Download or read book How Judaism Became a Religion written by Leora Batnitzky and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2011-09-11 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Rethinking Modern Judaism written by Arnold M. Eisen and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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
Download or read book Modern Varieties of Judaism written by Joseph Leon Blau and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 1966 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the sphere of religion Dr. Blau describes the adjustments that Judaism has made in the past two centuries--adjustments that allow both change and continuity within an age-old tradition. He deals in order of their emergence with the religion's major branches (Reform, Neo-Orthodox, and Conservative) and appraises the Zionist movement.
Download or read book Modern Judaism written by Nicholas Robert Michael De Lange and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of newly-commissioned essays covers the major areas of thought in contemporary Jewish studies, including considerations of religious differences, sociological, philosophical and gender issues, geographical diversity and inter-faith relations.
Download or read book What Do Jews Believe written by Edward Kessler and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2009-05-26 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A valuable resource for anyone seeking a basic understanding of what being Jewish is all about. Judaism is full of different opinions. In fact, no single definition of Judaism is acceptable to all Jews. And Judaism is not simply a series of beliefs; it is a practice and a way of life. Judaism, therefore, consists of a religion, and a culture, and a people. What Do Jews Believe? explores the variety of ways in which Jews live their lives: religious and secular, Ashkenazi and Sephardi, Jews in Israel and Jews who live in the diaspora. Kessler asks what Judaism means and what it means to be a Jew, and explores the roots of a religion that goes back some four thousand years and was a major influence on the creation and development of both Christianity and Islam. And he examines how and why such a small number of people-amazingly the total worldwide Jewish population is estimated to be only between twelve and fifteen million-have played such a significant role in the world's history. What Do Jews Believe? looks at the roots of anti-Semitism and delves into the Zionist movement and the struggles with Palestine and Arab neighbors-stating objectively the unvarnished and sometimes painful facts of these difficult issues.With a useful chronology of Jewish history from 1800 B.C. to the present, a glossary of terms, a calendar of Jewish festivals, a list of Web resources, and a recommended further reading list.
Download or read book Seek My Face Speak My Name written by Arthur Green and published by Jason Aronson. This book was released on 1992 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contemporary Jews. The book is at once a beginner's invitation to the profundity of Jewish spirituality and a rich rethinking of texts and positions for those who have already walked some distance along the Jewish path.
Download or read book Modern Orthodox Judaism A Documentary History written by Zev Eleff and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2016-07-01 with total page 567 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modern Orthodox Judaism offers an extensive selection of primary texts documenting the Orthodox encounter with American Judaism that led to the emergence of the Modern Orthodox movement. Many texts in this volume are drawn from episodes of conflict that helped form Modern Orthodox Judaism. These include the traditionalists’ response to the early expressions of Reform Judaism, as well as incidents that helped define the widening differences between Orthodox and Conservative Judaism in the early twentieth century. Other texts explore the internal struggles to maintain order and balance once Orthodox Judaism had separated itself from other religious movements. Zev Eleff combines published documents with seldom-seen archival sources in tracing Modern Orthodoxy as it developed into a structured movement, established its own institutions, and encountered critical events and issues—some that helped shape the movement and others that caused tension within it. A general introduction explains the rise of the movement and puts the texts in historical context. Brief introductions to each section guide readers through the documents of this new, dynamic Jewish expression.
Download or read book Rabbis of our Time written by Marek Čejka and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-10-16 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The term ‘rabbi’ predominantly denotes Jewish men qualified to interpret the Torah and apply halacha, or those entrusted with the religious leadership of a Jewish community. However, the role of the rabbi has been understood differently across the Jewish world. While in Israel they control legally powerful rabbinical courts and major religious political parties, in the Jewish communities of the Diaspora this role is often limited by legal regulations of individual countries. However, the significance of past and present rabbis and their religious and political influence endures across the world. Rabbis of Our Time provides a comprehensive overview of the most influential rabbinical authorities of Judaism in the 20th and 21st Century. Through focussing on the most theologically influential rabbis of the contemporary era and examining their political impact, it opens a broader discussion of the relationship between Judaism and politics. It looks at the various centres of current Judaism and Jewish thinking, especially the State of Israel and the USA, as well as locating rabbis in various time periods. Through interviews and extracts from religious texts and books authored by rabbis, readers will discover more about a range of rabbis, from those before the formation of Israel to the most famous Chief Rabbis of Israel, as well as those who did not reach the highest state religious functions, but influenced the relation between Judaism and Israel by other means. The rabbis selected represent all major contemporary streams of Judaism, from ultra-Orthodox/Haredi to Reform and Liberal currents, and together create a broader picture of the scope of contemporary Jewish thinking in a theological and political context. An extensive and detailed source of information on the varieties of Jewish thinking influencing contemporary Judaism and the modern State of Israel, this book is of interest to students and scholars of Jewish Studies, as well as Religion and Politics.
