EARLY MODERN INTELLECTUAL JEWISH HISTORY

Dr. Alan Brill

Notes by Josh Yuter

I take no responsibility for errors, typos, or transliterations in these notes.

However, if you find any mistakes, please let me know.

My email address is jyuter@ymail.yu.edu.

Monday Jan 25

Poland cont. People moving eastward.

Kingdom of kazars. Turkish tribe conquered parts of Crimea. At most 30,000

only ruling class converted. Not source for eastern European Jewish history. 630-960

Many became Christians in Lithuania many assimilated.

Kingdom of Rus 960-1360 trading company. Some jews in Kiev. Some sort of attack on jews in 1113 in Kiev. Don't know much about it. Ashkenaz Jews went from London to China on trade route even through Kiev and Rus.

Lithuania 1360-1495 - large Jewish population. Jews are the translators of Aristotle from the arabic to Hebrew to Slavonic. Few Jewish avverroists. Don't know much about them.

1495 Jews were expelled as the other Christian countries. Jews go to Poland

Poland:

How much did the Jews preserve the ancient Slavonic elements. Jews will be coming from the German Jewish community. Small number of sephardic jews as well. 1262 - Charter of prince Borslav gave Jews some rights. Many charters will be based on these and forged or bought. Other places say they include different places and privileges. I.e. Right to bear arms, settlements etc. Non Jewish Germans come as well and continue with their German practice. Jews will be free men. Maharshal says Jews are like the knights since their money is protected and can bear arms. Some move for religious freedom especially the protestant sects.

ECONOMY: 70% were serfs or peasants who had to farm, and had no rights and had to give a share of crops to nobles. 10% were nobles. Most did not prefer to run their land and lived in Paris or other places and had middlemen to run their land. This was 10% and included Jews, Scotsman and other Germans. This system of tax farming is the arenda system. They will be in charge of salt mills, distillation in state controlled breweries. The Jews and others buy rights from nobles and rent them out to take the taxes on that. This went from 15^th cen to 18^th. This does not lead to investment, but makes role for Jews. Jews were not peasants. 13^th to 16^th cen Jews were in charge of minting coins. Peasants never saw the nobles. The jews were seen as representatives of the government. Some have as many of 4,000 jews. A "private town" is a town owned by one single prince and had the Jews under him.

1200-1374: Many Kingdoms from people who bought a plot of land and was able to live in peace.

Poland considered violent cold, tribal.

1374-1569: The princedoms start organizing themselves, and become renaissance princedoms. Will set up town cities, infrastructure and religious freedom. Krakow will be a major university. People learning French and Italian. One of the first modern countries and have an open door policy.

1569-1763: Republic of principalities of Poland. The size differs. Some times will include Lithuania, Germany and others not. However, the arenda culture will lead Poland into a straight decline.

1764-1794: Poland realizes it must reform and will import western reformation systems.

1772-1794: Poland carved up by Prussia (North) Russia (East) Austria-Hungary (south)

In 1794, Poles are not the majority. So many Germans, Greeks, Jews, Lithuanians are in the country.

In the 18^th century, Poland will enserf its peasants. Only country in the 18^th cen that enslaves people rather than free them. The arenda system did not work economically, so peasants would run away. The only way to keep the peasants was to enslave them. Don't have a standing army, and are not concerned with Russia or Hungary.

30 year war wipes out 30% of population. Everyone fights poles. Breakdown of principalities. The Ukrainians attacked Jews as being the middlemen for nobles. On the German side, Jews supported both sides and became extremely wealthy. Poland was a disorganized country with no leadership or vision. Weak decentralized government.

Jewish History

According to tax records, jews were 75% business people 50% on wages (sofer, hazan) 10% poor. Most wealthy. 99% of non jews are illiterate, clergy was barely literate. Jews were known as people of the book because they knew how to read. 30-90% of men could read the siddur or at least own a book. 2-20% of Jewish men could read with some level of understanding. Women had about 90% illiteracy. Jews kept business records in Hebrew. A city like Prague was completely renaissance with huge literacy rates and therefore will have strong yeshivot. Krakow will have an Itallian princess who will build schools. In Ukraine, no books, education and small town. "Wild west." Polish Jewish life filled with violence (between Jews). Ritual questions by people moving out.

Hahamim in Poland ban Jews from moving out into the Ukraine because

1) Will assimilate (become non-religious)

2) Will lead to hatred of Jews as foreigners

3) Will break up the kehila and weaken the strength of the community.

Jews will move by the thousands to the Ukraine for the arendas. The observance goes down. Even after the Helminisky massacres, the Jews move even further into the Ukraine. The anti-Semitism not seen as anti Jewish but anti-German and Polish. Every town keeper, merchant, and shopkeeper was Jewish. In these taverns, have Jews selling vodka to the peasant, and the customers also want dinner i.e. pork, and they must be open on Saturday as well. Eastern European Jewry cannot live without the selling of the store to non-Jews for shabbat concept.

One of the issues is what gives you the power to be rabbi. In Ukraine, have people with no education as rabbis.

Jewish Community politics was run by the council of the four lands. In actuality was 4-7 lands depending on if Lithuania, Ukraine, or others were included in Poland. Most of the time 5-7. This was run by lay leadership of businesspeople for political purposes. Jews manage own affairs of taxes and punishments. You belong to your religious ethnic community. There was one for Scotsman, and Germans as well. There was a leader - parness - under him the neeman ruling oligarchy and under them were elected officials of the community. Andre Prene wanted to show neemanim were democratic, really not. They collected taxes from Jews and since they weren't spending on infrastructure, the biggest source of money spent on the shtadlim - the paid officials of the Jewish communities who would be bribers to the Polish government to buy charters and rights. They would speak Latin, polish and french and would offer huge bribes to extend charters or include more rights with the nobles and churches. They used up 90% of budget of council. These people were not frum and drank stam yainam. Ramah reduced the issur to a minor issur and eventually matirs it. The kehila set business law, and were in charge of charity. Every marriage had to have a clergyman signature. In small towns, the positions of vaad and rabbinate will be bought and sold. The vaad will deal with monopoly, and other social legislation - town planning. Some amount of intellectual property. Not based on law, but in common accepted practice. The communities get involved in who has right to do something.

Within communities have gambling, mixed dancing, no shomer negiah, and practice called bunding - making out before wedding (no mikvah).

Wednesday January 27

See Map - Prime Jewish region are Lublin, Krakow.

Dubnon will paint Jewish history as an upswing from 1300-1648 (Helminisky massacres) then down through 1939. We set it up that there is an incline from 1300-1569-1648-1649 plateau until 1760. Jews after 1648 moved further out into Ukraine. Jews decline for economics not anti-Semitism 1648 then decline until 1772.

Community

See handouts: The Jew in the Medieval world. Ordinances from the councils of the four lands.

Bankrupt people are put in herem and must move somewhere else. Social ordinances that polish Jews took seriously. Mehallalei shabbat are publicly punished. If you have an arenda out someplace, you have to go out to a Beit Din to find out what you have to do. Everything was subjected to a ha'arama to get around it. Mammonot was very serious in Poland e.g hasagat gevul and bankruptcy. Autonomy of law that is not takanot - common law Jewish judgement.

The Jewish government was as decentralized as the Non-Jewish government. There was no ability to enforce the 4 lands edicts in the Ukraine.

The connection between the rabbinic and lay leadership was that they were all in the same family. The important families were the Rubinsteins, Halperns, etc. the money prestige and the learning. No one without money learned - all inbred. Therefore, all these people are related.

Rabbis

Time line:

I

1290 - Tosafot end

1310 - Shaarai dura - Isaac Durin 14^th cen (Lo plug era)

Ran already calling self an Aharon - commenting on commentaries.

II

1530 - Yaakov Faulk, uses pilpul

1525-1572 Rama

1573 - Maharshal (Also lehem mishna in Ottoman, Shita Mekubetzet in Egypt)

1612 - L'vush,

1614 - Sma'

1616 - Maharam

1633 - Binyamin Salonia

III

1640 - Bach

1644 - Maharam Shif

1654 - Tosafot Yom Tov

1663 - Joshua Heschel

IV

1663 - Sach

1667 - Taz, B'air hagolah

V

1683 - Magen Avraham

1701 - Havat Yair

1718 - Sa'agat Aryeh, Haham Tzvi

1733 - Shevit ya'akov

VI

1736 - Pahad Yitzhak

1756 - P'nei Yehosha

1764 - Aibshitz

1776 - Aminadav

VII

1813 - K'tzot

1805 - Haphla

1812 - Rasag

1821 - R. Hayyim

1832 - N'tivot

Ya'akov Falk - Pilpul = Asking an outside question. Separate nature of question vs method. Why quote this braita and not that one. On the daf ask questions out of the daf - why this and not that. The method was not abstract, but by huge weave. As opposed to hilukim answer questions on the daf itself - what was the hava amaina. The method was not having to cite everyone else first. Faulk brought pilpul to Poland. The Rama was raised in the pilpul method - from his father. Therefore, he would take it seriously - if you create pilpul, they would pasken like that. The maharshal did hiluk - limited to asking questions to why 3 questions not 2 - how is this an answer. Pilpul requires outside research - Hiluk defines what is on the page.

The Rama also writes on the Shulhan Aruch and cites Ashkenaz opinion - the Tosafot through the eyes of Shaarei Dona. Will accept hefsed merubah, shinui, and minhag. Also thinks of Heter Iska - permission to deal with interest in banking and interest for corporations.

Maharshal is against bringing in philosophy, kabbalah and minhag in halacha. In Yam Shel Shelomo goes back on text and is willing to argue on Rishonim as to what the text really means - not the mesorah of pilpul.

The L'vush in youth will try to write Ashkenaz version and will try to write Ashkenaz halacha sefer on Beit Yosef, gave up and tried later on Shulhan Aruch. Wrote 4 volumes and was accepted in Poland as minhag Poland. Generation IV canonized Shulhan Aruch, Rama not the L'vush.

S'ma' wants to write theoretical peirush on Beit Yosef.

Maharam (Lublin) - Hiluk, people only learn GFRT - Gemara peirush rashi and Tosafot.

Binyamin Slonik writes important works

Maharam Shif deals with hiluk.

Tosafot Yom tov in Prague - go back to mishna and torah sheba'al peh

Bach - Yoel Sircus master of pilpul writes commentary for beit yosef. Known for preserving indigenous Ashkenaz halachot and minhagot e.g. separate seating at weddings as well as the pilpul. He matirs hadash because of the wheat situation in Poland. Also created s'fek s'feka. For hadash, perhaps this wheat is hadash, and if it is, maybe it sprouted after Pesach. Also prefer safek l'humra especially by Ishut because that's what God wants since it is that serious.

IV

Sach develops s'fek s'feka further. Sach will include mahloket in the Gemara as a safek. Will create K'lallei t'fisa for grabbing things if owed money. Sach was willing to go back to the rishonum - very well read. Has an anatomy textbook. As a person - born in Vilna, learn in Lublin, flees westward to Prague. From the Sach and Taz, people moving back to Germany and central Europe (wandering Jews).

Taz - defends the Shulhan Aruch. More accepted by poskim in Germany, Shach accepted in Germany. Son-in-law of bach. Accepts many more humrot of Ashkenaz.

K'rochmol - the tzemach tzedek deals with practical issues.

B'eir Hagola - writes the sources for the Shulhan Aruch.

V

Magen Avraham - writes on Orach hayim

Havat Yair - anti pilpul back to the Maharal.

Shagat Aryeh - Analysis lumdus.

Not yes/no questions.

See sheet - Radical Decision. Rama matirs a wedding on shabbat. Worried about economics not agunot. Rabbeinu Tam - don't do it but does not invalidates the kiddushin.

Monday February 1

Sejm - Polish legislative body.

Szlachta - Polish nobility

Poritz - owner of an estate

Binyamin Slonik - Responsa at the end of booklet. #45 shows casuistry - you now say that a Jew that retells a Non-Jews testimony is good for agunot - extending the halacha. Not looking to get back to halacha, but to extend it.

Starting with the Shulhan Aruch, Shach and Taz, you get commentaries and super commentaries. Have Gemara, Rishonim, Shulhan Aruch, Ramah - only talking about Shulhan Aruch Ramah. This moves from generation to generation. As you go on, have more cases further and further from the original discussion. Many opposed to codification, some say only go back to Rishonim and Gemara. You would have to go further and further from Shulhan Aruch and not go back to the Rashba. It is a minhag of the rishonim to say p'tum ktoret since like the k'toret, then if you miss something are you hayav mita. You cannot deal with analogies because they become real.

General approach to mahshava

The average aharon was a haham hakollel, but nothing has any context. There are no universities. The average rabbi has no discipline - will read Moreh, Albo, math books, etc. 1) Mahshava centers around hazal - Gemara Shulhan Aruch and midrash, 2) their peirushim are eclectic - they will quote anything 3) They harmonize everything. They can ask questions and answer from anywhere. They hold of 70 panim and eilu vaeilu

Torah:

Shlah says that every age and very time has a new giving of torah on Har Sinai from the same original Koach. Therefore every ba'al halacha is giving torah and righting torah, there is no objective standard or external text. Any machlokot get harmonized. Any interpretation are insights into the text. They see that the text is the Or Hashem and every Gadol is re-creating text. Therefore, the N'tziv was the first to give intellectual property to the Torah. This community takes the previous methodologies found partially in the Ramban and Tosafot and actually live by it.

Strong sense that everything in the world and soul is based in Torah.

Philosophy:

L'vush: writes 7 part work. 5^th part is commentary on moreh, 6^th on kabbalah, 7^th on astronomy. He holds like Averroists of Maimonides, mild rationalistic Kabbalah.

Ramah: Has debate with Maharshal, writes Torat haOlah on the symbolism on the Korbanot - why you need certain amount of gold - why exactly what it is and how it brings down spiritual energies. Comments on Maimonides - Rambam = Zohar. Therefore Rambam's To'arei P'ulah = Zohar and the Zohar's Kabbalah is a deeper understanding. Explains the Zohar in light if P'shat Gemara and halacha.

Bach: Everything is assur - do nothing but Torah. There is no mahashava besides halacha, and if you think otherwise it is assur. Following Hukat HaGoy - he can say no one's has done it before, no historic sense. Bach almost all Ashkenaz canon.

R. Aharon Land: 1559 will say from pulpit that no one should study philosophy. No one should spend time with outside hachma. He will be answered by

R. Avraham HaLeivi (Shla's father) - strong need to know works by Rambam, Sa'adya and other philosophical works; and

R. Elazar Ashkenazi in Ma'aseh Hashem that philosophy part of the tradition. They are answered by

R. Yosef Ashkenazi (Land's son-in-Law) All philosophy is assur only learn mishnayot k'pshuto - simple understanding.

Almost all aharonim write shira and piyutim in the tradition of the medieval rabbis.

Most siddurim were printed badly and had bad grammar. R. Shabbtai Sofer will put out one siddur in and of 17^th century with correct nikkud because the Ashkenaz siddurim were that bad. The Sha'arei Tzion will come out with a siddur in the 17^th century and will include light m'kubbalim's meditation and will add the L'shem y'hud and other Ba'al Habatish - pop kabbalah.

Sheet: Shlah - The Faithful House. Deals with the amazing power of siddur - deep secrets of words. Will hold doctrine of Ruhaniyut - every letter has hidden light and every Hebrew prayer will bring down light and affect higher olamot. Method will quote moreh, wild midrash, minhag, story, and tie it all together.

The hamon am was concerned with the spirit of the law. Would say prayers in yiddish and on family concerns. Ritualistic cycle - separate woman's section - women would lead and help other women pray. Their torah, k'riah and t'filin were probably not kosher.

Wednesday February 3

The hamon am followed whatever was in the siddur. If it wasn't there, they didn't say it. They did not know what was going on. A lot of personal prayers for personal issues. Devotional society, birth of laity involvement. No strong institutions that generate lay innovations.

