Winter 1984 - 1985 - Quarterly Review

QUARTERLY REVIEW, WINTER 1984
The Guide of the Perplexed, Moses Maimonides, translated by Shlomo Pines, Chicago:
University of Chicago, 1963, 2 volumes. The great philosophical Jewish response to
medieval Aristotelian thought. The work is one of the basic philosophical texts of Judaism. It
generated philosophical debate, controversy, and interpretation for centuries after its
publication.
Some Contemporary Jewish Homiletical Resources
Meditations on the Torah, B. S. Jacobson, Tel Aviv: Sinai, 1956. A thematic analysis of
significant themes in the weekly lectionary portion of the Pentateuch.
Studies in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, Nehama Leibowitz,
translated by Aryeh Newman, Jerusalem: World Zionist Organization, 1958-, 5 volumes. A
presentation of major exegetical themes, traditional and modern, for each of the weekly
Pentateuchal readings by the foremost living authority on Jewish biblical commentary.
Sermon collections and manuals are published by the rabbinic organizations of the three
major Jewish religious groups in the United States. These may be obtained from the Central
Conference of American Rabbis (Reform); Rabbinic Assembly of America (Conservative);
and Rabbinic Council of America (Orthodox). The organizational offices of each group are in
New York City.
Contemporary Jewish Philosophies, William E. Kaufman, Reconstructionist Press, 1976, and
Faith and Reason, Samuel Bergman, translated by Alfred Jospe, Washington, D.C.: B'nai
B'rith Hillel Foundation, 1961. Both volumes introduce the major Jewish thinkers of the late
nineteenth and the twentieth centuries whose impact is most strongly felt today in the
contemporary Jewish community. Though it is best to read each of these thinkers'
philosophies/theologies independently, these two works accurately identify the "heroes" in
the field. They also provide a synopsis of the thinkers' views and some critique.
102