Rabbi Haim David Halevy: Gentle Scholar and Courageous Thinker

by Marc D. Angel, Hayyim Angel

Overview

Rabbi Haim David Halevy was one of the great rabbinic luminaries of his era. A prolific author and a teacher, he was a gifted halakhic scholar, a devotee of kabbala, and a creative thinker who applied Torah wisdom to the dilemmas of modern times. From 1972 until his death, he served as the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv. Influenced by the profound and compassionate teachings of his mentor Rabbi Benzion Uziel, Rabbi Halevy represented the best in the Sephardic tradition of the Judeo-Spanish Sephardim. His monumental knowledge and keen insight were widely recognized. He won many prizes for his intellectual achievements, and in 1997 was awarded the Israel Prize by the State of Israel in appreciation of his significant contributions to Torah scholarship. In this book, two Rabbis provide an analysis of the teachings of Rabbi Halevy on a wide range of topics: confronting modernity, rabbinic responsibility and authority, metaphysical issues, questions of faith, the role of customs, Jewish education, governing the Jewish State, and more. Rabbi Halevy was a gentle, thoughtful scholar. He was also a courageous thinker who was not afraid to consider old questions in a new light and to break new ground in the field of Torah studies. Rabbi Halevy viewed his books as his yeshiva. By studying this book, readers have the special privilege of being part of Rabbi Halevy's yeshiva and learning Torah from one of the great sages of modern times.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789657108826
Publisher:	Urim Publications
Publication date:	07/15/2006
Series:	Modern Jewish Lives Volume 2
Pages:	221
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.58(h) x 0.81(d)

About the Author

Marc D. Angel is Rabbi emeritus of Congregation Shearith Israel, the historic Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of New York City. He is a former president of the Rabbinical Council of America and has won a National Jewish Book Award in Jewish Thought. He lectures throughout the United States and is the author or editor of 25 books, including Losing the Rat Race, Winning at Life and The Search Committee, and numerous articles on religion and faith. Hayyim Angel is the son of Marc D. Angel and a former Rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel for 17 years. He teaches Tanakh at Yeshiva University and has published scholarly articles in several collections of essays and in journals such as the Jewish Bible Quarterly, Jewish Thought, Nahalah, and Tradition. He is the author or editor of 11 books. They both live in New York.

Editorial Reviews

"[Rabbi Halevy] remains to this day unknown to significant segments of the religious and general Jewish community, both in Israel and throughout the world. Hopefully this book will give him further recognition, at least within the English-speaking world."  —Morey Schwartz, author, Where's My Miracle?: Exploring Jewish Traditions for Dealing with Tragedy

"This book should be of interest to all, but in particular to populations that find that there are not enough English-language biographies of Sephardic Jewish leaders."  —Shalom Berger, scholar

"As the title indicates, {Rabbi Haim David Halevy] was not just a courageous thinker, but perhaps more importantly, a courageous scholar also. As a sage, he was entirely committed to halacha. But in his pragmatism and deep understanding of the halachic system, he could intuit that there is significant flexibility built into the system. The authors highlight this, and detail his idea that only due to the merit of the flexibility of the halacha has the people of Israel been able, through the power of numerous and useful creative interpretations which were innovated by the sages in each generation, to walk in in the way of observance for millennia." —Ben Rothke, jewishpress.com

From the Publisher