See Sheet: Tzena Urena

The midrash is seen as the way to learn torah. Since it was an oral culture, you went to shul to hear d'rashot. This was also the entertainment. Some will teach kabbalah, some will teach Torah. No central group or figure. Whatever you do, people will listen. Judah Leib Pukhovister uses the Alshich and deals with Gilgulim - everyone was a gilgul. Most of them were soft-determinists.

Eastern European was a folk culture - mimetic tradition as opposed to a big traditions. They were an organic folk culture without an external reference in books - did because of tradition no matter what it was. Anything goes - weak sense of canon.

Back to the Shlah

Besides being the son of a Maimonidean, his methodology was to combine Rambam, drush, and philosophy in a mixture - not a synthesis. There a photons of energy in each prayer, therefore, you have to say each word correctly. In Torah, the actual light of letters makes you smarter.

Extremism: Will hold of the Hasidei Ashkenaz tradition that God wants the heart. Doing the mitzvah with heart is better than doing it by the book. An Aveirah L'shma is greater than a mitzvah not L'shma. Anything that is a good deed with heart is better than an irrelevant thing in the books. Shlah will quote midrashim that after mashiach, pig will be kosher - part of theme that we don't understand everything. He will also take radicalism of Hasidei Ashkenaz on teshuvah - If you don't do an aveirah, you can't do t'shuvah properly. The Shlah is a product of lay piety.

Folk tales were not for children, but for the adults. Adults read the Ma'aseh book - Early modern that there are no elite, justice is in the hands of the masses. Also, note the role of magic.

Ba'alei Shem are masters of the name, and many times that could afford it had them. They tended to be folk doctors, energy readers, faith healers, and wrote amulets. The Maharal has a great-grandson who will be a ba'al shem. Mixtures of actual medicine with herbal medicined and amulets. Part of the sense of the laity. Many gedolim knew most of this knowledge. Hayyim Shmuel Faulk was known as a ba'al shem.

Megilah Amukot discusses gematrias, one gives 252 explanations of v'ethanan. When he reads vayikra, he mainly asks about the small aleph.

Prague

Prague will have qualities of Poland Germany and Spain. Like Germany, will have anti-Semitism. Jews will be regularly expelled. When they are not German, they are Polish - so Bohemia will accept all outcasts of Europe when times are good, including all heretical sects. 16^th - early 17^th century, Rudolph II will invite in many people, astronomy, courts, printing - fertile intellectually and cosmopolitan. Like Spain, people will be reading Philosophy. Efraim Kopfer found in Bohemia and Prague science works and therefore Ashkenaz Jews knew philosophy - actually only in Prague did they know philosophy and will be unique compared to Europe. Many Jewish Christian debate.

Maharal 1520-1609

Came from a rabbinic family. His brother Hayyim ben B'tzallel was against the codification. His brother-in-law Yitzhak Hayyat was the Rabbi in Prague and wrote a peirush on Yoreh Deah and Pesach in poetry form and his own commentary on it. The one person who cites it in Poland was the Shach. 1553-1573 was Rabbi in Mareiva. 1573 became rabbi of Prague. Sets up a yeshiva for mishnayot - can't do pilpul without knowing torah shebal peh and have to learn k'pshuto - can't learn pilpul. Learn humash before exegesis, give tzddaka, against stam yainam and negiah. Lasted one year. He went to Posen and for the last year of his life he returned.

Monday February 8

Maharal

His own derech halimid is hiluk. After he left Prague, his institutions failed. When he came back, they became permanent. Kli yakar was a talmid. The Tosafot Yom Tov was not a student, but was influenced by Maharal. It initially was popular, but disappeared for 200 years. The Maharal will be brought back by end of 18^th century by hasidim and mitnagdim.

Stories about the Golem 1^st record in 1870's will associate alchemists and magic to the Maharal. Yiddle Rosenberg will write Niflaot ha Maharal which will be stories paralleling sherlock Holmes but with a Golem. Hayim Bloch (forger) translated this into German and it then went over the world. Therefore, the association with the Golem to the Maharal.

Maharal living in Prague will know many things, but will not show what he knows. For example, Calvin was translated into Hebrew, which the Maharal probably read as well as the Platonic school in Florence. We have word for word quotes. He knew about Copernicus and Early Modern intellectual figures through keeping up on what was out there and created his own system.

System

Everything comes down to perspective. The same way current science was saying that there was a difference between Copernicus and Aristotle. Question of perspective. Calculations of orbits are different depending on what you assume. Maharal will use similar argument that there is an Aristotelean view - sense date and Torah based on sechel - reason. Non-Jews use sense data, Torah uses reason. He will apply this to History and use the Gemara of haham adif m'navi.

A haham does things through sechel - internal, he understands it and therefore on a higher level. Maharal will give a system of halacha that is called nivdal - separate higher perspective of the haham. This will be identified by the true seder haolam. Maharal will give the rules of Torah according to this system.

1) Ze L'umat zeh: everything in Torah has an opposite. A) Opposite Since Israel, have Amalek b) Corresponding - Positive and negative trait - the greater the tzaddik, the greater the yetzer hara. C) Dualistic - Give and take, if you are improving the mind, the heart must go with it.

Against Maimonides and Aristotle uniformity of virtues

2) Torah works in triads - shlishit: A and !A will form B - if you have Zeh L'umat Zeh will form B. Also then a !B which form C.

Denies Aristotle excluded middle

3) Hisaron -> Sh'laimut: Organic metaphor that the seed must rot in order to grow. Israel must go through Galut in order to have Geulah. Have to know about distance from what you are working on to understand it. Only through not understanding can you reach understanding. The process becomes important.

4) Number symbolism: 16^th 17^th century before analytic geometry. Numbers were symbolic.

3 = plurality and imperfection in Olam Haze, 4 = perfection, 6 = physical (cube), 7 = this world in terms of time (week), 8 = Above nature (b'rit), 10 = multiplicity, 12 = full plurality of olam haze, 13 = plurality of nivdal.

5) Homer & Tzura: matter and form - anything that perfects anything else is tzura and anything that needs perfection is homer. Humans (homer) need torah (tzura) to perfect them. Non-Jews vs. Jews, men vs. women, hamon am vs. rabbinate.

6) Mashbia & M'kabel: You are simultaneously parent/child, student/teacher. Interlocking system. Continuous organic system. Giving and taking.

Maimonides would agree, but not organic model and would not include community.

7) K'lall ufrat: The prat must be subsumed in the klall. The prat of the mitzvah is par of the system, each Jew is part of the klall of Israel.

8) Kiyum: Everything in the world needs form of Kiyum to keep itself going. A plant needs sunshine and water Jews need Torah. Also organic.

9) According to Maimonides and Aristotle, "Lev" means mind. According to Maharal, Moach (sciences) is mind as opposed to level of nivdal which uses "lev"...

Common sense: - Maimonides and Aristotle, hush ham'shutaf - your common sense was literally common - sense data of 5 senses + data from memory and data from imagination and ability for abstraction - imagination - and this was able to regulate all other faculties of your mind. The senses were part of the mind.

In the Early modern period, people like Ficino - In Florence, Plato - believe in sechel, and care about other things like memory, personality, imagination, therefore the Hush ham'shutaf will get most of Ficino's writings because he will care about senses, desire, memory, and imagination. Everyone own individual, have special sense of personality.

Maharal is now going to say that Torah and Mitzvot deal with the realm of memory, objects, imagination, and desire. The realm of Nivdal is about ahava, hush, zicaron(with mitzvot) and guf. Nivdal's definition of what's in mitzvot. Therefore, Nivdal is integrated whole which involves mind and heart and body.

For the Ramhal, the role of sechel and common sense as knowledge which is available to everybody. Anything that is reproducible, arguable and teachable. Spinoza common sense is the modern sense - practical knowledge available to everybody. We are watching a growth of personality.

Torah for the Maharal is in the sense of nivdal. Ficino will say that your senses pulsates through you body through your pnuma = nefesh, life force. The Maharal will say that the guf will be pulsating from all those things (heart) - no way to deal with abstract emotions. The lev becomes this bigger category - not just the heart, but everything that comes from your living human being.

10) Role of necessity: Anything true is necessary. Anything contingent is automatically not true. Therefore, everything in Tanach being true must be necessary, but what you ate for breakfast is not truth. Corollary - If everything is contingent, therefore the opposite of necessity are only, he'edar - Good and meaningless accident. He'eder has nothing to teach you. E.g. A plant needing water is necessary. My eating is necessary. The details are meaningless. Privation=lack. Corollary - Free will & hashgacha. Nothing in Torah has behira, God's hashgacha is maintaining of the necessary.

11) On Behira: Maharal holds that every instance of tanach was God's behira. The Maharal will deny purpose. E.g. Avraham going - lech l'cha, was only God's hashgacha and not because of Avraham. No logic or purpose or virtue of protagonists. God orchestrates all events in Tanach, the people have no behira because they are necessary.

12) Continues today - Jews are in Galut because if you look at political science that all nations out of homeland assimilate. Maharal will say that the fact that the Jews survive show that Judaism is not subject to laws of sense data - sechel, but according to laws of Torah, which proves that the mashiach will come. Since mashiach doesn't come into laws of sechel, we are nivdal - have this nivdal status, will prove that we are in the messianic age. Our hashgacha proves we are separate species than other races because we work on nivdal.

13) Mitzvot: Plurality above nature - if you don't do mitzvot, you die like the plant. You will cease to be. Therefore, all vices come from lack of mitzvot.

Wednesday February 10

Maharal on hagim - what counts is ratzon Hashem. Therefore, God is the protagonist in Purim, Ad D'lo yada' is done to show that it is not your simha, but God's. That is why Moshe is not in the hagaddah. Shavuot not about torah, but about God's giving of the Torah. For the yammim noraim, all about kapparah - God's giving of atonement, all God's hand. Not about t'shuvah.

See Sheet: Maharal on hagaddah

P. 103:

Pesach, Matzah U'Marror

The first thing is that we are completely for Hashem, therefore we have geulah and shibud. Because we are not ordinary people and bringing ourselves to nivdal, we have to go from hisaron to sh'leimut, matzah and marror. Israel is only to Hashem, not under any angel. Relationship to God is all or nothing. If all, we get kapparah. There are no levels and nothing to be earned. We have more shibud than all other nations, the corresponding negative aspect to the closeness to God. Israel has no angel, just God. Outside of politics and 70 nations - completely separate. If we would have something to do with the other nations, we would share their angel. Rav Kook takes this as (above poli sci) Israel now is being achieved as the initial redemption. Satmar - don't get involved in Israel at all.

P. 104:

Defined "To God" as Israel being pure Tzurah to non-Jews' homer. Jews are by nature unnatural. The 4 cups are for the 4 words of geulah, meaning 3 imperfections, need 4 redemptions to go higher and the 4^th will make them completely to God. 3 to take away the afflictions. There is a hiluk between 2 types on geulah 1) takes out of realm of non-Jews 2) 2^nd higher level, visual image of intellectual concept - taking from body, but connection to the highest order of redemption. God is identified as the geulah itself. Separate from the body. Therefore we need matzah and wine because the only way we can be sechel instead of guf is to have a sanctified body through commandments. Use wine from nichnas yayin yatza sod. Doesn't think he is making arbitrary statements. He is figuring out the true system of reality. The is some sort of organic transformation into wine, it has that transformation effect on the body. Everything has a harmony. Yayin is higher level of geulah to reach. 4 cups because any time you go from nivdal to olam hazeh, it is always a 4. To go into our world of 4 spaces, from nivdal, above time and space, need the 4 cups to have the geulah in space and time.

P. 229:

Story of going up to shamaim, na'aseh v'nishma...Maharal says that obedience to action is primary, doing something creates thought as opposed to hearing which is reflective. The gezaira of Hashem to do a mitzvah is a necessary action to occur. Therefore, it is necessary for us to do mitzvot, therefore we said na'aseh since it is determined from above, however, sechel, hearing is contingent, therefore on a lower level than the level of obedience. An apple has a fruit before the leaves, like na'ase before the beauty of the leaves, which will come eventually.

P. 230:

Normally, mind follows body. In body, the nefesh is affected by action. You are never completely free, since the mind is attached. Since doing the action of the nefesh, then the sechel is ben horin - when it is doing things for the nefesh not the body.

P. 231

Held har k'giggit...

The question is then why do you need the mountain over the heads. God forbid you did this on your own volition. Must have the mountain because the needed the torah, therefore to do something out of free will and autonomy would make no sense to do something essential without which they would cease to exist. Even if you want to say that there was an act of behira, it isn't right to be a free act of volition.

P. 85

Connection between lehem oni to shibud since have shibud and geulah - oni is someone who is by himself which is bad because in physical world, but is removed from the physical world. Our goal is to be like the ani. Also geulah is nothing to lose from the physical realm, nothing left to lose. Puritanism not mortification - living a life of Torah and obedience. Life of action and volition and that's the way to avoid gashmiut.

The concept of self within these texts as a subordinate self.

P. 202

Mitzvot and Ta'amim

Ways and means you get olam habah is through torah. Other than that, humans have potential to get olam habah. You have to transform yourself into a being above time and space. He is against explaining meaning and teleology. If you can't give reason for nature, kal v'homer, can't explain ta'amei hamitzvot. There is a seder, a descriptive science. This is how he system works. Explaining the rules of care, not why.

Monday February 15

P. 203

Can't ask why a body works in a certain way, and even if there is a reason for it, you can't ask those questions. Your soul which is pure from above, the goal is that each soul gets sh'leimut. He wants to bring souls to sh'leimut and the way to bring them to sh'leimut is through mitzvot. Therefore people are compared to trees. Bad if a tree doesn't reach its fullness, bad if soul doesn't reach its fullness. Mitzvot produce fruit - peirotehem. Not question of authority, but what you need to do.

P. 205

Lo ta'aseh affect you because they take you away from God. If you are still a medieval that there is a self perfection in objects, humans are divine sechel and therefore and if you cling to mitzvot, you are cleaving to the divine sechel. Human sechel not divine sechel. From a medieval perspective, someone who knows how to do shehita, no knowledge. According to Maharal, they have divine knowledge. About knowing the game plan. Has Rambam, Ralbag, avverroes, alforabi, Abravanel, Ramban, Zohar, kabbalah. Knew some of the new translations. Had Ashkenaz, sefer hasidim, not too much Provence. Studying philosophy, science and math are sichli, but since it is not the divine knowledge, it won't get you into olam haba - only human knowledge. Torah is your tzelem elokim and therefore connect the form of the human body with mitzvot. You are a tzurah of God, biological metaphor on how God works. All aveirot, Yom Kippur is mehaper, only have to do teshuvah is on mafir b'rit and m'galeh panim batorah since those transform the torah into a human sechel - something absolute difference. Ideal state is state of tzelem elokim. When you have that is every person has it - show it when you are in the womb, you are completely with god, pure n'shama and pure face. Tzelem, face and mind are good. Feet, legs are bad. In the room, reveal face, therefore according to hazal, everyone studied torah in the womb. Once you come out, your face is now a hisaron and you have to get back to sh'leimut. Adam had it and lost it. Avraham was rebuilding it but too engrossed in physicality. Ya'akov is now the image of Torah and mitzvot. His face is the one to get back to.

Originally, adam had no free choice. The sin was his decision to have free choice. The Tzelem can make choices, but the goal is to choose ratzon Hashem. Taking the ethical statements from Avot and not character traits in modern sense, but paths that get you back to your original perspective. Yirah - make sure don't use ratzon not to use torah. And will affect yourself physically. All means of cultivating the species of Jew towards reaching sh'leimut. You could say that everyone has free will but not free choice. You can technically do what you want of your own volition, but since you are a product of your environment, it is predictable. Olam haba is to get back to being with god in all points - to get back to the womb. The tzelem that is getting olam haba is identifying with God. By doing mitzvot you get olam haba by getting yourself to God's sechel.

P. 207

Better to study Bava kamma over philosophy.

