Jewish philosophy. 1995–1999: attended

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, , ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic university institution. It has 20,000 ...

Ramat Gan Ramat Gan (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv, and is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. It is home to a Diamond Exchange District (one of the world's major diamond exch ...

, faculty of Jewish studies; received an MA in Talmudic Studies. In 2002 Polonsky obtained a PhD in

Sociology of Religion Sociology of religion is the study of the beliefs, practices and organizational forms of religion using the tools and methods of the discipline of sociology. This objective investigation may include the use both of Quantitative research, quantit ...

. His thesis was: "Sociological Concepts in R. Kook's Teachings". 1991–2012: taught at the Bar-Ilan University. 2012–2013: Senior Fellow and Assistant Professor at

Ariel University Ariel University (), previously a public college known as the Ariel University Center of Samaria, is an Israeli university located in the urban Israeli settlement of Ariel in the West Bank. The college preceding the establishment of Ariel Unive ...

in the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

.Интервью c П. Полонским в связи с выходом перевода на иврит его книги по философии рава Кука
/ref>

Series of prayer books with commentaries

This initiative launched by Pinchas Polonsky began with an underground edition of the

Pesach Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt. According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...

Haggadah The Haggadah (, "telling"; plural: Haggadot) is a foundational Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table fulfills the mitzvah incumbent on every Jew to reco ...

with commentaries in the 1980s in Moscow. The Haggadah was published using photocopying equipment and distributed in hundreds of copies across Moscow and other major cities of the former Soviet Union. This Hagadah was meant to instruct in leading an exciting and spiritual

Seder The Passover Seder is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar (i.e., at the start of the 15th; a Hebrew day begins at su ...

. In Israel Polonsky together with Machanaim published: a

Siddur A siddur ( ''sīddūr'', ; plural siddurim ) is a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers. The word comes from the Hebrew root , meaning 'order.' Other terms for prayer books are ''tefillot'' () among Sephardi Jews, ''tef ...

(prayer book) with a Russian translation and commentaries titled "Vrata Molitvy" (Gates of Prayer, not to be confused with the

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

"Gates of Prayer, the New Union Prayer Book"). Until this day it remains the most widely used prayer book in Russian; a transliterated edition is also available);

Machzor The ''machzor'' (, plural ''machzorim'', and , respectively) is the prayer book which is used by Jews on the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Many Jews also make use of specialized ''machzorim'' on the three pilgrimage festiva ...

"Gates of Repentance" for

Rosh Hashanah Rosh Hashanah (, , ) is the New Year in Judaism. The Hebrew Bible, biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , ). It is the first of the High Holy Days (, , 'Days of Awe"), as specified by Leviticus 23:23–25, that occur in the late summe ...

and

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur ( ; , ) is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, corresponding to a date in late September or early October. For traditional Jewish people, it is primarily centered on atonement and ...

; Passover Haggadah with commentaries; a book titled "Obligations of the Living", on the Laws of Mourning, as well as a series of books about Jewish holiday customs and observance.

Research of Rav Kook's legacy

In 1991 Polonsky partnered with Rav Kook's Home Residence Museum in Jerusalem and prepared the publishing of a compilation of Rav Kook's works titled "Tolerance in the Teaching of R. Kook". During the course of his research of Rav Kook's philosophy and body of work, he wrote and published a study (monograph) titled "Rav Abraham Isaac Kook. Life and Teaching". In 2009 the main chapters of the book were translated and published in English, and in 2013 into

. It became the first book on Jewish religious thought translated from Russian to Hebrew. The book was approved by several major rabbinical authorities on the subject of Rav Kook's

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and was recommended by them to be included in the

Religious Zionist Religious Zionism () is a religious denomination that views Zionism as a fundamental component of Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' (), and in Israel, they are most commonly known by the plural form of the fi ...

academic curriculum.

Torah commentaries "Bible Dynamics"

A series of books presenting a new commentary to the Torah, based on the

Kabbalistic Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal (). Jewi ...

concepts of R. I. L. Ashkenazi (Manitou) and on new findings of R. Uri Sherki, which included the author's own original concepts and interpretations. As of March 2020, a full commentary on the Torah (11 books) have been published. An English translation of Genesis, Part A, "Be Reshit - Chayei Sarah" has been published in the fall of 2019. The first part of Genesis in Ukrainian has been published in 2019 as well.

