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JEWISH CONTINUITY IN AMERICA presents an overview of a life's work by a preeminent scholar and brings new insight to the challenge of American Jewish continuity. As the title suggests, this book argues that continuity in a free and open society hinges on creativity anchored in foundational ...

JEWISH CONTINUITY IN AMERICA presents an overview of a life's work by a preeminent scholar and brings new insight to the challenge of American Jewish continuity. As the title suggests, this book argues that continuity in a free and open society hinges on creativity anchored in foundational institutions of community, religion, and culture.

Israel Salanter was one of the most original and influential Jewish leaders and thinkers of Eastern European Jewry in the modern period. This biography makes available to the English-speaking public - for the first time - a systematic discussion of his thought and deeds, which had a profound impact ...

Israel Salanter was one of the most original and influential Jewish leaders and thinkers of Eastern European Jewry in the modern period. This biography makes available to the English-speaking public - for the first time - a systematic discussion of his thought and deeds, which had a profound impact on traditional Judaism. One of Salanter's most striking innovations was the transformation of the issue of ethics from the domain of theology to the realm of psychology. Immanuel Etkes traces Salanter's unique view of Mussar doctrine, especially his introduction of modern psychology to the traditional understanding of personal ethical development. The author begins by tracing Salanter's predecessors - the Vilna Gaon, Rabbi Hayyim of Volozhin, and Rabbi Zundel of Salant, Rabbi Israel's teacher. He then places the Mussar movement within its historic and cultural context: on the Jewish scene, with Hasidism and the Haskalah; and on the Russian scene, with the dual pressures of political repression and the cultural lure of secular assimilation. One can see the establishment of the Mussar Movement as a reaction to the increased strength of the Haskalah movement and the secularization that came with it. In fact, Salanter is portrayed as one of the first leaders of Eastern Europe's Jewish Orthodoxy - orthodoxy in the sense of a traditional society gaining awareness of the threat against tradition, preparing to defend it. This struggle itself, however, often assumed a modern character, not unlike the phenomena it was combating. This characterization befits Salanter, who made use of modern methods, like psychology, in his struggle for the triumph of tradition. Etkes's notes make accessible some of thetechnical terms that may be unfamiliar to readers new to this chapter of Jewish history.

The Sage in Jewish Society of Late Antiquity explores the social position of rabbis in Palestinian (Roman) and Babylonian (Persian) society from the period of the fall of the Temple to late antiquity. The author argues that ancient rabbinic sources depict comparable differences between Palestinian ...

The Sage in Jewish Society of Late Antiquity explores the social position of rabbis in Palestinian (Roman) and Babylonian (Persian) society from the period of the fall of the Temple to late antiquity. The author argues that ancient rabbinic sources depict comparable differences between Palestinian and Babylonian rabbinic relationships with non-Rabbis.

The Rabbis of the first five centuries of the Common Era loom large in the Jewish tradition. Until the modern period, Jews viewed the Rabbinic traditions as the authoritative contents of their covenant with God, and scholars debated the meanings of these ancient Sages words. Even after the ...

The Rabbis of the first five centuries of the Common Era loom large in the Jewish tradition. Until the modern period, Jews viewed the Rabbinic traditions as the authoritative contents of their covenant with God, and scholars debated the meanings of these ancient Sages words. Even after the eighteenth century, when varied denominations emerged within Judaism, each with its own approach to the tradition, the literary legacy of the talmudic Sages continued to be consulted. In this book, Michael S. Berger analyzes the notion of Rabbinic authority from a philosophical standpoint. He sets out a typology of theories that can be used to understand the authority of these Sages, showing the coherence of each, its strengths and weaknesses, and what aspects of the Rabbinic enterprise it covers. His careful and thorough analysis reveals that owing to the multifaceted character of the Rabbinic enterprise, no single theory is adequate to fully ground Rabbinic authority as traditionally understood. The final section of the book argues that the notion of Rabbinic authority may indeed have been transformed over time, even as it retained the original name. Drawing on the debates about legal hermeneutics between Ronald Dworkin and Stanley Fish, Berger introduces the idea that Rabbinic authority is not a strict consequence of a preexisting theory, but rather is embedded in a form of life that includes text, interpretation, and practices. Rabbinic authority is shown to be a nuanced concept unique to Judaism, in that it is taken to justify those sorts of activities which in turn actually deepen the authority itself. Students of Judaism and philosophers of religion in general will be intrigued by this philosophical examination of a central issue of Judaism, conducted with unprecedented rigor and refreshing creative insight.