Does Anybody Still Need Judaism?
Both of the books under review focus on the tradition of Jewish scholarship and debate. The Genius of Judaism is written from a religious perspective, whereas the authors of Jews and Words envision a future in which Jews live without Judaism; they see Jewishness as a culture that can be divorced fro...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Review |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2018
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| In: |
History and theory
Year: 2018, Volume: 57, Issue: 1, Pages: 149-165 |
| Further subjects: | B
Book review
B Covenant B Memory B Jonah B Bible B Judaism B Skepticism B Exodus Nave B Talmud B God B Amos Oz B Bernard-Henri Lévy |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Both of the books under review focus on the tradition of Jewish scholarship and debate. The Genius of Judaism is written from a religious perspective, whereas the authors of Jews and Words envision a future in which Jews live without Judaism; they see Jewishness as a culture that can be divorced from religion. For Lévy, a sense of the divine—including the concept of being a chosen people—is the source of Jewish identity and historical continuity. Lévy also argues that the Jews are chosen to serve non-Jews. Inspired by the prophet Jonah, Lévy undertook diplomatic missions in the Ukraine and in Libya, and I consider the lessons he draws from these missions. I also discuss the relationship of Judaism to various concepts in the philosophy of history: revolution, progress, messianism, and utopianism, as well as the affinity between Judaism and skepticism. |
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| ISSN: | 1468-2303 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: History and theory
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/hith.12051 |
