Oxford Jewish Thought

The manuscript of Maimonides in the Bodleian library of Oxford is an important version of the first two books of his legal work Mishneh Torah, Madah and Ahavah.

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One of the divisive things amongst Jews today is the differences of customs and sensibilities between Ashkenazic (Western and Central European) Jews and Sephardic (from the Iberian Peninsula before the expulsion in 1492) Jews.

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Oxford’s Bodleian Library houses one of the most important collections of Hebrew manuscripts in the world. One of the most famous manuscripts is Maimonides (1138-1204) book on Festivals (Zmanim) in the Mishneh Torah, which is the principle version on which is based the current published Maimonides.... ( Read More » )

An extra word in the Bible: finding the mystical in the simple

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Introduction to Igeret Hashmad - Letter of Apostasy of Maimonides

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Introduction to Igeret (epistle) Taiman of Maimonides

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Alcohol & Judaism

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The convergence of psychology and mysticism

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The concept of the Sefirot

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The theory of dreams has been a very intriguing and mysterious subject since time immemorial, concerning which there are still many divergent opinions. Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939) described dreams as ‘the royal road to the activities of the unconscious mind’. Earlier Freud explained dreams as wish fulfilment or instincts. He also believed that some dreams are not necessarily products of the dynamic unconscious but simply the products of recent experience.... ( Read More » )

The year 1656 is known for an event that changed history, when Menasseh ben Israel (1604-57) of Amsterdam, of converso origin, travelled to England to petition Oliver Cromwell to readmit the Jews. His petition was viewed with favour, according to historians, as Puritan England regarded the conversion of all the descendents of the ancient Israelites as a precondition for the Second Coming.

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The recent expenses row of British Members of Parliament stimulates a debate about the nature of politics and the moral status of politicians in the eyes of the public. What once might have been an honourable position in society seems to have become detested and prone to corruption. ... ( Read More » )

A bid by a devout Hindu for the legal right to be cremated on a traditional open-air funeral pyre has been rejected by the High Court in London.

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The world is currently under threat of a major pandemic of Swine flu that has been detected in humans across the world. The flu refers to a virus that usually infects pigs and is common in the Midwestern United States, Mexico, Canada, South America, Europe, including the UK, and many other countries. However, transmission of swine influenza virus from pigs to humans is not common and properly cooked pork poses no risk of infection.

When transmitted, the virus does not always cause human influenza and often the only sign of infection is the presence of antibodies in the blood, detectable only by laboratory tests. When transmission results in influenza in a human, it is called zoonotic swine flu. People who work with pigs, especially... ( Read More » )