Judaism and bereavement

Conclusion The Jewish way of death is a simple, thoughtful, ever sensitive set of ritual practices based on faith and guided by the wish to console the bereaved intelligently. Knowledge of it, and the resolve to utilize its wisdom, hold out a ray of light in our blackest moments. It can help us find the path leading out of the valley of shadows.     

Calvinism and psychoanalysis: A comparative study

Summary Although the title of this essay suggests a comparison of psychoanalysis and Calvinism, I have chosen to compare primarily the two leaders of these movements. On many points they shared similar beliefs. Certain of these areas have been highlighted and discussed briefly: ascetic tendencies, work, religion, concepts of God and of man, actions as symptoms, and predestination and determinism.     

Judaism and philosophy in Levinas

Summary The fundamental message of Jewish thought in Levinas' version can be summarized by the following quote: It ties the meaning of all experiences to the ethical relation among humans; it appears to the personal responsibility of man, who, thereby, knows himself irreplaceable to realize a human society in which humans treat one another as humans. This realization of the just society is ipso facto an elevation of man to the society with God. This society is human happiness itself and the meaning of life. Therefore, to say that the meaning of the real must be understood in function of ethics, is to say that the universe is sacred. But it is sacred in an ethical sense. Ethics is an optics of the divine. No relation to God is more right or more immediate.The Divine cannot manifest itself except through the neighbor. For a Jew, incarnation is neither possible, nor necessary. After all, Jeremiah himself said it: To judge the case of the poor and the miserable, is not that to know me? says the Eternal. The One who is revealed in this ethical religion differs greatly from the almighty and triumphant God whose image dominates any thought in which politics procures the highest perspective. The Master of the world is power-less against human violence and sin, vulnerable and persecuted. His passing by is not in the thunderstorm, not in the earthquake, and not in the fire either, but after the fire there was a voice of subtle silence (1 Kings 19:11–12). God penetrates the world almost imperceptibly, in extreme humility.

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Adoption in Judaism

Abstract : This article examines of the place of adoption in Jewish thought and law. Adoption is undocumented in the Hebrew Bible, but some verses suggest—or have been said to describe—realities similar to adoption. Beginning with a discussion of the immutability of the relationships in the biological family, this article discusses the merits of caring for orphans and the special halakhic situations that arise for a Jewish family that pursues a civil adoption. The article concludes with a discussion of adoption as a metaphor for a convert's relationship with the ancestors of the Jewish people.     

论犹太教末世论

末世论是犹太教原创性教义之一,在2000多年的发展过程中,演变成为一种复杂的思想体系。复杂不仅体现在内容繁多,更体现在各派别在认识上矛盾重重,甚至互相对立,并且在发展过程中又受到波斯等外来思想的影响。对此,本文意在对犹太教末世论思想进行简单梳理,同时对其产生的原因和本质进行比较详细地分析。     

犹太教的自我诠释--再论什么是犹太教

作者认为,界说犹太教的难点有二：一是其独特性不在其信仰观念而源自历史经验,要从历史演变中把握其独特性;二是其多样性是社会发展的产物,要在歧异中寻求一致,以其本质去统一其多样性。本文从拉比犹太教入手,将不同时期不同派别的犹太教所作的自我诠释,综合推演出犹太教的分解式定义,以求更深入地探讨和认识组成犹太教的不同传统。     

Calvin and Farel The Dynamics of Legitimation in Early Calvinism

Abstract

On account of its emphasis on the promotion of humanistic learning, Corpus Christi College, Oxford, established in 1517 by Bishop Richard Fox of Winchester, has been hailed as a pioneering Renaissance institution whose aims and ideals originate in the world of Italian humanist education of the fifteenth century. Partly through an examination of the apian metaphor employed by Fox to describe his college, this article seeks to re-examine these claims. It will be argued that Corpus's cultural pedigree is more complex and mixed than has hitherto been appreciated, deriving as much from medieval monasticism as from Italian humanism. Both these elements unwittingly equipped the institution to adapt relatively easily to the political changes of the 1530s. The article draws on these arguments not only to cast some doubts on Corpus's status as a Renaissance college, but also to question the ways in which the early English Renaissance in general—but particularly its humanistic element—fits into a European Renaissance based on Italianate historiographical models.     

犹太教在当代北美的表现

犹太教的本质体现为对上帝的信仰和对其律法的遵从。由于对上帝的信仰只是被视为是犹太教的前提,犹太教一向不注重对上帝本质的论述,因此,对其律法的遵从便成为犹太教事实上的主体。在日常生活中是否践行律法是犹太教有别于其他一神信仰的主要标准,也是判断一个犹太人是否守教的主要标准。当今北美犹太人在践行犹太律法中表现出的"多样性"突出体现了犹太教这一"自由"解读律法以及在自身内容上添加新思维的传统。了解犹太教在当代北美的新表现有助于认识犹太教在当代的发展趋势。     

Masturbation from Judaism to Victorianism

This article demonstrates how masturbation, based on a misconception of Genesis 38:7–10, was judged harshly in both Judaism and Christianity, laying the foundation historically for social and religious hostility toward sex. Masturbation, known as the secret sin, a threat to the human race, and an ontic evil, was condemned officially in 1054 by Pope Leo IX.From the medieval era to Victorianism there evolved new distortions of religion and science, so that masturbation was regarded as unnatural sex, murder, a diabolical practice, and the cause of two-thirds of all diseases and disorders including insanity, neurosis, and neurasthenia. Masturbation has historically served as the catalyst for social change in sexual attitudes.