Sadik, 2022

Shalom Sadik (born April 6, 1980) is a scholar of Jewish philosophy in the Middle Ages. He is a member of the Jewish Thought Department at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and has published articles and books on the subject. He has been honored with various academic awards in recognition of his work, which focuses on topics such as free will, the philosophy of Maimonides, the philosophy of the Jewish Apostate in Spain and natural-Law.

Early life

Sadik was born to Jaque and Chantal^[1] in Lausanne, Switzerland, on April 6, 1980, the first-born before his two sisters. At 14, he, alongside his family, immigrated to Israel. He studied at Hartman High School in Jerusalem, and upon completing his studies there, he began attending Yeshivat Otniel. In 1999, as part of the Yeshiva Hesder program, he enlisted in the Nahal Haredi as a teacher.

Academic career

In 1999, during his military service, Sadik began studying for a Bachelor of Arts in Jewish History at the Israeli Open University. Upon completing his military service and alongside his studies at the Yeshiva of Otniel, Sadik continued to pursue his bachelor's degree in 2003. Subsequently, Sadik began studying for a second degree in Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University. His thesis, under the supervision of Catarina Rigo, was entitled "Man's Will and God's Knowledge in the Thought of Rabbi Isaac Pulgar". Sadik completed his degree with high honors in 2006 and was awarded the Ben-Zvi Institute Prize for his thesis. In 2006, Sadik commenced his doctoral studies at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. His dissertation, under the supervision of Daniel Lasker, was "Trinity and Determinism in the Thought of Abner of Burgos".^[2] He completed his doctorate in 2011 and was awarded the Pines Prize, the Toledano Prize for Young Researchers, the Warborg Prize, the KKL Prize and the Ben-vi Institute Prize for his dissertation. Following his doctorate, Sadik undertook a post-doctoral research at the Cohn Institute at the Tel Aviv University (2011–13) under the supervision of Joseph Schwartz.^[3] Concurrently, Sadik lectured at the Herzog College in Alon Shvut (2011-2017), served as a visiting lecturer at the Bar-Ilan University (2011–12), and then a visiting lecturer at th Hebrew University (2014). In 2013, Sadik was accepted as a Polonsky Fellow at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute and conducted research there until 2016. In 2016, Sadik was awarded the Alon Fellowship and appointed a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Jewish Thought at Ben Gurion University of the Negev.^[4] In 2022, Sadik was appointed as an Associate Professor at Ben Gurion University of the Negev.

Research

His research work focuses on Medieval Philosophy, especially in the areas of free will, natural morality, the definition of faith, the philosophy of Maimonides, and the philosophy of Jewish apostates in Spain.

In 2017, his first book was published, titled The Essence of Jewish Choice in Medieval Jewish Thought, published by Y.L. Magnes and Van Leer Institute. In the book, Sadik examines the philosophical views on free will of 21 different scholars in the Middle Ages, including Maimonides, Rabbi Hasdai Crescas, and Abner of Burgos. Sadik argues that the differences in interpretations need to be explained because there is a zero-sum game between commitment and interpretation: the more committed a scholar is to a specific source, the more they tend to interpret it in a way that does not conflict with that scholar's philosophy.

In 2020, his second book was published, titled The Philosophy of Apostasy, also published by Y.L. Magnes. In the book, Sadik examines the Christian philosophy of five Jews who converted to Christianity in Spain from the 12th to the 15th century: Petrus Alphonsi, Alfonso of Valladolid, Pablo de Santa María, Jerónimo de Santa Fe, and Bonafos Caballeria. He compares the philosophy of those apostates regarding the Trinity, Incarnation, and their criticism of the commandments of the Torah, and presents the official position of the Catholic Church at that time for comparison.

Since 2001, alongside his academic studies, Sadik began delivering regular lectures at the Otniel Yeshiva on various books and topics in Jewish and general philosophy.

In 2018, Sadik published an article in Abia, the students magazine of Otniel Yeshiva. In the article, Sadik asserted the existence of an implicit covenant between religious conservatives, who hold positions that "fundamentally oppose the philosophical interpretation of religion... [and] argue that religion has a clear and independent metaphysical message" and atheists. At the end of the article Sadik called for including in the religious society those who adhere to the observance of commandments, even if they do not believe in personal Divine providence, divine Torah, or any personal conception, and argued that throughout the generations, great rabbis have held this view. Sadik's article sparked a stormy controversy within^[5][6] and outside^[7][8] the Otniel Yeshiva and led to the resignation of Rabbi Shmuel Ariel from the Otniel Yeshiva.

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