P. 208

"Yosher" Torah is a path of Yosher - creates proper upright individual. According to the medievals, angels are higher than humans. The Maharal will start a new trend and say that humans are higher than angels. Will say that angels are part of creation while humans are the only things that are given the choice to go from hisaron sh'leimut. Humans can talk - have gift of language. On some sense keeps hierarchy, but decentralizes it by saying that there are angels in heaven but not a way to God. Not undone the levels, but no medieval significance.

P. 211

We have shnaim mikra - the first level you do it for the body, then for the hidden soul and then for olam haba. Therefore, you need the other hachmot plus torah, but the goal is to make you into a talmid haham who knows anything. No problem with other hachmot.

P. 212

Torah min hashamaim - Torah was there from the beginning of creation - the natural order. Will hold that matan torah was the giving of a natural order of how a jew works. Not an event, nor will it be a content not a sh'lah of progressively getting new insights into torah. It means you accept a creation pattern of what torah is - assume that the torah was an amazing blueprint of the world. Not ordinary matters - about creation of the world. Torah means that there is a natural seder to torah - lo tinaf is not a natural law, by the other nations - they do not kill because of human law. We do not kill because of the yosher. Because if it was contingent it wouldn't be true, therefore not human, if human, automatically contingent. Shatz: The Maharal is not a humanist in that developing human side of personality does not count. Humanist in that man is the center of reality in the Renaissance definitions.

Wednesday February 17

Readings: Approaches to the Maharal.

Walfish: Even if we do not accept the metaphysics, beyond the sense of the poetic, there is an organic nature to the symbolism. Eg. From the Gemilut hasadim's affect on human consciousness that actions are bigger than the person. Showing the pluralism in the Maharal.

Alan Sinyor: Not holding the Maharal to Western education. Not modern but will explain the Maharal for what it offers those that don't use medieval metaphysics. Opens up with medieval view of concentric circles and emphasizing that it is not our world view of deity going downward. Problem is that we don't live in that universe anymore. Therefore will come up with different read of God. Brings out biological metaphors like the seed and the Earth of the seed of human live has divine in it. World has divine principle. Centrality in the sense of we are trying to get to that stage of getting to God. By getting to the centrality to Israel and Mitzvot, we are getting closer to God. Talking the Maharal's map of the universe, but not the path to God - still mitzvot and more of a way of appreciating God than the medieval. God is pure being but not divorced from any existence. Maharal tries to be a monist but has a dualistic current - assumes that we live in a world of sense data.

Safran will work backwards from hassidut. Safran finds antecedents from passages in Maharal and that the Maharal is implying that d'veikut is a virtue - a state without a definition. D'veikut is attaining a state of where you are supposed to be. Maharal rejects the Rambam and doesn't go to the hassidic positions. His answer is unlike Rambam and Ralbag of nature, he has a nivdal teva - a different natural law. Mitzvot bring you to the state of Ayin.

Buber: Maharal as a nationalist. Unlike the medieval view without a national take. Writing Maharal as a way of bringing spirituality to nationalism. Showing how biblical idea of am kadosh has been transferred to the world of Calvin. Admits only writing for Jews. Particulars coming from myopic world view as opposed to rejectionism.

Modern: emphasis on individual making decisions, Hume's criticism of supernatural. Rambam's intellect over everything else. We have found away to deal with it.

Moshe Klein: Maharal expected you to learn mishna and the mishna would open eyes to philosophical discussion. Take every perek of mishna and assume going from actual to potential (or vice) or hisaron to sh'leimut (or vice) and find one with a central core. The first mishna will be with some case, the last will end in an abstraction. The order will go according to logic of nivdal - homer to tzura, singular to plurality. Supposed to understand these things and nivdal world of hazal.

Talmidim of Maharal: One clear student - kli yakar and will live in world of nivdal. The Kli Yakar will say that the mitzrim are the worst in the Homer- strong social criticism of arendas - but will live a nivdal existence. The Kli Yakar will deal with the role of hinuch - proper mishnayot and a community that works together as a unit. The Tosafot Yom Tov takes the fact that we should be learning mishnayot and get back to the basics - not the metaphysics. The Maharal's brother was against the Shulhan Aruch's codification. The Maharal will fall out of print and out of use. In his time was treated as the best in thought. Rediscovered in 18^th and 19^th century by mitnagdim - Gra's brother has affinity to Torah centered philosophy - Mahshava based on Torah and aggadah and to find categories to do it. So to the amazing koach of Torah.

Group 2 = habad. Shner Zalman and Belarus hassidim will use Maharal. Eyin, d'veikut and yosher, the Tanya will have the triads and importance of mitzvot. Ethical statements also from Maharal.

Group 3 = Poland - the Koznitzer maggid used it for a peirush on the Zohar and got others on the Maharal. In Poland, used by the s'fat emet and the Shem M'shmuel who will treat the Maharal in a hassidic way - we live in a fallen world during the week, shabbat brings us back. Will form a hassidut through mitzvot. All things are to get back to the garden. Science is Teva, but hannuka will by al ha teva. Some will use Maharal to explain halachik debated to these bigger categories.

20^th century: Rav hutner will be the only user of the Maharal. Will take the relationship between nivdal and sciences. Studying education not the same as hinuch. An acute sense that the 4 malhiyut in Daniel.

One other partial student is David Ganz. He was a traveler who 1) studies astronomy and probably Copernicus and wrote astronomy book and deal with the new science and 2) writes history book with a) general history - rise of Europe, fall of Islam in Hebrew and b) Jewish history book. The first part is people, places, and dates.

Rise of historic consciousness in 16^th century

Ibn Verga after geirush sepharad - if he accounts what went on, people will return to God. Accounts from Jewish sources. Gives sociological accounts that only the masses hate the Jews and because the Jews are haughty and act like the upper class. Economic element to have a natural sociological element of causality. Naturalistic causality. First, from navi that the Jews will suffer. Also, naturalism. 3^rd - the killing of Jesus. 4^th Jealousy. The translating from Latin into Hebrew and the rise of humanism.

Gives secular historiography based on sociology.

Andre Nahar holds that the future in Jewish philosophy is in Eastern European philosophy and their sensibility and was getting the Maharal to get people to read the Maharal.

Monday February 22

Jews from 15^th century will be reading Latin works. Note: Yehuda Abravanel - for all he was raised in the medievals was keeping abreast of the trend toward going back to the classics, humanism, and going back to texts and giving secular causality. His peirush on Torah will go back to Latin and show from his Latin works that Hazal's history was not right - uses outside sources.

Azarya De Rossi - Italy - will get flack in 16^th century for doing this. What is there about him that offends so many people. Maharal and other Polish rabbis forbid reading the meor enayim - this system. They don't assume it's a universal problem. Most of Rossi's work relies on other people. Not a great scholar, giving summary of what's out there. Besides using hazal, but will quote philo, Josephus, and other Bayit Sheni material in order to get picture of Bayit Sheni. Kairo was against him. In own city, had to be 25 to study. Went out of picture until Wissenschaft in 1900's.

On Aggadah

3 positions Rambam in introduction to helek

1) Agadot literally - fools

2) Agadot literally therefore reject them - scoffers

3) Look for deeper readings to get the mashal.

Maharal will think that he is the Maimonidean method, but the mashal and nimshal is Maharal philosophy, not a literalist in any way. Uses Maimonidean metaphors, but not the ideas. Rossi on one hand says that they are rhetorical devices to teach God's greatness. If you reduce Maimonides to a one line definition that the meaning is hyperbole, then it works. According to the Maharal, is even if you are a Maimonidean, you need a fully developed system. Cannot reduce Maimonides to a one-line jingle. It isn't the specifics of Rossi, but seems to be criticizing Maimonides - attitude, tone problem.

Maharal interpretation of Rossi, in Beir Hagola, debate between Maharal and Protestant sects, Maharal knew that the Christian were rejecting Galileo. What he thinks about intellectual and issues between Jews and Christians. In general religious matters, Maharal assumes that it is subject to debate, need to debate to achieve truth.

David Gans, who is a student of Maharal does do history. He will say he wants to work out chronology year by year. He will add Gaonic material. He keeps separate the Jewish from other history; will use non-Jewish books, but will keep them separate. Says in respectful way, possibly better accepted because of this.

Nathan Hanover gives a description of the Cossack uprisings Yeven Metzula - Weinreb attacks -says we are being punished for our sins - this is the tochaha, punishments for sins Maimonides due to hatatainu. Wants money for publishing of his book, goes to Italy after Helminisky massacre, wrote dictionary.

Maharal on Miracles See sheet

Quotes Ralbag and disagrees with it. According to Ralbag, if there is a change in nature, there is a change in God's will. Therefore, all miracles must be from the beginning of creation. The Maharal will hold all miracles are not in teva, but in nivdal. Meaning, Yam Suf according to Rambam is that it is a nes because knew of the action. Shemesh in Givon = b'racha, or eclipse. According to Maharal, the world was in darkness, since they were looking at world in nivdal above time and space, the sun was there at that time, the other people thought it was dark. The sub also didn't go back, but in the realm of nivdal, there is an alternate reality and therefore see things differently.

Love: not about man and woman, but God and man - they are both ½ circles - spiritual love is when you have a spiritual love to God in which we are completing the metaphor - when we are centered, God is centered. The phrase "ein od milvado" means that there is nothing but God. According to hassidut, where God is the material on the world. According to Maharal, God is the formal cause of the world. Therefore, if you are going from entropy, then God is not part of universe. As you center yourself, God becomes the center of the world. If you are dying, God is not your kiyum. That is the joining of the kiyum coming together.

Wednesday February 24

MIDTERM MARCH 15^th !!!!!

We are now going south to

Tzfat

There is a silver age in Greece, Turkey, Israel, Syria. The Mahashava of tzfat will travel everywhere. By 1815 Jews all over will accept their innovations from 1550-1575 e.g. L'cha Dodi. Almost everyone in 17^th centuries did kabbalat shabbat. 1) Printing - things will have a diffusion rate, and something like kabbalat shabbat are things that you can print 2-4 page versions and everyone can have a copy and won't involve rabbis. 2) Shluhei Eretz Yisrael. From 16^th century on, will have Jews in 4 cities - Jerusalem, Tzfat Hevron, Tveiria, have yeshivot, m'kubbalim, makom torah, and will support themselves by sending out graduates to collect money - for 2-5 years. Many will become pulpit rabbis in the countries they will visit - the pri hadash. They will introduce minhagim into the various synagogues. Getting up and saying tikkun hatzot in the middle of the night, fasting erev Rosh Hodesh and sitting on erev 9 Av. Wearing separate pe'ot. Tikkun leil Shavuot. Also will have the authority of Shulhan Aruch behind it. The Maharal is pre Tzfat, the Shlah is post tzfat.

After Geirush Sepharad, people move Eretz Yisrael, Tzfat because of the cloth trade. Late 15^th century, a yeshiva student Ya'akov Berav will send out messengers looking for 10 tribes, and will redo semiha because if Jews are maskim, you can reinstitute it. Was canceled when Ibn Habib in Yerushalaim said no. Berav will try to institute sanhedrin. End of Rishonim. Messianism in the air. Abravanel - da ma l'hashiv. Alkabetz in Greece will say about Galut hashehina. Shlomo Mohom -ex marrano who will preach in Rome against the Vatican, David Reuveini also in Italy to lead people in messianic rebellion. Avraham HaLeivi Bahurim will cry at the Kotel for hurban bayit, in his crying he will see an image of the sheni, and of Rahel crying - therefore must create rituals of empathy to try to end the Galut. Kabbalah - Shlomo Alkabetz will now teach kabbalah one of his students - Yosef Kairo on Shavuot - the shenina will speak through his mouth and say how wonderful they are and how wonderful they are identifying with the shehina and to go to Israel. Moshe Cordovero - Alkabetz's brother in law become the main person. Will get semiha and will emerge as the leading kabbalist. He will systematically work throughout the Zohar. Will write Pardes Rimonim - systemization of Spanish Kabbalah which has many intriguing things - strong sense of panenthiesm - God in all things a remainder of God in this world. This will include worrying about all beings, including flowers. Personified God who knew about suffering of the shehina. He will teach a variety of meditation techniques from Alkabetz. His major students will develop serious piety - sense of love sickness. Reishit hochma - lovesick. Each student with own brand of piety. Under his influence, have communal piety. Including fasting erev rosh hodesh, mikva. Ethos of community - don't drink wine in day, only at night and then a little bit. Don't speak bad about people and animals, only talk about torah. Will form havurot - collections of lay brotherhoods who will work on spirituality together. Will collectively help each other live lives of ruhniut. Havurot of women and children as well. Lay piety and organizations of brotherhoods. Also, each person should tell someone else what he did that week in ruhniut. Wear Talit and t'filin at minha. Give tzdakka each day. Sense of ritual creativity.

Zohar part of cultural world. Strong element in culture - as midrash, hazal, canon, not sephirot.

All minhagim in broad sense of kabbalah.

Cordovero creates huge amount of kabbalah. 1570 attracts Isaac Luria in Egypt (will learn with Radvaz, Shita Mekubetzet) Will learn Kabbalah in island for 2 years. Will study with Italians in Yerushalaim kabbalah 1570 will go to tzfat and will have ability to find the graves of the tanaaim and identify gilgul and tikkun n'shama and have access of knowledge of souls. Cordovero will die that year. His daughter will marry Shulhan Aruch's son. Luria will generate huge amount of ritual. And will die in 1752 - Hayim Vital student.

According to Sholem, have sense of tragedy and alienation after Geirush sepharad which caused Messianism - Ari - who taught tzimtzum, shevira and Tikkun. This is accomplished by Shabbtai Tzvi who will offer the Tikkun (origin of Reform movement, haskala, and hasidut).

In actuality, Geirush sepharad produces mashihiyut - but apologetic or apocalyptic Messianism. Luria was not a messianist. No reason to connect 2. Cordovero always the major kabbalist in Tzfat. Tzimtzum comes from Ramban not Luria. From the Ramban, it traveled on to Cordovero. Luria got knowledge of tzimtzum from Cordovero. Luria came up with shevira from neo-platonism. All 10 sephirot has 10- actually thousands of sephirot therefore only have energy cloud. Tikkun also came from Cordovero - Luria was striving for the one tikkun - original sin. Sense that we carry fallen state of the universe with adam harishon, but taught yihud to rectify the situation. 2 falls.

Cordovero has a personal sense of God and has the Ruhaniyut in each word in tefilah like the Shlah. The Shlah quote Cordovero.

Had siddurim which popularized lurianism and will bring in L'shem yihud. These siddurim were read by everyone and came into Ashkenaz culture.

