Alan Brill

Where Judaism Differed, Abba Hillel Silver Before I continue my series on Rabbi Eliezer Melamed and post his views of Christianity and other religions, I will take a digression and present on the classic book by Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, Wh…

A classic that once shaped the attitude of American Jews toward Christianity and other religions. Anything Christians believe, Judaism holds the opposite. Judaism is sui generis. It makes actual interfaith discussions quite difficult. We have come a long way. kavvanah.blog/2025/07/20/w...

It is not ethnographic. It is a late 19th-century position of primordial monotheism, despite henotheism, that works well as a modern reading of Maimonides. If there are ~9000 religions in the world and over 50 that are widely recognized, few discussions extend very far- whether clergy or academic

Rabbi Abraham Kook had a doctrine of evolution of cultures

We dont accept the Sages on science, medicine, dream interpretation, and many other matters. The legal tradition unfolds in context

They are not monotheistic, they are a halakhic one Supreme Being. Good enough for legal criteria. This is not empirical but a legal-theological argument. It is similar to those Muslims who include Hindus and Buddhists under "people of the book"

Rabbi Melamed on the Divine Spark in other religions Continuing my discussion about Rabbi Melamed on Other Religions. I started with his statements on Hinduism and will now look at his broader premises- see “The Divine Spark among Other Religions”  a…

There is a divine spark in all religions; all are needed for spiritual elevation. Other religions were sent divine inspiration & miracles, & all religions worship the true Supreme God kavvanah.blog/2025/06/30/r...

Expressive Relgious Zionism: An Interview with Shlomo Fischer How can you have Religious Zionists who write poetry and music as a religious quest but who also want to override government decisions? How can you have some who want meditation, spirituality, and …

New Blog Post kavvanah.blog/2025/06/09/e...

I start blogging again starting tomorrow, and have weekly posts already lined up. Stay Tuned

Matanot Le'evyonim for poor Jewish Families in India, Purim 2025 YOU can make a poor Jewish family in India enjoy their Purim! Like in the previous 11 years, I am collecting donations for matanot le'evyonim ...

My Annual Purim Matanot LeEvyonim appeal for poor Jewish families in India. For those looking to give Matanot Le'evyonim to a worthy cause. These needy families receive staples such as lentils and flour. Help them reach their goal.------ rootfunding.com/campaigns/in...

Will it be live-streamed or recorded?

Rabbi Dr. Yakov Nagen on Interfaith My friend, colleague, and fellow interfaith traveler Rabbi Dr. Yakov Nagen recently had his book “His Name is One” – Healing the Relationship between Judaism and World Religions (Maggid Press, 2024…

My friend Rabbi Yakov Nagen on Interfaith kavvanah.blog/2025/01/22/r...

Protestant countries used March 25th as New Year's until the 18th century. Everyone in Asia and elsewhere adopted it between 1890 and 1920 for standardization of dates and time for the sake of modern global communications and schedules.

REVIEW: Living Time Todd Berman uses an essay on Hanukka presented in a new English volume on the Jewish holidays to understand the challenging philosophy of R. Shimon Gershon Rosenberg (Shagar). The Hanukka lights funct...

Nice review of my edited volume of Rabbi Shagar essays by Todd Berman in Tradition. Berman used one of Shagar's essays on Chanukah to focus the review. I am glad he focused on the actual thought of Rav Shagar and not my long introduction (Intro for free in review) traditiononline.org/review-livin...

Stop it, go sit in front of a fireplace with a good drink. It is vacation for you also. You are not a grad student anymore.

The meaning of ecstasy Simon Critchley’s On Mysticism shows how the language of religious rapture can help us teach us how to live.

Nice review of Simon Critchley's On Mysticism by Rowen Williams www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...

Rabbi Israel Brodie who was defender of belief and wrote for newpspapers. I would check his collected essays. We know the sound of Brodie's voice defending dogma against Louis Jacobs.

Unique opportunity: 3 full-time academic positions in religion at a university in Thailand muhr.mahidol.ac.th/E-Recruitmen...

Siddur Torat Chacham, a siddur Rashash by R. Yitzchak Meir Morgenstern What are the Lurianic Kabbalistic intentions? How do they work and how does one read the baroque pictorial notations of a Lurianic siddur? This interview may be one of the first explanations in Eng…

For those interested in Kabbalah, great interview with Jeremy Tibbetts about the new Rashash siddur of Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Morgenstern. He gives more information about performing Lurianic Kavvanot than is available anywhere else. The interview is technical, sorry. kavvanah.blog/2024/11/23/s...

My decision to join Bluesky was pushed because WordPress no longer automatically posts to X/Twitter. WordPress also jumped ship. I resumed posting on my blog which was started 15 years ago in 2009 after an almost 2-year hiatus. I will start posting my blog posts here

Judaism and Other Religions

PSA: My book Judaism and Other Religions (2010) is on sale as a paperback for $15.99 until November 30th. link.springer.com/book/10.1057...

The Challenge of Catholic-Jewish Theological Dialogue, edited by myself, Alan Brill, and Matthew Levering, is the first book to engage the thought of Aquinas and Augustine on law in the context of Catholic-Jewish dialogue. Forthcoming from CUA Press.

His first book connected apocalyptic literature to the heikhalot literature. His method was to situate the texts in the context of late antiquity, comparing the Jewish texts to early Christianity, and Greco-Roman religions. Jewish texts are not autonomous.

Professor Ithamar Gruenwald a”h has passed away, Professor Emeritus at Tel Aviv University. He was my first professor of Jewish mysticism and Zohar. His method was old-school comparative religion of ritual & myth, symbol & sacrifice, with a theological edge. 1/2

The sale is over. It was one day and the price is back up

PSA- Azariah de Rossi's Meirat Eynaim (Light of the Eyes) in English is on sale for $36 instead of the usual $138. Classic Jewish Renaissance Humanist text (860 pages) www.amazon.com/Light-Eyes-Y...

But that was who he was then. more JDL/Brooklyn less mainstream.

That is part of the point. Once you are in a majority Jewish country, then the other faiths become minorities allowing a change of attitude. They are no longer the goyim that will swallow you up.

Please post and discuss. Take ownership of a list posting books post shabbos. Make the feed a place for actual discussion of books Motza'ei Shabbat, not just pics of random books without comments on contents. Start a new concept of the feed

Old picture

I really liked that book and I quote it on the first page of my Judaism & Other Religions