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Ilui
''Illui'' ( he, עילוי or עלוי also ilui; pronounced plural: ''illuim'') is a young Torah and Talmudic prodigy or genius. The Hebrew term and title is applied to exceptional Talmudic scholars among Orthodox Jews. It is used among English speaking and Yiddish speaking Orthodox Jews to identify, as a type of mark of honor, those who have been blessed with greater mental and intellectual capabilities than the average intelligent Torah scholar. Etymology ''Illui'' is a noun (meaning "above," "elevation," "going up," or "best" from the root על meaning "on top" or "above" ) derived from the Hebrew and Yiddish. Recognition of genius It is considered a mark of honor and excellence for a Talmudic scholar to be recognized as an ''illui'' and to be described and called as such by his peers. It indicates that he is regarded as having extraordinary intelligence and mental capacity, necessary for the most serious, advanced and complex Talmudic learning and Torah study. Usage In co ...
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Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the same as Pentateuch or the Five Books of Moses. It is also known in the Jewish tradition as the Written Torah (, ). If meant for liturgic purposes, it takes the form of a Torah scroll ('' Sefer Torah''). If in bound book form, it is called ''Chumash'', and is usually printed with the rabbinic commentaries (). At times, however, the word ''Torah'' can also be used as a synonym for the whole of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, in which sense it includes not only the first five, but all 24 books of the Hebrew Bible. Finally, Torah can even mean the totality of Jewish teaching, culture, and practice, whether derived from biblical texts or later rabbinic writings. The latter is often known as the Oral Torah. Representing the core of the Jewish spi ...
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Jonathan Rosenblum
Jonathan (Yonason) Rosenblum (born 1951) is the director, spokesperson, and founder of Jewish Media Resources, an organization which attempts to clarify journalists' understanding of Haredi Jewish society. Jonathan is related to the well known Rannels family of talmudic scholars. Career Rosenblum is a graduate of the University of Chicago (AB 1973), Yale Law School, and Ohr Somayach's main branch in Jerusalem. Although once a self-identified Conservative Jew, he is now a ''Haredi'' ("ultra-Orthodox") journalist who writes for many publications. These include columns in the modern ''Haredi'' magazine ''Mishpacha''; ''Litvish'' ''Haredi'' weekly '' Yated Neeman''; Hasidic ''Haredi'' daily ''Hamodia''; the mainstream Israeli weekly ''Maariv''; the Jerusalem Post; the ''Baltimore Jewish Times''; the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America's journal ''Jewish Action''; and the English edition of Agudath Israel of America's journal, the ''Jewish Observer''. He is a foundi ...
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Vilna Gaon
Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, ( he , ר' אליהו בן שלמה זלמן ''Rabbi Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman'') known as the Vilna Gaon (Yiddish: דער װילנער גאון ''Der Vilner Gaon'', pl, Gaon z Wilna, lt, Vilniaus Gaonas) or Elijah of Vilna, or by his Hebrew acronym HaGra ("HaGaon Rabbenu Eliyahu": "The sage, our teacher, Elijah"; Sialiec, April 23, 1720Vilnius October 9, 1797), was a Lithuanian Jewish Talmudist, halakhist, kabbalist, and the foremost leader of misnagdic (non-hasidic) Jewry of the past few centuries. He is commonly referred to in Hebrew as ''ha-Gaon he-Chasid mi-Vilna'', "the pious genius from Vilnius". Through his annotations and emendations of Talmudic and other texts, he became one of the most familiar and influential figures in rabbinic study since the Middle Ages. He is considered as one of the ''Acharonim'', and by some as one of the '' Rishonim''. Large groups of people, including many ''yeshivas'', uphold the set of Jewish customs and rites ...
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Orthodox Union
The Orthodox Union (abbreviated OU) is one of the largest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. Founded in 1898, the OU supports a network of synagogues, youth programs, Jewish and Religious Zionist advocacy programs, programs for the disabled, localized religious study programs, and international units with locations in Israel and formerly in Ukraine. The OU maintains a kosher certification service, whose circled-U hechsher symbol, , is found on the labels of many kosher commercial and consumer food products. Its synagogues and their rabbis typically identify themselves with Modern Orthodox Judaism. History Foundation The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America was founded as a lay synagogue federation in 1898 by Rabbi Henry Pereira Mendes. Its founding members were predominately modern, Western-educated Orthodox rabbis and lay leaders, of whom several were affiliated with the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), which originated as an Orthodox in ...
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Shulchan Aruch
The ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּך , literally: "Set Table"), sometimes dubbed in English as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Judaism. It was authored in Safed (today in Israel) by Joseph Karo in 1563 and published in Venice two years later. Together with its commentaries, it is the most widely accepted compilation of Jewish law ever written. The ''halachic'' rulings in the ''Shulchan Aruch'' generally follow Sephardic law and customs, whereas Ashkenazi Jews generally follow the halachic rulings of Moses Isserles, whose glosses to the ''Shulchan Aruch'' note where the Sephardic and Ashkenazi customs differ. These glosses are widely referred to as the ''mappah'' (literally: the "tablecloth") to the ''Shulchan Aruch's'' "Set Table". Almost all published editions of the ''Shulchan Aruch'' include this gloss, and the term "Shulchan Aruch" has come to denote ''both'' Karo's work as well as Isserles', with Kar ...
