“The title of Ephraim Chamiel’s book points to what I regard as one of its most significant insights: scholarship is not simply the accumulation of knowledge, but a willingness to allow knowledge to change us. Moving between biblical and rabbinic sources, medieval philosophy, and modern Jewish thought, Chamiel traces the ways in which ideas are interpreted, challenged, reconsidered, and transformed. His close attention to the sources is joined by a willingness to remain with tensions and contradictions rather than resolve them too quickly. The Essence of Scholarship and Its Development is therefore not only a wide-ranging study of Jewish thought; it is also a reflection on the responsibility that accompanies scholarship—the responsibility to listen carefully to the voices of the past, while remaining open to reconsidering what we think we already know.”

— Prof. Hanoch Ben Pazi, Bar Ilan University

Head of Weisfeld Maayan Institute for Ethics, Jewish Philosophy and Sustainability

“Dr. Ephraim Chamiel is a special intellectual and scholar. Following a successful banking career, he immersed himself in the vast world of Jewish thought, beginning with the writings of early modern thinkers. The present volume is a treasure of methodical scholarship, touching upon scores of intriguing questions, well-known but open to interpretation of their origins and meaning both in classical and modern sources. The author, courageously ready to confront challenging issues, does not hide his liberal approach. There is no limit to renewal and vision. This fascinating volume fits this orbit.”

— Judge Elyakim Rubinstein

“Ephraim Chamiel has published a scholarly work: The Essence of Scholarship and Its Development (in 2 volumes) in Hebrew. It is now translated into English by Joshua Amaru. I have read the original Hebrew version of the book. It is learned and insightful. Ephraim raises important and challenging questions on the Biblical and Midrashic texts he analyzes. His analysis is stimulating and creative. What is unique about his scholarship is that it appeals to learned people. But it can be enjoyed by lay people who enjoy challenging questions and responses on familiar Biblical and Midrashic texts.

I use his book regularly when I study the texts that he analyzes. I love Torah study and appreciate scholars like Ephraim Chamiel who reveal original thoughts that open my eyes to ideas that I had never seen before in the text. It is a welcome addition to Biblical scholarship. Furthermore, it is particularly refreshing to note that the Rabbis of the Mishnah, the Talmud, and the Midrash (AKA ‘CHAZAL’) studied these texts as well. Their comments are worthy of both clarification and analysis. Ephraim’s work adds clarity and new dimensions to the MIDRASHIC scholarship of ‘CHAZAL’.”

— Rabbi Heshie Billet

“Ephraim Chamiel’s comprehensive work is a wide-ranging and diverse scholarly and philosophical journey, displaying the remarkable skill of a critical scholar of Jewish thought who is socially and spiritually engaged with his subjects. It is a compelling journey through the history of such themes as prophecy and free will, evolution, women and Jewish law, and Torah from Sinai. Throughout, Chamiel exposes the gap between a text’s plain meaning and the interpretive transformations shaped by time, place, and the interpreter’s worldview.

These volumes display intellectual breadth, scholarly integrity, engagement with contemporary concerns, direct normative judgment about what ought to be, and an intellectual humility grounded in Chamiel’s philosophy of ‘dual truth,’ which he develops following Shadal—from whom he also draws the principles of intellectual honesty, willingness to revise, and openness to truth.

This is a learned, morally engaged, personal, and thought-provoking work.”

— Prof. Avinoam Rosenak

The Department of Jewish Thought & The Melton Centre for Jewish Education – The Seymour Fox School of Education, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Ephraim Chamiel is an independent scholar of modern Jewish thought. He received his doctorate in Jewish thought from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research explores the relationship between Jewish tradition and modernity, religion and reason. He is a member of the board of directors of the Jerusalem Opera.

