“Maimonides ”

Confession

Along with admissions of fact from which any criminal responsibility may be inferred, confessions are not admissible as evidence in criminal or quasi-criminal proceedings, for "no man may call himself a wrongdoer" (Sanh. 9b)... read article

Ḥiddushim

ḤIDDUSHIM (Heb. חִדּוּשִׁים, "novellae"), the results of a method of study of rabbinical literature which derives new ideas from talmudic and also rabbinic texts, in order to clarify halakhah. The ḥiddushim represent the "obligation imposed upon us to search through the subjects of the Torah and the precepts and bring to light their hidden contents" (*Naḥmanides, introduction to Sefer ha-Milḥamot)... read article

Jewish Concepts: Be Loving to Your Neighbor as You Would Yourself

Leviticus 19:16-18 16. You are not to traffic in slander among your kinspeople. You are not to stand by the blood of your neighbor, I am YHWH! 17. You are not to hate your brother in your heart; rebuke, yes, rebuke your fellow, that you not bear sin because of him! 18... read article

Ecology

This survey deals with those Jewish sources which have particular reference to environmental matters, and the restrictions upon the actions of the individual both in his own private domain and in public places, to the extent that they affect his nearest neighbors and the community in general. Four general observations may be made:(1) According to the Bible, the earth has not been given over to man's absolute ownership to use and abuse as he wishes; he merely acts as a custodian to maintain and preserve it for the benefit of his contemporaries and future generations; stress is laid on the influence exerted by the environment on the mind and spirit of man... read article

Asmakhta

ASMAKHTA (Aram. אַסְמַכְתָּא; "support," "reliance"), legal term with two connotations in the Talmud. (1) In rabbinical exegesis it denotes the use of a biblical text merely as a "support" for a halakhah without suggesting that the halakhah is thus actually derived from this exegesis... read article

Mikveh

MIKVEH (Heb. מִקְוֶה; pl. mikva'ot; Hebrew for a "collection" or "gathering" [of water]), a pool or bath of clear water, immersion in which renders ritually clean a person who has become ritually unclean through contact with the dead (Num. 19) or any other defiling object, or through an unclean flux from the body (Lev. 15) and especially a menstruant or postpartum woman (see *Ablution; *Niddah; *Purity and Impurity, *Ritual; *Taharat ha-Mishpaḥah). It is similarly used for vessels (Num. 31:22–23)... read article

Good & Evil

In the Bible A major corollary of the Jewish belief in the One God is that, seen in its totality, life is good. Viewing the cosmos as it emerged from chaos, God said, "It is good" (Gen. 1:10). In a monotheistic world view, a persistent problem is to account for the existence of evil in its many forms – natural catastrophes, pain and anguish in human life, moral evil, and sin. These facts must be fitted somehow within the design of the Creator as it is realized in the course of human history... read article

Abraham ben David Halevi Ibn Daud

Biography of Abraham ben David Halevi Ibn Daud... read article

Extradition

Biblical SourcesEXTRADITION OF SLAVESThe Torah relates directly to the issue of extradition in the context of a slave who flees from his slavery, prohibiting a person from returning to his master an escaped slave who is now in his custody: "Do not deliver to his master a slave who has escaped from his master. He shall dwell in your midst with you, in the place he shall choose in one of your gates, where it is good for him; you shall not oppress him" (Deut 23:16–17). Some Biblical commentators have interpreted this passage on the basis of the context in which it appears, viz... read article

Israel Business & Economy: Labor Law

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Anthropomorphism

Encyclopedia Judaica:Anthropomorphism Jewish Concepts: Table of Contents | Belief | Ecology ANTHROPOMORPHISM, the attribution to God of human physical form or psychological characteristics. Anthropomorphism is a normal phenomenon in all primitive and ancient polytheistic religions... read article

Ancient Jewish History: Astrology

ASTROLOGY, the study of the supposed influence of the stars on human events and the predictions based on this study. Bible and Apocrypha There is no explicit mention of astrology in the Bible, but two biblical passages dealing with the diviner (menaḥesh) and soothsayer (me'onen; Lev. 19:26; Deut. 18:10) were understood by the rabbis as bearing relation to astrology (Sanh. 65b–66a; cf. Maim. Yad, Avodah Zarah 11:8, 9)... read article

Messiah

Article on the word and concept of the Messiah... read article

Belief

The Bible In the Bible there are no articles of faith or dogmas in the Christian or Islamic sense of the terms. Although trust in God is regarded as a paramount religious virtue (Gen. 15:6; Isa. 7:9; cf. Job 2:9), there is nowhere in Scripture an injunction to believe... read article

Reasons for Commandments

COMMANDMENTS, REASONS FOR (Heb. טַעֲמֵי הַמִּצְווֹת, Ta'amei ha-Mitzvot). The search for "reasons" for the commandments of the Torah springs from a tendency to transcend mere obedience to them by investing them with some intrinsic meaning. The Pentateuch itself offers reasons for some commandments (e.g., Ex. 22:26; 23:9; Deut. 11:19; 17:16–17; 23:4–5) and emphasizes the "wisdom" of the Law (Deut... read article

Rabbi, Rabbinate

The title rabbi is derived from the noun rav, which in biblical Hebrew means "great" and does not occur in the Bible; in its later sense in mishnaic Hebrew, however, the word rav means a master as opposed to a slave (e.g., "does a slave rebel against his rav"–Ber. 10a; "It is like a slave who filled a cup for his rav and he poured the water over his face"–Suk. 2:9). It was only during the tannaitic period, in the generation after Hillel, that it was employed as a title for the sages. The passage in the New Testament (Matt... read article

Practice & Procedure

CIVIL Court Sessions The courts of three (judges) exercising jurisdiction in civil matters (see bet *din ) held their sessions during the day, but – following Jethro's advice to Moses that judges should be available "at all times" (Ex. 18:22) – they would continue sitting at night to complete any proceedings commenced during the day (Sanh. 4:1)... read article

Morocco Virtual Jewish History Tour

The history of Jews in Morocco and Morocco's relations with Israel... read article

Medicine & Law

Issues regarding medicine and Jewish law... read article

David Bakan

BAKAN, DAVID (1921–2004), U.S. psychologist. Born in New York, Bakan held several university positions from 1961, teaching at the University of Chicago, Ohio State, Harvard, and York University in Toronto, Canada. Bakan wrote on a wide range of topics including psychoanalysis, religion, philosophy, and research methodology, as well as child abuse. In his book Sigmund Freud and the Jewish Mystical Tradition (1958) he attempted to trace the roots of early psychoanalytic concepts and methods in the Kabbalah, the Zohar, and talmudic interpretations... read article