Download or read book Modern Conservative Judaism written by Elliot N. Dorff and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2018-01-01 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Jewish Primitivism written by Samuel J. Spinner and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2021-07-27 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Around the beginning of the twentieth century, Jewish writers and artists across Europe began depicting fellow Jews as savages or "primitive" tribesmen. Primitivism—the European appreciation of and fascination with so-called "primitive," non-Western peoples who were also subjugated and denigrated—was a powerful artistic critique of the modern world and was adopted by Jewish writers and artists to explore the urgent questions surrounding their own identity and status in Europe as insiders and outsiders. Jewish primitivism found expression in a variety of forms in Yiddish, Hebrew, and German literature, photography, and graphic art, including in the work of figures such as Franz Kafka, Y.L. Peretz, S. An-sky, Uri Zvi Greenberg, Else Lasker-Schüler, and Moï Ver. In Jewish Primitivism, Samuel J. Spinner argues that these and other Jewish modernists developed a distinct primitivist aesthetic that, by locating the savage present within Europe, challenged the idea of the threatening savage other from outside Europe on which much primitivism relied: in Jewish primitivism, the savage is already there. This book offers a new assessment of modern Jewish art and literature and shows how Jewish primitivism troubles the boundary between observer and observed, cultured and "primitive," colonizer and colonized.
Download or read book The Genius written by Eliyahu Stern and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2013-01-08 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: DIV Elijah ben Solomon, the "Genius of Vilna,” was perhaps the best-known and most understudied figure in modern Jewish history. This book offers a new narrative of Jewish modernity based on Elijah's life and influence. While the experience of Jews in modernity has often been described as a process of Western European secularization—with Jews becoming citizens of Western nation-states, congregants of reformed synagogues, and assimilated members of society—Stern uses Elijah’s story to highlight a different theory of modernization for European life. Religious movements such as Hasidism and anti-secular institutions such as the yeshiva emerged from the same democratization of knowledge and privatization of religion that gave rise to secular and universal movements and institutions. Claimed by traditionalists, enlighteners, Zionists, and the Orthodox, Elijah’s genius and its afterlife capture an all-embracing interpretation of the modern Jewish experience. Through the story of the “Vilna Gaon,” Stern presents a new model for understanding modern Jewish history and more generally the place of traditionalism and religious radicalism in modern Western life and thought. /div
Download or read book Early Modern Jewry written by David B. Ruderman and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Early Modern Jewry boldly offers a new history of the early modern Jewish experience. From Krakow and Venice to Amsterdam and Smyrna, David Ruderman examines the historical and cultural factors unique to Jewish communities throughout Europe, and how these distinctions played out amidst the rest of society. Looking at how Jewish settlements in the early modern period were linked to one another in fascinating ways, he shows how Jews were communicating with each other and were more aware of their economic, social, and religious connections than ever before. Ruderman explores five crucial and powerful characteristics uniting Jewish communities: a mobility leading to enhanced contacts between Jews of differing backgrounds, traditions, and languages, as well as between Jews and non-Jews; a heightened sense of communal cohesion throughout all Jewish settlements that revealed the rising power of lay oligarchies; a knowledge explosion brought about by the printing press, the growing interest in Jewish books by Christian readers, an expanded curriculum of Jewish learning, and the entrance of Jewish elites into universities; a crisis of rabbinic authority expressed through active messianism, mystical prophecy, radical enthusiasm, and heresy; and the blurring of religious identities, impacting such groups as conversos, Sabbateans, individual converts to Christianity, and Christian Hebraists. In describing an early modern Jewish culture, Early Modern Jewry reconstructs a distinct epoch in history and provides essential background for understanding the modern Jewish experience.
Download or read book Contemporary Orthodox Judaism s Response to Modernity written by Barry Freundel and published by KTAV Publishing House, Inc.. This book was released on 2004 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rabbi Freundel in 31 essays summarizes Orthodox Jewish teaching on a variety of issues.
Download or read book Modern Judaism written by John Allen and published by Pantianos Classics. This book was released on 1816 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Allen's discussion of Judaism dates to 1816; for many years, it was the authoritative history of the Jews from the time of Abraham through to the modern day. When sourcing the information necessary for this account, the author was discerning and meticulous: the history of the Jews is a topic of enormous depth and scope, requiring the use of holy books and written records often centuries or millennia old. Principally he examines the Holy Bible, and in particular the pertinent Old Testament texts, plus the holy books of the Jews such as the Kabbalah and Talmud. Other more esoteric sources include the Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Prayer Book. Each chapter of Modern Judaism includes numerous notes, elaborating further and list the relevant passages. Many wide-ranging aspects of Jewish life are covered; such as how to manage births, marriages, deaths, the preparation of food and the care of pregnant women. The ancient temple and its precepts are extensively narrated, that readers comprehend how the Jewish faith changed and evolved as the centuries passed, with rabbis across the ages contributing to the written lore. This reprint reproduces the tables and Hebrew script of the expanded second edition, which was first published in 1830.
Download or read book Between Jewish Tradition and Modernity written by Michael A. Meyer and published by Wayne State University Press. This book was released on 2014-10-20 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Judaism in America written by Marc Lee Raphael and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is about the beliefs, doctrines, history, institutions, and leaders of the Jewish religious community. It is based on historical evidence as well as interviews and direct observation of about 100 synagogues in the country and presents a full portrait of a religious tradition that comprises only two percent of America's population but has a large influence on American culture.
Download or read book Essays on Ancient and Modern Judaism written by Arnaldo Momigliano and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1994-08-09 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Momigliano acknowledged that his Judaism was the most fundamental inspiration for his scholarship, and the writings in this collection demonstrate how the ethical experience of the Hebraic tradition informed his other works.
