Menachem Kellner (born 1946) is an

American-Israeli , native_name_lang = , image = , caption = , population = 110,000–150,000 , popplace = New York metropolitan area, Los Angeles metropolitan area, Miami metropolitan area, and other large metropolitan are ...

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

and

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researc ...

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

Jewish philosophy with a particular focus on the philosophy of

Maimonides Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Tora ...

. He is a retired Professor of Jewish Thought at the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming ...

and is the founding chair of the Department of Philosophy and Jewish Thought at

Shalem College Shalem College ( he, המרכז האקדמי שלם, ''HaMerkaz HaAkademi Shalem'') is a private liberal arts college in Jerusalem, Israel providing undergraduate education and founded with the aim of producing "broadly educated citizens for ...

in Jerusalem. He has taught courses in philosophy, religious studies, medieval and modern Jewish philosophy at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

, the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William I ...

, the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

, and the University of Haifa. He is probably best known for his book ''Must A Jew Believe Anything?'', which was a

Koret Jewish Book Award The Koret Jewish Book Award is an annual award that recognizes "recently published books on any aspect of Jewish life in the categories of biography/autobiography and literary studies, fiction, history and philosophy/thought published in, or transla ...

finalist.

Biography

Kellner was born in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...

in 1946, and studied at 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 ...

Skokie, Illinois Skokie (; formerly Niles Center) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, neighboring the City of Chicago's northern border. Its population, according to the 2020 census, was 67,824. Skokie lies approximately north of Chicago's do ...

and

Yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are st ...

Mercaz HaRav Mercaz HaRav (officially, he, מרכז הרב - הישיבה המרכזית העולמית, "The Center of Rabbi ook- the Central Universal Yeshiva") is a national-religious yeshiva in Jerusalem, founded in 1924 by Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Abraha ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

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 ...

. He studied

Western philosophy Western philosophy encompasses the philosophical thought and work of the Western world. Historically, the term refers to the philosophical thinking of Western culture, beginning with the ancient Greek philosophy of the pre-Socratics. The word ' ...

and Jewish philosophy at

, receiving a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

, and

Ph.D A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

. His Ph.D dissertation was directed by Steven Schwarzschild. In 1980 he made '' aliyah'' to Israel.

Publications

Books

* ''Dogma in Medieval Jewish Thought: From Maimonides to Abravanel'' (1986) * ''Maimonides on Human Perfection'' (1990) * ''Maimonides on Judaism and the Jewish People'' (1991) * ''Maimonides on the "Decline of the Generations" and the Nature of Rabbinic Authority'' (1996) * ''Must A Jew Believe Anything?'' (1999) * ''Maimonides Confrontation with Mysticism'' (2006) *''Science in Bet Midrash: Studies in Maimonides'' (2009) *''Torah in the Observatory: Gersonides, Maimonides, Song of Songs'' (2010) *''Reinventing Maimonides in Contemporary Jewish Thought'' (2019)

Translations

* He is the translator of ''Isaac Abravanel’s Principles of Faith,'' ''Gersonides’ Commentary on Song of Songs,'' and ''Maimonides’ Book of Love.''

References

* http://hcc.haifa.ac.il/Departments/jewish_history/philosophy/staff/mkellner.htm

External links

* * Menachem Kellner
Who is the Person Whom Rambam Says Can be 'Consecrated as the Holy of Holies'?
''Seforim Blog''. November, 2007. * Menachem Kellner
Review of Micah Goodman, Sodotav shel Moreh ha-Nevukhim (Secrets of the Guide of the Perplexed)
''H-Judaic, H-Net Reviews''. December, 2011. 1946 births 20th-century American philosophers 20th-century Israeli philosophers 21st-century American philosophers 21st-century Israeli philosophers Washington University in St. Louis faculty American emigrants to Israel American philosophy academics American translators College of William & Mary faculty Israeli translators Jewish American academics Living people Mercaz HaRav alumni New York University alumni People from Albany, New York Philosophers of Judaism Academic staff of the University of Haifa University of Virginia faculty Washington University in St. Louis alumni {{Israel-academic-bio-stub