Jewish Thought and Philosophy

To think Jewishly is to stand at the edge of certainty and still choose to believe, question, and seek. Jewish thought lives in the tension between faith and doubt, law and freedom, eternity and change.

  • Book Review: The Passover Haggadah of Rabbi Dr. Eliezer Berkovits

    In Eliezer Berkovits, Jewish Thought and Philosophy and Passover by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    It is a great joy to study Faith and Freedom: Passover Haggadah, With Commentary from the Writings of Rabbi Eliezer Berkovits. In this Haggadah, not only do we find very interesting insights by Rabbi Berkovits on themes that relate to Pesach, but we also get somewhat of an introduction to his philosophy and unique halachic approach in general.

  • The Hardship and Privilege of Honest Teaching

    Ten Questions for Rabbi Cardozo - Question 8

    In Education, Jewish Thought and Philosophy and Rav Kook by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    I strongly believe that new ideas, ideologies and movements are God-given and have great religious meaning. This means that we are religiously obligated to incorporate them into Judaism—sometimes by just accepting them and other times by reworking them.

  • My Controversy with the Mainstream Orthodox Community

    Ten Questions for Rabbi Cardozo - Question 7

    In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    I am often attacked for my views, and I understand that. To question our views, with the implication that we may need to change our ways, is not always pleasant. But if we want to make sure that Judaism has a future, we have no option but to take that road.

  • My Controversy with the Mainstream Orthodox Community

    In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo featured in Times of Israel

    Rabbi Cardozo presents his own account of why his ideas provoke resistance, arguing that Judaism must remain a “protest movement” that challenges complacency rather than reinforcing rigid conformity.

  • My Fascination with the Chaotic World of the Talmud

    Ten Questions for Rabbi Cardozo - Question 6

    In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    The Talmud is the ongoing discussion of what God wants from us while, for the most part, not giving us a final answer and leaving us in limbo. Why is this? Because it is only through discussion and disagreement that a tradition can stay alive and be relevant. Once it is finalized, it will die. This is the reason that I object so strongly to the codification of Jewish law.

  • The Kotzker, Spinoza, and I

    Ten Questions for Rabbi Cardozo - Question 5

    In Jewish Thought and Philosophy, Spinoza and The Kotzker Rebbe by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    I've always wondered what would have happened if Spinoza had met the Kotzker. Both were obsessed with truth, but each approached it from a different point of view. In Spinoza's pantheism, there is a strong Kabbalistic element but, simultaneously, a denial of a personal (biblical) God. However much some Spinoza scholars want to claim that all of his philosophy was based on pure reason, it is very clear that there are elements in his philosophy that reveal aspects of mysticism. Both were searching for God and knew no compromise.

  • My Search for—and Momentary Loss of—God

    Ten Questions for Rabbi Cardozo - Question 4

    In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    What is holiness? It has something to do with the constant awareness that God is to be discovered in all that one does, speaks, thinks, and feels. But that’s nearly unattainable. How does one live up to this?

  • Why I Ask and Doubt but Have Strong Faith

    Ten Questions for Rabbi Cardozo - Question 3

    In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    Faith is like music. It is true because of its beauty, not because of its intellectual certainty. It stems from impossible paradoxes, as well as a great deal of imagination that surpasses rationality and scientific or historical facts.

  • Why I (Refuse to) Pray

    Ten Questions for Rabbi Cardozo - Question 2

    In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    For me, praying is the admission that we need His help and that we are not God! I have to make myself aware that I need to praise Him because I am not His equal; not because He needs me for anything. But sometimes, as after a tragedy, I want to turn my prayer into a protest against God.

  • Why I am Controversial: – Question 1

    Ten Questions for Rabbi Cardozo - Question 1

    In Education and Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    I was recently asked by Rav Ari Ze’ev Schwartz of the Society of Independent Spirituality: Can you say a little about the educational and spiritual goals of your weekly articles? What do you want your readers to experience when they read these articles? How do you yourself experience these goals and articles? Here is my response.

  • The Great Paradox

    The Non-Existent God and the Need to Serve Him

    In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    Is God really perfect as we always maintain? God Himself tells Moshe Eheyeh asher eheyeh—I will be what I will be. Not “I am what I am” as the Septuagint mistranslates. But how can that be? It means that He is not yet what He should be and that He never will be. Apparently He is incomplete, because He seems capable of changing and moving toward perfection, but He will never be able to actually reach perfection. God is trapped in a contradiction. So, is God a verb? Always “godding”? Always imprisoned in a becoming mode? What then is God? An unending trial to be God?

  • Torah beyond Halakhah – Interview with Rabbi Cardozo – Part Two

    In Halacha, Jewish Thought and Philosophy and The Ishbitzer by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    In last week’s Thoughts to Ponder (no 623), we published the first half of an interview with Rabbi Cardozo. At the end of his observations, Rabbi Cardozo discussed the codification and dogmatization of Jewish Law and religious beliefs as they took place in the diaspora and showed that these developments did not do justice to—and in fact opposed authentic Judaism. Here is the continuation of his arguments.

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