Hakham Tsevi Ashkenazi and the Battlegrounds of the Early Modern Rabbinate

Inbunden, Engelska, 2024

Del i serien Littman Library of Jewish Civilization

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Beskrivning

With the social and cultural upheavals of early modern Europe, rabbis were constantly struggling to preserve Jewish tradition. Hakham Tsevi Ashkenazi (1658—1718), the independent-minded chief rabbi of Amsterdam, came to be regarded as one of the leading halakhic authorities of this tumultuous era. The battles he waged changed Jewish practice in his lifetime and came to define rabbinic norms in the decades that followed, with relevance to the present day.The challenges for a leading rabbi in a time of ferment were many. With advances in communication and the early stirrings of political emancipation in Jewish and secular society, how could one establish halakhic authority? How were rabbis to navigate the new reality in which mystical texts—once the exclusive province of the elite—became accessible to the masses? As geographical boundaries shifted and cultural barriers crumbled, how could one build a bridge between the worlds of Ashkenaz and Sepharad? How were the keepers of tradition meant to respond to the religious laxity that accompanied acculturation? And how could the religious establishment engage sectarians in general, and crypto-Sabbatians in particular?Hakham Tsevi didn’t always win the battles he fought, but his arguments have endured. Products of his fierce independence, some of his responsa have attained near-canonical status., Today’s halakhic discussions of such contemporary issues as brain death and artificial intelligence often begin with the words he committed to posterity. Hundreds of years after his death, Hakham Tsevi and his work remain at the frontier of halakhic discourse.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2024-11-19
Mått:163 x 239 x 18 mm
Vikt:584 g
Format:Inbunden
Språk:Engelska
Serie:Littman Library of Jewish Civilization
Antal sidor:296
Förlag:Liverpool University Press
ISBN:9781835536414

Utforska kategorier

Biografier inom Biografier
Judendom inom Filosofi och religion

Mer om författaren

Yosie Levine has been the rabbi at The Jewish Center in New York City since 2008. He received his rabbinic ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary at Yeshiva University and his Ph.D. from the Bernard Revel Graduate School at Yeshiva University. Before it was published, this book was a winner of the Association for Jewish Studies’ Jordan Schnitzer First Book Publication Award.

Recensioner i media

‘This book’s approach makes it both accessible to general readers and invaluable to scholars. By drawing on a wealth of duly footnoted and referenced sources, especially the writings of Rabbi Ashkenazi’s son, Rabbi Yaakov Emden (sometimes known as Ya’avets), Rabbi Levine enriches the narrative with scholarly and historical insights. Ultimately, this work - based on Rabbi Levine’s doctoral dissertation in Jewish history at Yeshiva University - is a masterful feat of writing, blending scholarly rigor with readability. It paints a vivid portrait of a towering rabbinic figure and his turbulent times, while drawing connections to enduring challenges in contemporary Jewish communal life. This reviewer sincerely hopes that Rabbi Levine will continue to produce more intellectual biographies of the gedolim of yesteryear in the same style.’ Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, Jewish Action

Innehållsförteckning

List of IllustrationsIntroduction The World of Hakham Tsevi: From Biography to Geography Epistolary Combatants in a Rabbinic Republic of Letters Too Much Information: The Mystic who Waged War on Mystical Texts The Rabbinate Under Siege: Laity, Laxity, Unworthy Clerics, and Subterranean Sectarians An Ashkenazi Assault on the Ashkenazi Tradition The Hayon Affair: A Battle for the Soul of Amsterdam Afterlife: How Modern-Day Posekim Responded to Hakham Tsevi’s Early Modern Responsa ConclusionsBibliographyIndex