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In Memory of Abraham E. Cohen, z’l,
Distinguished Former Member of the American Sephardi Federation’s Board of Directors 12 JANUARY 2015
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Distinguished Former Member of the American Sephardi Federation’s Board of Directors
This month’s featured essay is Dr. Zvi Zohar’s, “What All Jews Can Learn From Great Sephardic Rabbis of Recent Centuries.” (2012)
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Dr. Zvi Zohar
A Senior Research Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, Dr. Zvi Zohar is Chauncy Stillman Professor of Sephardic Law and Ethics at Bar Ilan University. He has written numerous articles and books that explore the culture and creativity of modern Sephardi-Mizrahi rabbis, including The Luminous Face of The East: Studies in the Legal and Religious Thought of the Sephardic Rabbis of the Middle East in Modern Times (English translation, 2013), and Tradition and Change: Halakhic Responses of Egyptian and Syrian Rabbis to Legal and Technological Change (1993). |
A Senior Research Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, Dr. Zvi Zohar is Chauncy Stillman Professor of Sephardic Law and Ethics at Bar Ilan University. He has written numerous articles and books that explore the culture and creativity of modern Sephardi-Mizrahi rabbis, including The Luminous Face of The East: Studies in the Legal and Religious Thought of the Sephardic Rabbis of the Middle East in Modern Times (English translation, 2013), and Tradition and Change: Halakhic Responses of Egyptian and Syrian Rabbis to Legal and Technological Change (1993).
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Zohar’s scholarly oeuvre reveals the breadth, depth, sensitivity and versatility of modern Middle Eastern rabbinic thought. What’s more, it demonstrates the relevance of this thought for Sephardim and Ashkenazim alike. As he writes, “[t]o limit study of Sephardic tradition to those of Sephardic ancestry is like limiting the study of Shakespeare to the English.”
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In order to explore the universal applicability of “Sephardic ideas and values,” Zohar delineates a number of examples, including how
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- R’Yitzhak Dayyan (Syria) and R’Joseph Hayyim, the “Ben Ish Hai” (Iraq), considered the integration of Torah and general learning to be an ideal;
- R’Ya’akov Mizrahi (Lebanon/Syria) and R’Joseph Mesas (Algeria/Morocco) responded to secularization by calling for greater unity, not separation, even if the price to be paid was occasionally overlooking the letter of the law;
- R’Moshe haCohen (Tunisia) issued a daring but eminently level-headed call to accept converts who formally acknowledge the authority of Jewish law but who will not go on to live an observant lifestyle. In his view, as summarized by Zohar, “the values of communal solidarity should lead rabbis to follow the path of inclusivity.”
| Zohar concludes his article by emphasizing the potentially transformative power of modern Middle Eastern rabbinic thought. “It is hard to overstate the implications for the entire fabric of contemporary Jewish life,” says Zohar, ”if these values and policies upheld by great Sephardic rabbis were to be actually accepted and applied within Orthodox and halakhic Judaism.” |
Come visit ASF’s Leon Levy Gallery at the Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th Street) to view “Echoes of Jewish Morocco: A Photographic Exhibit by Joshua Shamsi for the Diarna Geo-Museum” on display now through 20 March.
Contact us by email or phone (212-294-8350) to learn about opportunities to underwrite our newly designated office spaces and publications in honor or memory of loved ones.
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Copyright © 2014 American Sephardi Federation, All rights reserved. Thank you for opting (on our websites, at an event, or by email) to receive American Sephardi Federation Programming Updates and Publications. We apologize if this message was sent in error. The American Sephardi Federation’s Sephardi House is an integral part of the Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th St., New York, NY., 10011). American Sephardi Federation | http://www.Sephardi.House | info@Sephardi.House | (212) 294-8350
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Copyright © 2014 American Sephardi Federation, All rights reserved.
Thank you for opting (on our websites, at an event, or by email) to receive American Sephardi Federation Programming Updates and Publications. We apologize if this message was sent in error.
The American Sephardi Federation’s Sephardi House is an integral part of the Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th St., New York, NY., 10011).
American Sephardi Federation | http://www.Sephardi.House | info@Sephardi.House | (212) 294-8350
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