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Jonathan Eybeschutz
Rav Yonatan Eybeschütz (רבי יהונתן אייבשיץ) (also Eibeschutz or Eibeschitz; 1690 1764) was a Talmudist, Halachist, Kabbalist, holding positions as Dayan of Prague, and later as Rabbi of the "Three Communities": Altona, Hamburg and Wandsbek. With Rav Jacob Emden, he is well known as a protagonist in the Emden–Eybeschütz Controversy. Biography Rav Eybeschütz's father Nosson Nota was the rabbi in Ivančice (german: Eibenschütz, sometimes ''Eibeschutz''), Habsburg Moravia. Born in Kraków, Rav Eybeschütz was a child prodigy in Talmud; on his father's death, he studied in the yeshiva of Meir Eisenstadt in Prostějov (Prossnitz), and then later in Holešov (Holleschau). He also lived in Vienna for a short time. He married Elkele Spira, daughter of Rabbi Isaac Spira, and they lived in Hamburg for two years with Mordecai ha-Kohen, Elkele's maternal grandfather. At the age of eighteen, Rav Eybeschütz was appointed rabbi of Bolesławiec, where he stayed for t ...
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Gateshead Talmudical College
Gateshead Talmudical College ( he, ישיבת בית יוסף גייטסהעד), popularly known as Gateshead Yeshiva, is located in the Bensham area of Gateshead in North East England. It is the largest yeshiva in Europe and considered to be one of the most prestigious advanced yeshivas in the Orthodox world. The student body currently (as of 2019) numbers approx. 350. Although students are mainly British, there are European, American, Canadians as well as some from South America, Australia and South Africa. History The yeshiva was founded in Gateshead in 1929 by Reb Dovid Dryan, with the Chofetz Chaim serving as an active patron and appointing the original head of the yeshiva. The first rosh yeshiva and ''menahel'' (principal) were respectively Rabbi Nachman Landinski and Rabbi Eliezer Kahan, both alumni of the famed Novardok yeshiva network and both of whom had escaped Communist Russia religious persecution by escaping across the border from Russia to Poland. Originally, ...
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Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism outside North America, is a Jewish religious movement which regards the authority of ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions as coming primarily from its people and community through the generations moreso than from any divine revelation. It therefore views ''halakha'' as both binding and subject to historical development. The Conservative rabbinate employs modern historical-critical research, rather than only traditional methods and sources, and lends great weight to its constituency when determining its stance on matters of practice. The movement considers its approach as the authentic and most appropriate continuation of ''halakhic'' discourse, maintaining both fealty to received forms and flexibility in their interpretation. It also eschews strict theological definitions, lacking a consensus in matters of faith and allowing great pluralism. While regarding itself as the heir of Rabbi Zecharias Frankel's 19th-century Positive ...
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Louis Jacobs
Louis Jacobs (17 July 1920 – 1 July 2006) was a leading writer and theologian. He was the rabbi of the New London Synagogue in the United Kingdom. He was also the focus in the early 1960s of what became known as "The Jacobs Affair" in the British Jewish community. Early career Jacobs was born on 17 July 1920 in Manchester. He studied at Manchester Yeshivah, Yeshiva, and later at the kolel in Gateshead Yeshiva, Gateshead. His teachers included leading Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler. Jacobs was ordained as a rabbi at Manchester Yeshiva. Later in his career, he studied at University College London where he gained his PhD on the topic of ''The Business Life of the Jews in Babylon, 200–500 CE''. Jacobs was appointed rabbi at Manchester Central Synagogue in 1948. In 1954 he was appointed to the New West End Synagogue in London. Jacobs became Moral Tutor at Jews' College, London, where he taught Talmud and homiletics during the last years of Rabbi Dr Isidore Epstein's tenure as princip ...
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Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, which spans roughly 40% of the continent's landmass while accounting for approximately 15% of its total population."The Balkans"
, ''Global Perspectives: A Remote Sensing and World Issues Site''. Wheeling Jesuit University/Center for Educational Technologies, 1999–2002.
It represents a significant part of ; the main socio-cultural characteristics of Eastern Europe have historically been defined by the tradi ...
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Union For Reform Judaism
The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) until 2003, founded in 1873 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the congregational arm of Reform Judaism in North America. The other two arms established by Rabbi Wise are the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and the Central Conference of American Rabbis. The current president of the URJ is Rabbi Rick Jacobs. The URJ has an estimated constituency of some 880,000 registered adults in 831 congregations. It claims to represent 2.2 million, as over a third of adult U.S. Jews, including many who are not synagogue members, state affinity with Reform, making it the largest Jewish denomination. The UAHC was a founding member of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, of which the URJ is the largest constituent by far. Belief and practice Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal or Progressive Judaism, embraces several basic tenets, including a belief in a theistic, personal ...
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Eric Yoffie
Eric H. Yoffie is a Reform rabbi, and President Emeritus of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), the congregational arm of the Reform movement in North America, which represents an estimated 1.5 million Reform Jews in more than 900 synagogues across the United States and Canada. He was the unchallenged head of American Judaism's largest denomination from 1996 to 2012.Forward 50, 2007: Eric Yoffie
''The Jewish Daily Forward'', November 10, 2006
Following his retirement in 2012, he has been a lecturer and writer; his writings appear regularly in '''', ''