01594--Wise, Isaac Mayer

Wise, Isaac Mayer (1819–1900). The father of American Reform Judaism. He arrived from Germany in 1846 and went on to found the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (renamed Union of Reform Judaism in 2003), Hebrew Union College, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis. He was the editor of the Jewish newspaper The Israelite (later named The American Israelite) and the German-Jewish newspaper Die Deborah. Wise was not a radical reformer, though he did introduce mixed seating and rejected the use of traditional head coverings and prayer shawls for men in the Temple. Yochanan ben Zakkai was one of the leading sages at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple (70 C.E.). According to Rabbinic lore, he was spirited out of Jerusalem in the final stages of the Roman siege. He secured permission from Rome to establish what became the seed of Rabbinic Judaism at Yavneh. 

Courtesy: Professor Shai Cherry

01593--Tzvi, Shabbatai

Tzvi, Shabbatai (1626–1676). A charismatic leader who proclaimed himself messiah in 1665. Although there were other false messiahs in Jewish history, Shabbatai Tzvi was the most popular. Some of his followers remained convinced of his messianic status even after he converted to Islam, under the threat of death by the Turkish sultan, in 1666. Shabbatai Tzvi’s teachings combined elements of Jewish mysticism, the call to penance, and violations of halachah. The dashed messianic hopes placed on Shabbatai Tzvi precipitated skepticism toward messianism as well as Kabbalah.

Courtesy: Professor Shai Cherry

01592--Soloveitchik, Joseph Dov

Soloveitchik, Joseph Dov (1903–1993). Born in Lithuania into the Brisk Rabbinic dynasty. A child prodigy, Soloveitchik went to Germany to receive a Ph.D. in religious philosophy. On immigrating to the United States, he taught Talmud for decades at Yeshiva University in New York City and founded the Orthodox day school Maimonides, outside of Boston. He was arguably the leading Torah figure in the United States in the second half of the 20th century. Rav Soloveitchik combined profound Torah knowledge and secular erudition. Thousands of his students refer to him simply as “the Rav” or “the Teacher.” Halachic Man is a prime example of his dialectical thought.

Courtesy: Professor Shai Cherry

01591--Sofer, Moses

Sofer, Moses (1762–1839). Also known as the Hatam Sofer. He served a community in Hungary and was the most important traditional Jewish scholar in central Europe for the first four decades of the 19th century. Although more flexible in practice, Sofer expressed scorn for the Reform movement and its adherents. He promoted the notion that any innovation was forbidden and that Jews should be particularly careful to retain cultural aspects of their identity, including traditional names, the use of Yiddish, and distinctive garb. Sofer became the figurehead for later generations of Jews who became known as Ultra-Orthodox and are particularly incensed by the acculturation of the Modern Orthodox.

Courtesy: Professor Shai Cherry

01590--Schneersohn, Menachem Mendel

Schneersohn, Menachem Mendel (1904–1994).

The latest messianic figure in Judaism. Rebbe Schneersohn lead the Lubavitch movement (HaBaD) in America for decades following World War II and oversaw its impressive growth in ranks and Jewish outreach activity. In the early 1990s, there was intense speculation in the Lubavitch community about the messianic status of the Rebbe, which Schneersohn himself did nothing to quiet. When he died, the Lubavitch movement was split between those who maintain that he was/is the messiah and those who do not. Schneersohn, having no sons, left the Lubavitch community without an heir apparent. Shimon son of Yochai, Rabbi (c. 2nd century C.E.) was one of the leading students of Rabbi Akiva. After Akiva’s death, he fled to Babylonia. He is the reputed author of the Zohar, the major text of medieval Kabbalah. His yahrtzeit (“anniversary of death”) is celebrated on LaG b’Omer by thousands making pilgrimage to his reputed gravesite on Mount Meron in northern Israel.

Courtesy: Professor Shai Cherry

01589--Schachter-Shalomi, Zalman

Schachter-Shalomi, Zalman (b. 1924). Born in Poland, educated in Vienna, and escaped the Nazis in 1941 by immigrating to the United States. Although ordained as a rabbi with the Chassidic sect HaBaD, Schachter-Shalomi fell away from the movement and received his Ph.D. from the Reform seminary Hebrew Union College. SchachterShalomi, since the 1960s, has been a leader in the Jewish Renewal movement. He combines a thoroughly traditional education with a modern outlook on religion. He emphasizes the importance of ecology, as well as promoting a personal relationship with God through joyous prayer, song, and dance.

