Showing results by author "Juan Marcos Bejarano Gutierrez" in All Categories

The history of Jews in Spain and Portugal spans more than 1,000 years. By most measures, it is even longer than the large-scale settlement of Jews in the land of Israel, which was interrupted several times in Jewish history. Legends ascribe the arrival of the earliest settlers to the days of the biblical prophet Obadiah, but archeologically speaking, the first record of Jews is much later.

At first glance, the topics included in this volume may appear to be a series of disjointed and independent essays. These topics, in my opinion, cover recurring themes and questions that define much of Jewish theology. Any attempt to address Jewish theology comprehensively would require many volumes. This work is focused on a few key concepts only. It is intended for the beginner but hopefully contains sufficient information to also be of interest to the more advanced reader and prove the starting point towards greater study.

Thousands of Jews forcibly converted to Christianity in Spain and Portugal were subjected to religious persecution for continuing to adhere to their ancestral faith. The Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions lasted for centuries, and when their attention on Judaizers ended, they switched to other concerns, including Protestantism, bigamy, and blasphemy. The Inquisition typically conjures up images of intolerance, persecution, and violence, and rightly so. Many people think of it as a reflection of the spiritual, scholastic, and scientific darkness of the medieval period.

The link between the religion of biblical Israel and the religion we now identify as rabbinic Judaism is often controversial. The controversy is often linked to theological agendas rather than an honest approach to Israel’s history. The religion of ancient Israel is linked to rabbinic Judaism is many ways. The two are linked by a shared belief in the one supreme God who created the world, chose the the Jewish people to be His people.

Is there a type of thinking that can be characterized as Jewish? If so, what is the difference between the Jewish thought and non-Jewish thinking? Does the Bible reflect a type of thinking? Is it linear? Does it correspond to Platonic or Aristotelian thought? How does rabbinic logic work? Are there polarities in the Bible? Discover this and much more in this fascinating aspect of Judaism.

Chapter One, titled The Rise of the Converso Problem, provides the historical context for the mass conversions of 1391. It will do so by providing a survey of important events in the history of Iberian Jewry from the Late Roman Period until the massacres of 1391. The second chapter, titled Christian Attitudes Towards Conversos, surveys the range of Christian views towards Conversos during the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries.

Few Biblical figures are as intriguing and mysterious as Enoch. He is mentioned only a few times in the canonical Hebrew Bible, but the impact of his story went on to affect the theology of many books written during the Second Temple Era. It also set the foundation for the development of many of the ideas found in the early Christian movement. Enoch’s importance continued beyond the destruction of the Temple and survived in a new form in later rabbinic tradition. Discover the mystery of Enoch, and the fascinating impact it had on the development of Judaism and Christianity.

Despite significant improvement in interfaith dialogue in some quarters between Christians and Jews, many Christians still maintain theological positions that are inimical to fundamental Jewish beliefs, and consequently, to the Jewish people. The essential perspective that sets the tone for Christian attitudes toward Jews and Judaism is their theological view of the Torah.

The word "Mishnah" is derived from the Hebrew word meaning “repetition” or “to study and review”. The term Mishnah may be used to indicate a single paragraph or verse of the Mishnah. Several passages in the Talmud illustrate derivatives of the word and its connection to study.

The destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BCE, and the Babylonian exile that followed, could have spelled the end of Israelite identity. But the return of exiles, first under Zerubbabel, and again under Ezra and Nehemiah a generation later, resurrected Isra-elite identity and opened a new chapter in the history of Israel.

Many years ago, in a lecture on the creation of the Mishnah, the Orthodox Jewish historian, Rabbi Berel Wein discussed the rise of early Christianity as a historical and theological backdrop. He mentioned that this era is of particular importance to Jews because of the complicated and tragic relationship between Jews and Christians over the centuries. He referred to Joseph Klausner, the famed Jewish professor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem who in the earlier part of the 20th century, had authored several works on early Christianity from a Jewish standpoint.

The relationship between Judaism and Christianity has been acrimonious throughout most of history. Often confronted with persecution, with arguments of Divine rejection, and with religious practices and beliefs that appeared pagan and even idolatrous to them, most rabbis viewed Christianity negatively. However, quite surprisingly, not all rabbis viewed Christianity in this light.

Of all the Jewish thinkers that arose in the 20th century, none stands out as revolutionary and as controversial as Mordecai Kaplan. Kaplan was paradoxical. Despite his commitment to Jewish life as generally recognizable to traditionally oriented Jews, his theological predilections were such that the fundamental nature of Jewish religious identity was transformed in his reconstruction of Judaism. While Kaplan was vilified by many Orthodox and finally excommunicated by the rabbis of Agudath Israel, not all his right of center critics were ready to dismiss him completely.

The idea of a distinctive Messiah, with a specific role, was not definitively established across all the Jewish movements of the Second Temple era. Some groups expected multiple messiahs, and some did not expect one at all. Our focus is on the topic of the Messiah and how different groups understood this office. We can draw some understanding regarding an expectation of a Messiah. The Messiah is generally understood to be a person who at the end of history or the present world order will bring salvation to Israel.

The Jewish sect which ascribed Jesus the title of Messiah was eventually transformed into a non-Jewish movement wholly separated from its Jewish context. The transformation was not instantaneous, and there were deviating or at the least parallel streams of Jesus supporters early on. A critical mistake which has been made, in my opinion, is the assumption that the Jesus movement was uniform even among its early Jewish followers. Analyzing the original movement(s) in the first centuries of the Common Era can reveal how the schism between Judaism and Christianity evolved.

In 1665-1666 the messianic movement of Sabbatai Zevi (also written as Shabbetai Zevi, Shabbetai Tzvi, Shabtai Sevi, etc.) spread like wildfire throughout the Jewish communities of the Mediterranean and northern and western Europe. Some communities were so caught up in the frenzy that they changed their liturgy to reflect what they believed to be in the impending declaration of the messianic age.

In 1942, in Kaunas, Lithuania, the occupying German forces decreed that any pregnant Jewish woman would be summarily executed. On August 26, 1942, a Jewish woman realized she was pregnant and approached her rabbi, Ephraim Oshry, seeking advice. He determined that an abortion was necessary to save her life. The situation was something no woman or rabbi should have to face. But the scenario was real, and Rabbi Ephraim Oshry ruled based on Jewish law.

Samuel Usque in The Consolations for the Tribulations of Israel examines the trials and misfortunes of the Jewish people in an effort to both comfort and encourage Anusim (forced or coerced converts to Christianity). For Usque, in the context of his audience, “history” serves to alleviate their pain, to convince them of the reasons for their current predicament, and to convince them that an immanent redemption was soon to be realized. The Consolations have often proven inaccessible to many readers. This work focuses on providing a review of the key concepts.

An Israelite father; a Canaanite mother. A young boy is caught between two worlds during the time of Samuel the Seer. Captured by the Sea Peoples during a battle, he is enslaved and taken to the Philistine stronghold of Gath where he meets two young girls who will shape his future. All the while, he remembers his friend, a beautiful Canaanite girl, and wonders whether he will ever see her or his parents again.

This book explores some of the prevailing attitudes and ideas held by Maimonides, or the Rambam, i.e., Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, and Benedictus (Baruch) Spinoza on the subject of knowing God. A hypothetical dialogue between these two philosophers and I is presented.