Shabbtai Tzvi 1626 - 1676

Father was agent for Dutch and English traders. Becomes a m'kubal and an ascetic. But has periods of illuminations and will come out and lose control of things. In 1648, will come out in public and pronounces shem Hashem. He will contract 2 marriages but won't have nsuin. Tzvi had good voice, was a hazan. Will be claiming that he is serving the God of Israel and others are not - they are worshiping a 1^st cause. 1651 - banished from communities. Will wander around Greece, marry the Torah. 1658 will celebrate all 3 regalim in one week. Will get rid of 9 Av since live in Messianic era Find in Jerusalem. 1663 - shaliah of Jerusalem, goes to Cairo but will stay in Cairo. 65 find him in Ashkelon. Will marry Sara from Ashkenaz, claiming she is an orphan from Helminisky massacres who was a prostitute in Italy and will be proud of this fact. 64, find him realizing he has a problem and that he needs help and has to ask Hashem for teshuvah. Will visit Nathan of Azza, for a tikkun for his n'shama. Natan gets a vision that Tzvi is the mashiach. Natan is a talmid haham and 3^rd generation of the Ari. That Shavuot 65, Natan will stay up all night for Tikkun and will have the shenina speak out of his throat and people witness it. He will go into a trance and then dance. Here the message is that Tzvi is the Mashiach. Also been good 80 since anything like tzfat. People remember Luria, Shulhan Aruch and Cordovero - have revival of Tzfat spirit. 17 Sivan, Tzvi will proclaim self mashiach and will appoint 12 disciples. Will ride into Jerusalem and the people there are against him and not think he is mashiach. Natan will sent letters that you now have to do teshuvah. Therefore, Natan will have a new ritual creativity. Will write piyutim for yammim Tovim, 6 day fast. Natan will say don't do yihudim because to hard and don't work. Natan will send letters that you don't need to worry about miracles, that he doesn't need nissim. Do teshuva to prepare selves

Wednesday March 3

Have letters in Morocco that people are doing teshuvot. Traders and others get letters to England, Holland. 1665 - 17^th century is called "Crisis" because the 16^th century was called the discovery of the new world and the only information was from stories and letters there will be a looking for new dimensions. Will have letters of 10 lost tribes. Sabbateeansm is responding to the revolutions in the non-Jewish world. Will have excitement about Tzvi. Sept 65, Natan sends letters not to do what the Ari told you to do, but he will give 6 day fasts - try at least once. Letters will say that Tzvi will take the Sultan's crown. Tzvi is in seclusions in Ismir in the summer. Tzvi is Natan is caught up in the Messianism. People in Europe will start prophecizing and will have messianic visions. December - Tzvi proclaims self mashiach in Ismir. Traders from France and Dutch send reports back to cities. He then forgets it and becomes a hazan. Hannuka - he puts on bigdei malchut and becomes the mashiach again. Fenton shows that the Turkish sultan was anointed with bigdei malchut. Tzvi's putting on L'vush goes back to Bayit Sheni. Tzvi then moves to Allepo and pronounces shem Hashem and eats helev in public. He will start attracting believers. On Friday December 11^th, he will break into a shul that was against him at shaharit and will do public reading from a printed humash and will pronounce the shem Hashem and that the mashiach ben yosef died in gezairot tach v'tat. Will sing Spanish love poems, will say he is the mashiach and the geulah will come in 15 Sivan 1666. December 23^rd is called to the Kadi - the dayan of Islam and on his way, he makes people kiss his ring. His followers will claim here the "Amira" Adoneinu Yarum Hodo. Mass hysteria and 150 neviem scattered all over the Mediterranean. In Constantinople, will be arrested in Feb 66 and throw him in dungeon and put him in a castle for political prisoners. April 19 will offer Korban Pesach with the helev and Gid Hanashe. Will pronounce b'racha matir Issurim. And will call the place where he is imprisoned Migdal Oz. Have new vision that is replacing the visions of Cordovero. Nevuot all over, sense of mashiach and teshuva movement. Breakdown of society in non-Jews with new world. 1666 is a Christian apocalyptic year because 1666 = Nero. Also with the discovery of new world, protestant sects will see that we found the 7 nations. Fits in to what is going on in those times. 17 Tamuz - will make into a new holiday and the Taz's son and son-in-law come to see what is going on and go back. Summer 66, Natan writes Drush haTammimim that the Zohar has the image of Moshe having to slay Pharaoh as an evil force and therefore The mashiach will have to fight the internal dragons. Nehemia from Poland tells Turks that Tzvi is an imposter. September 12^th - Taken by messengers to Sultan appears on the 15^th at which point Tzvi denies messianic claims and converts to Islam to avoid death and became keeper of the Palace gates. Some close followers converted with him thinking that they are descending to the other religion to bring the geulah and fight the tanninim. The conversions sent shockwaves through the Jewish world. This will be a crisis and therefore most people will give up believing in him. Most communities will destroy their records from London to India. Natan will visit Tzvi and will still say he is the messiah and a spy in the evil lair - just like the strange act is messianic so to is this. Natan will write letter - HaAmarat Shabbtai Tzvi on the conversion - a sustained letter on the meaning of Jewish thought showing that there is a higher spirit to what is going on. Tzvi will send Natan to Rome to do messianic ritual on Pesach. 200 families have converted that will continue to do Jewish ritual. 1672 Tzvi is arrested and in 73 is exiled to Albania. At the end of his life Tzvi will be preaching and will have pamphlet that distinguishes between the siba rishona of the philosophers and the god of Israel. Wants people to believe in the God of Israel. Siba Rishona also includes the theoretical God of Cordovero. Yom Kippur 1676 and Natan dies in 1680.

Natan will have a few more points in his theology. Will say that after the tzimtzum and the world was created there will be two forces - the straightforward creation of da'at - or sheyaish bo mahshava and the shevira will form its own separate force - or sheain bo mahshava an opposing force - a blind will of destruction. The two are in constant tension and the messianic age will reconcile the two and the she'ain bo mahshava will be vanquished. The Sheyaish bo mahshava never reaches this world therefore takes something stronger. Sephardim and mitnagdim follow Natan. Other reason people accept is that it is a new age. No Protestantism and will have sects of Sabbateeanism and used as outlet. Examples: Cordozo - who will come from converso family and will become follower of Tzvi's kabbalah - worship God not Siba. Will claim he is mashiach ben yosef. Soleniki - 1683 300 families "domeh" will convert to Islam will be part Islam part Jews. Everything that was assur is now mutar - the 39 k'ritot are now hiyyuvim. Baruch Yaruso will lead them into Arayot. Tzvi is divine - no longer the messiah. In Italy there will be closet followers of Natan. 1696 - 1700 there will be Yehuda haHasid not from 13^th century or hassidic movements. He will go around getting people to fast and says he lead them to Israel. His community will be kicked out of Jerusalem for being too poor and not paying taxes. Dinur the historian call them the beginning of the moderns because they exist outside of the medieval categories. Captured the imaginations of the Aliyot. Unfulfilling Messianism. Becomes important as a milestone even if the milestone is unknown. Nehemia Hiyum in Sarajevo will write book called ...Explains Sabbaiteanism as a trinity of Ein Sof, Elokei Yisrael , and Shehina without mentioning Tzvi. Will be persecuted by

Begging of century have people looking for Sabbetians. The Hemdat Hayamim has all minhagim of tzfat in beginning of 18^th century. Yonatan Aibshitz will develop these things further e.g. taking sexual metaphors further.

Jacob Frank 1676 - 1791. Sholem writes that all these things cam be said in one breath since kook, Natan, Frank all wanted to break free. Natan actually more kabbalist. Frank born in Ukraine father has an arenda. Will not know Talmud and proud of it. 1745-55 will be in Balkans as a merchant. Will meet domeh and will marry Bulgarian. Attracted to extreme Sababateiasim. Called "Frank" because sepharad in yiddish will return north and claim can only speak Latino. Is antinomian - advocated public orgies and also says matir Issurim. Claims to be son of God and his daughter is the virgin. The Church will try him and he and his followers convert to Catholicism and his in 1757 will help the Church prove that he is catholic and will prove that the blood libel is true. Will say you need to convert but not marry Christians. They will keep Jewish dress and wear pe'ot eat no pork. At the disputation the king was aghast. 1760 have the trial and the Ba'al shem Tov is preaching. 1760 will have many convert to Christianity. Will be arrested for insincere conversion. Settles on Warsaw, will have followers and will pass daughter as a princess and will enter the nobility and will see selves as enlightened figures.

Monday March 8

Jacob Frank is a horrific evil character. His followers will become minor royalty. By training themselves to fight on horseback will carry swords. 1760 - Vaad 4 lands declared that Jews should not learn kabbalah before 40. The illiterate Jews should not have access to it - therefore won't have more Frankists. Gra from 1760 on will teach people under 20 - but it was for the Am Aratzim.

Am HaAratetz - Label of Prossnitz will die in 1730 will come from working background and will only study midrash and kabbalah. Will teach kabbalah and shabbtanut. One of his students is Meir Eizenstat - a Gadol. Label then turned into charlatanism at which point Meir distances himself from him and the community call him a charlatan and a sabbatean. This ban from 4 lands goes on people like Label. Meir's biggest talmid was Yonatan Aibshitz who studied with Label and carried on correspondence. The Baal Shem Tov in the 1730's - 1760 a good amulet writer and will be in the same region as Frank and Label. Ba'al Shem Tov will teach kabbalah to masses - you can all see the light in the letters if you try. Another reason why Frank becomes important.

Back to Tzfat - 1) The philosophers in the Rishonim were against Gilgul. Ramban limits gilgul to yibum. In Tzfat, everyone is a gilgul. Luria will say that you commune with dead since only spiritual residue. More complex vision of human being. Tzfat will bequeath afterlife of heaven -and hells. This will be developed in 17^th - 18^th century Italy. Jews are now writing books delineating different levels of heaven and hell. Two schemes - a medieval thinks that the soul fell and you have to bring it back. Tzfat will say that before you were born, you were not in sh'leimut and you have in addition to descending vertical journey, you need to make a horizontal journey to return. The ability to do mitzvot can only be done in this world,. Tzfat will say that it's a good thing to be in this world so that we can grow and attain sh'leimut. Early modern Europe combing with Gilgul will develop rituals that deal with birth and death - the journey of Soul to other realm. This is a life of developing soul energy. All about the soul. In the middle ages, clinging to higher realm for d'veikut cosmology of going up, the Early modern period about the n'shama. By the time we get to the modern era, the n'shama is complete psyche. Mitzvot explain the soul. This is Hisaron -> sh'leimut. On one hand, both tzfat and Maharal have hisaron and sh'leimut, but Maharal says there is a good starting point, Tzfat does not. Both reject the intellect of the Middle Ages.

Moshe Alshich - darshan in Tzfat - student of Cordovero - each n'shama has to do tikkun to bring mashiach, but mashiach needs aveirah l'shma. E.g daughters of Lot, Rut lying to Boaz, David and Batsheva, Yehuda and Tamar. The messianic path is lined with aveirah l'shma. From 1500-1800 people have this philosophy. Alshich lived 100 years before Tzvi. Accounts for ambiguous lives - this is the way you are born. The Shla will universalize these ideas of Aveirah l'shma. Rov Aharonim were determinists.

Mitzvot: Examples of Modern Orthodox collective mitzvah - tfila done by coming to synagogue. Tashlich. In Early Modern, will find small groups of lay devotion, have gemilut hasadim, hachnasat kallak, hevra kadisha societies. You will bond with 2-3 dozen people you will take care of each other. These families take care of each other, have banquets, meet regularly. People doing mitzvot collectively - tahara rituals. The switching of letters of mishnayot = n'shama, have debates on the na'anuim. People are figuring out how to make new rituals, shalom zachor, death rituals etc.

The role of Carnival - early modern rituals involved adolescents running wild, drinking partying and time off of work. Roast sheep in town. Opposites important: where we try for a well ordered life, we find people who are pious, sinners, then pious, no consistency. There will not be secular culture - lines blurred. Literature, philosophy and art will not have the same tension. In some way, the art is the synagogue.

Wednesday March 10

Ber of Borochov wrote a diary that centers around 1760 - is a stam yainam merchant from south where wine is produce. Was also a shtadlan - know polish, Tartar, Hungarian, and will represent Jews in debate with Frankists.

Early Modern Issues: Brill - counter-narrative around Tzfat. Max Webber claimed that only Protestants could develop capitalism because only they had this world asceticism. The Catholics either believed in other worldly things, or went overboard with Carnival. The Protestants would live a reasonable life. Early to bed, early to rise. Won't do ceremonies, no womanizing, no 3 days drinking, family life. Limit life to work, therefore will affect social, family, legal and religious life. Law will be made to fit economics. Protestant sects can be determined through their work. Someone who works hard for money, etc is a this worldly ascetic - will not travel etc. Trolst (Webber's student) continues this work by saying that anything will interfere with work. In Verner Sambart wrote modern capitalism and the Jews who said look to the Jews and not to the Protestants. The pure capitalist was the Jew - complete business outside of the peasants and nobility. Jews were more carnal than the non-Jews and not as ascetic - didn't drink as much or womanize. Western Europe, Jews will be businessmen in Italy and in Germany will provide things to the army because of this worldly asceticism. To be a good capitalist, can't have economic quest.

This book has 2 opposite elements. 1) people associate Jews with business 2) Sambart used by Nazis that Jews are alienated from the people and Jews only make money. Early modern Jewry becomes Jew as a capitalist. Doesn't really fit history. Archais Kahan in his study of Jewish economic history shows that most of the time Jews fit in the Early Modern period as outsiders not because of Ethos, but Jews were willing to go into the new productions like coffee shops, sugar - kept out of traditional professions. When Jews became capitalists, wasn't with rationality. Kahan shows that Jews did this a family professions. The whole arenda system was not as ascetic. The court Jews are anything but sober and rational.

MIDTERM

ITALY

In Italy, had major centers of Torah, but few things preserved. Everyone creates genealogy that things were great in southern Italy in torah, but not too much from there. In the 13^th century, will be sacked by Lombard, so people move north to Germany. Invited into northern Italy to be moneylenders. Condatta - charters which would say what the interest rate was, how pledges worked, and if you do this, we will allow shuls, cemeteries. 15-25% interest - seen as low. Dante writes that the Christians charge 300%. Technically, Christians can't be money lenders. Not talking about big loans, needed pledges (mashkon) which leads to pawn brokers for the small loans. Jews will be involved in paper production or the importing of paper from Muslim lands, playing cards etc. Jews will also be involved in import export business - coffee from the new world to Europe, and chocolate. Jews will have jobs as music and dance instructors. Jews will also be involved in used clothing, rag trade - connection from paper, trade, production and related to recycling rags. Origin of mitzvah dance since Germans into mixed dancing. Coffee and Hot Chocolate changed life as people did not go to sleep - created night life. Therefore if you want to say tikkun hatzot, you drink coffee and stay up instead of waking up in the middle of the night. Communities will have 200-300 people. Rome was big with 280 families. Jews will have laws not to show off wealth. When the black death hits Germany, more Jews go to Italy. 1260's the Dominicans and Franciscans influence Christian populous. Have people going around hitting themselves as being responsible for the black death. In the early modern period, looked to self not to outside sources. The flagellants will push over cemeteries and push for Jewish dress - red badge. Eventually, Jews will wear a red hat, apron, or something. Within Italy you will have 2 Tosafot Rid, Riganati, Jacob Anatoli, Ibn Tibbons, Hillel of Verona, Immanuel of Rome - A lot of sages, no school. In 1419, the pope come out and says despite Christian piety, assur to have anti Jewish legislation because we have the doctrine of the witness and must be tolerated. Franciscans will come up with monti-di-pieta friends of piety Free loan societies where Jews have banks, thinking will put Jews out of business. Reverse 1) cause Jews to move into every small town to get more business - increases Jewish life in Italy and 2) will support them because good for business. 16^th century, most popes were concerned with licentiousness. Therefore Jews did well in 16^th cen Italy. After geirush sepharad, many came to Italy. Had 1) old time Jews 2) people that came with the Condatta 3) Sephardim. 1527 Jews suffered setback and were killed when Spanish and Germans attacked.

Italy will be place of number of messianic claims - David Reuveini, Shlomo Mocho - ex converso who will be killed by the church. The age will be high level of secular and limudei kodesh - high level of education both men and female - some schools co-ed. Learning no creativity. Age of printing press therefore have Soncino who will print first Sepharim - non-Jews who will produce shas, mikro'ot gedolot. Daniel Bramburg's press in Venice - also non-Jew. Things that Rema will have to settle in differences in Rambam. What got printed get affected - e.g. Rambam and Raavad. All the pictures are Christian e.g imagery of St. Peters.

