Judaism in the Modern World

by Berger, Alan L.

• ISBN13: 9780814712238
• ISBN10: 0814712231
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1994-11-01
• Publisher: New York Univ Pr

Summary

As anti-semitism finds new followers and Israel makes peace with old enemies, Jews in the modern world face constantly metamorphosizing relationships. From the eighteenth century to the present, unprecedented opportunities have grown up alongside new challenges for the Jewish people. While modern society is permitting Judaism a place, profound questions over Jewish identity are taking shape.The essays gathered in Judaism in the Modern World address the issue of Jewish persistence amidst changing forms of identity. Exploring a wide range of sources, the essayists examine historical issues, the Holocaust and its repercussions, literature, and theological dimensions while seeking the nature of Judaism in modern times. As they reassess Judaism's past while pursuing a meaningful Jewish future, these essays raise crucial questions about the tradition's central mythic structures, such as covenant and redemption.The contributors to this volume broach everything from feminism to the creation of the state of Israel. Sander Gilman illustrates how Jewish identity is inextricably linked to the physical, showing how racial identity both reflects and defines Jewishness. Raul Hilberg examines Holocaust remembrance, in the wake of Holocaust denial, as an act of revolt. A wide-ranging and thoughtful collection, Judaism in the Modern World will appeal to readers concerned with the fate of Judaism in the modern era.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction	p. 1
What Is the Use of Jewish History?	p. 19
The Last Century of Jewish Hope: A Historian's Critique	p. 35
Jewish Distinctiveness within the American Tradition: The Eretz Yisrael Dimension as Case Illustration	p. 53
The German Jews: Some Perspectives on Their History	p. 73
The Visibility of the Jew in the Diaspora: Body Imagery and Its Cultural Context	p. 87
History, Holocaust, and Covenant	p. 125
Did American Jewry Do Enough during the Holocaust?	p. 144
The Holocaust Today	p. 165
Sholem Aleichem and the Art of Communication	p. 177
The Americanization of Isaac Bashevis Singer	p. 195
The American Imagination after the War: Notes on the Novel, Jews, and Hope	p. 205
The Unity of the Contraries: Paradox as a Characteristic of Normative Jewish Thought	p. 229
The Ideal Jew	p. 246
The Feminist Confrontation with Judaism	p. 268
Contributors	p. 281
Index	p. 285
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