David Novak

David Novak
This article is about the scholar. For the businessman, see David C. Novak.
David Novak
Born David Novak
1941
Chicago, Illinois
Occupation Judaic studies professor, theologian
Language English
Nationality American
Main interests Jewish theology, Jewish ethics, political theory, Jewish-Christian relations
Notable works Covenantal Rights: A Study in Jewish Political Theory (Princeton University Press, 2000)
Dabru Emet
Spouse Melva Ziman
Children 2

David Novak (born 1941, Chicago, Illinois) is a Jewish theologian, ethicist, and scholar of Jewish philosophy and law (Halakha). He is an ordained Conservative rabbi and has also trained with Catholic moral theologians.[citation needed] Since 1997 he has taught religion and philosophy at the University of Toronto; his areas of interest are Jewish theology, ethics and biomedical ethics, political theory (with a special emphasis on natural law theory) and Jewish-Christian relations.[1]

Novak has authored 16 books and more than 200 articles in scholarly journals. His book Covenantal Rights: A Study in Jewish Political Theory (Princeton University Press, 2000) was named best book in constructive religious thought by the American Academy of Religion in 2000.[2] He is a regular contributor to ABC News' Religion and Ethics Portal.[3] He frequently addresses interfaith conferences[4][5] and contributes to books and journals published by Christian theologians.[6]

Contents

Early life and education

Novak was born in 1941 in Chicago, Illinois. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago in 1961 and his master's degree in Hebrew literature in 1964. He earned his Ph.D. in philosophy at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., in 1971.[2] (Later he remarked that he chose Georgetown in part because it was a Catholic university.[7]) He received rabbinical ordination in 1966 from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America,[2] where he studied under Abraham Joshua Heschel.[8][5]

He married Melva Ziman in 1963. They have two children and four grandchildren.[2]

Rabbinic career

Novak was a pulpit rabbi in several US communities from 1966–1989. He also served as a Jewish chaplain at St. Elizabeth's Hospital, National Institute of Mental Health, Washington, D.C., from 1966–1969.[2]

Academic career

In 1989 he moved to the University of Virginia as Edgar M. Bronfman Professor of Modern Judaic Studies, a position he held until 1997. Since 1997 he has held the J. Richard and Dorothy Shiff Chair of Jewish Studies as Professor of the Study of Religion and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto. He is also a member of the Joint Centre for Bioethics. From 1997–2002 he also directed the Jewish Studies Programme.[2]

In 1992-93 he was a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C. He also lectured at Oxford University, Lancaster University and Drew University, and was a visiting scholar at Princeton University in 2004 and 2006.[2]

Contribution

Novak has contributed to Jewish ethics by advocating a Jewish social ethics drawn from both the natural law tradition and Halakha. To this end, he interprets the rabbinic approach to Noahide laws as a useful grounding for cross-cultural moral reasoning. His expertise includes Maimonides, John Courtney Murray, and Paul Tillich.[citation needed] In his theology, he combines Jewish rabbinical tradition and logic with Christian teachings.[9]

Novak, together with Peter Ochs, Tikva Frymer-Kensky, and Michael Signer, drafted a full-page advertisement which appeared in the Sunday, 10 September 2000 edition of the The New York Times under the title "Dabru Emet (Speak Truth): A Jewish statement on Christians and Christianity".[10][11][12] Among the eight theological statements which the advertisement briefly laid out were: "Nazism is not a Christian phenomenon"; "Humanly irreconcilable differences between Jews and Christians will not be settled until God redeems the entire world as promised in Scripture"; and the statement which generated the most controversy in Jewish circles, "Jews and Christians worship the same God".[8] The advertisement was signed by 160 rabbis, including many leading Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative thinkers and a handful of Orthodox rabbis known for their interfaith work.[13] Explaining his rationale for publishing the document, Novak told Jweekly: "I want Jewish readers to clearly realize that Christians are not necessarily our enemies. Quite the contrary, they can be very good friends to Jews and Judaism".[14] The document was subsequently translated into eight languages.[8]

His specific normative claims in Jewish ethics include a mix of liberal and right-wing positions. An ordained rabbi, Novak had been affiliated with the Conservative movement in Judaism and then shifted to the Union for Traditional Judaism.[citation needed]

Other activities

He is a founder, vice-president, and coordinator of the Jewish Law Panel of the Union for Traditional Judaism, and a faculty member[15] and vice-president of the Union for Traditional Judaism in Teaneck, New Jersey.[16] He is a faculty member of the Department of Talmud and Halakha at the Canadian Yeshiva & Rabbinical School, Toronto.[17]

In the mid-1980s he was invited to join the Institute on Religion and Public Life by its founder, Richard John Neuhaus,[18] and became a member of the editorial board of the institute's journal, First Things.[19] He is also a member of the advisory board of the The G.K. Chesterton Institute for Faith & Culture at Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey.[20]

In 2006[21] he was appointed as a board member of Assisted Human Reproduction Canada.[22]

Bibliography

Selected articles


Shorter articles in Sh'ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility include:

