Rethinking Modern Judaism

Rethinking Modern Judaism PDF Author: Arnold M. Eisen
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226195295
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 358

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Book Description
Arnold Eisen here calls for a fundamental rethinking of the story of modern Judaism. More than simply a study of Jewish thought on customs and rituals, Rethinking Modern Judaism explores the central role that practice plays in Judaism's encounter with modernity. "Fascinating . . . an insightful entrance point to understanding the evolution of the theologies of America's largest Jewish denominations."—Tikkun "I know of no other treatment of these issues that matches Eisen's talents for synthesizing a wide variety of historical, philosophical, and social scientific sources, and bringing them to bear in a balanced and open-minded way on the delicate questions of why modern Jews relate as they do to the practices of Judaism."—Joseph Reimer, Boston Book Review "At once an incisive survey of modern Jewish thought and an inquiry into how Jews actually live their religious lives, Mr. Eisen's book is an invaluable addition to the study of American Judaism."—Elliott Abrams, Washington Times

Rethinking Modern Judaism

Rethinking Modern Judaism PDF Author: Arnold M. Eisen
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226195295
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 358

Get Book

Book Description
Arnold Eisen here calls for a fundamental rethinking of the story of modern Judaism. More than simply a study of Jewish thought on customs and rituals, Rethinking Modern Judaism explores the central role that practice plays in Judaism's encounter with modernity. "Fascinating . . . an insightful entrance point to understanding the evolution of the theologies of America's largest Jewish denominations."—Tikkun "I know of no other treatment of these issues that matches Eisen's talents for synthesizing a wide variety of historical, philosophical, and social scientific sources, and bringing them to bear in a balanced and open-minded way on the delicate questions of why modern Jews relate as they do to the practices of Judaism."—Joseph Reimer, Boston Book Review "At once an incisive survey of modern Jewish thought and an inquiry into how Jews actually live their religious lives, Mr. Eisen's book is an invaluable addition to the study of American Judaism."—Elliott Abrams, Washington Times

Radical Judaism

Radical Judaism PDF Author: Arthur Green
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300152337
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
How do we articulate a religious vision that embraces evolution and human authorship of Scripture? Drawing on the Jewish mystical traditions of Kabbalah and Hasidism, path-breaking Jewish scholar Arthur Green argues that a neomystical perspective can help us to reframe these realities, so they may yet be viewed as dwelling places of the sacred. In doing so, he rethinks such concepts as God, the origins and meaning of existence, human nature, and revelation to construct a new Judaism for the twenty-first century.

Rethinking the Messianic Idea in Judaism

Rethinking the Messianic Idea in Judaism PDF Author: Michael L. Morgan
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253014778
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 442

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Book Description
Over the centuries, the messianic tradition has provided the language through which modern Jewish philosophers, socialists, and Zionists envisioned a utopian future. Michael L. Morgan, Steven Weitzman, and an international group of leading scholars ask new questions and provide new ways of thinking about this enduring Jewish idea. Using the writings of Gershom Scholem, which ranged over the history of messianic belief and its conflicted role in the Jewish imagination, these essays put aside the boundaries that divide history from philosophy and religion to offer new perspectives on the role and relevance of messianism today.

Between Jewish Tradition and Modernity

Between Jewish Tradition and Modernity PDF Author: Michael A. Meyer
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
ISBN: 0814338607
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
Although the ideas of “tradition” and “modernity” may seem to be directly opposed, David Ellenson, a leading contemporary scholar of modern Jewish thought, understood that these concepts can also enjoy a more fluid relationship. In honor of Ellenson, editors Michael A. Meyer and David N. Myers have gathered contributors for Between Jewish Tradition and Modernity: Rethinking an Old Opposition to examine the permutations and adaptations of these intertwined forms of Jewish expression. Contributions draw from a range of disciplines and scholarly interests and vary in subject from the theological to the liturgical, sociological, and literary. The geographic and historical focus of the volume is on the United States and the State of Israel, both of which have been major sites of inquiry in Ellenson’s work. In twenty-one essays, contributors demonstrate that modernity did not simply replace tradition in Judaism, but rather entered into a variety of relationships with it: adopting or adapting certain elements, repossessing rituals that had once been abandoned, or struggling with its continuing influence. In four parts—Law, Ritual, Thought, and Culture—contributors explore a variety of subjects, including the role of reform in Israeli Orthodoxy, traditions of twentieth-century bar/bat mitzvah, end-of-life ethics, tensions between Zionism and American Jewry, and the rise of a 1960s New York Jewish counterculture. An introductory essay also presents an appreciation of Ellenson's scholarly contribution. Bringing together leading Jewish historians, anthropologists, sociologists, philosophers and liturgists, Between Jewish Tradition and Modernity offers a collective view of a historically and culturally significant issue that will be of interest to Jewish scholars of many disciplines.