Introduction to the English Edition of The Essence of Scholarship and Its Development

Translator’s Note

Part I

Introduction to Part I

Chapter One: Rabbi Isaac Albalag: The Beginning of the Dual Truth Approach in Judaism

• Introduction
• Scholars’ Opinions
• Tiqqun ha-de’ot (The Emendation of the Opinions)
• Conclusion

• Introduction
• Luzzatto on Himself
• Accepting the Truth from Whoever Speaks It
• Admission of Errors in Biblical Interpretation
• Ecclesiastes and Job
• Changes in Character, Beliefs, Opinions, and Perspectives
• Luzzatto’s Motivations for Publishing Errors and Changed Opinions, His Pride in Doing So, and the Advantages of His Approach
• Marking Dates
• Appendix

Chapter Three: “How Can We Know That the Oracle Was Not Spoken by the Lord?”: Does God Never Retract the Good Promises He Makes? The Distinction Between a True and a False Prophet in the Bible and Jewish Thought

Chapter Four: “הכל צפוי והרשות נתונה—Everything Is Foreseen, Yet Free Will Is Given”: The Contradiction Between Divine Omniscience and Free Will in Jewish Thought

Chapter Five: “דִּבְּרָה תּוֹרָה כִּלְשׁוֹן בְּנֵי־אָדָם—The Torah Spoke in the Language of Human Beings”: The Meaning of the Principle in Jewish Thought

Chapter Six: “אֵין מִקְרָא יוצֵא מִידֵי פְּשׁוּטו—The Scripture Never Departs from Its Literal Sense”: The Significance of the Principle in Jewish Thought

• Chapter Seven: “לֹא תְבַשֵּׁל גְּדִי בַּחֲלֵב אִמּוֹ—You Shall Not Boil a Kid in Its Mother’s Milk”: The Interpretation of the Prohibition in Jewish Thought
• The Meaning of the Prohibition
• The Reason for the Prohibition
• Why Is the Prohibition Repeated Three Times in the Torah?
• My Conclusions Regarding the Three Questions

Part II

Introduction to Part II

Chapter One: Derekh Eretz and Torah Study in Jewish Thought throughout the Generations

• Introduction
• Derekh Eretz in the Mishnah
• Derekh Eretz in Midrash and Talmud
• Derekh Eretz in Medieval Commentary and Thought
• Derekh Eretz in the Modern Era
• Conclusion

Chapter Two: The Dual Truth in Ecclesiastes

• Introduction
• The Sections of the Book and the Contradictions Found in Each Section
• 1:1-11
• 1:12–2:20
• 3:1–22
• 4:1–16
• 4:1– 5:7
• 5:8–6:9
• 6:1–7:12
• 7:13–8:17
• 9:1–18
• 10:1–2
• 11:1–6
• 11:7–12:7
• 12:8–14

Chapter Three: Traditionalist Jewish Responses to Darwin’s Theory of the Origin of the Species and Evolution

• Introduction
• Dr. Isaac Raphael (Halevi) Etzion (Holtzberg)
• Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
• Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch
• Rabbi David Zvi Hoffmann
• Rav Abraham Isaac Hacohen Kook
• Rabbi Gedaliah Nadel
• Professor Yeshayahu Leibowitz
• Rabbi Professor Eliezer Berkovits
• Professor Shalom Rosenberg
• Rabbi Dr. Jonathan Sacks
• Rabbi Dr. Michael Abraham
• Proposal and Summary

Chapter Four: Women’s Exemption from Positive Time-Bound Mitzvot

• Introduction
• The Interpretations of the Principle in the Midrash and Talmud
• The Rishonim
• Modern Interpretations of the Principle
• Discussion of the Principle in Academic Research
• Conclusion

Chapter Five: “לֹא דִבְּרָה תּוֹרָה אֶלָּא כְּנֶגֶד יֵצֶר הָרַע—The Torah Spoke Only to Counter the Evil Inclination”: Does the Torah Permit Rape of a Female Captive on the Battlefield? Updated Version

• Biblical Law
• Tannaitic Halakhah
• Halakhah of the Bavli
• Talmudic Halakhah in the Land of Israel
• Peshat and Derash in the Bavli and Yerushalmi
• The Sugya in Tractate Qiddushin
• A Suggestion
• Conclusion
• Sources for This Chapter