References

  1. ^ "David Novak". University of Toronto – Department for the Study of Religion. 2011. http://www.religion.utoronto.ca/people/faculty/david-novak/. Retrieved 5 April 2011. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "David Novak". University of Toronto. http://philosophy.utoronto.ca/people/faculty/members-of-other-departments-appointed-to-the-graduate-faculty/david-novak. Retrieved 5 April 2011. 
  3. ^ "Featured website - ABC religion and ethics portal". CathNews. 13 July 2010. http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=22379. Retrieved 5 April 2011. 
  4. ^ "International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee – 17th Meeting, April 30–May 4, 2001". Vatican. http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/relations-jews-docs/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_20010504_new-york-meeting_en.html. Retrieved 5 April 2011. 
  5. ^ a b "2000 Annual CCJU Lecture: Rabbi David Novak". Sacred Heart University – Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding. 13 April 2000. http://www.sacredheart.edu/pages/3558_2000_annual_ccju_lecture_rabbi_david_novak.cfm. Retrieved 5 April 2011. 
  6. ^ "Trinity, Time, and Church: A Response to the Theology of Robert W. Jenson". BNet. 2010. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6404/is_2_63/ai_n28920197/. Retrieved 5 April 2011. 
  7. ^ "The Catholic Intellectual Tradition: What is it? Why should I care? (note 8)". College of Saint Benedict – Saint John's University. 20 August 2003. http://www.csbsju.edu/About/Catholic-Benedictine-Tradition/Catholic-Identity/Catholic-Values/Bill-Cahoy-Fall-Forum.htm. Retrieved 5 April 2011. 
  8. ^ a b c Pope, Jim (26 January 2006). "Healing a 2000-year-old rift". mercatornet. http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/healing_a_2000_year_old_rift/. Retrieved 5 April 2011. 
  9. ^ Cooper, Noel (30 January 2008). "A Jewish Take on Sanctity of Life". Catholic Register. http://www.catholicregister.org/book-reviews/a-jewish-take-on-sanctity-of-life. Retrieved 5 April 2011. 
  10. ^ Steinfels, Peter (23 September 2000). "Beliefs; Ten carefully worded paragraphs encourage Jews to consider a thoughtful response to changes in the relationship between Christianity and Judaism". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/23/us/beliefs-ten-carefully-worded-paragraphs-encourage-jews-consider-thoughtful.html?src=pm. Retrieved 18 May 2011. 
  11. ^ Brownfeld, Allan (September–October 2000). "Jews Are Called Upon To Reassess Their Views of Christianity, Recognizing We Worship The Same God". American Council for Judaism. http://www.acjna.org/acjna/articles_detail.aspx?id=18. Retrieved 18 May 2011. 
  12. ^ Nahshon, Gad. "After Years of Study: Historic Jewish Statement on Christians and Christianity". Jewish Post of New York. http://www.jewishpost.com/archives/news/after-years-of-study-historic-jewish-statement-on-christians-and-christianity.html. Retrieved 18 May 2011. 
  13. ^ "DABRU EMET: A Jewish Statement on Christians and Christianity". National Jewish Scholars Project. http://www.bc.edu/dam/files/research_sites/cjl/texts/cjrelations/resources/documents/jewish/dabru_emet.htm. Retrieved 18 May 2011. 
  14. ^ Rubin, Neil (15 September 2000). "Rabbis, Scholars Publish ‘Jewish view’ of Christianity". Jweekly. http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/14028/rabbis-scholars-publish-jewish-view-of-christianity/. Retrieved 5 April 2011. 
  15. ^ "New Rabbis Ordained – ITJ Chag Hasemikhah (Semikhah Celebration)". Union for Traditional Judaism. http://www.utj.org/node/15. Retrieved 5 April 2011. 
  16. ^ "What is the UTJ?". Union for Traditional Judaism. http://www.utj.org/about. Retrieved 5 April 2011. 
  17. ^ "Faculty, School of Hebrew Letters". Canadian Yeshiva & Rabbinical School. http://www.cdnyeshiva.org/home.do?ch=content&cid=82. Retrieved 5 April 2011. 
  18. ^ Novak, David (12 January 2009). "RJN & the Jews". National Review. http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/175606/rjn-jews/david-novak. Retrieved 5 April 2011. 
  19. ^ "About Us". First Things. http://www.firstthings.com/masthead. Retrieved 5 April 2011. 
  20. ^ "The G.K. Chesterton Institute for Faith & Culture". Seton Hall University. http://www.shu.edu/catholic-mission/chesterton-board-members.cfm. Retrieved 5 April 2011. 
  21. ^ "The Sanctity of Human Life". Georgetown University Press. 2011. http://www.press.georgetown.edu/book/georgetown/sanctity-human-life. Retrieved 5 April 2011. 
  22. ^ "Members of the Board of Directors". Assisted Human Reproduction Canada. 15 June 2010. http://www.ahrc-pac.gc.ca/v2/aaa-app/wwa-qsn/board-conseil/bios-bios-eng.php. Retrieved 5 April 2011. 

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