Yahweh Versus Yahweh: The Enigma Of Jewish History

by Gonen, Jay Y.

• ISBN13: 9780299203306
• ISBN10: 0299203301
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-12-15
• Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Pr

Summary

Yahweh versus Yahwehis a vivid description of how the founding myths of Judaism have conditioned Jewish expectations from history. Jay L. Gonen unveils the collective psychology that underlies Jewish psychohistory. The enigmatic God of Gonen's study brings to the Jewish people periods of construction and bounty but also periods of destruction and hopelessness. This duality, according to the Gonen, runs throughout Jewish lore, literature, morality, the Kabbala, and Hassidism. It serves as the unifying factor in Jewish historyas it informed and influenced the establishment of the State of Israel, the history and future of Zionism, the debate over the Holocaust, the belief in the coming of the Messiah, and the current conflict in the Middle East. Gonen is at his best when portraying the intricate and highly dialectical interactions within the Jewish psyche among the themes of Messianism, Zionism, and the Holocaust. His penetrating analysis of how shared group fantasies molded Jewish responses to ongoing events is a must read for all persons who are interested in the intersection of religion, politics, and psychology in history.

Author Biography

Jay Y. Gonen is author of A Psychohistory of Zionism and The Roots of Nazi Psychology: Hitler’s Utopian Barbarism. He lives in New York.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
The Enigmatic God	3	(22)
When Will the Messiah Arrive?	25	(23)
Fateful Holidays	48	(30)
Love and Fear	78	(22)
Bereavement and Resurrection	100	(18)
Messianism, Zionism, and Holocaust	118	(28)
Alternatives	146	(27)
Bibliography	173	(6)
Index	179