TY - JOUR A1 - Homolka, Walter T1 - Truthfulness and the permissibility of falsehood in the Jewish tradition JF - Journal of beliefs and values : studies in religion & education N2 - In this article, I deal with the concept of truth and lie in Jewish traditional literature, examining its development in the Hebrew Bible and rabbinic literature. An essential aspect in understanding this concept is the dualism of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ impulses and the free will of human beings, who were created in the image of God and have the choice to decide between right and wrong. KW - sin KW - Truthfulness KW - falsehood KW - Jewish tradition KW - lie KW - free will KW - God’s image Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/13617672.2017.1291253 SN - 1361-7672 SN - 1469-9362 VL - 38 IS - 2 SP - 180 EP - 187 PB - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group CY - Abingdon ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Homolka, Walter A1 - Pryba, Andrzej T1 - Preparations for Marriage in the Jewish and Catholic Traditions JF - Religions N2 - In many churches nowadays, there has been a standardized approach to premarital counseling for couples involving social, pastoral, and psychological perspectives. In contrast, many rabbis and other Jewish officials still concentrate on legal aspects alone. The need for resolving important issues on the verge of wedlock is too often left to secular experts in law, psychology, or counseling. However, in recent years, this lack of formal training for marriage preparation has also been acknowledged by the Jewish clergy in order to incorporate it in the preparatory period before the bond is tied. This case study focuses on Jewish and Roman Catholic conceptions of marriage, past and present. We intend to do a comparative analysis of the prerequisites of religious marriage based on the assumption that both Judaism and the Roman Catholic Church have a distinct legal framework to assess marriage preparation. KW - Jewish Law KW - Marriage Preparations KW - Shidduchin KW - Counseling Y1 - 2024 U6 - https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15010062 SN - 2077-1444 VL - 15 IS - 62 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Homolka, Walter T1 - Jewish theology in Germany BT - the co-existence of secular and religious discourse JF - Society N2 - How often do secular and religious discourses communicate and interrelate at points where they intersect in society? When the Science of Judaism (Wissenschaft des Judentums) evolved at the beginning of the nineteenth century, it intended, through both theological and secular studies, to demonstrate the general value of Jewish culture and civilization. Although denied a place in the public university system until after the Shoah, Jewish Studies departments have since been established at various German universities, and, in 2013, the School of Jewish Theology of the University of Potsdam was opened as the first Jewish divinity school in the history of the German university system. With this, what was once a utopian dream became a reality, and both branches of the Science of Judaism, religious and secular, became undisputed parts of the German academic scene, using similar tools for differing aims. Two prime examples of the intersection of the secular and religious in Germany today are the proliferation of divinity schools at state universities, on the one hand, and the development of military chaplaincy in the armed forces, on the other. Both of these, through contractual agreements, aim to regulate and facilitate religious pluralism within a secular state. While the one has already begun to take place, the other is currently under discussion. KW - Christian state KW - Abraham Geiger KW - Germany KW - Jewish theology KW - Military chaplaincy KW - Ludwig Philippson KW - Pluralism KW - Science of Judaism KW - Secularism KW - Wissenschaft des Judentums KW - Leopold Zunz Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-017-0164-3 SN - 0147-2011 SN - 1936-4725 VL - 54 SP - 426 EP - 431 PB - Springer CY - New York ER -