Other works

In 2009 Polonsky became one of the founders of an Academic wiki-encyclopedia on Jewish and Israeli topics. The goal of the project is the publication of a complementary (to Wikipedia and other sources), academically viable information on Judaism, Jews and Israel on the Russian-language Internet. Polonsky is the initiator and coordinator for the project "Preserving the Memory", whose purpose is to preserve the memory of the Jewish-Zionist underground movement in the USSR. He is also the founder of the "Fight Against Intellectual Antisemitism" project. In 2022 Polonsky published Siddur with Russian translation, transliteration and audio.

Religious views and philosophy

Polonsky attributes himself to the radically modernist wing of religious Zionism, whose essence is the orthodox modernization of Judaism; in other words, an active modernization with strict adherence to an orthodox Jewish approach. In this he sees himself as a follower of Rav Kook and a partner to R. Uri Cherki. Polonsky supports an integration of universal ideas into religion creating a healthy

symbiosis Symbiosis (Ancient Greek : living with, companionship < : together; and ''bíōsis'': living) is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction, between two organisms of different species. The two organisms, termed symbionts, can fo ...

. He views modernization of religion as an absolute religious necessity and prerequisite.''П. Полонский.'
Не только религиозный сионизм, но и глобальное обновление иудаизма
/ref> He believes in the religious importance of science, art, democracy, and other universal secular values. Polonsky is a proponent of the initiative to introduce "a day of science" in Israeli high-school curricula, to demonstrate productive

synergy Synergy is an interaction or cooperation giving rise to a whole that is greater than the simple sum of its parts (i.e., a non-linear addition of force, energy, or effect). The term ''synergy'' comes from the Attic Greek word συνεργία ' f ...

which can be achieved by combining

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

and

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

. Polonsky is active in promoting ideas and concepts of

Noahidism Noahidism () or Noachidism () is a monotheistic Jewish religious movement aimed at non-Jews, based upon the Seven Laws of Noah and their traditional interpretations within Orthodox Judaism. According to the Jewish law, non-Jews (''gentiles ...

. Polonsky is an advocate for access to and prayer at the

Temple Mount The Temple Mount (), also known as the Noble Sanctuary (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, 'Haram al-Sharif'), and sometimes as Jerusalem's holy esplanade, is a hill in the Old City of Jerusalem, Old City of Jerusalem that has been venerated as a ...

for Jews. Polonsky is the author of the concept of "Three Stages of the Arrival of the

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

" (as opposed to the two-stage approach, widely accepted by religious Zionism today). He introduced the concept of religious anti-fundamentalism; in other words, an opposition to religious

fundamentalism Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that are characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguis ...

based on the concepts of "continuing and organic

revelation Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of Religious views on truth, truth or Knowledge#Religion, knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and t ...

Published works

* "Relationship Between Ideals and Commandments in Judaism" (with Galina Zolotusky, Gregory Yashgur, and Raphael BenLevil). Conversations: a journal of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals, issue 31, Spring 2018, NY. Pages 54–79 https://www.jewishideas.org/article/relationship-between-ideals-and-commandments-judaism * "Rabbi Kook and the Modernization of Judaism". Conversations: A Journal of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals, issue 4, Spring 2009, NY. https://www.jewishideas.org/article/rabbi-kook-and-modernization-judaism-0 * - opus magnum * * * * * - 8 books * * "Gates of Prayer", A prayerbook with new Russian translation, commentaries and explanations, 1994 * Video and audio courses on problems of Judaism * Creative audio and video guide for Passover celebration (no less than 30 000 copies) * Pinchas Polonsky, Golda Akhiezer
''Bnei Noah: History, Theory, and Practice''

References

Sources Links

* ttp://jewishbook.ca/catalog/product_reviews_info.php?products_id=465&reviews_id=24&osCsid=37b3abf5f57e28998d7807a951fd9804 Review on "Rabbi A.Y.Kook. His Personality and Teaching""This book is of vital importance to Russian-speaking Jewry's search for spirituality" -

Natan Sharansky Natan Sharansky (; born 20 January 1948) is an Israeli politician, human rights activist, and author. He served as Chairman of the Executive for the Jewish Agency for Israel, Jewish Agency from June 2009 to August 2018, and currently serves as ...

* Rabbi Kook and the Modernization of Judais

* review on "Religious Zionism of Rav Kook

A personal website in English language
{{DEFAULTSORT:Polonsky, Pinchas 1958 births Living people Writers from Moscow Academic staff of Bar-Ilan University Russian emigrants to Israel Russian Zionists Israeli philosophers Jewish philosophers Refuseniks Russian Jews Academic staff of Ariel University