The New Jewish Canon

Published by Academic Studies Press 2020

The New Jewish Canon

Edited by: Yehuda Kurtzer and Claire E. Sufrin

In the series Emunot: Jewish Philosophy and Kabbalah

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781644693629

Overview
Contents

About this book

The New Jewish Canon is both text and textbook of the Jewish intellectual and communal zeitgeist for the contemporary period. With both primary sources and analytical essays by leading scholars, this book offers a conceptual roadmap to make sense of the mass production and proliferation of new Jewish ideas in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

Author / Editor information

Kurtzer Yehuda :

Dr. Yehuda Kurtzer is the President of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, and a leading thinker and author on the meaning of Israel to American Jews, on Jewish history and Jewish memory, and on questions of leadership and change in American Jewish life. He is also the author of Shuva: The Future of the Jewish Past (Brandeis, 2012).Sufrin Claire E. :

Dr. Claire E. Sufrin is a scholar of religion specializing in modern Jewish thought and theology. She is Associate Professor of Instruction and Assistant Director of Jewish Studies in the Crown Family Center for Jewish and Israel Studies at Northwestern University.

Dr. Yehuda Kurtzer is the President of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, and a leading thinker and author on the meaning of Israel to American Jews, on Jewish history and Jewish memory, and on questions of leadership and change in American Jewish life. He is also the author of Shuva: The Future of the Jewish Past (Brandeis, 2012).

Dr. Claire E. Sufrin is a scholar of religion specializing in modern Jewish thought and theology. She is Associate Professor of Instruction and Assistant Director of Jewish Studies in the Crown Family Center for Jewish and Israel Studies at Northwestern University.

Reviews

“This is a rich collection that provides a window into many of the key debates that have raged, and still rage, in the Jewish world. It raises many provocative questions about the nature of contemporary Judaism and its future.”

—Martin Green, Jewish Book Council

“Extraordinarily rich, lively and illuminating. … [The editors] have succeeded magnificently in achieving their goal.”

—Jonathan Kirsch, the Jewish Journal

“The New Jewish Canon is a map and a guidebook to the shifting intellectual and spiritual landscape of contemporary Jewish life. It is an invitation to deep reflection, a catalyst for passionate discussion, and an invaluable resource for provocative teaching. It is a book to be kept close at hand as the Jewish community struggles to understand where we have come from, and where we are going.”
— Rabbi Ed Feinstein, author of Tough Questions Jews Ask and Senior Rabbi, Valley Beth Shalom, Encino, California

“Anyone interested in contemporary Judaism will benefit from this diverse and dynamic collection. The book’s commentarial structure performs the creation of a new canon of Jewish ideas while also inviting readers to participate in current debates about Jewish politics, history, religion, and identity.”

—Leora Batnitzky, Ronald O. Perelman Professor of Jewish Studies, Princeton University

