Judaism in Contemporary Thought

Judaism in Contemporary Thought PDF Author: Agata Bielik-Robson
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317811607
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 230

Get Book

Book Description
The central aim of this collection is to trace the presence of Jewish tradition in contemporary philosophy. This presence is, on the one hand, undeniable, manifesting itself in manifold allusions and influences – on the other hand, difficult to define, rarely referring to openly revealed Judaic sources. Following the recent tradition of Lévinas and Derrida, this book tentatively refers to this mode of presence in terms of "traces of Judaism" and the contributors grapple with the following questions: What are these traces and how can we track them down? Is there such a thing as "Jewish difference" that truly makes a difference in philosophy? And if so, how can we define it? The additional working hypothesis, accepted by some and challenged by other contributors, is that Jewish thought draws, explicitly or implicitly, on three main concepts of Jewish theology, creation, revelation and redemption. If this is the case, then the specificity of the Jewish contribution to modern philosophy and the theoretical humanities should be found in – sometimes open, sometimes hidden – fidelity to these three categories. Offering a new understanding of the relationship between philosophy and theology, this book is an important contribution to the fields of Theology, Philosophy and Jewish Studies.

Judaism in Contemporary Thought

Judaism in Contemporary Thought PDF Author: Agata Bielik-Robson
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317811607
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 230

Get Book

Book Description
The central aim of this collection is to trace the presence of Jewish tradition in contemporary philosophy. This presence is, on the one hand, undeniable, manifesting itself in manifold allusions and influences – on the other hand, difficult to define, rarely referring to openly revealed Judaic sources. Following the recent tradition of Lévinas and Derrida, this book tentatively refers to this mode of presence in terms of "traces of Judaism" and the contributors grapple with the following questions: What are these traces and how can we track them down? Is there such a thing as "Jewish difference" that truly makes a difference in philosophy? And if so, how can we define it? The additional working hypothesis, accepted by some and challenged by other contributors, is that Jewish thought draws, explicitly or implicitly, on three main concepts of Jewish theology, creation, revelation and redemption. If this is the case, then the specificity of the Jewish contribution to modern philosophy and the theoretical humanities should be found in – sometimes open, sometimes hidden – fidelity to these three categories. Offering a new understanding of the relationship between philosophy and theology, this book is an important contribution to the fields of Theology, Philosophy and Jewish Studies.

How Judaism Became a Religion

How Judaism Became a Religion PDF Author: Leora Batnitzky
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691130728
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 224

Get Book

Book Description
A new approach to understanding Jewish thought since the eighteenth century Is Judaism a religion, a culture, a nationality—or a mixture of all of these? In How Judaism Became a Religion, Leora Batnitzky boldly argues that this question more than any other has driven modern Jewish thought since the eighteenth century. This wide-ranging and lucid introduction tells the story of how Judaism came to be defined as a religion in the modern period—and why Jewish thinkers have fought as well as championed this idea. Ever since the Enlightenment, Jewish thinkers have debated whether and how Judaism—largely a religion of practice and public adherence to law—can fit into a modern, Protestant conception of religion as an individual and private matter of belief or faith. Batnitzky makes the novel argument that it is this clash between the modern category of religion and Judaism that is responsible for much of the creative tension in modern Jewish thought. Tracing how the idea of Jewish religion has been defended and resisted from the eighteenth century to today, the book discusses many of the major Jewish thinkers of the past three centuries, including Moses Mendelssohn, Abraham Geiger, Hermann Cohen, Martin Buber, Zvi Yehuda Kook, Theodor Herzl, and Mordecai Kaplan. At the same time, it tells the story of modern orthodoxy, the German-Jewish renaissance, Jewish religion after the Holocaust, the emergence of the Jewish individual, the birth of Jewish nationalism, and Jewish religion in America. More than an introduction, How Judaism Became a Religion presents a compelling new perspective on the history of modern Jewish thought.

Modern French Jewish Thought

Modern French Jewish Thought PDF Author: Sarah Hammerschlag
Publisher: Brandeis University Press
ISBN: 151260187X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 293

Get Book

Book Description
"Modern Jewish thought" is often defined as a German affair, with interventions from Eastern European, American, and Israeli philosophers. The story of France's development of its own schools of thought has not been substantially treated outside the French milieu. This anthology of modern French Jewish writing offers the first look at how this significant and diverse body of work developed within the historical and intellectual contexts of France and Europe. Translated into English, these documents speak to two critical axes--the first between Jewish universalism and particularism, and the second between the identification and disidentification of French Jews with France as a nation. Offering key works from Simone Weil, Vladimir JankŽlŽvitch, Emmanuel Levinas, Albert Memmi, HŽlne Cixous, Jacques Derrida, and many others, this volume is organized in roughly chronological order, to highlight the connections linking religion, politics, and history, as they coalesce around a Judaism that is unique to France.