Courtesy: Professor Shai Cherry

01588--RaSHI, Rabbi Shlomo son of Isaac

RaSHI, Rabbi Shlomo son of Isaac (1040–1105).

Born in Troyes, France, and is most well known for his running commentary on the Talmud and TaNaKH. In his commentary on the TaNaKH, he usually selected and condensed earlier Rabbinic understandings of the text. His commentary was the first published Jewish work, even before the TaNaKH itself. His commentary is studied along with the TaNaKH in traditional communities down to today.

Courtesy: Professor Shai Cherry

01587--Nachmanides, Moses

Nachmanides, Moses (1194–1270). Also known as RaMBaN (Rabbi Moses ben Nachman); lived in Gerona, Spain, north of Barcelona, and died in the Land of Israel. RaMBaN is the earliest biblical commentator to include Kabbalistic hints. Like RaMBaM, with whom he frequently disagreed, RaMBaN was a doctor. He was also a Talmudist and leader of the Jewish community. He represented the Jews in disputations with the Christian community in 1263, his account of which has been dramatized in The Disputation, a BBC production. Shortly after his participation in the disputation, he left for the Land of Israel.

Courtesy: Professor Shai Cherry

01586--Maimonides, Moses

Maimonides, Moses (1138–1204). Also known as RaMBaM (Rabbi Moses ben Maimon); born in Spain and lived in Egypt. Maimonides was a doctor to the sultan and for the Jewish community of Fostat, Old Cairo. His two greatest works are the Mishneh Torah (1180), a comprehensive summation of Rabbinic law, and the Guide of the Perplexed (1190), a text that brings together Rabbinic Judaism and Aristotelian philosophy. Maimonides was a controversial writer, and the true meaning of his Guide is still hotly debated. Maimonides’s influence on both the development of halachah and Jewish philosophy cannot be overestimated. Although it is possible to disagree with the RaMBaM, one cannot ignore him.

Courtesy: Professor Shai Cherry

01585--Luria, Isaac

 Luria, Isaac (1534–1572). Also known as the Holy Lion. He led a group of Kabbalists in Tzfat in the north of the Land of Israel. Luria developed the Kabbalah he inherited into a far more elaborate system involving four different worlds within the supernal realm. He also innovated a creation myth that involves tsimtsum, or divine withdrawal to create a space that is not divine in order to create the world. In the subsequent process of creation, there was a shattering of vessels containing divine energy; our task is to repair (tikkun) those shattered vessels through the performance of the commandments with the proper intention. Lurianic Kabbalah was influential for centuries.

Courtesy: Professor Shai Cherry

01584--Leibowitz, Yeshayahu

Leibowitz, Yeshayahu (1903–1994). One of the most controversial figures in Israel until his death. Although deeply committed to halachah, he nevertheless felt that Jewish law had to adapt to the new reality of a Jewish state. Leibowitz considered himself to be a disciple of Maimonides and the rationalism that the latter represented. On the question of chosenness, Leibowitz denies that the Jews were chosen. He reconceptualizes the traditional notion by arguing that Jews were commanded to be the chosen people, and the Jews may or may not respond to that divine demand. But, for Leibowitz, as for all Jewish rationalists, there is no intrinsic difference between Jews and Gentiles.

Courtesy: Professor Shai Cherry

01583--Kook, Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen

 Kook, Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen (1865–1935).

The first Ashkenazi chief Rabbi of Palestine. Born to a Hassidic mother and a Mitnagdic father, Rav Kook combined Talmudic and halachic scholarship with the mysticism of the Kabbalah. Rav Kook’s inspirational writings, poetry, and works of halachah served as the ideological foundation for many religious Zionists. He is widely perceived to be a bridge between the religious and secular worlds because he expressed admiration for the secular Zionists who were doing God’s work, albeit unknowingly. His son, Tzvi Yehudah Kook, has become a central figure in the Israeli settler movement, which sees the State of Israel as the beginning of messianic redemption. A good digest of his writings can be found in The Lights of Penitence.

