Jewish Thought
Jewish Thought ( Hebrew מחשבת ישראל), also known as “Jewish Thought” or “Hebrew Thought”, is a subject of Jewish studies that deals with the content of Jewish thought and culture and its historical development over the centuries. The connections, parallels and influences between Jewish ways of thinking and world philosophy in general are also the subject of research.
The Department of Jewish Thought as part of the Faculty of Humanities of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem is considered a leading center for the study of Jewish Thought in Israel and around the world.
historical development
The origins of the Jewish Thought department can be traced back to the Institute for Jewish Studies , one of the oldest academic centers of the Hebrew University, which was inaugurated before the university officially opened. In the institute's early years, some of the leading scholars in the field worked there, including Gershom Scholem (since 1925), Julius Guttmann (since 1934), and Shlomo Pines (since 1952).
The term "Jewish Thought" was originally proposed by Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook as part of the establishment of his central Israeli yeshiva Merkas HaRaw Kook (German: Rabbi-Kook-Zentrum ). "Jewish Thought" is now a standard area of yeshiva studies in Israel , and the Israeli Ministry of Education recognized it as a university course that can lead to a formal education.
In the 1970s, the Jewish Thought department was created as part of the Humanities Faculty of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem by amalgamating the previous departments of Jewish Philosophy and Mysticism , History of Jewish Thought, and Ethical and Philosophical Literature . In addition to the thematic areas originally represented, the topics of Jewish thought in antiquity and modern Jewish philosophy were added as new research focuses.
Most modern centers and research institutes for Jewish studies were founded by graduates of the Jewish Thought Department . Many alumni of the Jewish Thought department are now prominent scholars in this field and work as teachers at yeshivas or as professors at Israeli universities.
Israel Prize for Jewish Thought Researchers
In 1994, for the first time, a scientist was honored for his work in the field of Jewish Thought with the Israel Prize , the highest honor in the State of Israel.
Previous winners were:
- Eliezer Schweid (1994)
- Joseph Dan (1997)
- Haim Yavin (1997)
- Moshe Idel (1999)
- Aviezer Ravitzky (2001)
- Nahum Rakover (2002)
- Michael Black (2011)
- Yehuda Dear (2017).
literature
- Warren Zev Harvey, Moshe Idel (Ed.): Studies in the History of the Jewish Thought . Magnes Press, Jerusalem, 1997 (English)
- Elliot R. Wolfson (Ed.): The Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy . Issue 25 (2017), Brill, ISSN 1053-699X (English)
- Aryeh Kaplan : Handbook of Jewish Thought (English)