Rationalism Vs. Mysticism The Biblical Museum of Natural …

Rationalism vs. Mysticism: Schisms in Traditional Jewish Thought

by Rabbi Dr. Natan Slifkin

Published and Distributed by The Torah and Nature Foundation/ Gefen Books

All proceeds from books sold on this website go directly to supporting the Biblical Museum of Natural History

576 pp. Hardcover. Please allow several weeks for delivery to US, Canada, and Europe. For Israel orders, we also offer the option of delivery to a pickup collection in your city. For orders from Australia and South Africa, please email [emailprotected].

KNOWLEDGE

Do we obtain reliable knowledge about the world from ongoing supernatural revelation, or from scientific investigation?

NATURE

Is it preferable to perceive God as working through nature, or through supernatural miracles?

SUPERNATURAL ENTITIES

Are we surrounded by all kinds of supernatural forces and entities, such as endless conscious angels, demons and the Evil Eye?

MITZVOT

Do the commandments function solely to change our thoughts and behavior, or primarily to manipulate mystical forces?

TORAH

Is Torah a Divine guide for life, or is it also a metaphysical blueprint for existence with all kinds of supernatural qualities?

Rationalism vs. Mysticism is a thorough study of how these questions were answered very differently by various rabbinic scholars over history, reflecting two fundamentally different views of the nature of Judaism. It will profoundly deepen your understanding of Judaism and many of the intellectual conflicts that have arisen in Jewish history.

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Rabbi Dr Natan Slifkin has for years been a courageous, learned, and witty exponent of rationalist Judaism. This new book is a philosophically sophisticated analysis of some of the main elements of that vision of Torah. Rationalism vs. Mysticism: Schisms in Traditional Jewish Thought is exceptional in its learning, the clarity of its exposition, and the authors refusal to reject other traditional understandings of Judaism as illegitimate. Unlike many of his opponents, Rabbi Slifkin believes that these and these are the words of the living God. Anyone seeking a contemporary statement of Maimonides worldview need look no further. Menachem Kellner, Shalem College (Jerusalem) and University of Haifa (emeritus)

This vigorous, wide-ranging book makes an important contribution to Orthodox thought. This is not only because of the authors keen argumentation, multifaceted erudition, lucid style, and sensitivity to the social consequences of worldviews. It is also because of his systematically presented conviction that both his favored position (Jewish rationalism) and the opposing perspective (Jewish mysticism) have a rich tradition to draw on, and neither can be waved away. Beyond the many specifics of the issues he considers and the case he makes for rationalism, he provides an appealing model of how disagreements in Orthodoxy should proceed. David Shatz, Ronald P. Stanton University Professor of Philosophy, Ethics, And Religious Thought, Yeshiva University

Rabbi Natan Slifkin has emerged as a central figure in the ultra-Orthodox struggle to define the proper place of science within Judaism. The Wall Street Journal

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