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Comparing the liberal Jewish ethics of the German-Jewish philosophers Ernst Cassirer and Hannah Arendt, this book argues that both espoused a diasporic, worldly conception of Jewish identity that was anchored in a pluralist and politically engaged interpretation of Jewish history and an abiding interest in the complex lived reality of modern Jews. Arendt’s indebtedness to liberal Jewish thinkers such as Moses Mendelssohn, Abraham Geiger, Hermann Cohen, and Ernst Cassirer has been obscured by her modernist posture and caustic critique of the assimilationism of her German-Jewish forebears. By reorienting our conception of Arendt as a profoundly secular thinker anchored in twentieth century political debates, we are led to rethink the philosophical, political, and ethical legacy of liberal Jewish discourse.
This fiftieth anniversary edition of W. Gunther Plaut’s classic second volume on the history of the Jewish Reform Movement is a sourcebook of the original writings that shaped the second century of organized liberal Judaism. The Growth of Reform Judaism features a new introduction, a new epilogue, and important additional primary sources documenting the profound changes of the last fifty years. Although the emphasis in this volume is chiefly on the American scene, where the movement had its most notable advances, selections of representative liberal Jewish thought in Europe and to a lesser degree in Israel are included as well. These selections help us to understand the emergence and character, problems and tensions of Reform Judaism as it developed and grew in modern times. In addition to the primary texts new to this edition, David Ellenson’s epilogue considers the developments of the last fifty years that have continued to shape the course of Reform Judaism.
Excerpt from Liberal Judaism and Social Service Thus our inquiry into Judaism as a force that makes for social righteousness involves an examination of the present and a forecast of the future. But the present and future of Judaism are unintelligible without a care ful and loving study of its past. Ours is an historical religion, whose soul came to it from afar; it has changed greatly, but it retains its identity. A modern reform temple is a very different place from the Temple of Solomon, but the same Decalogue is the central feature of both. Modern philanthropy and social service rest on fundamental principles, enunciated long ago by the heroes of Bible and Talmud. So also the study of Hebrew institutions, as they existed at various stages of our long history, will show how permanent are the needs of humanity in general and of Israel in particular. The characteristic Jewish nose appears already in the. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
“This is a timely contribution to some of the most pressing debates facing scholars of Jewish Studies today. It forces us to re-think standard approaches to both antisemitism and liberalism. Its geographic scope offers a model for how scholars can “provincialize” Europe and engage in a transnational approach to Jewish history. The book crackles with intellectual energy; it is truly a pleasure to read.”- Jessica M. Marglin, University of Southern California, USA Green and Levis Sullam have assembled a collection of original, and provocative essays that, in illuminating the historic relationship between Jews and liberalism, transform our understanding of liberalism itself. - Derek Penslar, Harvard University, USA “This book offers a strikingly new account of Liberalism’s relationship to Jews. Previous scholarship stressed that Liberalism had to overcome its abivalence in order to achieve a principled stand on granting Jews rights and equality. This volume asserts, through multiple examples, that Liberalism excluded many groups, including Jews, so that the exclusion of Jews was indeed integral to Liberalism and constitutive for it. This is an important volume, with a challenging argument for the present moment.”- David Sorkin, Yale University, USA The emancipatory promise of liberalism – and its exclusionary qualities – shaped the fate of Jews in many parts of the world during the age of empire. Yet historians have mostly understood the relationship between Jews, liberalism and antisemitism as a European story, defined by the collapse of liberalism and the Holocaust. This volume challenges that perspective by taking a global approach. It takes account of recent historical work that explores issues of race, discrimination and hybrid identities in colonial and postcolonial settings, but which has done so without taking much account of Jews. Individual essays explore how liberalism, citizenship, nationality, gender, religion, race functioned differently in European Jewish heartlands, in the Mediterranean peripheries of Spain and the Ottoman empire, and in the North American Atlantic world.
First published in 1947 The Essentials of Liberal Judaism explores the fundamental ideas of liberal Judaism. Rabbi Israel Mattuck explains that liberal Judaism is concerned not only with the question, where shall we find the teachings of Judaism, but also with the question, how shall we find them? He discusses important themes like conception of God in Judaism; grounds for the belief in God; problem of evil; guidance of God in human history; sin, repentance and atonement; Judaism and the social order; liberal Judaism and orthodox Judaism; differences between Judaism and Christianity and what it means to be a Jew, to argue that it is the fundamental principle of liberal Judaism that Judaism is a developing religion. This book is a must read for scholars of Judaism, history of Judaism, and religion.
This fiftieth anniversary edition of W. Gunther Plaut's classic second volume on the history of the Jewish Reform Movement is a sourcebook of the original writings that shaped the second century of organized liberal Judaism. The Growth of Reform Judaism features a new introduction, a new epilogue, and important additional primary sources documenting the profound changes of the last fifty years. Although the emphasis in this volume is chiefly on the American scene, where the movement had its most notable advances, selections of representative liberal Jewish thought in Europe and to a lesser degree in Israel are included as well. These selections help us to understand the emergence and character, problems and tensions of Reform Judaism as it developed and grew in modern times. In addition to the primary texts new to this edition, David Ellenson's epilogue considers the developments of the last fifty years that have continued to shape the course of Reform Judaism.
The first comprehensive comparative interpretation of Samuel Holdheim’s radical Reform philosophy in the context of the intellectual, cultural, and political experience of mid-nineteenth century German Jewry, provided by leading international scholars in the field of Jewish intellectual history.
Abraham Geiger gave the Reform Movement in Judaism its intellectual stature and theoretical justification. The late Dr. Max Wiener here offers a sympathetic and balanced biographical introduction to Geiger, followed by English translations of select letters and excerpts from Geiger's works, as well as sermons and articles written by Geiger. This volume will be of interest to anyone who seeks to understand the intellectual roots of liberal Judaism.