Voltaire's Jews and Modern Jewish Identity

Voltaire's Jews and Modern Jewish Identity PDF Author: Harvey Mitchell
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0415776171
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 294

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Book Description
In this book Harvey Mitchell re-examines the nature of Voltaire's hostility by analyzing the Enlightenment, its role as a source of modern Anti-Semitism, and its shaping of modern Jewish identity.

Living Together, Living Apart

Living Together, Living Apart PDF Author: Jonathan Elukin
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400827698
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Book Description
This book challenges the standard conception of the Middle Ages as a time of persecution for Jews. Jonathan Elukin traces the experience of Jews in Europe from late antiquity through the Renaissance and Reformation, revealing how the pluralism of medieval society allowed Jews to feel part of their local communities despite recurrent expressions of hatred against them. Elukin shows that Jews and Christians coexisted more or less peacefully for much of the Middle Ages, and that the violence directed at Jews was largely isolated and did not undermine their participation in the daily rhythms of European society. The extraordinary picture that emerges is one of Jews living comfortably among their Christian neighbors, working with Christians, and occasionally cultivating lasting friendships even as Christian culture often demonized Jews. As Elukin makes clear, the expulsions of Jews from England, France, Spain, and elsewhere were not the inevitable culmination of persecution, but arose from the religious and political expediencies of particular rulers. He demonstrates that the history of successful Jewish-Christian interaction in the Middle Ages in fact laid the social foundations that gave rise to the Jewish communities of modern Europe. Elukin compels us to rethink our assumptions about this fascinating period in history, offering us a new lens through which to appreciate the rich complexities of the Jewish experience in medieval Christendom.

Rethinking European Jewish History

Rethinking European Jewish History PDF Author: Jeremy Cohen
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
ISBN: 1800345410
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
The major cultural, ideological, and social changes that have occurred in Europe in the past century have generated widespread reassessment of European history in terms of its presuppositions, its methodologies, its directions, its emphases, and its scope. This timely volume looks at the Jewish past in the spirit of this reassessment. It points to a new framework for the study of Jewish history and helps to contextualize it within the mainstream of historical scholarship.

Rethinking Jewish Philosophy

Rethinking Jewish Philosophy PDF Author: Aaron W. Hughes
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199356815
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 191

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Book Description
Rather than assume that the terms "philosophy" and "Judaism" simply belong together, Aaron W. Hughes explores the juxtaposition and the creative tension that ensues from their cohabitation. He examines the historical, cultural, intellectual, and religious filiations between Judaism and philosophy.

Double Takes

Double Takes PDF Author: Zev Garber
Publisher: University Press of America
ISBN: 9780761828945
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
This book comprises a series of ten essays written by the authors both individually and collaboratively. While the subjects of these essays are wide ranging, they share a common recognition that issues at the forefront of contemporary Jewish thought must be measured against the background of ancient traditions, which revisit rabbinic and biblical times and beyond. The intent of these essays is to illustrate how shadows of longstanding traditions continue to shade current perceptions. Double Takes challenges the reader's assumptions about modern Jewish thought by demonstrating how the past can be an unpredictable lens for the present-day. An examination of contemporary themes in a historical perspective reveals unanticipated, even disconcerting, refractions. The book appears in the Studies in the Shoah series as volume 26.

Taking Hold of Torah

Taking Hold of Torah PDF Author: Arnold M. Eisen
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253213815
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
Numbers: Politics in the Wilderness5. Deuteronomy: Legacies