Articles and Reviews by Reuven Kimelman
The Jewish ethics of war focuses on two issues: its legitimation and its conduct. 1 The Talmud cl... more The Jewish ethics of war focuses on two issues: its legitimation and its conduct. 1 The Talmud classifies wars according to their source of legitimation. Biblically mandated wars are termed mandatory. Wars undertaken at the discretion of the Sanhedrin are termed discretionary. 2 There are three types of mandatory wars: Joshua's war of conquest against the seven Canaanite nations, the war against Amalek, and defensive wars against an already launched attack. Discretionary wars are usually expansionary efforts undertaken to enhance the political prestige of the government or to secure economic gain. 3 The first type of mandatory war is only of historical interest as the Canaanite nations had already lost their national identity in ancient times. This ruling, which appears repeatedly in the Rabbinic literature 4 and is codified by Maimonides, 5 is part of a tendency to blunt the impact of the seven-nations policy. The Bible 6 points out that these policies were not implemented even during the zenith of ancient Israel's power. Indeed, the Midrash (i.e., classical Rabbinic exposition of the Bible) explicitly excludes the possibility of transferring the seven-1 For a recent survey of texts, commentary, and application, see Kimelman 1992: 233-255; Afterman and Afterman 2014: 8-75. The classical sources are all available in the original Hebrew with English translation at www.sefaria.org/texts. 2 Lekah Tov to Deuteronomy, ed. S. Buber, 35a. Leviticus Rabbah 1,4 draws the distinction between David's wars "for Israel" and those "for himself." See Rashi to B. (= Babylonian Talmud) Gittin 8band47a, s.v. "kibush yahid," and B. Avodah Zarah 20b, end.
The word "idolatry" has a constricted and an expansive meaning in Judaism. The constricted meanin... more The word "idolatry" has a constricted and an expansive meaning in Judaism. The constricted meaning focuses on the literal meaning of the rabbinic expression avodah zarah (hereafter, AZ), and specific biblical examples. Parallel biblical expressions are eish zarah (Ex. 30:9, 37), qetoret zarah (Lev. 10:1), and ish zar (Num. 17:S), namely, unauthorized fire, unauthorized incense, and unauthorized personnel. So, for example, the case involving Ko rah and his cohorts was an authorized act, but performed by unauthorized personnel (Num. 17:3-5). The actions leading to the death of the two sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, were a wrong act, 1 but performed by authorized personnel. Besides right personnel and act, the other two factors are the right time and the right place. AZ therefore is best rendered as unauthorized or improper worship. 2 The point is that "God ought to be worshipped according to the rituals established by Him:' 3 The expanded meaning of AZ ranges from the worship of idols, the worship of many gods, and the worship of a god beside the one God, to the worship of the one God through idols and images, and any unauthorized worship of even the one God. The expansive meaning of AZ holds that only God is to be
Reading Lamentations with Inner-Biblical Exegesis By identifying biblical intertexts and parallel... more Reading Lamentations with Inner-Biblical Exegesis By identifying biblical intertexts and parallel phrases, we can better understand the flow, the imagery, and even the core message of Eichah, Lamentations.
The richest vein for mining theology is the Siddur. More than any other work, it reflects the con... more The richest vein for mining theology is the Siddur. More than any other work, it reflects the consensual theology of Judaism. It shows how Judaism affirms its belief system by liturgizing it. Unlike standard credos, liturgical theology seeks to ground itself in life experience. Minimally, a theological insight is to be articulated; preferably, it is to be sung; maximally, it is to be performed in unison. As a communal performance, liturgy unifies the people Israel while confirming the collective theology of Israel.
Alon Goshen-Gottstein deserves kudos for reassessing Luther's legacy for Jew and Christian. He ha... more Alon Goshen-Gottstein deserves kudos for reassessing Luther's legacy for Jew and Christian. He has pried open new vistas of negotiating inter-religious differences. Most importantly, he has alerted us to the twin trap of religious triumphalism and delegitimation. For those of us on the precipice, it is precisely the awareness of the trap, both religiously and politically, that keeps us from falling into the chasm below. In this review, I have thus pushed the theopolitical dimensions in exploring alternative ways of conceptualizing primarily a Jewish-Christian partnership and secondarily the Jewish-Christian-Muslim one under the Abrahamic umbrella while pointing out some of the pitfalls. The first is the importance of the doctrine of Jewish election in accounting for Christian antisemitism as well as that of Islam, Nazism, and possibly Soviet Communism. The second is the suggestion of using the changing relationship between Britain and America as a model for that between Judaism and Christianity. For the relationship between Judaism and the sister faiths of Islam and Christianity, I have suggested also the models of the Aleinu prayer and that of Abraham. This is accompanied with an understanding of religious pluralism that allows for this development. We are all indebted to this unusual and courageous book for prodding and provoking more thinking on the complexities, possibilities, and pitfalls of the fluctuating relationship of Judaism, Christianity, and others.
