Netivot ‘olam (Eternal Paths)

Judah Loew

1595

Chapter 14

We read in Proverbs:

If you make your ear attentive to wisdom
And your mind open to discernment;
If you call to understanding
And cry aloud to discernment,
If you seek it as you do silver
And search for it as for treasures.
Then you will understand the fear of the Lord
And attain knowledge of God.
For the Lord grants wisdom;
Knowledge and…
Please login or register for free access to Posen Library
Register
Already have an account?
Engage with this Source

Creator Bio

Judah Loew

1520–1609

Known as the Maharal of Prague, Judah Loew ben Bezalel spent twenty years as rabbi in Moravia, moving in 1573 to the Bohemian capital, where he established an institution of advanced rabbinic learning, the “Kloyz.” After a brief period as rabbi in Poznań, his likely birthplace, he returned to Prague and served as its rabbi from the late 1590s until his death. Judah Loew proposed educational reform emphasizing students’ structured progression to gradually more complex texts and opposed casuistry (pilpul) in Talmud study. After his death, he came to be viewed as the legendary creator of a Golem, a creature animated from clay, and as spiritual father of some Hasidic circles.

You may also like

Derekh ha-ḥayim (The Way of Life)

Avot 5:6: Ten things were created on the eve of the Sabbath at twilight: The mouth of the earth, the mouth of the well, the mouth of [Balaam’s] ass, the rainbow, the manna, the rod, the shamir-worm…
View Source

The Non-Jewish Jew

There is an old talmudic saying: “A Jew who has sinned still remains a Jew.” My own thinking is, of course, beyond the idea of “sin” or “no sin”; but this saying has brought to my mind a memory from…
View Source