Mediating Modernity

Mediating Modernity

Author: Lauren B. Strauss

Publisher: Wayne State University Press

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 404

ISBN-13: 9780814333952

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A landmark collection of essays by prominent academics in modern Jewish and German-Jewish history, honoring Michael A. Meyer, a pioneer in those fields. In Mediating Modernity, contemporary Jewish scholars pay tribute to Michael A. Meyer, scholar of German-Jewish history and the history of Reform Judaism, with a collection of essays that highlight growing diversity within the discipline of Jewish studies. The occasion of Meyer's seventieth birthday has served as motivation for his colleagues Lauren B. Strauss and Michael Brenner to compile this volume, with essays by twenty-four leading academics, representing institutions in five countries. Mediating Modernity is introduced by an overview of modern Jewish historiography, largely drawing on Meyer's work in that field, delineating important connections between the writing of history and the environment in which it is written. Meyer's own areas of specialization are reflected in essays on Moses Mendelssohn, German-Jewish historiography, the religious and social practices of German Jews, Reform Judaism, and various Jewish communities in America. The volume's field of inquiry is broadened by essays that deal with gender issues, literary analysis, and the historical relationship of Israel and the Palestinians. Though other volumes have been compiled to honor Jewish historians, Mediating Modernity is unique in the personal and intellectual relationships shared by its contributors and Michael A. Meyer. Scholars of Jewish studies, German history, and religious history will appreciate this timely volume.


Confronting Genocide

Confronting Genocide

Author: René Provost

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2010-11-11

Total Pages: 376

ISBN-13: 9048198402

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“Never again” stands as one the central pledges of the international community following the end of the Second World War, upon full realization of the massive scale of the Nazi extermination programme. Genocide stands as an intolerable assault on a sense of common humanity embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other fundamental international instruments, including the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the United Nations Charter. And yet, since the Second World War, the international community has proven incapable of effectively preventing the occurrence of more genocides in places like Cambodia, Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Sudan. Is genocide actually preventable, or is “ever again” a more accurate catchphrase to capture the reality of this phenomenon? The essays in this volume explore the complex nature of genocide and the relative promise of various avenues identified by the international community to attempt to put a definitive end to its occurrence. Essays focus on a conceptualization of genocide as a social and political phenomenon, on the identification of key actors (Governments, international institutions, the media, civil society, individuals), and on an exploration of the relative promise of different means to prevent genocide (criminal accountability, civil disobedience, shaming, intervention).


Jewish Philosophy and Western Culture

Jewish Philosophy and Western Culture

Author: Victor J. Seidler

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2007-11-28

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13: 0857713949

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This is one of the first textbooks to try to set the entire discipline of Jewish philosophy in its proper cultural and historical contexts. In so doing, it introduces the vibrant Jewish philosophical tradition to students while also making a significant contribution to inter-religious dialogue. Victor J Seidler argues that the dominant Platonic tradition in the West has led to a form of cultural ethics which asserts false superiority in its relationships with others. He offers a critical reappraisal of the philosophical underpinnings of this western Christian culture which for so long has viewed Judaism with hostility. Examining the work of seminal Jewish thinkers such as Philo, Buber, Mendelsohn, Herman Cohen, Leo Baeck, Levinas, Rosenzweig and others, the author argues for a code of ethics which prioritises particular and personal moral responsibility rather than the impersonal and universal emphases of the Greek tradition. His provocative and original overview of Jewish philosophy uncovers a vital and neglected tradition of thought which works against the likelihood of a Holocaust recurring.


Pre-Gratian Medieval Canonical Collections

Pre-Gratian Medieval Canonical Collections

Author: Szabolcs Anzelm Szuromi

Publisher: Frank & Timme GmbH

Published: 2014-10-06

Total Pages: 154

ISBN-13: 3732901084

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The canonical collections took their starting point from the ‘sacred law’ (ius sacrum) characteristic of canon law, since its norms promote the sanctification of the individual persons. This principle was the basis for the compilation of the so-called Pre-Gratian canon law collections, too. In the recent research, there have arisen new stresses on the better understanding of how this textual development of canonical collections had happened prior the Decretum Gratiani. An original canonical textual witness testifies about the circumstances of its origin, and, indeed, about the physical effects on the text during daily usage. The endeavor to issue the complete canon law did not mean only the composition of the universal canonical norms, but also the gathering of the particular norms, inveterate customs, or theological statements that could set the contents of the ecclesiastical discipline in the proper light.


From a Reading Book to a Structuralized Canonical Collection

From a Reading Book to a Structuralized Canonical Collection

Author: Szabolcs Anzelm Szuromi

Publisher: Frank & Timme GmbH

Published: 2010-01-01

Total Pages: 199

ISBN-13: 3865962564

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The formation or developing process of the Ivonian work (i.e. Decretum, Panormia, Tripartita) is an emblematic example for the proper textual-history of Medieval Canonical Collections before the late 12th century. The recent studies concerning the Pre-Gratian canon law collections show well how the earlier meaning of “canonical collection” differs from its classical meaning. The fundamental intention was to summarize the whole of canon law which – as “ius sacrum” – served the daily life of the Church and was useful in every field of the ecclesiastical activity. The textual families of Ivo’s canonical work and the textual variants of these families demonstrate well this intention. In this present volume are described several 11th-12th century manuscripts and fragments of the Ivonian canon law collection. The precise paleographical, codicological and textual-critical analysis which was done by the author has improved the considerations on the step by step textual-development. These new results have shown in new light Ivo’s compiling work.


A History of Modern Jewish Religious Philosophy

A History of Modern Jewish Religious Philosophy

Author: Eliezer Schweid

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2022-11-07

Total Pages: 562

ISBN-13: 9004533133

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The last generation of German Jewish philosophers—the best known (Buber, Rosenzweig, Baeck, Strauss, Scholem) and the less known (Breuer, Birnbaum, Klatzkin, Guttmann)—are thoroughly explicated here with generous primary text citations appearing in English for the first time.