Modern Conservative Judaism

Modern Conservative Judaism PDF Author: Elliot N. Dorff
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 082761389X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 504

Get Book

Book Description
A major Conservative movement leader of our time, Elliot N. Dorff provides a personal, behind-the-scenes guide to the evolution of Conservative Jewish thought and practice over the last half century. His candid observations concerning the movement’s ongoing tension between constancy and change shed light on the sometimes unified, sometimes diverse, and occasionally contentious reasoning behind the modern movement’s most important laws, policies, and documents. Meanwhile, he has assembled, excerpted, and contextualized the most important historical and internal documents in modern Conservative movement history for the first time in one place, enabling readers to consider and compare them all in context. In “Part 1: God” Dorff explores various ways that Conservative Jews think about God and prayer. In “Part 2: Torah” he considers different approaches to Jewish study, law, and practice; changing women’s roles; bioethical rulings on issues ranging from contraception to cloning; business ethics; ritual observances from online minyanim to sports on Shabbat; moral issues from capital punishment to protecting the poor; and nonmarital sex to same-sex marriage. In “Part 3: Israel” he examines Zionism, the People Israel, and rabbinic rulings in Israel.

Choices in Modern Jewish Thought

Choices in Modern Jewish Thought PDF Author: Eugene B. Borowitz
Publisher: Behrman House, Inc
ISBN: 9780874415810
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 388

Get Book

Book Description
Jewish philosophy responds to the challenges of today's world. By studying the ideas of great contemporary thinkers, readers will achieve a rich understanding of our contemporary spiritual needs.

Contemporary Jewish Thought

Contemporary Jewish Thought PDF Author: Simon Noveck
Publisher: [London] : Vision Press
ISBN:
Category : Jewish philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 400

Get Book

Book Description


Tradition Vs. Traditionalism

Tradition Vs. Traditionalism PDF Author: Abraham Sagi
Publisher: Rodopi
ISBN: 904202478X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 236

Get Book

Book Description
This book is a first attempt to examine the thought of key contemporary Jewish thinkers on the meaning of tradition in the context of two models. The classic model assumes that tradition reflects lack of dynamism and reflectiveness, and the present¿s unqualified submission to the past. This view, however, is an image that the modernist ethos has ascribed to the tradition so as to remove it from modern existence. In the alternative model, a living tradition emerges as open and dynamic, developing through an ongoing dialogue between present and past. The Jewish philosophers discussed in this work¿Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Yeshayahu Leibowitz, David Hartman, and Eliezer Goldman¿ascribe compelling canonic status to the tradition, and the analysis of their thought discloses the tension between these two models. The book carefully traces the course they have plotted along the various interpretations of tradition through their approach to Scripture and to Halakhah. Contents Editorial Foreword Introduction Returning to Tradition: Paradox or Challenge The Tense Encounter with Modernity Soloveitchik: Jewish Thought Confronts Modernity Compartmentalization: From Ernst Simon to Yeshayahu Leibowitz The Harmonic Encounter with Modernity Religious Commitment in a Secularized World: Eliezer Goldman David Hartman: Renewing the Covenant Between Old and New: Judaism as Interpretation Scripture in the Thought of Leibowitz and Soloveitchik Halakhah in the Thought of Leibowitz and Soloveitchik Eliezer Goldman: Judaism as Interpretation Epilogue ¿My Name¿s my Donors¿ Name¿ Notes Bibliography About the Author Index

Particularism and Universalism in Modern Jewish Thought

Particularism and Universalism in Modern Jewish Thought PDF Author: Svante Lundgren
Publisher: Global Academic Publishing
ISBN: 9781586841058
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 284

Get Book

Book Description
Explores how modern Judaism has balanced between universalism and particularism.

Strauss, Spinoza & Sinai

Strauss, Spinoza & Sinai PDF Author: Jeffrey Bloom
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781947857759
Category : Enlightenment
Languages : en
Pages : 331

Get Book

Book Description
More than three centuries after Baruch Spinoza's excommunication from the Jewish community of Amsterdam, his legacy remains contentious. Born in 1632, Spinoza is one of the most important thinkers of the Enlightenment and arguably the paradigm of the secular Jew, having left Orthodoxy without converting to another faith. One of the most provocative critiques of Spinoza comes from an unexpected source, the influential twentieth-century political philosopher, Leo Strauss. Though Strauss was not an Orthodox Jew, in a well-known essay that prefaced his study of Spinoza, he critically examines modern philosophy's challenge to traditional religion. There he argues that while the Enlightenment had failed to decisively refute Orthodoxy, at the same time, Orthodoxy could only claim to believe its core tenets were true but could not claim to know they were true. Strauss leaves the question at an impasse; both the Enlightenment and Orthodoxy rest on axioms that neither side can fully prove or fully refute. Curiously, Strauss never asks Orthodox Jewish thinkers if his approach to defending Judaism against the claims of the Enlightenment is the same as theirs. This volume poses the question to a group of serious Orthodox Jewish thinkers in an attempt to find out if Orthodoxy has a better answer to the questions raised by Strauss than the one Strauss advanced on its behalf. The seventeen essays in this volume use a variety of approaches, drawing on traditional primary Jewish sources like Scripture, Talmud, and Midrash; medieval rationalists like Maimonides; Enlightenment-era Orthodox sources; Jewish mystical writings like Kabbalah and Chasidut; modern philosophical movements including postmodernism and analytic philosophy; and contemporary Jewish Bible interpretation. While the answers differ, what unites these essays is the willingness to take Strauss' question seriously and to provide "inside" answers, that is, answers given by Orthodox Jews. Much of modern thought tries to square the circle of how to live in a world without belief. The better question is whether it is possible to recover authentic religious belief in the modern world. This volume is an Orthodox Jewish attempt to answer that question, one that no serious person can approach with indifference.

Think Jewish

Think Jewish PDF Author: Zalman I. Posner
Publisher: Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch
ISBN: 9780960239405
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 191

Get Book

Book Description