Jews will be playwrights, actors, scenery people etc. Will write organ music for synagogues, Venice and Prague will have organs played by non-Jews on shabbat. Will have in Italy non-Jews who want to learn Hebrew and kabbalah e.g. Pico del Merendola who will study kabbalah to know the truth. He will use kabbalah to prove Christianity. Ruchilin will study Hebrew and bible to befriend the Jews, Feferkorn will be an anti-Semite and will prove Jews were wrong. Break between the beginning and end of 16^th century on Jewish culture. In the beginning, culture is universal, platonic, dance and music - at the end is particular kabbalistic and kabbalistic ritualistic. Broad change between the generations. Down south, Jews will be expelled from Sicily and Naples in 1492. Most will be laborers elsewhere in the Mediterranean

With the rise of Lutheranism, the Catholics will have a counter-reformation and will mold strict canon, rise of Jesuits. 1553 - in debate between Jewish publishers, they will respond and in the role of counter reformation, Church will ban study of Gemara, therefore, Italian jews will only do Rif. Italian church will also start censoring books. 1555 - the Church puts out Cum Nimis Absurdum - it is absurd that the Jews are in our land and will introduce 1) ghettos for Jews - Jews have to live in a separate place. Separate - not bad but to remove cosmopolitan aspect and prevent integration. Will become bad with population increase and overcrowding. Banned Jews from owning real-estate. 2) Jews cannot have Christian servants, but Jews will find away around 3) Jews cannot deal with things that the Christians are dependent on e.g. food. Will go into pawn shops etc. Christians also saw Jews as magicians and did not want irrationality in rational world of Catholicism. Catholics and Protestants both prohibited magic. This is only northern Italy. 1559 - that pope dies, Pious 4^th will be more worldly and more tolerant. Dies in 1566 and followed by pope who is strict and back in place. 1567 - Jews have to listen to conservatory speeches, restrictions are enforced, limit to shuls. Doctrines of 1490 are essentially rescinded. Jews move further out into the suburbs into the Italian countryside to be left alone.

Wednesday March 17

Left off with strictness of Cum Nimis Absurdum. No one really knows why a Ghetto is called a Ghetto, but it caught on. Doctors were exempt and university students could also be out at night. Counter reformation was one of compromise, you have to go out of your way to violate it - more for Catholicism than Jews. 1700 - penance movement in Italy and then people started agreeing to the restrictions, and people started lighting candles and other assorted lay piety movements. The anti-Semitism will be there but bloodless, no physical attacks against the Jews. Jews at Universities will be comic figures.

In terms of the overall approach to Jews - Gretz: Jews were killed and sacked outside of society. Roth says that Jews are part of Renaissance culture. The Jews did whatever the non-Jews did. Reuven Bonfield calls that into question. There is no step for step imitation - not everything the non-Jews did, the Jews did - no artists , and there is some anti-Semitism, not completely open to Jews. Not a complete osmosis. Jews had their own activities like the study of Kabbalah. There are time lags between non-Jewish cultures. Shows a discontinuity. Also, fields which were restricted to Jews. Ruderman responds that maybe Roth went too far, but not as discontinuitus. Even if they are out of step, use subtler categories, but there was still a form of osmosis. Not a one-to-one correspondence. Ruderman points out the role of science and discovery of the new world and its role in Jewish culture. Bonfield responds that the scientists were individual categories, look at literature where Jews were in the foreground. Therefore, see cam be advanced in one field, but not in the other.

There will be a few people who will be wealthy Garcia Mendez will be an ex converso who will help build institutions and in Tzfat. Jews well versed in rhetoric and will go to Christian services for entertainment. Looking for good speakers. Yehuda Masgato.

See Sheet: On the Origin of Love

Yitzhak Abravanel (on tanach) from Geirush Sepharad will use historic interest and return to classics as is his rejection of Theocracy kingship as a valid form of government. Therefore, a renaissance figure. Will have interest in return to astro bodies. His son...

Yehuda Abravanel - Dialogues of love - bestseller in non-Jewish community because Christianity doesn't deal with erotic love, but Judeo-Arabic does. Deals with erotic love with platonic knowledge from the universities. Not a scholastic book, but a dialogue. Both sides are right despite being opposites. Both are helping each other. Similar to Maharal in that you need hisaron to go to Sh'leimut. Also bring opposing position. Reading Greek myths. Human love is to achieve former unity. The myth was handed down in the creation - same message. There is also a pure form of beauty. The beauty of a circle is not its proportionality, but because it partakes of an ideal spiritual form. A thing is beautiful because it partakes of the idea and not because if its intrinsic nature. God is not truth - God's first creation is beauty and therefore learn to appreciate its beautiful forms. The ultimate praise of Torah is that it is divine intellect is beauty. Going back to the circle, will want to have a hierarchy inside the circle.

See Sheet: Treasury of Responsa

Bach: Solomon de Rossi wrote full cantatas and choral pieces for synagogue services. The bach addresses the use of Christian melodies. In addition to de Rossi, singing Church music - which is then assur because just like a matzeivah. If de Rossi writes his own melodies, maybe they should be permitted because we did not get it from them. But quotes Tosafot which says that that is not a heter.

Modena: Chief rabbi of Venice. Will have full renaissance education with dance and song. Will denounce gambling but will be addicted to it. He says that Ashkenazim do not hold on the Rambam's issur on music, but allowed here because not vocal and used for a mitzvah. Will argue against kabbalah saying that it was written in the middle ages and the true thought is philosophy.

The Italian Jews were clean shaven. Therefore, could someone be forced to wear a beard. The answer is no.

Monday March 22

Saw the plans of the college, music in the synagogues etc. A few other names, Eiliyahu del Medego, - an avveroist philosopher. Avraham Harrera - ex converso who will take Lurianic kabbalah and will have universal platonic read. Yohanan Alemano - will teach pico kabbalah. His reading is that kabbalah and astronomy teach the same things. Astral influences on our daily lives. Alemano will have a theory on the construction of the mikdash based on the higher realms and Solomon's wisdom was that he knew how the mitzvot affected the higher realms. He will give full version of renaissance figure who feels the effects of Saturn on daily life. Will leave behind statements on what to study and how to study it in Judaism. After philosophy study humash.

All of this will change. In the 16^th century, R. Israel Sarug will bring Lurianic Kabbalah into Italy and then Poland. Sarug will have students teaching kabbalah. As an Italian, will have a platonic read of Luria - about the Ilan Atzilut - the chain of divine level to God - linear way of going to God. Emek hamelech, naftali bachrach was a student. If you understand the Atzilut, you understand all nature thus can make a Golem. If you know the secrets of reality, you can manipulate nature. Sarug will also have a student R. Menahem Azaryia from Fano whose writings will be central in the particularisms in kabbalah. Shift from universal sense of love to particular sense of mitzvot and kabbalah. He will blur the lines between halacha and kabbalah. There is now a turn to the soul, neshama. Not like tzfat, but will start with ma'amar hanefesh - this is the soul, this is how it works. These are the astral bodies connected to the soul, the auras that you can read. Generates the death rituals. He will have a student - Aharon Brachia who writes Me'ever Yabbok, a Jewish book of the dead that describes the journey of the dead until you become reincarnated. 17^th century culture will reject the universalism and will generate rituals for critical points in the soul. Menachem will also have a student R. Bassan who will have a student, the Ramhal.

More Readings

What early modern thinking is like in 17^th century.

Brachia - Siftei Tzedek from the Me'ever Yabbok. 32 - Talks about deathbed scene - when you are about to die, your dead relatives come to visit you. If you are zocheh, you will see the shehina. Your physical senses are not working, so your spiritual senses are working for you. Your angel of your constellation sees the angel of death with full eyes. We became destined to die with the sin of Etz Da'at and therefore the angel of death.

32 cont - in the pre-fall of adam, we would have had it come to us as a mitzvah.

33 - Our act of eating was initially sacred.

Siftei Raninot deals with the sections of heavens and hells.

The Pahad Yitzhak - an encyclopedia of Yitzhak Lamportoni - a new genre of encyclopedic writings.

The R. Yosef David Azulai - Hida will show up and be a Shluhei Eretz Yisrael - will write Shem Hagedolim - the first in a sequence of bibliographic aids.

By the 17^th-18^th century, Jews will also be in the coral and diamond trades and move to other places in the world. De Modena claims to be a master of 21 trades. Was a play director during the week. He was a master of none. The Beit Midrash will change - it will be for ba'al habatim. You are expected to be there and take part in what goes on there. The hevra of that city are the people who come and take care of the communal issues. Some will do ritual activities. Will award degrees like haver. They will be organized by guilds and within these hevrot, the rituals of tzfat will undergo a change, and do tikkun hatzot by making coffee and stay up and do it in hevra in song.

Italy

In the 18^th century, Jews prosper in Italy. Shimon Luzzato, a cousin of the Ramhal will be a rabbi in Venice and will say that Jews are economically productive and therefore should be accepted in Europe. Then England and France will make Jews equals because of it. In later years, the church will want to take away rights. Many move and convert to Christianity. 1650, 5600 Jews in Venice. In 1750 1500 left. Italy will be sinking economically. 1735, the Jewish community declares bankruptcy because of all of their institutions. They won't need people dealing in cloth so that goes down. 1740's have new fiscal restrictions against Jews. 1755, Jews can't make ceremonial art and the Jews will decline into poverty and leave the country. 1780, declares the ghettos destroyed.

1790 in laverno, Jews will buy old used church marble to build a synagogue. The Christians don't like it and therefore, will have riots and attacks against the Jews. 1791, France's declaration of Independence includes Jews

Wednesday March 24

In the 18^th century in the 1^st ½ of the century, the community is getting slightly poorer. By mid century, it is poor (1750). The Napoleonic armies overran northern Italy where the Jews lived. The ideals of the Berlin and French haskala will find ground in northern Italy, but when the traditionalist Rabbis complain that there is an innovation, the Italian rabbis will say that they have been doing it for years. 1791, rights of man apply to Jews.

1800-1814 - Jews are allowed in the army, politics and secular schools. Jews were previously excluded from world.

1814- conservative reaction and all rights will be taken away. Many will convert to Christianity. Jews will identify with Italian liberal politics and in 1849 will get complete civil rights. Rome will still have restrictions, but many communities will have Jews on charities. In the 1850's will have forced conversions of Jews - the housekeepers would convert the children which would be accepted by the church.

1861 - 5.8% illiterate but 54.5% of non-Jews were illiterate.

Jews in the 19^th century will change their name to Israelites as opposed to Hebrews, and shuls are "Temples." No reform movement, but weak religion. No need to reject mitzvot because living by the Vatican. In 19^th century, Italian Jews were indifferent to religion. You start ignoring religion without ideology. 1829 - a rabbinic college was opened in Padua (?). Will not get financial support and will close at end of century. 20^th century - Cassuto will bring back Jewish learning to Italy. Silver age of Italian Jewry in 20^th century. Mussolini was not anti-Jewish. Italians did not accept the exclusion of Jews from government. As Germany became more powerful, Jews were excluded. By the beginning of the war, 6,00 Jews left from Italy. Out of 36,000, 4-5 thousand Jews deported.

RAMHAL

The Ramhal born in 1707 and dies in 1746. Was an Ilui - know tanach, halacha, midrash, philosophy literature. Studied under Kanturini and under him learned poetry. He wrote in Hebrew Italian and Latin. Under Yishayahu Bassan, he studied torah. Started in the Beit Midrash - in 1720's when he is an adolescent, he has a hug that breaks from the Beit Midrash and meet privately. In 1727, he receives an angelic maggid that teaches him torah. The group then tries to bring mashiach. This group will learn Zohar full time, learning around the clock. There will be rules about what can be revealed to others. They will attract university students. ...will circulate letters and describe the activities of the Ramhal. These letters will fall into hands of people who accuse Ramhal of being a Sabbatean including Ya'akov Emden an Ya'akov Hagiz. Many complaints against him. The Ramhal will then have to defend himself. 9 complaints against Ramhal (1728-1728)

1) Too young to have maggid 21-22

2) not married

3) no beard

4) How can a maggid that comes to the Shulhan Aruch come to someone who studies Latin and literature

5) Ramhal is a magician - seems to be doing magical things

6) One of his creations was a tehilim 1^st person - seen an inappropriate

7) using Sabbatean kabbalah

8) Attacking De Modena who came before him, and De Modena showed that kabbalah is a human document - going against Italian tradition and older rabbis.

9) Wrote own versions of the Zohar based on his own revelations.

1730, Bassan defends him as talmid haham and tells Ramhal not to quote Sabbatean kabbalah, don't teach kabbalah or write experiences of maggid.

1731 - gets married and the ketuva is signed my members of his hug - heave learning of kabbalah to bring mashiach. Ramhal will write a peirush on his ketuvah. He will marry Tziporah and doing a tikkun and a marriage of shehina and Hashem (Moshe being his name). His hevra will see this wedding as the beginning of the geulah. Moshe David Vali - student - writes that Ramhal is Mashiach ben David. Yekutiel Gordon will be named head of the armies when mashiach comes. His teacher is upset. Ramhal will write about Mashiach suffering punishments of love and will welcome persecutions.

See Sheet: The Maggid of Ramhal

One of the letters that Gordon write about the Ramhal - this one got Ramhal into trouble.

Need a new Zohar for a new age.

Next letter is Ramhal's defense written to Bassan's father-in-law to defend his path.

He holds that since the mikdash is destroyed, new revelations, and new times require new tikkunim. The quality is inwardness not the external. If Shimon bar Yohai had to go in his old age, the Ari had to be ascetic. Different types of preparation for different types of kabbalah therefore, don't need mortification. 1) He thinks kabbalah is about providence 2) how to maintain illumination 3 How different types of illumination are combined. Not about other worldly, but this worldly experience.

Monday March 29

Life of Ramhal - 1735, controversy does not die down in Venice and therefore, Ramhal will move from Venice to Amsterdam via Frankfurt. While in Frankfurt, stayed in Ya'akov HaKohen's house and this Rav said he will put him in herem if Ramhal does not denounce kabbalah and his maggid and take a shevua to that effect and agree to have his writings burnt. Forced to take this shevua. Goes to Amsterdam and puts out his classic works because he puts out his ideas without referring to Kabbalah. E.g. The da'at tevunot, derech Hashem, and mesilat yesharim. Spent 10 years on Amsterdam. Ramhal goes to Israel, Acco, Tzfat and dies in 1747 who dies at 40 from the plague. His writings remained in Italy, some brought to Lita and surfaced with the talmidim of the Gra and published by Ponovich at the end of the 20^th century.

Da'at Tevunot: Read Heb edition 2-5, 12,36-46,50,55,samech 1-4, ayin het - pey,pb-pg, kna-knh, kp-kpv,ksh

dialogue between sechel and neshama. For Ramhal, sechel is now the safed soul that is seeking to return NOT like Rambam who says sechel = soul. Open by saying that you recognize that there is a God - important to know that everything is God. There are 13 Ikkarim but will explain in own way. On page 2 will say have answers to questions that others (Medievals) do not. E.g. Tzaddik v'ra lo. Doing mitzvot are important and always have to go from hisaron to shleimut. Page 18: Slowly reveals his thought - everything is for the good, ultimately, we have limits to understanding and we have to see everything as good. 33-40 - the purpose of this world is for God to reveal his unity in this world of plurality. That everything in this world is God's world even evil since there is a principle that if God created everything and God is good, then everything is good. Everything is itself and its opposite, therefore, need evil to get good. Says people have wrong impression of God, only one God, and in time of Adam, God put evil to test man, Adam failed and according to Ramhal, evil is real and its own separate creation. What makes something horrific is the perspective not the entity itself. He will say that ultimately in 44 that free will will disappear since we are playing out a drama of yihud Hashem. We don't grasp God's presence. From our perspective, evil is bad. From his, everything has a purpose.

Good/Evil and Behira

50: good and evil are equally proportional. There are 2 forces of God's providence mishpat and memshala. Mishpat is our perspective, our world and therefore we have to have behira to chose evil. In the future we will attain God's perspective that everything is ratzon Hashem and the choices are not really there.

55: Connects to the language of kabbalah that tzimtzum is an illusion. Since we live in a world of our perspective, we don't realize it. World of memshala, everything is divine. The point is to bring god's glory and to show that everything is filled with God's will and that's why we have a hidden veil and can't see the divine.

Tehiyat Hameitim

Then goes back and deals with tehiyat hameitim that the body will be purified through the neshama by doing mitzvot and since we are bound to the physical, but the mitzvot give more correct perspective. Ramhal will hold that death is good, but we have to suffer punishment to account for the physicality. We don't see how everything is ratzon Hashem, the more we do mitzvot, the more we see God. Imagery of Or and Hoshech. The neshama has no parts, only gaining perspective.

