Esther Benbassa, Jean-Christophe Attias
Description
From Booklist Two professors of Jewish history and culture examine the foundations of Jewish culture, where it is now, and where it may go in the futu
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re. They explore such related subjects as what it means to be a Jew, modernity and Jewish identity, anti-Semitism, Jewish nationalism and Zionism, secularization and Jewish ethics, and the role of Jewish women. They also discuss such theses as the diaspora and Israeli identities, the state of Israel as seen from inside and from the diaspora, and what they call intellectual freedom and the weight of conformism. Their concern is with the future of the Jews, a future they view with some optimism, but--they warn--"let us not get too carried away." Benbassa and Attias, authors of Israel, the Impossible Land (2003), have written a compelling book that offers a new and penetrating understanding of the major issues involving the Jews and their future. George CohenCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Product Description Esther Benbassa and Jean-Christophe Attias pose a number of controversial questions that challenge prevailing myths and attitudes about Judaism, upsetting conformist discourses and received ideas. What if the Jews were not the "descendants" of the Hebrews? What if the Jewish Book was more the Talmud than the Bible? What if medieval judeophobia could not be identified with modern anti-Semitism? What if orthodoxy was not a return to cultural origins but a new creation? What if Zionism had succeeded precisely thanks to its failures? What if the time had come to stop denying the tensions between Israel and the Diaspora? Between Ashkenazis and Sephardis? Between fundamentalists and liberals? And what if, in particular, the transformation of the memory of the Holocaust into a civil religion was now the main barrier to the universalism that, with exile and the celebration of life, has always been the heart of Jewish experience? This provocative and illuminating dialogue explores the very foundations of Jewish culture, with the spirit of inquiry and freedom of thought the authors believe will invigorate current debates. About the Author Esther Benbassa and Jean-Christophe Attias are Professors of Jewish Histrory and Culture at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Sorbonne, Paris.
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