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.

  • The Beth Midrash of Avraham Avinu

    Tentative Thoughts Towards a Jewish Religious Renaissance

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

    The monograph is meant to explain the purpose and ideology of the David Cardozo Academy and is based on the Academy's inaugural lecture given in September, 2005.

  • Rev. Abraham Lopes Cardozo

    Ne’im Zemirot

    A Tribute to Abraham Lopes Cardozo z.l.

    In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    A Tribute to Abraham Lopes Cardozo z.l. While fully involved in the world, he taught us that spiritual nobility is a thousand times more valuable than all what the great secular world has to offer us.

  • The Revolutionary Future of the Torah and Mitzvot

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

    All humans are fundamentally children of the time in which they live. It is hard, if not altogether impossible, for most people to think beyond their own limitations. It is the commonplace that stands out and holds sway over most of our thinking. To think outside the box requires courage, broad thinking and daring creativity.

  • Some Thoughts on Ruth and Conversion

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

    As long as Judaism is taught as merely a luxury, something extraneous to life, it will be of little importance in the eyes of those who are asked to become Jewish. But when we teach it as being indispensable, it will become life itself and will make waves in the souls of all those we approach.

  • The Struggle for Faith – Part I

    In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    Faith is one of the most difficult attributes to acquire. To have faith in God has become a struggle for many human beings, including those who are desperately looking for it. In modern times with their tendency to secularize nearly anything, the man of faith often feels alone in a world in which religious beliefs are often looked down on.

  • The Struggle for Faith

    In Abraham, Jewish Thought and Philosophy and Parashat Vayera by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    For the biblical personality and those living in early post-biblical times, the existence of God was apparent. One would discover His fingerprints everywhere: in heaven, on earth, in the colors of a flower, in the stormy sky, in the thunder and lightning, in the smile of a baby or the beauty of the seashore.

  • The Struggle for Faith – Part III

    In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    The question to what extent one can actually trust God and rely on His protection is closely related to the question why He created the world. It should be claimed that one can only rely on His protection and help as long as this does not contradict the very purpose of existence.

  • The Struggle for Faith – Part IV

    In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    We established in part III of "The Struggle for Faith" that it is forbidden to trust in God when this trust contradicts God's purpose for the world. Since man must have the possibility of exercising freedom of will, there must be a natural order to the world. If not for the laws of nature, it would not be possible for man to make any moral decision, since he would never be able to know what the consequences of his decisions would be.

  • The Struggle for Faith – Part V

    In Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    The Talmud in tractate Pesachim 8b gives an interesting example of the tension between trust in God and the natural order of things while simultaneously adding a new aspect to this problem.

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