Shows to what extent and in what fashion Jews are bound to accept the opinions and the pronouncements of religious authorities.
Moses Maimonides, medieval Judaism's leading legist and philosopher, and a figure of central importance for contemporary Jewish self-understanding, held a view of Judaism which maintained the authority of the Talmudic rabbis in matters of Jewish law while allowing for free and open inquiry in matters of scienc...(Read More)
"This book in not only a study of Maimonides, but an intellectual broadside against the apostles of Jewish particularism in Israel today. It is a timely contribution to the religious debate going on in Israel between those who believe that Jews possess a distinct metaphysical essence and those who view the distinctiveness of the Jewish people in its religious heritage. Thanks to Dr. Kellner's book, it is the latter group which can justifiably claim ...(Read More)
The Pursuit of the Ideal
(April 1990)
Jewish Writings of Steven Schwarzschild Menachem Kellner - Editor
Steven Schwarzschild--rabbi, socialist, pacifist, theologian, and philosopher--is both the last of the major medieval Jewish philosophers and the most modern. He is in the tradition of the Jewish thinking that began with Sa'adia Gaon and reached its highest expression in Maimonides. These thinkers believed that Judaism must confront some systematic view of the universe. Sa'adia did this with Kalam, ibn Gabirol with Neo-Platonism, and Maimonides w...(Read More)
