"Judaism, Liberalism, and Political Theology provides the first broad encounter between modern Jewish thought and recent developments in political theology. In opposition to impetuous associations of Judaism and liberalism and charges that Judaism cannot engender a universal political order, the essays in this volume propose a new and richly detailed engagement between Judaism and the political. The vexed status of liberalism in Jewish thought and Judaism in political theology is interrogated with recourse to thinking from across the Continental tradition."--Page 4 of cover.
The Jewish Social Contract begins by asking how a traditional Jew can participate politically and socially and in good faith in a modern democratic society, and ends by proposing a broad, inclusive notion of secularity. David Novak takes issue with the view--held by the late philosopher John Rawls and his followers--that citizens of a liberal state must, in effect, check their religion at the door when discussing politics in a public forum. Novak argues that in a "liberal democratic state, members of faith-based communities--such as tradition-minded Jews and Christians--ought to be able to adhere to the broad political framework wholly in terms of their own religious tradition and convictions, and without setting their religion aside in the public sphere. Novak shows how social contracts emerged, rooted in biblical notions of covenant, and how they developed in the rabbinic, medieval, and "modern periods. He offers suggestions as to how Jews today can best negotiate the modern social contract while calling upon non-Jewish allies to aid them in the process. The Jewish Social Contract will prove an enlightening and innovative contribution to the ongoing debate about the role of religion in liberal democracies.
In this fascinating history of the genesis of the backlash against Jewish liberalism, Staub recounts the history American Jews who advocated Palestinian statehood, showing how ideology has split the Jewish community.
These essays propose “a new and richly detailed engagement between Judaism and the political” (Jewish Book World). Judaism, Liberalism, and Political Theology provides the first broad encounter between modern Jewish thought and recent developments in political theology, arguing in opposition to impetuous associations of Judaism and liberalism and charges that Judaism cannot engender a universal political order. The vexed status of liberalism in Jewish thought and Judaism in political theology is interrogated with recourse to thinking from across the Continental tradition. “This collection of essays, which examines political theology from the distinct perspective of Jewish philosophy, could not be timelier or more useful for scholars and students navigating what is often viewed as very dense and difficult material.”—Claire Elise Katz, Texas A&M University
Faith, Nationalism, and the Future of Liberal Democracy highlights the use of religious identity to fuel the rise of illiberal, nationalist, and populist democracy. In Faith, Nationalism, and the Future of Liberal Democracy, David Elcott, C. Colt Anderson, Tobias Cremer, and Volker Haarmann present a pragmatic and modernist exploration of how religion engages in the public square. Elcott and his co-authors are concerned about the ways religious identity is being used to foster the exclusion of individuals and communities from citizenship, political representation, and a role in determining public policy. They examine the ways religious identity is weaponized to fuel populist revolts against a political, social, and economic order that values democracy in a global and strikingly diverse world. Included is a history and political analysis of religion, politics, and policies in Europe and the United States that foster this illiberal rebellion. The authors explore what constitutes a constructive religious voice in the political arena, even in nurturing patriotism and democracy, and what undermines and threatens liberal democracies. To lay the groundwork for a religious response, the book offers chapters showing how Catholicism, Protestantism, and Judaism can nourish liberal democracy. The authors encourage people of faith to promote foundational support for the institutions and values of the democratic enterprise from within their own religious traditions and to stand against the hostility and cruelty that historically have resulted when religious zealotry and state power combine. Faith, Nationalism, and the Future of Liberal Democracy is intended for readers who value democracy and are concerned about growing threats to it, and especially for people of faith and religious leaders, as well as for scholars of political science, religion, and democracy.
According to a commonplace narrative, the rise of modern political thought in the West resulted from secularization—the exclusion of religious arguments from political discourse. But in this pathbreaking work, Eric Nelson argues that this familiar story is wrong. Instead, he contends, political thought in early-modern Europe became less, not more, secular with time, and it was the Christian encounter with Hebrew sources that provoked this radical transformation. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Christian scholars began to regard the Hebrew Bible as a political constitution designed by God for the children of Israel. Newly available rabbinic materials became authoritative guides to the institutions and practices of the perfect republic. This thinking resulted in a sweeping reorientation of political commitments. In the book’s central chapters, Nelson identifies three transformative claims introduced into European political theory by the Hebrew revival: the argument that republics are the only legitimate regimes; the idea that the state should coercively maintain an egalitarian distribution of property; and the belief that a godly republic would tolerate religious diversity. One major consequence of Nelson’s work is that the revolutionary politics of John Milton, James Harrington, and Thomas Hobbes appear in a brand-new light. Nelson demonstrates that central features of modern political thought emerged from an attempt to emulate a constitution designed by God. This paradox, a reminder that while we may live in a secular age, we owe our politics to an age of religious fervor, in turn illuminates fault lines in contemporary political discourse.