Courtesy: Professor Shai Cherry

01582--Kaplan, Mordecai

Kaplan, Mordecai (1881–1983). Taught at the Conservative Jewish Theological Seminary for more than half a century. Kaplan is also the founder of the fourth denomination in American Jewish life, Reconstructionism. Kaplan maintained that traditional Judaism gets a vote, not a veto, on how contemporary Jews express their Jewish commitments. Kaplan promoted the idea that Judaism is a civilization and American Jews should strive to live in both the Jewish and American civilizations. Toward that end, Kaplan was an early supporter of the idea of Jewish community centers, where Jews could congregate for purposes other than religion. On matters religious, Kaplan was a forceful advocate of updating traditional rituals and ideas where possible and abandoning those that could not be updated, such as the idea of the chosen people.

Courtesy: Professor Shai Cherry

01581--Judah the Prince, Rabbi

Judah the Prince, Rabbi (c. 135 C.E.–c. 219). Redacted the Mishnah, the first literary work of Rabbinic Judaism. He was both an outstanding scholar and the political leader of the community, representing Jewish interests to Rome. In Rabbinic literature, he is often simply referred to as “Rabbi.” He led the Sannhedrin, the supreme Jewish legislative and judicial body, from Tzippori and Bet She’arim. He is buried in Bet She’arim in northern Israel in a restored archaeological site.

Courtesy: Professor Shai Cherry

01580--Hirsch, Samson Raphael

Hirsch, Samson Raphael (1808–1888). Considered to be the father of Modern (or Neo-) Orthodoxy. He was a staunch opponent of Reform and its acceptance of biblical criticism. Hirsch advocated certain “external” reforms dealing with dress, language, and even education, but he was steadfast in his opposition to halachic change. Although he could not tolerate changes to the traditional liturgy calling for the reestablishment of a Jewish state, he did believe that one should demonstrate patriotism toward the country of one’s citizenship. Hirsch opened the first Jewish day school in 1853 that combined Jewish and secular studies. 

Courtesy: Professor Shai Cherry

01579--Hirsch, Emil G. Hirsch, Emil G.

Hirsch, Emil G. (1851–1923). The son of a prominent Reform ideologue, Rabbi Samuel Hirsch. Upon returning from Germany with ordination and a doctorate, the younger Hirsch served as an editor of the Jewish Encyclopedia, professor of Rabbinics at the University of Chicago, and a congregational Rabbi. He was responsible for bringing the Social Gospel into Reform Judaism and featuring it in the 1885 Pittsburgh Platform.

Courtesy: Professor Shai Cherry

01578--Heschel, Abraham Joshua

Heschel, Abraham Joshua (1905–1972). A scion of a Hassidic dynasty and one of the leading Jewish theologians in the United States in the 20th century. He was twice invited to the White House to speak on issues of social justice and was a friend and ally of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His scholarship touched on every facet of Jewish thought. The Sabbath and God in Search of Man are representative of his style and religious thought.

Courtesy: Professor Shai Cherry

01577--Herzl, Theodor

Herzl, Theodor (1860–1904). Best remembered as the father of political Zionism. He was an assimilated Jew from Budapest who was educated in Vienna. He served as a reporter for the trial of Alfred Dreyfus and became convinced that the only solution for the Jewish problem in Europe was a national home. He wrote The Jewish State in 1896 and presided over the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, in 1897. There, he said that in 50 years, a Jewish state would exist in Palestine. His words proved prophetic.

Courtesy: Professor Shai Cherry

01576--Geiger, Abraham

Geiger, Abraham (1810–1874). A founding father of the Reform movement in Germany. Geiger was also one of the outstanding scholars from the second generation of Jewish studies. He applied his scholarly research, which emphasized the human authorship of the Torah and demonstrated the progressive nature of Jewish law, to the reforms he hoped to institute in his own day. He served as a pulpit rabbi for 35 years and was instrumental in the establishment of the first Reform rabbinical seminary in Berlin in 1870.

Courtesy: Professor Shai Cherry

01575--Frankel, Zecharias

Frankel, Zecharias (1801–1875). The founder of Conservative Judaism in Germany. At the time, it was called “Positive Historical Judaism.” The original name reflects the idea that Judaism is a historical religion unfolding over time and that historical unfolding is positive because it allows Jewish law to maintain its relevance in each generation. Frankel accepted certain reforms but was dedicated to the binding nature of Jewish law as a whole. He was also opposed to the linguistic acculturation of Reform and insisted on preserving Hebrew in the prayer services. In 1854, he was named the director of a rabbinical seminary (Juedisch-Theologisches Seminar), which became the model for modern seminaries that combine critical scholarship and traditional Jewish study.

Courtesy: Professor Shai Cherry