Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2004. Graduate Programme in Interdisciplinary Studies. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-95). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url%5Fver=Z39.88-2004&res%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss&rft%5Fval%5Ffmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss:MQ99380

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2004. Graduate Programme in Interdisciplinary Studies. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 87-95). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url%5Fver=Z39.88-2004&res%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss&rft%5Fval%5Ffmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss:MQ99380

With the background that Jewish women stay in abusive marriages twice as long as their non-Jewish American counterparts, we attempt to understand the religious and cultural factors that may inhibit Jewish women from leaving violent relationships, and examine Scriptural and Rabbinic texts as to Jewish beliefs regarding spousal violence. A variety of academic sources and primary scriptural texts were analyzed for religious and cultural attitudes towards Jewish intimate partner violence. Eight Jewish victims of spousal abuse, five Rabbis and seventeen community support workers were interviewed. Jewish women face a variety of unique issues with regard to how domestic violence is experienced. Issues of communal shame, fear of anti-Semitism, learned accommodation, community disapproval, divorce law and other cultural and religious factors act as barriers to leaving. Biblical, Talmudic, and Rabbinic texts, however, speak clearly against marital violence and support a community effort toward victim support. There are thus conflicts between actual Jewish religious doctrine, and the interpretation of Jewish values amongst Jewish community members. There are social and cultural barriers to Jewish women leaving their abusive relationships, but an analysis of religious doctrine offers a source of strength for women to leave. The onus is on the Jewish community to effect change by breaking the silence and renouncing abuse.

No description available.

Jewish ethicists face a twofold task of persuading audiences that (a) their proposal for an issue of social concern and justice is the right and good thing to do, and (b) their proposal fits within the Judaic tradition writ large. Whereas most scholarship in the field focuses on how Jewish ethicists argue by dividing arguments into halakhic formalist, covenantalist and narrativist categories, these efforts fail both to reflect the diverse ways ethicists actually argue and to explain why they argue in these ways. My project proposes a new methodology to understand how and why Jewish ethicists argue as they do on issues of justice and concern. My project combines philosophical theology and discourse analysis. The first examines an ethicist’s notion of covenant (brit) in light of theories found in the Jewish textual tradition. Clarifying an ethicist’s notion of covenant uncovers that person’s assumptions about the scope and binding nature of elements in the Judaic tradition, and that person’s conception of an audience’s responsibilities to the normative argument s/he articulates. Certain themes come to the fore for each ethicist that, when mapped, reveal striking relationships between an ethicist’s notion of covenant and anticipated ethical rhetoric. These maps begin to show why certain ethicists argue as they do. Discourse analysis then identifies the interrelationships between the speaker, the spoken and the audience – as they are actually articulated in Jewish ethicists’ practical arguments. These relationships form the how of Jewish ethical arguments insofar as they reflect an author’s rhetorical choices. My project applies discourse analysis to the rhetoric of a sample of living Jewish ethicists (J. David Bleich, Elliot Dorff, Eugene Borowitz) who speak out on issues of social concern and justice. As will be seen, a rich and complex relationship exists between an ethicist’s theory of covenant and his subsequent moral rhetoric. This twofold methodology enables the student of Jewish ethics to understand how and why seemingly disparate styles of normative speech are nonetheless participating in a common endeavor and discourse. And it supports the theologically-based rhetoric of religious ethical discourse in shaping justice in multi-cultural societies.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Katholieke Theologische Universiteit te Utrecht, 1993. / In English with summaries in English, Dutch, and Hebrew. Includes bibliographical references (p. 911-944).

Tzava'at Ha-RIBaSH ve-hanhagot yesharot: The Influence of Non-Lurianic Kabbalah on East-European Hasidism of Modern Age Mgr. Antonín Šedivý This dissertation thesis consists of Introduction, three chapters, and Conclusion. Furthermore, it includes name index, list of traditional Jewish sources used in the second chapter, list of sources, literature and other relevant resources, and four supplements. The Introduction of this dissertation deals with several issues important for its research. First of all, the East-European Hasidism is introduced, then follows very thorough overview of current state of knowledge of Tzava'at Ha-RIBaSH ve-hanhagot yesharot, and the definition of goals, hypothesis, and methods of this dissertation, and finally, it also contains technical notes about the dissertation thesis. The first chapter "Tzava'at Ha-RIBaSH ve-hanhagot yesharot" is devoted solely to Tzava'at Ha-RIBaSH, which is the central point of my dissertation. It is divided into chapters that are dedicated to fundamental information about Tzava'at Ha-RIBaSH, to its content, to its place within Hasidic literary collection, and to its reflexion by the opponents of Hasidism. The second chapter "Translation and Commentary of Selected Texts of Tzava'at Ha-RIBaSH" contains translation and short commentary of fifty-one selected...