Hermann Cohen (1842–1918) is often held to be one of the most important Jewish philosophers of the nineteenth century. Paul E. Nahme, in this new consideration of Cohen, liberalism, and religion, emphasizes the idea of enchantment, or the faith in and commitment to ideas, reason, and critique—the animating spirits that move society forward. Nahme views Cohen through the lenses of the crises of Imperial Germany—the rise of antisemitism, nationalism, and secularization—to come to a greater understanding of liberalism, its Protestant and Jewish roots, and the spirits of modernity and tradition that form its foundation. Nahme's philosophical and historical retelling of the story of Cohen and his spiritual investment in liberal theology present a strong argument for religious pluralism and public reason in a world rife with populism, identity politics, and conspiracy theories.
From the bestselling author of World War IV, a brilliant investigation of a central question in American politics and culture. During his career as a neoconservative thinker, Norman Podhoretz has been asked no question more often than “Why are so many Jews liberals?” In this provocative book he sets out to solve this puzzle. He first offers a fascinating account of anti-Semitism in the West to show the historical roots of Jewish mistrust of the right. But, Podhoretz argues, since the Six Day War of 1967 Jewish allegiance to the left no longer makes sense, and yet most Jews continue supporting the Democratic Party and the liberal agenda. Reviewing the history of Jewish political attitudes and examining the available evidence, Podhoretz argues against the conventional explanations for Jewish liberalism—finally proposing his own.
Intro -- Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- I. God -- 1. Mordecai M. Kaplan, The Future of the American Jew -- 2. Abraham Joshua Heschel, Man Is Not Alone -- 3. Hans Jonas, "The Concept of God After Auschwitz: A Jewish Voice" -- 4. Richard L. Rubenstein, After Auschwitz -- 5. Eliezer Berkovits, Faith After the Holocaust -- 6. Erich Fromm, You Shall Be as Gods -- 7. Marcia Falk, "Notes on Composing New Blessings: Toward a Feminist-Jewish Reconstruction of Prayer" -- 8. Edward L. Greenstein, "'To You Do I Call': A Critique of Impersonal Prayer" -- 9. Sandra B. Lubarsky, "Reconstructing Divine Power" -- 10. Rebecca Alpert, "Location, Location, Location: Toward a Theology of Prepositions" -- II. Revelation and Commandment -- 11. Marvin Fox, The Condition of Jewish Belief -- 12. Aharon Lichtenstein, The Condition of Jewish Belief -- 13. Will Herberg, Judaism and Modern Man -- 14. Jakob J. Petuchowski, "Revelation and the Modern Jew" -- 15. Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Halakhic Man -- 16. Benjamin H. Sommer, Revelation and Authority -- 17. Tamar Ross, Expanding the Palace of Torah -- 18. Eugene B. Borowitz, Renewing the Covenant -- 19. Susan Handelman, "'Crossing and Recrossing the Void'" -- 20. David Novak, "Is the Covenant a Bilateral Relationship?" -- 21. Rachel Adler, Engendering Judaism -- 22. Mara H. Benjamin, The Obligated Self -- III. Spirituality -- 23. Arnold Jacob Wolf, "Against Spirituality" -- 24. Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Halakhic Man -- 25. Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath -- 26. Arthur Green, Jewish Spirituality/Seek My Face, Speak My Name -- 27. Daniel C. Matt, God and the Big Bang -- 28. Zalman Schachter- Shalomi, Paradigm Shift -- 29. Marcia Prager, The Path of Blessing -- 30. Nancy Flam, "Healing the Spirit" -- 31. Arthur Waskow, Down- to-Earth Judaism -- 32. Sheila Weinberg, "Images of God: Closeness and Power".