There are 5 relationships:

• Not connected to Guf - complete physicality
• A little connection
• Torah and mitzvot and can affect the Guf
• Nisyonot, struggle and behira and have to fight
• Guf is completely controlled. In the 7^th millennium, everyone will be at 5^th level and we will have tehiyat hameitim.

The whole purpose of creation is having a body and the undoing of this in messianic era is when the body and soul work together.

Evil

Goal is to convert ra to tov. Evil is a privation of places in which we have not put good. Evil is a gevul of our understanding what we have not used of the light of the neshama to convert. Neshama itself is a process to convert self to see things properly. Everything is potentially good but at the same time, all privation of good. Everything is carnal and therefore, and our goal is to elevate it. L'atid Lavo there will be no evil.

Torah

124: god created man with wisdom and God created man to do the needs of God. God needs us to do this service and to cleave to God. We do this 1) Torah umitzvot to let in the light and 2) we have to struggle and fall and have to have these struggles to show that there is a higher purpose to everything. Where the medievals have mitzvot as a world staying activity, God does not need the specific mitzvah, but the whole actions of the universe. Therefore, Gan Eden is not as good as history when god gets to reveal himself. Am Yisrael are the ones responsible for bringing the l'atid lavo. The highest good can be brought by lowest levels, must descend to lowest levels.

• 142-144: First 2000 years, no tikkun only good and evil
• Galut bavel, God is in hiding. Through mitzvot we can see God
• Bayit rishon and sheni, revealed miracles. There was ruptures in the order of nature.
• Hasagat pnini nevui - internal prophetic understanding or illumination when one sees world in pure neshama (not everyone).
• All have da'at Hashem and pure memshala.

Individuals parallel the development of the species

• Pregnancy = tohu unlike Maharal who has pregnancy as good
• Birth = galut

3) childhood start learning about Torah and mitzvot

4) 20 and up, level of hasagat penimi

5) Maturity when you redeem yourself and gain the level of da'at Hashem

everyone has to go from or to hoshech to keep getting shefa elokim and make ourselves into tzaddikim

154: When God shows us hessed and lets us do mitzvot, that's all mishpat as opposed to memshala.

155: God sustains all creation God is the neshama for our neshamot, all is dependent on God. Free will is only dependent on having a body and not a free soul. Tzaddikim are the pillars of the world and maintain creation and realize free will is illusionary.

Ultimately, the world is sustained though God and the whole world is kavod Hashem. Therefore, god needs our actions to show that everything is god's will. They are the ones who truly bring God's presence into the world. Everything is memshala and not mishpat.

in 181: talks about nigleh - not revealed for yahid, but for klall, everything is nistar until later.

Every hag deals with schar for revealing God. From our view of mishpat there is reward. He will talk about torah and mitzvot revealing God's will.

He will say that creation is renewed every day on the klalli level. Will talk about shleimut that you should be ma'aleh - raise by creative consciousness - everything that God is currently lacking if you are not raising. The Tikkun klalli is for everything to show themselves to be ratzon Hashem. All you want to do is show that it is ratzon Hashem not positive. Evil could be important for generating a reactionary good not sanctifying the evil itself. For the Ramhal, struggle of good and evil, choose good and by doing so destroy evil. Evil serves a role for the good. Nothing is shown in the parts, only the whole. If you can look at the whole from God's perspective, it doesn't look that way at all. 2 paths to history and ethics. 1) Mishpat - right and wrong, out goal is to choose good and only reactionary to evil 2) Klalli memshala, evil plays a role, not mekadaish the evil, but plays a role in the big picture.

3 levels to the divine 1) sephirot - god as theistic deity transcendent above you 2) God makes himself manifest through the shehina of malchut and God needs man because the shehina can only be eminent through man 3) Bringing divine into the world

We live in a world with a theistic world. Above that we have a level of God's malchut. God needs us to perfect the world and create eminence of God in this world and finally God as the sephirot as metaphysical principles where everything remains the divine.

Redemption through sin methodology - sabbatean. Ramhal will agree with a lot of it.

See Sheet: Geniza of Ramhal,

This deals with that there are neshamot that re hidden and the true way is redemption through sin. Ramhal will glorify that Esther had to do aveirah l'shma in order to bring bayit sheni. Will say that Sabbetians are wrong because only can do in ones and realize in hindsight that it is wrong. You don't actually descend, but you have to fix it and not become the evil. Yes, not that the mashiach is sitting as a leper or become a Muslim, but at the place at the biggest tuma, will find mashiach not that he has to become it. Dialectic process through the evil. Moshe does not have to become paro but had to be raised in paroh's house. Don't have to understand but done in keddusha. Two types of creation, the or that has thought - the mishpat and the or that does not - the memshala and blind will of the divine.

Monday April 12

To review: Ramhal likes the Shabbtai Tzvi ideas, but is different. Agrees that way to get to heaven is through hell, but like Esther in that it must be by accident or forced like yael. The Zohar deals with Moshe descending into the nahash. Tzvi - must become evil, Ramhal - shows that it serves a function and fights the evil.

Ramhal: The or sheain bo mahshava is keter - god's ideas of volition beyond life or death and any boundaries and will be restored in messianic age.

Original Sin

If adam had not sinned we would not have had the ability to grow.

Tikkun from Torah: Torah will perfect and restore our consciousness to the original state of seeing god in everything. Ramhal works simultaneously on personal elevation, redeeming yourself, historical of playing out the history, and how they interact. As you effect the personal, you can also be effecting the historical. E.g. we have personal issurim and there is continuous hevlei mashiach.

This was all done in the safety of Amsterdam

Mesilat Yesharim

Look at first 10-15 pages in new edition - see where da'at tevunot was sechel, mesilat yesharim is where the neshama talks.

Beyond hachma and sechel is ahava and yirah, deveikut, hassidut, and avoda. The hacham will say that isn't hassidut and ahava have nothing to do with knowledge? The neshama says no - there is a Iyyunei haHasid - a science of piety that you have to learn for the neshama. Hachma is keeping mitzvot and studying halacha and Gemara and philosophy, but equally a theoretical science. You must also understand the obstacles. Those who practice the traditional piety of fasts are foolish and shouldn't be done anymore. Iyyunei haHasid - tie all your middot together and you need a seder to everything you do. Hassidut needs order just as the hacham ans sechel. In the medieval world, you arranged a text either by the Daf or by logic of topic and going from klall to prat. The role of Peter Ramus Logic, 16^th century author, don't do on the page, but use all information and present a new seder in the form of a textbook with no premises - presented as factual or a narrative. Ramhal in mesilat yesharim will say that you need the arrangement of data by levels of avoda.

Zehirut, Zerizut, Nikuyot are the levels of tzaddik and deal with the levels of mitzvot. Din.

The levels of the hassid are perishut, tahara, hassidut, anivut, yirat hait, and keddusha. Lifnei meshurat hadin.

Culminated at the end in ruach hakodesh.

Have to give a clear order to piety. 1-3 is din, the next 6 are lifnei meshurat hadin. Da'at tevunot is the national; Mesilat yesharim is personal. Hassidut is 1) the purpose of man is to get pleasure from the shehina and the only way to do that is that by the 1-3 you have no ta'ava, tahara is ratzon Hashem, and keddusha is already thinking like Hashem. If this is your goal, the directive to be a hassid is to bring nahat ruach to Hashem. This helps him reject those rolling in the snow because they are just doing their own things. Therefore everyone on the Messianic path should be on the mesilat yesharim. The first three levels are clearly to fix laziness, e.g. doing humrot. One of the letters against the Ramhal was that Ramhal was not a hassid because he has no beard and doesn't do the traditional piety. Therefore, what they wanted was not the real hassidut, it is an attitude internal state. Connecting this back to what he did earlier - he wanted to be mitkaven l'tovat hador that the hassid could effect the era. In another place, he will say that hassidut is 1) nahat ruach mashal, 2) kavod Hashem is a vision, 3) tikkun hashehina. In the current edition just says that the goal is for deveikut. The new dialogue edition is that everything we do is like a korban and be like malachim. Your hassidut will have global ramifications.

The new edition will have 2 types of religious experience. 1) The shehina is a gevul and we cannot experience anything more than that - you are striving for ruach hakodesh (the sefirot) and distinguish between ratzon Hashem. 2) There is a higher of purpose in life then pleasure. You have a precious soul that can be actualized.

Need torah because need shleimut from it. Torah connects you to the emanation of God. Torah connects to human or divine wisdom. If you are in terrestrial means, there is nothing that helps you fight yetzer hara. Hassidut is the nimshal of kabbalah since kabbalah is all about god's providential forces and hassidut is how to live a live based on the providential forces.

4 Klallim of the Ramhal: 1) God had to contract himself in order to create the world 2) There is an order of hanhaga that what we do affects the higher realms 3) we want to bring things back to holiness 4) we strive for ruach hakodesh. Looking at kabbalah as the nimshal will lead to the Gra and others. Ramhal says the he is the nimshal of the Ari's mashal.

The mussar movement are only having you read the first three levels of how to fight the yetzer hara and don't deal with keddusha and tahara.

In the first 3 levels, you feel you are gaining keddusha that you are perfecting yourself in your ability to do shemirat hamitzvot.

1) When you come to perishut, that is the level of secluding yourself from people.

2) Tahara is living a completely different life where you are seeped in kabbalah and mitzvot.

• Hassidut is when you have no activities that are not mithassed.

• Anivut is when you have humility that you are channeling the higher forces.

• Yirat hait is a sense of God that you are above all categories because everything you do is as a messenger of God.

6) Keddusha is to become like a malach.

Speaks to masses more than even Rambam because: 1) the first three is not a meditative path, working on mitzvot and becoming a ben torah first. Based on beit midrash culture. 2) Literacy 3) not for elite - go back to masses in anivut,

Wednesday April 14

Finish up the Ramhal: to get a sense of what he wants in contrast to Kook, where the Ramhal want yihud with tov v'ra as separate entities, not Kook's idea of shleimut (who wants to include everything). Kook - history is about Israel, but can incorporate other things, Ramhal says history is in the whole not the parts.

Klach Pitchei Hachma 138 principles of kabbalah

Literary aspect. At 18-19 wrote lashon limudim, a book of rhetoric and language and a play ma'ase shimshon demonstrating these principles. In 20's wrote play Migdal Oz about justice over injustice. This book based on Gurini's Hastor Fito. Migdal Oz read all over. In Amsterdam will write play Layesharim Tehila, about personified virtues about sechel, ta'ava acting out in the play. Read by the maskilim. Ramhal is now the model for modern literature. Won't know about Ya'akov and Yitzhak Frances - two brothers who are the leading traditional poets. Klausner and Lachover start literature with the Ramhal. We see that the Ramhal will be used my maskilim, hassidim, and mitnagdim and each will take certain aspects. Hassidim - kabbalah and good vs evil as nimshal. Maskilim - rhetoric style. Mitnagdim - Mesilat Yesharim.

Moving West to Holland, England...

Yosef Yerushalmi has a thesis that the breakdown of Judaism started with the Marranos since they were of Jewish descent not practicing Judaism and returning but critical.

Uriel De Costa 1585-1640 wrote an autobiography. Raised as a catholic and returns to Judaism and moved to Amsterdam. Will live in Judaism and will then come out against Olam Haba and theology. He will be put in herem, and will be arrested. The herem will be lifted and placed again. Hamburg -> Venice and meets Leon De Modena. Under De Modena have book Kol Hasechel (with a samekh) - voice of the fool as a critique of Torah sheba'al peh. De Costa will move back to Amsterdam and will identify with the Jewish community and will come out in favor of deism and a religion of only the bible. Put in herem and in 1640 gets malkut and commits suicide.

Spinoza 1632-1677

Comes from Portugese family that had been marranos and studies under Mortera and under Menashe Ben Israel. Also Moshe Zechuto who follows the Itallian kabbalah of Sarug. Even though he is a native of Amsterdam, the ex-marranos will keep to themselves and speak in Spanish and marry among themselves. There will be a ba'al teshuva literature giving them new introductions to halacha. Beyond that, Spinoza drifted to society of heretics. Still problem of Torah sheba'al peh and emmunot hachamim. 1) Most of the people who debated this recanted instead of being put in herem. 2) Put around biblical critics Astruk and DePerrier. 3) Quakers and other Protestants who believe that religion is about the heart. And other radical Protestants who say religion is about faith not knowledge. Also will be around philosophers - Descartes. All of that is coming together. In addition, the community as a whole will have a neo-Karaite element nothing connected to karaites since people skeptical of Torah sheba'al peh will only keep the torah shebichtav. The marranos considered themselves members of the Spanish Portuguese nation - upper class and own distinct people. The Protestants and criticisms to texts combined with the marranos who only had the bible were partial causes of the anti-rabbinic feelings. Spinoza condemned with other who recanted. Spinoza goes to the Hague in a Christian society.

Things he said

Compare Rambam to Spinoza

Tanach

Rambam: Tanach = Philosophy if you can go beyond the nimshal

Spinoza: Narrative and stories and can be treated as literature

Religion

Rambam: Religion about knowledge and law

Spinoza: Religion is about faith. Philosophy is secular

Knowledge

Rambam: Moshe is the greatest intellect because knowledge works in a hierarchy of elite knowledge. You trust what the greater ones teach in the bible

Spinoza: Common sense which can be understood by everyone

Politics

Rambam: Politics is by the elite of knowledge

Spinoza: Knowledge and theology have nothing to do with politics to create liberal tolerant state

Now concerned with ordinary people not the elite

God

Rambam:

Spinoza: God = nature no cosmic deity

Torah

Rambam: Matan Torah

Spinoza: Bible is a normal historic book written by Moshe

Mitzvot

Rambam:

Spinoza: Mitzvot were political and only for the time when Bayit Rishon and Sheni stood now that there is no state, no hiyyuv. No sense of tradition.

See Sheet: Yuval on Spinoza's Herem

Can't call a marrano because of what he said since this going around other places.

Follows this with book on eminence and why Spinoza becomes model for libertarians and brings it all back to the marranos. Also have other protestant groups doing the same thing.

See Sheet: Spinoza's own opinions

See Sheet: Morteria - student of De Modena

Deals with lack of emmunah. Writes derashot called Givat Shaul. Sermons will deal with ethical breakdown. On one hand Amsterdam was materialistic and on the other was Calvinistic. Schama says that they were embarrassed by their riches. This sermon will deal with should we cut back on materialistic.

Nieto: A hacham in England in 18^th century will write book called Kuszari Hasheni and will defend Torah sheba'al peh and deals with Spinoza issues. Will attack Shabbtaut and Nehemia Hiyun. Will say that torah sheba'al peh cannot be reduced to something only needed for the times, has nothing to do with philosophy or partisan needs of the age. Otherwise they would have exempted themselves if they has self-interest. Everything hazal did was for truth and takanot were for the sake of the system.

Monday April 19

More on Nieto:

Hazal did not make it up by themselves, all a mesorah. The issues of his day: do people create things for their own self-interest or for the good of the people. Doing the laws of tereifot have no politics and self-interest. Nothing for them to be gained. Goes into how great hazal were because they know science. They knew Aristotle and Greek philosophy. Makes equation that we can read Descartes.

Menashe Ben Israel

In 16^th century there was an illegal Jewish Community. Wrote a letter to Cromwell asking that Jews be admitted because the goal of a society is to be profitable and Jews are very profitable. Jews don't want their own country, they want to fit in. These letters will be reprinted because every place will argue that the goal of a society if profit, therefore let Jews in. The essay will be reprinted among other people by Shimon Luzatto a cousin of the Ramhal for the acceptance of Jews into Italy and therefore be re-admitted.

Mendelssohn will personally translate the article to German with a personal introduction to the King of Prussia. Judaism not a political body, no dogmas, against liberalism.

Menashe ben Israel will also write Mikvei Israel: the hope of Israel about Messiah and America and the 10 lost tribes, the war against the Incas as Gog Umaggog. Will write nishmat hayyim about the human soul and about the perfection of the human soul - one of the few ba'al mahshava without being a ba'al halacha. Will be answering up for those who deny the soul within Amsterdam Jewish society. De Modena will have series of letters that say that is one denies olam haba, they might not be kofrim since we have no certainty. De Modena writing teshuvot allowing them into the community and Menashe will write about Gilgulim.

