Nagyvárad
)
, blank2_name_sec1 = Patron saint
, blank2_info_sec1 = Saint LadislausAustria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
– 20 August 1992,
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
), was a
rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
,
theologian
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
, and
educator
A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.
''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...
in the tradition of
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...
.
Life
Berkovits received his rabbinical training first under Rabbi Akiva Glasner, son of Rabbi
Moshe Shmuel Glasner
Rabbi Moshe Shmuel Glasner (1856–1924), a Hungarian Talmudic scholar and communal leader, served as chief rabbi of Klausenburg (Kolozsvár in Hungarian, Cluj in Romanian) from 1877 to 1923. In 1923 he left Klausenburg for Jerusalem where he re ...
, the Dor Revi'i, including semicha, and then at the
Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary
The Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary (officially in german: Rabbinerseminar für das orthodoxe Judenthum in Berlin until 1880, thereafter ''Rabbiner-Seminar zu Berlin''; in , ''Bet ha-midrash le-Rabanim be-Berlin'') was founded in Berlin on 22 Octo ...
in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
as a disciple of Rabbi
Yechiel Weinberg
Rabbi Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg (1884–1966) was an Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox rabbi, posek ("decisor" of Jewish law) and rosh yeshiva. He is best known as the author of the work of Responsa#In Judaism, responsa ''Seridei Eish''.
Weinberg was co ...
, a great master of Jewish law, and received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the
University of Berlin
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...
. He served in the rabbinate in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
(1934–1939), in
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
, England (1940–1946), in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, Australia (1946–50), and in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
(1950–1958). In 1958 he became chairman of the department of
Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy () 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 ...
of the
Hebrew Theological College
The Hebrew Theological College, known colloquially as "Skokie Yeshiva" or HTC, is a yeshiva in Skokie, Illinois. Although the school's primary focus is the teaching of Torah and Jewish tradition, it is also a private university that is part of t ...
in Skokie. At the age of 67, he and his family immigrated to Israel in 1976 where he taught and lectured until his death in 1992.
Berkovits wrote 19 books in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
,
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
, and
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
, and lectured extensively in those languages. His writings deal with basic issues of faith, spirituality and law in the creative dialogue between religion and modernity, with an emphasis on
halakha
''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...
in the
State of Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and on halakha relating to marriage and women. His thought is in essence a philosophy of morality and history for contemporary society.
Philosophy
The core of his theology is the encounter as an actual meeting of God and human at
Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai ( he , הר סיני ''Har Sinai''; Aramaic: ܛܘܪܐ ܕܣܝܢܝ ''Ṭūrāʾ Dsyny''), traditionally known as Jabal Musa ( ar, جَبَل مُوسَىٰ, translation: Mount Moses), is a mountain on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. It is ...
. The encounter is paradoxical in that it transcends human comprehension, yet it demonstrates that God cares about human beings. He teaches that once human beings know God cares for them, they can act in ways that seek meaning, accept responsibility for their actions, and act with righteousness toward others. This implies the keeping of the
commandments
Commandment may refer to:
* The Ten Commandments
* One of the 613 mitzvot of Judaism
* The Great Commandment
* The New Commandment
The New Commandment is a term used in Christianity to describe Jesus's commandment to "love one another" which, ac ...
, ethical concern for others, and building the
State of Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. From "The Paradox of the Encounter" in ''God, Man, and History'' (1965):
Berkovits also insisted that God must be an Agent independent from Man, in opposition to
pantheistic
Pantheism is the belief that reality, the universe and the cosmos are identical with divinity and a supreme supernatural being or entity, pointing to the universe as being an immanent creator deity still expanding and creating, which has ex ...
or
panentheistic
Panentheism ("all in God", from the Greek grc, πᾶν, pân, all, label=none, grc, ἐν, en, in, label=none and grc, Θεός, Theós, God, label=none) is the belief that the divine intersects every part of the universe and also extends bey ...
notions of "all is in God" or "God is in all". On Berkovits' analysis, such notions run completely contrary to the foundations of the Jewish faith. For a religious relationship of any kind to exist, at the very least there must be ''separation'' between man and God. Thus, notions of "mystical union" must be utterly rejected:
Holocaust philosophy
After the Holocaust, Berkovits asserted that God's "absence" in
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
should be explained through the classical concept of ''hester panim'', "the hiding of the divine face." Berkovits claimed that in order for God to maintain His respect and care for humanity as a whole, He necessarily had to withdraw Himself and allow human beings—even the most cruel and vicious—to exercise their
free will
Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded.
Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to actio ...
. In light of this autonomy, a tremendous responsibility is cast on Human beings. Due to the
role
A role (also rôle or social role) is a set of connected behaviors, rights, moral obligation, obligations, beliefs, and social norm, norms as conceptualized by people in a social situation. It is an expected or free or continuously changing behavi ...
of Christianity in the Holocaust Berkovits rejected interreligious dialogue with Christians. Nevertheless, Berkovits emphasized the importance of having a shared human basis:
"Human beings ought to treat each other with respect and hold each other dear independently of theological dialogues, Biblical studies, and independently of what they believe about each other's religion. I am free to reject any religion as humbug if that is what I think of it; but I am duty-bound to respect the dignity of every human being no matter what I may think of his religion. It is not inter-religious understanding that mankind needs but inter-human understanding – an understanding based on our common humanity and wholly independent of any need for common religious beliefs and theological principles." (“Judaism in the Post-Christian Era”, Judaism 15:1, Winter 1966, p. 82)
Theory of Halakhah and Halakhic change, oral law (Torah She'be'al Peh)
In Berkovits' view,
Halakhah
''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...
is determined by (1) the priority of the ethical in the value system of
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
as reflected in the entire range of Jewish sacred literature, (2) common sense, (3) the wisdom of the feasible in the light of reality. In ''Not in Heaven'' he states that "in the spiritual realm nothing fails like compulsion" Yet, "Autonomy degenerates into everyone doing his own thing. The result is social and international decadence" (p. 83). Berkovits sees Judaism and halakhah as being inextricably intertwined, halakhah and our relationship to it having indeed shaped Judaism. "Through Halakhah the Word from Sinai has become the way of life of the Jewish people through history" (p. 84). He therefore sees a normative role for halakhah even in the modern world: "There has never been a greater need for Halakhah's creative wisdom of Torah-application to the daily realities of human existence than in our day" (p. 2).
Related to this is Rabbi Berkovits's view of the Oral Law (Torah She'be'al Peh), the traditional Jewish conception of the oral explanation of the Torah, given at Sinai along with the Written Torah. This Oral Torah includes both explicit interpretations of certain Pentateuchal laws, as well as the general methods of Rabbinic exegesis. In Berkovits's view, the Oral Law was oral in order to allow maximum flexibility, by giving the rabbis of each generation the ability to decide questions of new situations and circumstances and even re-decide anew the questions of previous generations. When the Oral Law was written (chiefly in the Mishna and Talmud), the rabbis viewed this as so catastrophic and unprecedented and controversial because this killed much of the Oral Law's flexibility that was so inherent to its nature; by writing it down, decisions were set in stone and could not be redecided. This was necessary to prevent its being forgotten due to the tribulations of Roman rule and exile, but it had its price. In addition, Rabbi Berkovits saw Zionism as a means to revitalize in the Jewish people what was lost with the Oral Law's writing.
Women in Jewish law
Berkovits was critical of the lack of rights a married Jewish woman has in relation to her husband in issues of marriage and divorce. Rabbi Prof.
David Hartman David Hartman is the name of:
*David Hartman (rabbi) (1931–2013), American-Israeli rabbi
*David Hartman (TV personality)
David Downs Hartman (born May 19, 1935) is an American journalist and media host who began his media career as an actor. He ...
said in a March, 2009, lecture about Berkovits that Berkovits was deeply concerned with the treatment of women in Jewish life, law, and practice. He affirmed the equity of women and men within the institution of Jewish marriage, but never advocated any abrogation of existing
Jewish law
''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws which is derived from the Torah, written and Oral Tora ...
