Franz Rosenzweig

Although Franz Rosenzweig is arguably the most important Jewish philosopher of the twentieth century, his thought remains little understood. Here, Leora Batnitzky argues that Rosenzweig's redirection of German-Jewish ethical monotheism anticipates and challenges contemporary trends in religious studies, ethics, philosophy, anthropology, theology, and biblical studies.This text, which captures the hermeneutical movement of Rosenzweig's corpus, is the first to consider the full import of the cultural criticism articulated in his writings on the modern meanings of art, language, ethics, and national identity. In the process, the book solves significant conundrums about Rosenzweig's relation to German idealism, to other major Jewish thinkers, to Jewish political life, and to Christianity, and brings Rosenzweig into conversation with key contemporary thinkers.Drawing on Rosenzweig's view that Judaism's ban on idolatry is the crucial intellectual and spiritual resource available to respond to the social implications of human finitude, Batnitzky interrogates idolatry as a modern possibility. Her analysis speaks not only to the question of Judaism's relationship to modernity (and vice versa), but also to the generic question of the present's relationship to the past--a subject of great importance to anyone contemplating the modern statuses of religious tradition, reason, science, and historical inquiry. By way of Rosenzweig, Batnitzky argues that contemporary philosophers and ethicists must relearn their approaches to religious traditions and texts to address today's central ethical problems.

"With brilliance and considerable daring, Peter Gordon's Rosenzweig and Heidegger broaches the possibility of a shared horizon and a promising dialogue between these two seminal figures--these antipodes--of twentieth-century thought. It will be the bench mark for future work in the field."--Thomas Sheehan, author of "Heidegger: The Man and the Thinker

"In this brilliant book, Peter Gordon sheds light on Rosenzweig's most important philosophical book, "The Star of Redemption, by means of an unexpected (and sure to be controversial) comparison--with the philosophy of Heidegger's "Being and Time. The result is a "must read" for anyone with a serious interest in either thinker."--Hilary Putnam, author of "The Collapse of the Fact/Value Dichotomy and Other Essays

"A major work. Gordon persuasively argues that the true originality of Rosenzweig's achievement, heretofore associated with a distinctively "Jewish" break with his German philosophical milieu, only becomes intelligible from within that very milieu. Focusing on resemblances between Rosenzweig's and Heidegger's projects, Gordon discerns the contours of a post-Nietzschean religious sensibility condensed into the paradox of a "redemption-in-the-world." This book will be valued by readers of both Heidegger and Rosenzweig, and by anyone interested in the intersections of philosophy and religion."--Eric L. Santner, author of "On the Psychotheology of Everyday Life: Reflections on Freud and Rosenzweig

"A comparative reading of Rosenzweig's "Star of Redemption and Heidegger's "Being and Time. Peter Eli Gordon has written a work of exemplary erudition, analytical nuance, philosophical acumen and expository grace."--Paul Mendes-Flohr,author of "German Jews: A Dual Identity

Contemporary Jewish Theology: A Reader presents the most comprehensive collection to date of Jewish religious writings from the latter half of this century. Featuring selections from both pre- and post-World War II thinkers, this carefully constructed anthology highlights the enormous range of theological viewpoints and methods that have characterized Jewish theological reflection in modern times. An extraordinarily rich compilation, it represents many different perspectives, including those of Orthodox thinkers and feminists, Israelis and Americans, rationalists and mystics, and post-modernists. Extensive introductions place these writings in historical and philosophical context and identify the fundamental continuities and tensions among contemporary Jewish thinkers. Following a general introduction, the volume is organized into four parts. The first section includes representative selections from the major Jewish philosophers of the early twentieth century (Cohen, Rosenzweig, Buber, Kook, Kaplan, and Heschel). The second part includes recent essays on God, creation, revelation, redemption, covenant/chosenness, and law. The third section provides seminal essays on the Holocaust and the modern State of Israel, topics that have held tremendous importance for Jewish thinkers over the past few decades. The book concludes with a symposium on future directions in Jewish theology at the dawn of the twenty-first century, and also provides extensive suggestions for further reading. Contemporary Jewish Theology: A Reader is designed as a companion volume to the editors' earlier book, Contemporary Jewish Ethics and Morality: A Reader (OUP< 1995). An exceptional introduction to contemporary Jewish thinking, it is an essential text for courses in Jewish thought and theology.

Norbert M. Samuelson asks--what is the most reasonable possible conception of the doctrine of "revelation" found in the sources of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) in the light of modern challenges from academic studies of evolutionary psychology, analytic philosophy, and biblical history? The proposed answer is drawn from his extensive knowledge of western philosophy-- from ancient Greece to contemporary England and America and Jewish intellectual history from Maimonides to Buber and Rosenzweig. The book engages with the history of philosophy, religious thought and Judaism.

-- Mario J. Valdes, University of Toronto, Semiotic Inquiry

This book deconstructs the boundaries between Jewish and Christian cultures while at the same time redefining what it means to be Jewish in relation to Christianity in the twentieth century. Consequently, this analysis reveals the emergence of modern Jewish theologies out of the complex negotiations between Jewish thinkers and their Christian milieu.

Was there a German-Jewish dialogue? This seemingly innocent question was silenced by the Holocaust. Since then, it is out of the question to take comfortable refuge to a distant past when Mendelssohn and Lessing started this dialogue. Adorno/Horkheimer, Arendt, and above all Scholem have repeatedly pointed out, how the noble promises of the Enlightenment were perverted, which led to a complete failure of Jewish emancipation in Germany. It is against this backdrop of warning posts that we dare to return to an important chapter of Jewish culture in Germany. This project should not be seen, however, as an attempt to idealize the past or to harmonize the present, but as a plea for a new dialogue between Germans and Jews about their common past.