Jewish Theology and Mysticism

A Kabbalistic view of the High Holidays.

Rabbi Moshe Genuth, is currently a senior lecturer at HaRav Ginsburgh's school of Jewish psychology, Torat HaNefesh. He has been secretary to Rav Ginsburgh for the past 30 years, and edits many of his publications in both Hebrew and English including the weekly magazine Wonders, an English collection of HaRav Ginsburgh's teachings. Rabbi Guneth is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University in Engineering and received his rabbinic ordination from HaRav Zalman Nechmiah Goldberg. He founded a boys' talmud torah and a girls' elementary school in Jerusalem.

Oftentimes, taking on more religious actions and worrying about reward and punishment fill the contemporary Jewish rhetoric. But there are fundamentals that run deeper and embolden our unique personal value, self-development, and loving bond with G-d. In this talk, we will explore some fundamental Jewish ideas upon which all of Judaism is built.

What must a Jew believe?

How Maimonides draws on King David in describing love and fear of G-d and the concept of Moshiach.

How do we know that the day we observe as Shabbat is in fact Shabbat? Is it possible to observe Shabbat on a different day?

How the vitality of the world is dependent on the blowing of the shofar.

A synopsis of a discourse of the Lubavitcher Rebbe titled "Atem Nissavim" delivered on the 24th of Elul 5734 (1974).

How to harness the power of teshuva during the month of Elul.

Moses, Mordechai, and the Lubavitcher Rebbe—leadership under different circumstances.

Will the festivals be nullified in the times of Moshiach? What about the festival of Purim?

Perspectives on Purim from the Second Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Dovber.

A concise synopsis of the major themes dealt with in the discourse series known as 'Bati LeGani' by the last two Lubavitcher Rebbes—'a literary edifice of the 20th Century'.

How the chasidut said by a Rebbe relates to each individual listener, creating a mystical transaction.

A study on the importance of melody in the Chasidic tradition.

Is action really the focus? What is action without thought? Are we to be Hamlet or Ophelia?

Monosim: Is there anything apart from G-d. Do we exist? How can we actualize monism?

What is the distinction between Hasidism and Mitnagdim? What caused the emergence of these groups? And where in the general Hasidic movement, does Chabad-Lubavitch stand?

Tracing the evolution of Kabbalistic and Chassidic thought, how Zoharic thought is incorporated into Chassidic philosophy.

A word widely used, but what does it actually mean? Various translations are given, including, "holy", "sanctified" and "separate". Which is most accurate?

Comparing variant versions of the morning prayer Elokai Nishamah found in some of the earliest manuscripts of the Talmud. Examining how Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi applies one particular version in his Tanya.

To what extent is Jewish mysticism rooted in the Talmud? Examining the interplay between the mystical dimension of the Torah and the Halachic corpus.

Sergei Bogdanov is a DPhil candidate at the University of Oxford with expertise in Classical Philology, English Literature.

How the Lubavitcher Rebbe approached the perceived conflict between Torah and evolutionary science.

What happens when we sound the shofar on Rosh Hashanah? A comparison between the shofar sounded on Rosh Hashanah and the shofar of the Messiah. The Lubavitcher Rebbe's interpretation of an enigmatic passage from Isaiah.

Yitzhak Kraus describes the journey that led to his discovering the explanation for the energetic motivation Chabad has for its mission of spreading Judaism.

Hallel Baitner is a fellow at the department of Talmud, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His dissertation (under the supervision of Prof. Menahem Kahana) deals with the tannaitic midrash 'Sifre Zuta' to the book of Numbers.

The fascinating convergence of technology and religion, from yeshivas in Brooklyn to the traditional family Seder.

In the Jewish tradition study and knowledge has always been seen as open to all, regardless of socioeconomic status or lineage. But where is the line between intellectual openness and anarchy, between interpretive licence and relativism?

Adam Kligfeld is a visiting Rabbi from Los Angeles, currently on Sabbatical during the Michaelmas Term at Oxford.

The masculine and the feminine in Chabad thought, based on two discourses given by the seventh Chabad Rebbe in the winter of 1965.

Fascinating analysis of an account by the Baal Shem Tov of his ascent on-high, into the chamber of Moshiach.

Al-Kindi, Al-Razi and Ibn-Tufal were three influential Muslim thinkers who participated in a great intellectual endeavor alongside the most famous Jewish philosophers of the medieval era.

Divine monism and creation: the paradox of otherness, human existence, and freedom of choice.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe's curious choice to print an obscure manuscript in the dark days following the Second World War.

Tracing the history and significance of charity as a channel to influence a heavenly decree, examining Scriptural, Rabbinic, and Chassidic sources.

G-d has an inner longing to be made at home in the lowest levels of existence. It is the mission of man to achieve this through two complementary processes of personal worship, first drawing inspiration from above, and secondly raising the world up from below.