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xv
Introduction—The State of Jewish Ideas: Towards a New Jewish Canon Publicly Available Download PDF	xvii
I. Jewish Politics and the Public Square Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. Michael Walzer, Exodus and Revolution William Galston Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
2. George Steiner, “Our Homeland, the Text,” 1985; Judith Butler, “Remarks to Brooklyn College on BDS,” 2013 Julie Cooper Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	10
3. Jonathan Woocher, Sacred Survival Sylvia Fishman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	17
4. Benny Morris, The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947–1949 and The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited Ari Shavit, “Survival of the Fittest? An Interview with Benny Morris” and “Lydda, 1948” Daniel Kurtzer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	24
5. Irving Greenberg vs. Meir Kahane, Public Debate at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale Shaul Magid Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	34
6. Yeshayahu Leibowitz, Judaism, Human Values, and the Jewish State Joshua Shanes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	40
7. Israeli Knesset Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty Aharon Barak, “A Judge on Judging: The Role of a Supreme Court in a Democracy” Yigal Mersel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	46
8. Aharon Lichtenstein, “On the Murder of Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin z“l” David Wolkenfeld Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	57
9. Aviezer Ravitzky, Messianism, Zionism, and Jewish Religious Radicalism Yehuda Magid Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	63
10. The Israeli Supreme Court sitting as the High Court of Justice: Horev v. Minister of Transportation, 1997 The Israeli Supreme Court sitting as the High Court of Justice: Baruch Marzel v. Jerusalem District Police Commander, Mr. Aharon Franco, 2002 Donniel Hartman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	70
11. Samuel G. Freedman, Jew vs. Jew: The Struggle for the Soul of American Jewry Noam Pianko Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	78
12. Breaking the Silence Testimonies Sarah Anne Minkin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	83
13. Steven M. Cohen and Jack Wertheimer, “Whatever Happened to the Jewish People?” Yehuda Kurtzer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	90
14. Yitzhak Shapira and Yosef Elitzur, Torat HaMelekh Hillel Ben-Sasson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	97
15. Moshe Halbertal, “The Goldstone Illusion” Elana Stein Hain Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	103
16. Peter Beinart, “The Failure of the American Jewish Establishment” Sara Yael Hirschhorn Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	108
17. Daniel Gordis, “When Balance Becomes Betrayal” Sharon Brous, “Lowering the Bar” Yehuda Kurtzer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	113
18. Matti Friedman, “An Insider’s Guide to the Most Important Story on Earth” Rachel Fish Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	118
II. History, Memory, and Narrative
1. David Hartman, “Auschwitz or Sinai?” Rachel Sabath Beit Halachmi Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	125
2. Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory Alexander Kaye Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	130
3. Emil Fackenheim, To Mend the World Benjamin Pollock Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	135
4. Robert M. Cover, “The Supreme Court, 1982 Term—Foreword: Nomos and Narrative” Christine Hayes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	141
5. Kahan Commission Yehuda Kurtzer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	148
6. Amos Oz, In the Land of Israel Wendy Zierler Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	155
7. David Biale, Power and Powerlessness in Jewish History Judah Bernstein Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	160
8. Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech Claire E. Sufrin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	166
9. Primo Levi, The Drowned and the Saved Sarah Cushman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	171
10. Irving (Yitz) Greenberg, “The Third Great Cycle of Jewish History” Joshua Feigelson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	176
11. Deborah Lipstadt, Denying the Holocaust Yaffa Eliach, There Once Was a World: A 900-Year Chronicle of the Shtetl of Eishyshok Yehuda Kurtzer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	181
12. Haym Soloveitchik, “Rupture and Reconstruction” Yehuda Kurtzer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	189
13. Naomi Seidman, “Elie Wiesel and the Scandal of Jewish Rage” Erin Leib Smokler Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	194
14. Dabru Emet Marcie Lenk Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	199
15. Jonathan D. Sarna, American Judaism: A History Marc Dollinger Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	204
16. David Weiss Halivni, Breaking the Tablets: Jewish Theology After the Shoah Daniel H. Weiss Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	210
17. Ruth Wisse, “How Not to Remember and How Not to Forget” Dara Horn Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	215
18. Yossi Klein Halevi, Like Dreamers Hannah Kober Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	221
III. Religion and Religiosity
1. Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Halakhic Man Shlomo Zuckier Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	229
2. Rabbi Yehoshua Yeshaya Neuwirth, Shemirath Shabbath Kehilchathah David Bashevkin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	234
3. The Complete Artscroll Siddur David Zvi Kalman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239