.
Berkovits called for the ethical courage on the part of Jewish legal authorities to put what already exists in principle into practice. He was a major inspiration for many traditional Jewish women who sought to carve out a more equitable position within the boundaries of the
Jewish law
''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws which is derived from the Torah, written and Oral Tora ...
.
Works
*''Hume and Deism'' (1933)
erman Erman Rašiti may refer to:
Given name
* Erman Bulucu (born 1989), Turkish footballer
* Erman Eltemur (born 1993), Turkish karateka
* Erman Güraçar (born 1974), Turkish footballer
* Erman Kılıç (born 1983), Turkish footballer
* Erman Kunter (b ...
*''What is the Talmud?'' (1938)
erman Erman Rašiti may refer to:
Given name
* Erman Bulucu (born 1989), Turkish footballer
* Erman Eltemur (born 1993), Turkish karateka
* Erman Güraçar (born 1974), Turkish footballer
* Erman Kılıç (born 1983), Turkish footballer
* Erman Kunter (b ...
*''Towards Historic Judaism'' (1943)
*''Between Yesterday and Tomorrow'' (1945)
*''Judaism: Fossil or Ferment?'' (1956)
*''God, Man, and History'' (1959)
*''Prayer'' (1962)
*''A Jewish Critique of the Philosophy of Martin Buber'' (1962)
*''T'nai Bi'N'suin u'V'Get'' (1966) ebrew*''Man and God: Studies in Biblical Theology'' (1969)
*''Faith After the Holocaust'' (1973)
*''Major Themes in Modern Philosophies of Judaism'' (1974)
*''Crisis and Faith'' (1976)
*''With God in Hell: Judaism in the Ghettos and Death Camps'' (1979)
*''Not in Heaven: The Nature and Function of Halakha'' (1983)
*''HaHalakha, Koha V'Tafkida'' (1981) ebrew- expanded version of Not in Heaven (above)
*''Logic in Halacha'' (1986) ebrew*''Unity in Judaism'' (1986)
*''The Crisis of Judaism in the Jewish State'' (1987) ebrew*''Jewish Women in Time and Torah'' (1990)
*''Essential Essays on Judaism'' (2002), ed.
David Hazony
David Yair Hazony (born 1969) is an American-born Israeli writer, translator, and editor. He was the founding editor of ''The Tower Magazine'' from 2013 to 2017, and from 2017-2020 served as executive director of the Israel Innovation Fund. He c ...
* ''Faith and Freedom Passover Haggadah with Commentary From the Writings of Rabbi Eliezer Berkovits'' (2019), ed. Reuven Mohl
* ''Faith Fulfilled: Megillat Esther and the Ma'ariv Evening Service for Purim with Commentary From the Writings of Rabbi Eliezer Berkovits (2022),'' ed. Reuven Mohl
David Hazony
David Yair Hazony (born 1969) is an American-born Israeli writer, translator, and editor. He was the founding editor of ''The Tower Magazine'' from 2013 to 2017, and from 2017-2020 served as executive director of the Israel Innovation Fund. He c ...
David Hazony
David Yair Hazony (born 1969) is an American-born Israeli writer, translator, and editor. He was the founding editor of ''The Tower Magazine'' from 2013 to 2017, and from 2017-2020 served as executive director of the Israel Innovation Fund. He c ...
Shalem Center
The Shalem Center ( he, מרכז שלם, ''Merkaz Shalem'') was a Jerusalem research institute that supported academic work in the fields of philosophy, political theory, Jewish and Zionist history, Bible and Talmud, Middle East Studies, archaeolo ...
started a project to publish and translate anew all major works of Eliezer Berkovits (in
David Hazony
David Yair Hazony (born 1969) is an American-born Israeli writer, translator, and editor. He was the founding editor of ''The Tower Magazine'' from 2013 to 2017, and from 2017-2020 served as executive director of the Israel Innovation Fund. He c ...