This literary study of the liturgical poem Adon Olam focuses on the relationship between its poet... more This literary study of the liturgical poem Adon Olam focuses on the relationship between its poetry and theology. It follows the version of the contemporary Ashkenazic liturgy as opposed to the later longer "Sephardic" versions. The poem is analyzed in the light of its poetics, its biblical and midrashic background, and its grounding in medieval and late antique theology. It shows that for Adon Olam, eternity and infinity no more belie intimacy than sovereignty belies solicitude. By interlocking God's grandeur and grace, a mental matrix for prayer is formed through which Adon Olam emerges as the theological introduction to the morning service.
Reuven Kimelman, “Introduction,” in Abraham J. Heschel, The Mystical Element in Judaism (Jerusalem: Varda Books, 2017)
Kimelman a-d, which is an interpolation dealing with redemption.2 It is then contrasted with the ... more Kimelman a-d, which is an interpolation dealing with redemption.2 It is then contrasted with the comparable evening version followed by a discussion of the nature of the love and its metaphors.
he more unnerving it is to address God, the greater the need for multiple metaphors. This explain... more he more unnerving it is to address God, the greater the need for multiple metaphors. This explains why we revert to multiple liturgi cal metaphors when we stand before God as sovereign and judge on the High Holy Days. It is so hard to get the language right, and even when we get the language right, we find ourselves having to use more than a single formulation. Think of traditional liturgical poems such as Ha' ochez b' yad midat mishpat ("He who holds the standard of justice"), L 'el Orekh Din ("To the God who arbitrates judgment"), and Atah Hu Eloheinu ("You who are our God"), which all refer to God in twenty-two different ways, corresponding to the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Most illuminating is the liturgical form of Ki Anu Amekha ("For we are your people"). It provides twelve designations for us and twelve corre sponding epithets for God. Each line has four words, two for us and two for God. The first three are as follows: 1. We-are your-people and-You-are our-God 2. We-are your-children and-You-are our-father 3. We-are your-servants and-you-are our-lord
Biblical ^ro^hecy seeks both to reconcile people to God and to reconcile God with people. Glose e... more Biblical ^ro^hecy seeks both to reconcile people to God and to reconcile God with people. Glose examination o؛ the roles of Abraham (Genesis IB), Moses (Exodus 32) and Elijah (I Kings 19) demonstrates that prophets must always bear this dual responsibility, especially in arguing with God, lest they be unworthy of their loyalty both to the people and to God.
generation's teller of tales. He uses stories to keep alive Jewish memory. His retellings of tale... more generation's teller of tales. He uses stories to keep alive Jewish memory. His retellings of tales are frequently better known than the origi nal. More hasidic tales are probably known through his retelling than any since Martin Buber. Similarly, his recounting of biblical and talmudic narratives has done much to make them not only known but tellable. is essay focuses on his retelling of talmudic lore in his book Wise Men and eir Tales. 1 ere, he relates how much he was enamored of the intricacies of the Talmud, dazzled by the workings of its dialectics, abbergasted by its ruthless honesty, piqued by its arcane tales, amazed at its pious yet awed characters, and astonished at its incessant questioning. Identifying with its non nality, he is taken in by its open-endedness as well as taken aback by its strangeness. For him, the Talmud is the spine of Judaism, without which we would have gone limp long ago. It is what kept Jews upright, walking tall through out their lachrymose history. Without it, the spiritual reality would have succumbed to the material one.
hat a peculiar question to ask-whether Kol Nidre is typical! Everybody knows how exceptional it i... more hat a peculiar question to ask-whether Kol Nidre is typical! Everybody knows how exceptional it is. The moment, the mood, the court scene, the legally charged Aramaic and Hebrew are all out of the ordinary. We stand without shoes, dressed in white, wrapped in tallit at night, while chanting a threefold crescending repetition from contrition to rectification to pardon, without mention of God or the division between saint and sinner. Surely these extraordinary factors are enough to explain how this longest-running, off-Broadway drama became an annual, worldwide sellout for over a millennium. But is it? Or do we need an additional factor: the focus on language and words? That may be the case since the focus on language and words typifies Yom Kippur in particular but is true also of prayer in general. Words are the pith of prayer. Take one look at Al Chet, the standard Yom Kippur confessional, and you cannot doubt the power of the word. True, the hardened heart, the supercilious and begrudging eye, the obdurate brow, the stiff and haughty neck, the violent and misplaced hand, the running legs to evil, the light head, all get their due, but nothing stands out more than the tenfold references to the sins of the mouth-vain Utterances, gossipy tongue, slanderous speech, false words, deceptive promises, cynical asides, insolent tone, foul language, idle words, and lipalone confessions.
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Articles and Reviews by Reuven Kimelman