4. David Hartman, A Living Covenant: The Innovative Spirit in Traditional Judaism David Ellenson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	245
5. Neil Gillman, Sacred Fragments: Recovering Theology for the Modern Jew Eugene Borowitz, Renewing the Covenant: A Theology for the Postmodern Jew Michael Marmur Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	252
6. Rachel Adler, “In Your Blood, Live: Re- visions of a Theological Purity” Gail Labovitz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	260
7. Rodger Kamenetz, The Jew in the Lotus: A Poet’s Rediscovery of Jewish Identity in Buddhist India Or Rose Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	266
8. Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, Genesis: The Beginning of Desire Shira Hecht-Koller Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	271
9. Abraham Joshua Heschel, Susannah Heschel (ed.), Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity William Plevan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	277
10. Noam Zion and David Dishon, A Different Night: The Family Participation Haggadah Emily Filler Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	283
11. Mendel Shapiro, “Qeri’at Ha-Torah by Women: A Halakhic Analysis” Tova Hartman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	289
12. Jonathan Sacks, The Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of Civilizations Michal Raucher Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	295
13. Rav Shagar, Broken Vessels Tomer Persico Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	300
14. Arthur Green, Radical Judaism: Rethinking God and Tradition Daniel Landes, “Hidden Master” Arthur Green and Daniel Landes, “God, Torah, and Israel: An Exchange” Samuel Hayim Brody Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	305
15. Elie Kaunfer, Empowered Judaism: What Independent Minyanim Can Teach Us About Building Vibrant Jewish Communities Joshua Avedon and Shawn Landres Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	313
IV. Identities and Comm
1. Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Letter to the Jewish Community of Teaneck Jonathan Sarna Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	321
2. Blu Greenberg, On Women and Judaism: A View from Tradition Rachel Gordan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	326
3. Harold Kushner, When Bad Things Happen to Good People Alan Lew, This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation Joshua Ladon Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	330
4. Evelyn Torton Beck (ed.), Nice Jewish Girls: A Lesbian Anthology Susannah Heschel (ed.), On Being a Jewish Feminist Claire E. Sufrin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	337
5. Paul Cowan with Rachel Cowan, Mixed Blessings: Overcoming the Stumbling Blocks in an Interfaith Marriage Samira Mehta Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	346
6. Judith Plaskow, Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective Judith Rosenbaum Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	352
7. Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Deborah, Golda, and Me: Being Female and Jewish in America Arielle Levites Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	357
8. Barry Kosmin, Highlights of the CJF 1990 National Jewish Population Survey “A Portrait of Jewish Americans,” Pew Research Center Mijal Bitton Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	363
9. Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Literacy Paula Hyman, “Who is an Educated Jew?” Vanessa Ochs, “Ten Jewish Sensibilities” Hannah Pressman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	370
10. Yaakov Levado, “Gayness and God: Wrestlings of an Orthodox Rabbi” Zev Farber Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	381
11. Leonard Fein, “Smashing Idols and Other Prescriptions for Jewish Continuity” Aryeh Cohen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	387
12. Steven M. Cohen and Arnold M. Eisen, The Jew Within: Self, Family, and Community in America Alan Brill Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	392
13. A. B. Yehoshua, “The Meaning of Homeland” James Loeffler Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	398
14. Elliot N. Dorff, Daniel S. Nevins, and Avram I. Reisner, “Homosexuality, Human Dignity and Halakhah: A Combined Responsum for the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards” Jane Kanarek Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	404
15. Noah Feldman, “Orthodox Paradox” Jay Lefkowitz, “The Rise of Social Orthodoxy: A Personal Account” Elli Fischer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	409
16. Tamar Biala and Nechama Weingarten- Mintz (eds.), Dirshuni: Midrashei Nashim Sarah Mulhern Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	415
17. Leon Wieseltier, “Language, Identity, and the Scandal of American Jewry” Jon Levisohn Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	421
18. Ruth Calderon, “The Heritage of All Israel” Yossi Klein Halevi Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	427
19. Rick Jacobs, “The Genesis of Our Future” Dan Friedman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	432
Contributing Authors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	437
Permissions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	447
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	451

Language: English
Publisher: Academic Studies Press
Audience: College/higher education;Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 492
Keywords: Judaism; Textbook; contemporary Jewish life; Primary Sources; Politics; History; Memory; Narrative; Religion; Identity; Community; religious freedom; persecution; Israel; Palestine; Messianism; Zionism; Israeli Supreme Court; American Jewry; Holocaust; denial; modern theology; feminism; women; Interfaith Marriage; education; homosexuality; family; language

eBook

Published: August 4, 2020
ISBN: 9781644693629