Nathan Lopes Cardozo

Nathan Lopes Cardozo (born 1946) is a Dutch-Israeli rabbi, philosopher, and scholar of Judaism. A sought-after lecturer on the international stage for both Jewish and non-Jewish audiences, Cardozo is known for his original and often fearlessly controversial insights into Judaism. His ideas are widely debated on an international level on social media, blogs, books and other forums.^[1]

He writes for the Times of Israel, The Jerusalem Post and other news websites.^[2] Cardozo's views are so far from mainstream orthodoxy that he is no longer permitted to speak in the synangogue where he prays.^[3]

Early life and family

Nathan Lopes Cardozo was born on 26 July 1946 in Amsterdam. Nathan was named after his father's youngest brother who was killed in the Holocaust. His father was a secular Jew who was proud of his Portuguese-Jewish origin. His mother was not Jewish. After his mother's Christian parents died, however, she was raised by Cardozo's father's Jewish family. Though not Halachically Jewish, she was an integrated part of the community and spoke their language. Later on, she saved her husband and his family by hiding them in her apartment the center of Amsterdam while it was under Nazi occupation. Many times she risked her life by telling the Nazis that her husband and family were already taken to the concentration camps.

At age sixteen Cardozo converted to Judaism through the Amsterdam Rabbinate, formed by Hacham Rodrigues Pereira, Chief Rabbi Aron Schuster and Rabbi Benjamin Pels. HIs mother later converted to Judaism as well.

Cardozo spent the next 12 years studying at various Haredi Yeshivas such as Gateshead Talmudical College.^[4][5] He received his semikhah from Rabbi Aryeh Leib Gurwitz, Rosh yeshiva of Gateshead.

Marriage and early career

At the age of 21, he married Freyda Gnesin, a young lady of Eastern European descent whom he met in the synagogue of Haarlem.

While in her 50s, Cardozo's mother converted to Judaism. Cardozo then changed his name from Nathan the son of Abraham (being the standard name for someone not born Jewish) to Nathan son of Jacob.

His later career

Cardozo is the Founder and Dean of the David Cardozo Academy and the Bet Midrash of Avraham Avinu in Jerusalem. Rabbi Cardozo is the author of 13 books and numerous articles in both English and Hebrew. Rabbi Cardozo heads a Think Tank focused on finding new Halachic and philosophical approaches to dealing with the crisis of religion and identity amongst Jews and the Jewish State of Israel.

Cardozo has five children and lives in the Bayit V'Gan neighborhood of Jerusalem.

Quotes about Rabbi Cardozo

“Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo has emerged as one of the most thoughtful voices in contemporary Judaism. He is a man of deep faith and wide intellectual horizons, unafraid to confront the challenges of the age with the quiet confidence of one who is attuned to the music of eternity.” (Rabbi Professor Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of Britain and the Commonwealth)

“Rabbi Cardozo brings an unusual - perhaps unique - collection of talents and cultural sensitivities to his sacred work. He embodies Ashkenazi training, Sephardi heritage, European dignity, and the English speaking idiom.” (Rabbi Hillel Goldberg, PhD, author, lecturer at Hebrew University, Executive Editor, Intermountain Jewish News, Denver)

“Rabbi Lopes Cardozo has earned a well-deserved reputation as a brilliant and profound teacher, lecturer and author. Audiences around the Jewish world flock to hear his lectures on Torah and Jewish philosophy. Rabbi Cardozo’s insights into, and understanding of, Judaism and the modern world are refreshing as they are thought-provoking.” (Rabbi Dr. Sholom Gold, Dean of Jerusalem College for Adults Rabbi of Kehillat Zichron Yosef, Jerusalem)

Writings

Cardozo has authored and edited many books, among them:

• Thoughts to Ponder: Daring Observations About the Jewish Tradition
• The Torah as God's Mind
• Judaism on Trial: An Unconventional Discussion about Jews, Judaism and the State of Israel
• The Infinite Chain, Between Silence and Speech
• Crisis, Covenant and Creativity: Jewish Thoughts for a Complex World
• For the Love of Israel and the Jewish People: Essays and Studies on Israel, Jews and Judaism
• The Tent of Avraham: Gleanings from the David Cardozo Academy
• The Written and Oral Torah.^[6]

In 2016, Rabbi Cardozo wrote an Introduction to the Nehalel Siddur,^[7] and a Foreword for A Damaged Mirror: A story of memory and redemption.^[8]

His forthcoming autobiography, "Lonely But Not Alone: A Spiritual Autobiography", is due to be released in late 2016.

References