Menashe Ben Israel: Nishmat hayyim - doesn't question soul, tells all about the states of the soul and goes into sheddim, dibbuks and all others. The soul is not part of the body, beyond saying that it's not part of the body, will quote from kabbalah that everyone has literal part of the divine with them. You know all knowledge by recognition, Aristotle disagreed and called what he said was the truth.

Monday April 26

Nieto: will also defend nature = god. A panenthiest. The difference between him and Spinoza is that he says nature = God, but there is an aspect of God that transcends nature. Also deistic reads of Jewish thought. The Haham Tzvi and shaagas Aryeh will write letters in support of Nieto.

Germany

We spoke about how Jews were persecuted in 13^th and 14^th century. The Jews that were left will organize into councils, the leader of the defenders is R. Yossele of Grushheim main shtadlan 1478-1554. Will have 3 uncles murdered un 1470. His family will roam throughout the provinces. Family will make living in money lending. 1507 - will repeal expulsion edict. 1510 - becomes parness of the community. He will call himself ruler of the Jews on paper. He will be penalized by the emperor. Will have dialogue with kings of the Holy Roman Empire. 1525 - peasant revolt in Germany. He will save Jews from peasants. 1530 - debate between him and Antaion Margarita and wins. Yossele defends against blood libel. Luther denied audience with him in 1530's. Luther was pro-Jews at that time and thought the Jews would convert. 1560's - Luther said Jews should have their property confiscated and after a while killed. 1539 - Yossele attends protestant convention and assures that the blood libels and desecration of the host is untrue. Also, that the Protestants and Christians should not harm the Jews. Possibly met with Calvin.

1530 - synod of Jewish community and works for uniform regulations and all communities should have consistent laws for money lending

1534 - invited to Prague as an outsider because the Horowitz community vs. the Prague Jewish community were involved in legal battles.

Against Reuveini the Messiah and Mohel the messiam

1543 - Will see the Straussberg (center of German humanists) against Luther's edicts?

His grandson will be the R. Yosef Han - R. Yosef Ometz which gives the minhagim of Frankfurt. R. Eliyahu of Lonz, grandson of Maharal.

In the 17^th century, Jews will start moving west. Germany will become good because of synods and Helminisky massacres. Creates the myth of the wandering Jew of Jews moving back west from the Ukraine. Unless you have a good profession, Jews could not get residency rights. Many Jews will spend their time peddling things from town to town. Also needed permission to get married or get a home. This in many regions will continue in 19^th century and will eventually carry it on to America. 2) Where the 17^th century, money is to be made in Germany, will lead to Gedolim moving from east to west even though the learning was east. In the questions of can you change minhag, because people were moving west and crossing minhag lines. When and where could you change minhagim. Yair Bacharach - grandson of Maharal - answers broad range of issues. By the 18^th century, almost all Gedolim are practicing in German land. You will also have in 17^th century the 30 year war where Russia, Sweden will attack Poland and places in Germany will attack each other. Therefore Jews will supply both sides and will move west to avoid it. Many Jews will make fortunes in 30 year war. This produces court Jews - Jews who can now afford to by castles, noble rights, hunting rights and will be openly not observant but still part of Jewish community. The most famous example is Jusus who lived in absolute not religious and then does teshuva after he is stripped of his rights. Many other court Jews. The Wurtheimer Jews were frum court Jews. They then functioned as shtadlanim and started manning the mint and banks. Made appeals that Jews can be like non-Jews and therefore can give Jews rights. Somewhat of an erosion of both the Jewish community and observance. All these teshuvot are filled with people who are going off the derech. Most hamlet Jews remained unaware of much until the 29^th century - no education. Your Jewish education was a pamphlet of how to keep mitzvot. At end of 18^th century, have enlightenment in Germany. Want to make compulsory education and fund universities. In 20 years anyone in Prussia immediately has a secular education. For some, the choices were peasant Jew or modern German, many converted to leave their peasant life. Judaism and German modernity was seen as opposites. You chose conversion. Between 1815 and 1844 have either or choice.

In 1766, there will be a get written in Cleaves. There will be a hatan who will run away the first shabbat after he gets married. The father of the groom will force a get. She is not entitled to anything special because his son is insane. Many rabbis say the wife is not free. The grooms father will say that the rumors about the get are being started by the bride's family. The rabbis of Europe will be divided as to if it's a good get. Most of Poland say it's good. The German rabbis say it's no good. The German rabbis say that you can't listen to the Polish rabbis and the vaad 4 artzot will lose the rabbinic authority. Here have hefkeirut will lead to acrimony and therefore, many cases will have huge disputes as to whose on what side. Whatever that authority of vaad of 4 artzot will be broken down. The Gra will be thrown in jail because of disputes in the community that the new powers want change. The old community will get power back, so too hasidut will break away from mitnagdut and set up own communities. Lots of shifts in power, money, rabbi shifts west. More lines of communications. Shtadlanim system breaks down. Will have various new ideas floating around. Arenda system breaking down, Poland going into poverty, as is Italy. Germany is becoming wealthy, therefore more tensions. Rise of citizens against monarchs and all these things lead to a change in power. See breakdown in power.

Chana of Gluckel - husband dies, raises 10 kids on her own and deals in money lending and see that widows have full economic rights. In this diary, she will struggle to raise her family and will know French and German and people don't realize that she knows accounting and will give accounts of how she raises her family and observance. She hires tutors to teach her kids. Also seeing the rise of autobiography writing. Jews develop sense of self of wanting to write about their lives. Several other autobiographies as to how a shoemaker works. Literature on how people make their fortunes.

Ya'akov Emden - 1697 - 1776: Father was the haham Tzvi, father-in-law was Mordecai of maraivia, rabbinic family on both sides. Emden was raised to be anti-pilpul, studied philosophy, dikduk, kabbalah, was a haham hakollel. Was trained in the Jewelry business and served as a rabbi in Emden for 5 years. His father had started with a pulpit in a sephardic congregation in Yugoslavia or Macedonia, and did not have an easy time. Eventually got accepted into Altona, Hamburg, Vanzbeck (AHU) community. After his father died, Emden was not taken to be his successor instead, Yonatan Aibshitz was. Emden got a pulpit in Altona in the region and set up own shteible and had own printing press. There is also a Rabbi Hagiz in the Portuguese community who will be first pro then anti Emden and will be anti the Pri Hadash who was back to the sources (Rambam and Gemara) and Hagiz will not think that is appropriate and Hagiz will persecute Sabbetians and Ramhal. Emden will write amudei hashamayim which will be a correct siddur with correct nusach and this will start a stream of German siddurim with correct versions - the texts that were floating around were corrupt. Emden started a trend of going back to the sources to reconstruct the siddur. His successors are used today. Emden is anti-Sabbatean and feels the Ramhal is one as well. Will start writing against Aibshitz when in Prague and will accuse him of handing out amulets that are Sabbetians and in Ahu, the people will think Emden is starting up trouble and Emden will flee to Amsterdam and his brother-in-law (chief rabbi). The king of Denmark will bring Emden back. The rabbis who rejected the Get of Cleaves are relatives to Emden. Whatever politics worked in 1700, new kings that are equally important. Emden will write a book mitpahat tzpharim and will say that the zohar couldn't have been written by R. Shimon Bar Yochai because quotes rishonim, has Spanish and deals with hazal as a closed cannon. Source criticism. Emden does not reject kabbalah and says some comes from hazal. Also says that the Moreh was not written by the author of the Mishna Torah. Advanced stages of Humanism and suspect of who wrote what. Assumed that the Rambam denied revelation and hashgacha and therefore have 2 separate people. Hear about a Rav who wants to go back to common sense and realia. Wants to matir pilegesh and kitniyot. Discusses about yihud, matiring abortion. Held freedom to differ with Shulhan Aruch and Ramah. Quotes Mordecai about giving women aliyot, and says it's theoretically allowed. Christianity is not avoda zara and therefore we should show tolerance. Differing himself from Poland.

Wednesday April 28

Another example is at the end of the 18^th century, watches and clocks will be available to the average person. Therefore halacha now follows the clocks for zmanim. Emden held of the shaot zmaniot of the clock because the kings would sleep late - even in the winter.

Two controversies: 1) 1772 in Schwerin, new decree that you can't bury the dead for 3 days because maybe they are still alive but are not showing any signs. The question is that it is against halacha. The community appealed to Emden and Mendelssohn. Emden said you need next day burial. Mendelssohn says that there is no problem keeping it around, but if Emden disagrees, will say can see to listen to traditional categories. Mendelssohn willing to defer to modern science. 2) Are Christians Hassidei Umot Haolam - Emden: They are - they accept Hashem. Mendelssohn says the reason they are Hassidei...is because religion is universal and by their own natural means they will come to their own ethical religion and nothing to do with the 7 mitzvot bnei noach. For Emden, all hachma is still divine, Mendelssohn has secular reason.

Yonatan Aibshitz

Studied under Meir Eizenstat. Became friendly with Label of Prossnitz. Goes to Germany and then to Vienna -> Prague and will become head of the yeshiva. Will be suspected of Shabbtaut. 1750 - controversy 1) writing sabbatean amulets (weak) 2) his son is a sabbatean prophet teaching Nevuot of Shabbtai Tzvi (strong). 3) Will be a ktav yad - Evo Hayom El HaAin - a complete Sabbatean work and he wouldn't directly say that he didn't write it.

The Rabbonim of Germany supported Emden (many were relatives). The Rabbis of Eastern Europe supported Aibshitz saying that he was a great gadol, leave him alone. No one wanted to deal with the Sabbatean question. Even the Vilna Gaon answered the same way - rejected Hassidim as heresy but not Sabbaiteanism. Tiferet Yonatan - his book on Torah, find more pieces of Shabbtaut e.g. Zimri, Pinhas, Nadav and Avihu are Tzaddikim. Like the Ramhal saying I like Sabbatean theology like the or that has mahshava, the mashiach descending to the tannin to bring geulah, but will differ that Shabbtai Tzvi is not the mashiach and you can't initially sin, but after the fact you can view them as Tzaddikim. Wrote the Urim Vtumim and the Kreiti Ufleiti pilpul sefarim and the Yaarot Dvash on humash. Will quote Descartes. Will keep up on issues of the day. Used phrase "Torah U'Madda" in modern context. Will have praise for the sciences.

Emden kept putting out pamphlets and would be besides the point - side issues instead of the substantive one. The Emden Aibshitz controversy are demonstrative of a rip in the system that the Ashkenaz community leadership (between 1740-1750 when it's intact and 1790 when in shambles) have East vs. West - structural tension in the system. Dozens of factors that the rabbinate breaking down - hassidut, modernity, breakdown of council among others.

The 18^th century will have a breakdown in observance who will be the baal habatim, mumar lteiavon. Philosophy equates Rambam, Ramban, Descartes etc. Between 1790 and 1815, things will change and you will no longer quote Descartes and Leibniz as part of discourse, you are now choosing the enlightenment over the traditional sources because can either be frum or enlightened, and therefore many converted. The standard approach is radical conversion because one cannot do both at the same time. From 1815-1844 all sorts of ad hoc lay reforms in order to remain both Jewish and Modern culminating in 1844 with the first conference by reaction and creates historic Judaism and Orthodoxy. 1) Religion = superstition 2) culture totalitarianism of the enlightenment automatic delegitimization of everything being taught. Now, reason is being defined as autonomy of the self. German Jewry also less educated and will have people who just want to stay behind.

Mendelssohn 1729-1786

Studied under David Frankel and has private tutors, part of educated merchant class, traditional Jew, dresses, acts like a Jew. 1763 - will enter a contest that Frederick the Second has on philosophy and will win for essay proving the soul is immortal. Kant's essay will lose. Winning that contest will put Mendelssohn in limelight and will be a celebrity and see stories of him as a Jew sitting at king's philosophy table. Mendelssohn kept winning awards, Kant didn't. Mendelssohn will print Menashe Ben Israel's appeal for tolerance and admission for Jews in England for the German provinces which exclude Jews. Mendelssohn's world is still the early modern world in terms of soul, Jews valuable. Doesn't see self as different than Menashe Ben Israel. Mendelssohn then spends the rest of his life writing reviews of latest things in the arts and will start dressing like the Western culture - lives life completely outside of Jewish culture, still frum. Dressed like a goy, associated with goyim and did goy things. 100% in the new world. Will enter the Salon culture - disenfranchised community which leaned on each other 1) Jews 2) minor petty noblemen without role in society because Europe now all monarchs 3)artists, intellectuals, radical theologians. Of these 3, it attracts the women. This Salon culture comes to be and attracts people who want to be like Mendelssohn. 1769 - preacher Laviter who will write a book on Christianity and sends it to Mendelssohn saying "why don't you convert." Mendelssohn will try to ignore that and writes back that there is no need. The same preacher will send him a letter saying take up challenge or not, and Mendelssohn forced to write Jerusalem as a response. Jerusalem is 2 parts 1) no political community - doesn't use herem to enforce laws therefore can be part of modern state. 2) Judaism has no faith, dogmas, nothing but legislation kept by ceremonial legislation for ideas, therefore we follow German laws. Keep the rituals to avoid avoda zara. There are universal truths of reason. His students will set up educational programs that basically teach derech eretz and universal studies, learn basic ceremonial laws. Mostly western education not religious.

Monday May 3

Mendelssohn's bible commentary answers the questions of the 18^th not 19^th century - Voltaire is wrong because they don't understand Torah SheBa'al peh and quotes Ramban and Zohar. Socially, the commentary weans people off of Judeo-German and onto modern Prussian German. The commentary on Breishit and Shmot was written by Shlomo Dubno. Mendelssohn's students went in 2 directions 1) Freidlander - willing to convert if don't have to believe in Dogma - rapid assimilationists wanting to only teach kids German culture, no Torah 2) Dubno - settled with Jews in Amsterdam that Torah and science were not contradictory. And only his oldest son did not convert, the rest did. There was no answer as to why don't you convert to being a German religion.

Answers: Where the Hatam Sofer said you cannot change anything ideologically, he remained an early modern Jew. He remained a kabbalist supernatural Jew, but assumed can't change dress, language or name. Can change professions or use modern medicine or appliance. The Ktav Sofer (son) speaks German and accepts all technology. Reform - do away with ritual laws and we want to remain Jewish - ethical creed without dietary laws etc. Reform rabbis wanted to keep people Jewish. We are now Germans of Mosaic faith and therefore we should be a third faith in German lands.

Hirsch - As an epilogue to Early Modern Western culture. What did he do to create neo-orthodoxy?

• Judaism not about kabbalah. Kabbalah is really superstition and we should have nothing to do with it.

2) Not about Olam Haba and the soul, about Olam hazeh. All the discussion of the soul not part of Judaism. Christians worry about other worldly, Jews worry about this world, work, family etc.

3) Judaism sanctifies work week. Jews work 6 days a week and shabbat comes to sanctify it.

4) Pro-Romantic love, family life. Avraham not about being chosen to lead Israel, but about raising family and family life.

5) Judaism is not philosophy - philosophy is secular not universal, therefore Rambam did not really understand Judaism well. Philosophy = secularism = assimilation. The only thing that is religions is faith in mitzvot.

6) Not about Israel (anti-Zionist) or nationalism, politics. Only about faith.

• Judaism has no history, there is no change in Judaism - Judaism is eternal - must reject Rishonim.
• Not about shleimut, but about mitzvot. (No Maharal or Ramhal) and give lessons on doing mitzvot, but no shleimut.
• Importance to do taamei hamitzvot. This worldly utilitarian function of mitzvot. Not the same as saying the shleimut that comes from it.
• Anti-nature: the pagans care about nature, the Jews care about religion.
• Anti-magic: Nothing to do with the magical realm.
• No tragic view of life, no dwelling on sin. Just do God's duty. No tragic view of life. No penance or repentance.
• Against lumdus and pilpul - Torah should be able to be spoken to the wife and children - must be simple, talk about humash, navi, halacha, on a pulpit level
• Anything that is not Torah you can rely on secular culture. No Jewish literature, art, science.

