“Windows To Spirituality”
What Is Musar Literature? Musar literature is didactic Jewish ethical literature which describes virtues and vices and the path towards perfection in a methodical way. Musar literature can be distinguished from other forms of Jewish ethical literature such as aggadic narrative and halakhic literature. Definition of Musar literature Musar literature is often described as “ethical...
What Is Mishneh Torah? The Mishneh Torah (מִשְׁנֵה תּוֹרָה, “Repetition of the Torah”), subtitled Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka (ספר יד החזקה “Book of the Strong Hand”), is a code of Jewish religious law (Halakha) authored by Maimonides (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, also known as RaMBaM or “Rambam”). The Mishneh Torah was compiled between 1170 and 1180 CE (4930 and 4940 AM), while Maimonides was...
What Is Mishnah? The Mishnah or Mishna (מִשְׁנָה, “study by repetition”, from the verb shanah שנה, or “to study and review”, also “secondary”) is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions known as the “Oral Torah“. It is also the first major work of Rabbinic literature. The Mishnah was redacted by Judah the Prince at...
What Is Midrash? Midrash (מִדְרָשׁ; מִדְרָשִׁים midrashim) is biblical exegesis by ancient Judaic authorities, using a mode of interpretation prominent in the Talmud. Midrash and rabbinic readings “discern value in texts, words, and letters, as potential revelatory spaces,” writes the Reverend and Hebrew scholar Wilda C. Gafney. “They reimagine dominant narratival readings while...
Midrash Halakha Midrash halakha (הֲלָכָה) was the ancient Judaic rabbinic method of Torah study that expounded upon the traditionally received 613 Mitzvot (commandments) by identifying their sources in the Hebrew Bible, and by interpreting these passages as proofs of the laws’ authenticity. Midrash more generally also refers to the non-legal interpretation...
Love Of God According To The Torah This article gives some sample verses of Love Of God According To The Torah. Love is a crucial attribute of God in Christianity, even if in the New Testament the expression “God is love” explicitly occurs only twice and in two not too distant verses: 1...
What Is Ketuvim? Ketuvim (כְּתוּבִים Kəṯûḇîm, “writings”) is the third and final section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), after Torah (instruction) and Nevi’im (prophets). In English translations of the Hebrew Bible, this section is usually titled “Writings”. Another name used for this section is Hagiographa. The Ketuvim are believed to have been written...
What Is Jewish Philosophy? Jewish philosophy (פילוסופיה יהודית) or Jewish theology includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or in relation to the religion of Judaism. Until modern Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment) and Jewish emancipation, Jewish philosophy was preoccupied with attempts to reconcile coherent new ideas into the tradition of Rabbinic Judaism, thus organizing...
Jewish Liturgy Jewish liturgy refers specifically to following the Torah in all of its rites and ceremonies, whether in the home or in the Synagogue. The main purposes of following the carefully laid out observances is to maintain uniformity, and to avoid improper and unacceptable practices at variance with those...
What Is Halakha? Halakha (הֲלָכָה, also transliterated as halacha, halakhah, halachah, or halocho) is the collective body of Jewish religious laws derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandments (mitzvot), subsequent Talmudic and rabbinic law, and the customs and traditions compiled in the many books...
Jewish Ethics Jewish ethics is the moral philosophy particular to one or both of the Jewish religion and peoples. Serving as a convergence of Judaism and the Western philosophical tradition of ethics, the diverse literature of Jewish ethics‘s broad range of moral concern classifies it as a type of normative ethics. For...
What Is Gemara? The Gemara (Gemora, Gemarah, or Gemorra; from Hebrew גמרא, from the Aramaic verb gamar, study) is the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah. After the Mishnah was published by Judah the Prince (c. 200 CE), the work was studied exhaustively by generation after generation of rabbis in Babylonia and...
Fear Of God According To The Torah This article covers Fear Of God According To The Torah. The Torah is Judaism’s most important text. It is composed of the Five Books of Moses and also contains the 613 commandments (mitzvot) and the Ten Commandments. The word “Torah” means “to teach.” The Fear of God refers to fear or...
Devotion And Loyalty To God In The Old Testament This article covers Devotion And Loyalty To God In The Old Testament. Devotion And Loyalty To God mean your faith in Him. Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, one can define faith as confidence or trust in...
Book Of Wisdom The Wisdom of Solomon or Book of Wisdom is a Jewish work, written in Greek, composed in Alexandria (Egypt). Generally dated to the 2nd century BC, the central theme of the work is “Wisdom” itself, appearing under two principal aspects. In its relation to man, Wisdom is the perfection of...
Closeness To God In The Old Testament This article covers the verses related to Closeness to God in the Old Testament. The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. (Psalms, 145:18) Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my...
Book Of Proverbs The Book of Proverbs (מִשְלֵי, Míshlê (Shlomoh), “Proverbs (of Solomon)”) is the second book of the third section (called Writings) of the Hebrew Bible and a book of the Christian Old Testament. When translated into Greek and Latin, the title took on different forms: in the Greek Septuagint (LXX) it became...
What Is Esoteric Interpretation Of The Quran? Esoteric interpretation of the Quran, taʾwīl (تأويل), is the allegorical interpretation of the Quran or the quest for its hidden, inner meanings. It was a synonym of conventional interpretation in its earliest use, but it came to mean a process of discerning its most...
Tafhim-ul-Quran Tafhim-ul-Quran ( تفہيم القرآن, Tafheem-ul-Quran, lit. ‘Towards Understanding the Qur’an’) is a 6-volume translation and commentary of the Qur’an by the Pakistani Muslim philosopher, activist, and scholar Syed Abul Ala Maududi. Maududi began writing the book in 1942 and completed it in 1972. The Tafhim is a combination of orthodox and modernist interpretations and...
112. Surah Al Ikhlas (The Purity) Name Al Ikhlas is not merely the name of this Surah but also the title of its contents, for it deals exclusively with Tauhid. The other Surahs of the Quran generally have been designated after a word occurring in them, but in this Surah the word Ikhlas has...
