Jewish philosophy of the middle ages about the spiritual and cultural context of the human responsibility

The article examines the cultural and spiritual context of the idea of responsibility. Medieval jewish philosophy continued the traditions of ancient greek and early medieval thought in Europe in the sense that a person needs to turn to an active intellect, to rise above the empirical passions. Based on the ideas of Maimonides and Ibn Gabirol, it is established that a person should be responsible not only for his actions, but also for his thoughts. The mundane, the earthly, contains something higher than "necessary being". When people act spiritually, they reduce the distance between themselves and God. If the people are constantly striving for the new, it is a sign of their fatigue. What is new is that people want an end to slavery. But man lives by the future, by faith in the Saviour-king. The peoples of Russia can't be satisfied with an abstract future. Their power of being is determined by the solution of ethical and social problems.

Tradition versus Traditionalism in the Contemporary Study of Maimonides

This chapter looks at the premier debate in medieval Jewish philosophy about the God of Maimonides and the nature of the Torah. It mentions prominent rabbinic figures from modern times who echo mahloket rishonim, an argument among earlier post-talmudic authorities. It also emphasizes the medieval debate about the philosophy of Maimonides that was not just any mahloket rishonim but rather an argument about a particular law or principle within the Torah. The chapter talks about later thinkers who grapple with Maimonides and the debate that surrounded him who are forced to come to grips with his own fundamental views about the nature of the Torah. It explains how some thinkers try to liberate themselves from the influence of Maimonides' ideas.