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The paper summarizes the current scholarship on how scholars in Jewish Istanbul from the mid-fifteenth century to early sixteenth-century—and specifically Karaite sages—viewed the legitimacy and aims of scientific studies. In addition, the paper discusses a hitherto unexplored testimony by Joseph Beghi, a Karaite scholar active in this milieu, about his own ideas regarding science. The paper demonstrates that Beghi was an enthusiastic advocate of the study of science. It further illustrates the profound influence his teachers as well as Karaite and Rabbanite works he read had on his attitudes towards science studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a legal requirement that schools engage with the spiritual aspects of education, which encompasses pastoral care. This reflects the ethical sensibility that is present in individuals and underlies interactions with Others; and which should be part of the ethos of all educational institutions and especially schools. This is because spirituality is important to leading a moral life and to understanding the Other. The article considers specifically the potential of Jewish spirituality, and uses Martin Buber's thought, to gain a better understanding of its contribution to education and to pastoral care. In the first part, we comment on the 'basic words', I-Thou and I-It, which are connected with Hasidism, the Jewish spiritual movement which had a great influence on Martin Buber. Hasidism understands that it is our duty to find and connect with the 'divine sparks', as genuine relations merge with the Divine, and when humans relate genuinely to one another, they relate to God. This is crucial for understanding the superiority of I-Thou relations over I-It relations. In the second and third parts of the article, we consider the implications of this understanding of Jewish spirituality for education and for pastoral care. This is done through highlighting the importance of I-Thou relations if the spiritual aspects of education and of pastoral care are to be encouraged and fulfilled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the gap between the present day theory and reality facing Reform Jews who remain unmarried and sexually active. While the Reform movement has sought to address issues facing women and sexual minorities, there is a paucity of literature on matters concerning the increasing number of heterosexuals who, for one reason or another, choose to remain unmarried while being sexually active. One of the only attempts at addressing the general conduct of Reform Jews has been the 1998 'Reform Jewish Sexual Values' position paper coming out of the Ad Hoc Committee on Sexuality of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. Of the ten guidelines, numbers seven and eight propose a covenantal relationship and describe the conditions under which sexual joy may be experienced within Judaism. The document encourages ' B'rit ('covenantal relationship') ...grounded in fidelity and the intention of permanence' and 'Simcha ...human sexual activity should be experienced only in healthy and responsible human relationships'. Both of these guidelines, if taken literally, would exclude a great many Reform Jews who do not find themselves in committed, long-term, exclusive relationships. What then are the acceptable outlets for sexual energies among this group? Do we accept that persons who do not adhere to these guidelines and those of other Reform groups be regarded as immoral? This is a debate that is long overdue in the modernisation of Jewish practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hasidism has often been defined and viewed as a sect. By implication, if Hasidism was indeed a sect, then membership would have encompassed all the social ties of the “sectarians,” including their family ties, thus forcing us to consider their mothers, wives, and daughters as full-fledged female hasidim. In reality, however, women did not become hasidim in their own right, at least not in terms of the categories implied by the definition of Hasidism as a sect. Reconsideration of the logical implications of the identification of Hasidism as a sect leads to a radical re-evaluation of the relationship between the hasidic movement and its female constituency, and, by extension, of larger issues concerning the boundaries of Hasidism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a preliminary overview of the influence of progressive Reform Judaism within the Jewish communities of Poland. Accounts are given describing various liturgical and cultural changes which occurred in synagogues throughout Poland beginning in the 1840s until the outbreak of World War I. Major rabbis profiled include Abraham Goldschmidt, Markus Jastrow, and Izaak Cylkow. Commentary is offered noting that despite Polish Jews not asserting as strong an identification in progressivism during the period as did contemporary movements in Germany or the United States, it still marked a major shift in the Jewish history of the nation.

The author reflects on the emergence of various reform movements in Judaism in the U.S. He cites the positive and negative factors of belonging to a certain reform movement, and explores the active movements of the Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism in attempting to recruit wealthier memberships. The author points out how diversity in Judaism provides mutual influences to the people and multiple choices of how an individual can find spiritual fulfillment as a Jew.

The article presents a study which explores the comparison between the role of the cult of the saints in the practice of Lurianic Kabbalah in the sixteenth century in Galilee, Israel and the set of practices to the later phenomenon of Hasidism in the eighteenth century in Eastern Europe. It stresses the importance of the figure of the saints in the Lurianic school, which has not been fully recognized. The effervescence of kabbalistic creativity in Safed to the traumatic aftereffect of the expulsion of the Iberian Jews was ascribed by Gershom Scholem. The research states that the expulsion created several migratory paths along which the Iberian exiles made their way to Palestine.

A careful analysis of the Qumran "sectarian" texts reveals a consistent preference for self-identification as "Israel" rather than "Judah." In fact, they contain no unambiguous identifications of the community as "Judah" or its members as "Judeans". Like most biblical texts and unlike Josephus and the authors of 1–2 Maccabees, the Qumran community does not equate Israelite with Judean. They regard themselves as the vanguard of the eschatological restoration of the twelve tribes; for them, the Judean state is not the sole heir of biblical Israel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the issue of religious fundamentalism in the Jewish community. Commonly, people consider fundamentalist religion assertive and uncompromising in its attachment to what its adherents view as the authentic and hence fundamental tenets of the faith. While not all those who today are called Orthodox Jews fulfill the criteria of fundamentalism, there are increasing numbers who do. Among those engaged in the most active struggle are those Orthodox settlers and messianists who believe the end of history is near and they can hasten the redemption by redeeming the Holy Land, reclaiming and populating it with religiously observant Jews who increasingly embrace relative narrowness and rigidity of education. While they may not be ready to completely dismiss secular values and cultures other than the Jewish, they are prepared to see them as ontologically inferior and subordinate. In that case, these new fundamentalist guardians and defenders of the faith could turn out to be its jailers.

Orthodox Judaism expects new brides and grooms to engage in sexual intercourse on the first night of marriage or soon thereafter, despite stringent norms forbidding premarital physical contact. Any delay for more than several weeks in consummating a marriage is seen as problematic and worthy of rabbinic or professional attention. This article examines traditional Jewish sources for this emphasis on marital sexuality, defines the problem of unconsummated marriages, discusses issues pertinent to evaluation, and suggests appropriate treatment strategies. Our focus includes both the Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) elements of the Jewish community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the goal of Conservative Judaism in the U.S. It discusses the challenges facing Conservative Judaism. The changes in modern Jewish identity can help Jews in the Conservative mold to understand what role God wants them to play. It explains that Conservative Judaism is potentially in a position to unite the people in the U.S. who are divided on issues such as abortion and gay marriage.

The article discusses the implications of transdenominationalism for the future of the Jewish Conservative movement in the U.S. It explains that there are segments of the Jewish communities in the country which suggest that transdenominationalism poses a challenge to the future of the Conservative movement. It describes the basic values of the Conservative movement in Judaism and these values may contradict the ideology of transdenominationalism.

The article compares the beliefs of American anthropologist Franz Boas and Jewish Reformist Kaufmann Kohler. Boas tried to prove it scientifically that the Jews were not a race, and that they can be as good and as progressive as anyone else. He attempted to change the Jewish individuals so that the community would disappear. However, the reformist Kohler was anxious to prove that the Jews were better than any other race and that a change in the Jewish community would diminish their cultural constraints. When the two scholars were faced with the problem of how to become a universal ethical person, Boas concluded that one could not, while Kohler said one could.