461) Maimonides unplugged

 

Recently discovered text in Maimonides' handwriting

Introduction

This article – based extensively on the research by Professor Menachem Kellner[1] – penetrates directly into the thought of Maimonides. It offers a no-holds-barred approach to pure Maimonidean ideology as interpreted by Kellner, a recognised authority on Maimonidean thought. 

Most Torah lectures, and Halachic decisions reference Maimonides, yet – astoundingly − very few of the presenters of those forums are always aware of how Maimonides (Rambam) actually viewed Judaism. Not surprisingly, then, many will find Kellner’s research into Maimonidean thought to be perplexing if not perilous to the traditional ideas they cherish and hold dear. 

395) The Alter Rebbe’s great-grandson who became a proto-Zionist and developed a form of 'natural' messianism.

 

Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Schneersohn

Introduction

R. Chaim Tzvi Schneerson (1834-1882) was a fourth-generation descendent of R. Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of the Chabad movement (Gartner 1968:33).[1] He was known as the נין של בעל התניא, or great-grandson of the Baal haTanya.[2] Born in Lubavitch, Belarus in 1834, he emigrated to Palestine with his family in 1840 and was ordained as a rabbi at his Bar Mitzvah. Later, he taught himself English and became an important emissary and fund-raiser for Collel Chabad, which was founded in 1788 by R. Shneur Zalman, and is to this day the oldest continuously operating charity in Israel. 

During one of his fundraising trips outside of the Holy Land, R. Schneersohn became convinced that the Jews would be redeemed - not by messianic forces(!) - but instead by a series of natural and human events eventually culminating in the fulfilment of the Jewish eschatological dream of the final redemption.

387) The Apocalyptists and the rise of a supernatural Messiah

The small dagger known as a sica.

Introduction

This article is based on the research by Professor Solomon (Shneur Zalman) Zeitlin (1886-1976) considered to have been a leading authority on the Second Temple period.[1] Although a sequel to the previous article, it can be read independently. We trace the origins of the idea of a supernatural Messiah within Judaism. A supernatural Messiah is only mentioned for the first time in the late Apocalyptic literature[2] of the Second Temple period, and in the New Testament (Zeitlin 1979:103). Both these works of literature are far from normative rabbinic Judaism, so how, then, did the idea of a supernatural Messiah become so entrenched within Judaism? To answer this question, we must look to the political and spiritual conditions during and just after the Second Temple period.

379) Dealing with a Talmudic view that there is “No Messiah for Israel”

Introduction

The Babylonian Talmud, particularly, is authoritatively quoted as the foundational text to support and bolster almost any argument within Jewish law and theology. But what happens when a talmudic view seems to fly in the face of principles that are held as true, fundamental and essential to the very faith itself? A case in point is the statement by R. Hillel that “There is no Messiah for Israel”:

R. Hillel says: ‘There is no Messiah [coming] for Israel, as they [the prophesies relating to the Messiah] were already fulfilled during the days of Hezekiah’. Said R. Joseph [in response]: 'May R. Hillel's Master forgive him! When did Hezekiah live? In the time of the first Temple. Yet Zechariah, prophesying during the time of the second Temple, said: "Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion, shout, daughter of Jerusalem; behold, your king comes unto you”’[1]  (b. Sanhedrin 99a).