Eastern Europe

Social-Political History

1760 - Frankists converting to Catholicism and rise of Mitnagdut and Hassidut.

1772-1797: Poland will be carved out of existence. In that time, the arendas and 4 lands. Poland will have no army, suffering from 30 year war and when it is carved out of existence, Prussia will take north coastal cities and those Jews once annexed, their children will go to German public schools and will be taken over by Germany in that respect. Frederick makes it into a modern Jewish city. Austria-Hungary will not have the funds and therefore after 15 years there will be no education, no gardens, no museums, therefore this part of Europe will take aura of hunted part of Europe (Dracula, werewolves). No public cities, roads, no benefits of modernity. The hassidic court will be the new leadership in Gelechia. Russia - where majority of jews will be is going to go be like the modern area of Poland. Major occurrences that affected Jews 1) 1804 - arenda system is banned by the czar and the kehila will be de facto disbanded and stripped of power - no 4 lands council anymore. 2) If the arenda system is destroyed, what to Jews do for a living. Either nothing or create shtetels and not manage properties. Little collective of Jews who create little communities with little middlemen peddlers. Not a healthy economy not a health peasantry. Judaism has a sense that it is unhealthy and unable to make a living. 3) Jewish population will have a 6 fold increase in the century. Therefore Jews have to figure out what to do since no money, jobs, or possessions.

1805-1855 Nicholas the first was seen as a cruel Czar - came up that 2 of every thousand Jews had to serve in the army for 25 years. Czar creates nationality by putting you in the army. During the Crimean war, becomes 8 of a thousand and the Poles were 4 of a thousand. The kehila reacted was not to draft people from talmidei hachamim or rich people, only the masses. However, this kept up the oligarchy of the rich keeping up the talmidei hachamim. In 1844, the kehila and Jewish dress are officially banned. Printing press rights are controlled, only for the Vilna press. More forms of pressure for Jews to write and speak Russian. Create situations that force people to take exams in Russian. In the 1860's, there is a liberalization and in 1865 Jews will be given citizenship and will be allowed to live in Moscow. More Jews serving in army but for fewer years. Rise of industrialization - train tracks also in Germany. Jews involved in industrialization into the textile factory industry. In these factories, you worked 12-16 hours a day, no holidays or weekdays, plus child labor. 8-10 people to a room. If you move off to a shtetlel, Jewish life breaks down because of this - people stop worrying about kashrut etc. Secularization is coming because of factory life. More Jews will know about the American civil war then about the Crimean war since reading newspapers with the increased literacy. Jews now getting in touch with outside world once moving into the cities. During the 1860's have movement to Russian haskala. Have mahloket between the Russian and older German maskilim. Also, Russia opens up new lands to the Jews - the lands around the Black sea. Odessa will now be opened up. Jews flock to Odessa where Jews can live secular life. Sense of optimism that Jews will secularize like everyone else. Did not take shtetel life with the, Alex II assassinated in 1881, Czar system falls apart, people lose faith and there will be tensions. 1881-1884 will be the first pogrom. 33 town around the Ukraine will have mobs attacking Jews, optimism fades and have mass immigration to America, Jewish socialism, Zionism and 1^st aliyah. 1903-1906 have reactionary anti-Semitism and second wave of pogroms. 4500 Jews killed in one day, shops destroyed. 1917 - The white army fighting for the Czar will start 3^rd series of progressively worse pogroms. Germany make political anti-Semitism, Russia has its own. Both the hamlets of Germany and shtetels come to an end in the Holocaust.

Wednesday May 5

Jacob Katz has a work called "Tradition and Crisis" about Eastern Europe in which he says you had tradition and at the end of the 18^th century, you have crisis - the kehila, rabbinate breaks down, hassidut replaces the world of Shach and Taz, and you have a new world. There is a post-script by Cooperman and he says that Sholem looked at Sabbaiteanism, but that cannot account for the whole breakdown and neither does Yerushalmi's Marrano theory.

Intellectual History

Back to 1740 - Chava Weissler on lay piety, role of darshanim in eastern Europe, oral culture. Among them, some preach rationalism and philosophy, Shabbtaut, ethics, piety, etc. Also in 18^th century, many communities will have rabbinic leadership. In addition to having Rav and dayan, have an "Eved Hashem" on the payroll accounting for the spiritual well being of the community. Vilna Gaon was one of them. He was their spiritualist. Another one was the Ba'al Shem Tov. Ba'al Shem Tov was also called a doctor. Not a reaction, not from obscure origins, but on the payroll. At the end of the 18^th century, many more varieties but two main groups 1)leadership by charisma - you have a figure having to go to inspire the illiterate hamon am - hasidut 2) no, the basic form of leadership is education. Reach fewer people and others live life of obedience - mitnagdut. If uneducated, authoritarian - keeping you from education but if you are the educated, you get the world. Hassidut offers a lot for even the wood chopper, but have to bind self to the communal spirit. Both require submission to someone.

What fosters such that these are the only options?

Hassidut

We don't know when Ba'al Shem Tov was born, around beginning of 18^th century. Between 1730 and death in 1760, teaching in Podolia in the end of Ukraine - where the Cossacks were the worst of Gezeirot tach v'tat. He will have two doctrines. 1) Hamon 2) How others can be eved Hashem. 3 groups a) nin, neched and haveirim - contemporaries, who were spiritualists who are going to be active in the 1730's-1750's an onward. R. Nahman b) Ya'akov Yosef of Polnoia - leadership by a tzaddik - catches on in hassidut. c) Dov Ber - maggid of Mezritch. He will create a form of mysticism.

Ba'al Shem Tov

See sheet

Called the "Ba'al Shem, Tov" the good ba'al shem - you were actually healed. He would write amulets. With the hamon, he would tell stories of an allegorical nature - stories with a point and teach a doctrine of enthusiasm. For the community he will be the official shaman and channeler - on Yom Kippur, he would go in a trance, go up to shamayim and say what shamayim has in store for him. Called an aliyat neshama.

Brother in law Avraham of Kuti studied in Galicea a mekubbal who did the real stuff from tzfat. The brother in law made aliyah to Eretz Yisrael - the people keeping up the tzfat tradition. Letters going out in 5510 still have system of Shluhei eretz Yisrael. System changes to include collecting money for yishuv eretz Yisrael. Once again, due to the deterioration of the nations - not us, but all kingdoms, Poland, Ottoman, the plague continues etc. in 1746, that rosh hashana, he binds certain malachim by shavua and they have to take you up. His teachers, Achiah hashuloni and says he's still doing kabbalistic yihudim. He asks when the mashiach will come, and he responds when your torah is all over the world. In all hassidut except Dov Ber, you have acute Messianism. Three years later, he goes up again, and saw the plague is continues through the early modern period through the trading routes. Most of the places it struck went through the trade and shipping routes. Still a world where the brother in law is asking for money, not the world of bougious. The world of the Nodeh b'Yehuda's community are trying to be part of that world. Ba'al Shem Tov still in the world of the Arenda system. When it falls, the hassidut picks up on it. The tradition in Poland, people bid on the arendas, but hefkeirut was the system. Seen as not enough to go around. The Ba'al Shem Tov really is using magic and he is perceived as a magic worker. Ba'al Shem Tov will wind up with rewards, always someone out there with powers and someone you have to contend with. The early figures, the Ba'al Shem Tov is not one of the good ethical people, he will laugh at people - no realization big laughing.

What the Ba'al Shem Tov taught the elite was a simplified version of Luria and the Ramak - Cordovero he taught the light of the letters shining through and the doctrine of the importance of channeling down the divine shefa, and panenthiesm that God is in all objects.

Ba'al Shem Tov will effect many people - the ovdei Hashem. They will be affected by his method. R. Nahman becomes a channel between heaven and earth and tells cryptic symbolic stories of spiritual life. If you see an object, you draw a divine energy from heaven and there is an interchange with it. Hassidut will reject all form of haskala. Purposely anti-knowledge and systematic learning. Hassidisim anti-hospitals and continue to keep the values of the countryside.

Yaakov Yosef will be the figure of the tzaddik where there is a hamon and tzaddik and people have to bind themselves to the tzaddik. Will be critical of the elite as only in it for the power. Unlike the lomdim who only learn in the beit midrash, he is going out. Writes book Toldot Yaakov Yosef, the book on hassidut.

The Maggid of Mezritch takes over for the Ba'al Shem Tov until he dies in 1772. He is responsible for the hassidut of today.

See Sheet:

This will be mysticism. He will have 10 talmidim who between 1772 and 1815 create hassidut as we know it, including Chabad and others. They will bring it to Galicea and to Poland, Hungary etc. Now we have a break to the Modern era since dealing with new partition of Poland and no longer have the Ba'al Shem Tov view of olamot and maggidim and aliyat neshamot, go back to pietistic self. No metaphysical cosmos or discussions of the soul but no longer the discussions of afterlives, closer to psychology. The Tanya is therefore a modern book. Starts talking about the nefesh but doesn't go into levels of heaven and hells, but what you have to do in this world to affect it.

Through enthusiasm, will work self up in prayer to be completely enthused. Hassidut is now a product of bitul hayesh - nullify self to allow being of God to come into you.

In 1772, hassidut will come under herem by rabbis of Brody, Shov and Vilna.

• Mzalzel talmidei hachamim
• Changing the prayer book to nusach sefrad by adding kabbalistic pieces and create nusach Ari.
• Dress in white for shabbat and look very sectarian.
• Brody - complained that they changed the shehita knife.
• Changing minhagim for those social reasons, put in herem.

Monday May 10

Hassidim being banned for starting shteible, changing shehita, tobacco, mezalzel talmidei hachamim etc. However, hassidut through the students of the maggid of Mezritch will take over Europe. In Galicea will be almost total. The Hozeh and others will come in and set up system where the Tzaddik is binding self to shamayim. Hamon am gives money to the rebbe who acts on their behalf. The tzaddik raises your prayers and raises you up spiritually. Certain life of the court or tisch that goes around it. Now follows social pattern of focusing self around tzaddik. Allegories about how you can gain enthusiasm and how to find God in all things, breaking out of gashmiut and having experience at tisch. No more Early Modern 1) Political organizations are gone - hassidic courts and rebbe's who determine social order 2) no discussions of the soul or kabbalah, but of experience of nefesh elokut. New categories. Will bring hassidut to Poland. In Russia, Habad has minimal amount of Torah literacy (as opposed to absolute illiteracy) - everyone has to do the halachot properly in habad. More intellectual path and starts own theoretical philosophical approach on how everything is God. Later groups take into 20^th century with modern political parties. Between 1880's and 1920's hassidim were modeh to the mitnagdim in that everyone had to know something and would teach until 16, 17. They will realize they have to become literate. In the 1880's through WWI, the secular yiddish culture turn to hassidut for authentic folk culture. Glorification of the peasant. Hence, hassidut will be associates in Eastern Europe Jewish culture with everything positive in Judaism - sing, dance, prayer, being close to God etc. E.g. Dubno paints the Ba'al Shem Tov as a simple protector of simple folk against authorities. Peretz speaks about hassidut as the only viable option for Jews.

Mitnagdut - 1720-1797 Gra is the last mitnagid part of the Early Modern world. Students live in Modern Russia. The Gra is learning in complete deveikut to God. Teaches the nigleh and nistar of the Ari. The hassidim held he Ari and mitnagdim don't care about kabbalah because they hold kabbalah kipshuto and from ruach hakodesh but mitnagdim say it's supposed to be mashal/nimshal like the Ramhal and could be taught to the masses. Gra said it could be understood by sechel not ruach hakodesh. Most Modern Orthodox accounts of the Gra say the Gra held natural autonomous reason, and say the torah is this worldly. Rally the Gra holds that whatever you get from maggidim you can get from knowledge, but not at the complete expense of the former. The Gra says we're not worthy to get a maggid that's not a mixture. The problem is purity. The maggidim are a toeva - all supernatural must be from Torah. Bad if you get spiritual without Torah and just through physical stuff. Therefore hassidut more like magic because associating with shedim and not with Torah. Unlike Modern Orthodox read, there is clearly a sense of him getting maggidim every night. The Gra held that hirhur = dibbur and therefore have to say brachat on Torah as soon as you get up. The Gra was against hassidut because incorrect kabbalah. Gra thought heretical to say God filled the whole world. Really, material cause of the world is Torah not God. Not like Shabbtaut which can be overlooked. Gra puritanical since all this worldly and only for sake of God. Letter to family is about they do nothing but speak lashon hara - don't go to social events because society os corrupting. The last year in his life, he will take individual talmidim. Menahem Mendel of Shlov will write down things he said. Most of his works were in kabbalah. Most works about achieving olam haba. Mastered all bavli, yerushalmi, nach, rishonin, and proceeded to harmonize the texts. All rishonim has to work out. No room for minhag - about holding like one or other rishon. Unique that all tanach and kabbalah and midrashei halacha have to fit in. All has to be worked out. No contradictions between halacha and tanach. Everything is a blueprint of everything else. Bavli wins out over anything. His talmidim - some of them followed his derech and became lamdan hassid and will be anti haskala and anti modern. Another group moves to Israel and starts yishuv hayashan and are responsible for petach tikvah. Keep mitzvot taluyot baaratz. Will look for 10 shevatim. At some point, they build neighborhoods and get into modern nationalism and Zionism. Question when to start the modern classification.

Talmidim had affinity to Maharal and classics. Still reading kabbalah. However, some of them like Baruch Shick will visit the Mendelssohn circle and will get quote that he what you are deficient in science will be deficient in Torah. Modernity is happening. Some students will know part of it, those who remain in Lita are against it because means giving up everything.

Volhozion

Place where taught young people nashim and nezikin. Wouldn't give semicha because had to go elsewhere. Minhag haGra not practiced. Place for non-wealthy to learn. No spirituality. Within this have mussar movement - method of mahshava, not talking about olam haba and soul. You have to be on a schedule - learn how to give up peasant ways in favor of Western culture. Place that creates new power of Roshei Yeshiva. Follow them instead of own minhag. Only reaches several thousand people. Kept hassidut out - have to do halacha before piety. For the millions of Russian Jewry was too elite and didn't effect them. The N'tziv not in Gra's world but about taking responsibility, free choice, Israel - this worldly concern. Will say you have to keep mitzvot to be part of Jewish culture. Hassidim 1) Tzaddikim get you into olam haba 2) People who do mitzvot 3) Avaryanim - sinners who are part of Jewish people. According to N'tziv, Tzaddikim are no better than hamon am. Getting maggidim doesn't count anymore. The Avaryanim are nichshal and are outside of the community - therefore, community is only shomer mitzvot some more than others. With the rise of the yeshiva, have more time to learn, not just being declared an Ilui at 12. Hayyim Brisk creates world without minhag Yisrael and rejects Early Modern world. Pan-halacha - everything else is avoda zara. Thus, Early Modern comes to an end.

FINAL

The first part is ID's.

Part II: Questions on readings - more choice, not as much partial credit. Compare two readings together, some from one and others.

Part III: On the Ramhal - be sure you know da'at tevunot, mesilat yesharim, find way to answer questions on the Ramhal.

Know the into well of mesilat yesharim and the levels. Reproduce levels.

Part IV: Section on what is Early Modern Europe - not all either Marranos and Shabbtaut. What are the important factors of Early Modern Europe. Key things that started, maintained and ended it.

Readings:

Roth: give 5 examples of acculturation of manners - prepare in more than one way, 4 or 5 questionable acts. 3 points on Literature

Modena - 6 things about life that show early modern period - things that we don't understand. Why so important.

Yagel - 5 or 6 Early modern characteristics.

Schatz: What's her thesis or influence of Leibniz on Ramhal.

Penkowski - How does Nieto fit Torah shebaal peh

4-5 factors of Amsterdam Jewish life.

Saperstein - 5 examples of late 18^th cen Prague