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.

  • Man, God and the Torah – The Death and Life of the Word

    In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    Rabbi Aha said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: When at Mt. Sinai the Israelites heard the word “I” (the first word of “I am the Lord your God” in the “Ten Words”), their souls left them...It may perhaps be argued that this Midrash, like no other text, summarizes the essence of Judaism and its dialectic nature...

  • Jesus and Spinoza – a Jewish Tragedy

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

    What Jesus and Spinoza have in common is that they were alienated by the rabbis of their days. What might they have contributed to the Jewish people had their teachers been more tolerant?

  • No Mashiach Without a Song

    In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    Whether the angels play only Bach praising God, I am not quite sure; I am sure, however, that en famille they play Mozart. (1) When attending synagogue services around the world, one is often confronted with a lack of religious enthusiasm. In many synagogues, services are heavy and often depressing. It is not always the […]

  • Cardozo Academy Jerusalem Lectures

    Judaism, Heresy and Secular Philosophy

    The Jerusalem Lecture Series (5772/2012)

    In Jewish Thought and Philosophy, Rav Kook, Spinoza and The Kotzker Rebbe by The Cardozo Academy

    Six leading Jewish thinkers came together in Jerusalem to examine where Jewish tradition meets the intellectual challenges of modernity — from Spinoza and the Kotzker Rebbe to Dawkins, Foucault, and postmodern philosophy.

  • The Preciousness of My Children – A Terrifying Story

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

    I have learned to be constantly thankful to God for His incredible gift of children, children-in-law and grandchildren. I learned this on Friday, June 11, 2010, when my wife and I nearly lost a daughter and three grandchildren.

  • Thoughts on Forgiveness – The Man Who Made Me Jewish

    In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    There is only one time I have ever forgiven an anti-Semite. But it was for a good reason. He had successfully helped me to become Jewish!

  • Solving the Conversion Crisis and Global Judaism

    In Converting to Judaism, Eliezer Berkovits and Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    Israel has been confronted with the plight of hundreds of thousands of people who made aliyah, mostly from Russia, who are children of mixed marriages or who have other Jewish ancestry, such as Jewish grandparents. Most of them are not halachically Jewish since their mothers are not Jewish.  Yet many of them would like to become Jewish. The problem, however, is that the majority do not want to commit themselves to a halachic way of life.

  • Prayers for the Enemy

    In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    While the winds of war with Iraq are coming closer and closer, committed Jews have a special obligation to think of the enormous loss of life this war is surely going to cost to many human beings who are or are not on our side of the conflict.

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