To Heal the World?
How the Jewish Left Corrupts Judaism and Endangers Israel
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- 105,00 kr
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- 105,00 kr
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A devastating critique of the presumed theological basis of the Jewish social justice movement—the concept of healing the world.
What is tikkun olam? This obscure Hebrew phrase means literally “healing the world,” and according to Jonathan Neumann, it is the master concept that rests at the core of Jewish left wing activism and its agenda of transformative change. Believers in this notion claim that the Bible asks for more than piety and moral behavior; Jews must also endeavor to make the world a better place.
In a remarkably short time, this seemingly benign and wholesome notion has permeated Jewish teaching, preaching, scholarship and political engagement. There is no corner of modern Jewish life that has not been touched by it. This idea has led to overwhelming Jewish participation in the social justice movement, as such actions are believed to be biblically mandated.
There's only one problem: the Bible says no such thing.
In this lively theological polemic, Neumann shows how tikkun olam, an invention of the Jewish left, has diluted millennia of Jewish practice and belief into a vague feel-good religion of social justice. Neumann uses religious and political history to debunk this pernicious idea, and shows how the Bible was twisted by Jewish liberals to support a radical left-wing agenda.
In To Heal the World?, Neumann explains how the Jewish Renewal movement aligned itself with the New Left of the 1960s, and redirected the perspective of the Jewish community toward liberalism and social justice. He exposes the key figures responsible for this effort, shows that it lacks any real biblical basis, and outlines the debilitating effect it has had on Judaism itself.
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Neumann, a former fellow at Commentary magazine, questions whether the Hebrew Bible supports the political agenda of liberal American Jews in this provocative but flawed assessment of the basis of Jewish social justice movements. Neumann is at his best as he grounds his arguments with close readings of texts. His analysis of Abraham's argument with God about the fate of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah is particularly well done. Instead of seeing Abraham as an exemplar of the human insistence on justice (even in the face of divine opposition), Neumann persuasively argues that Abraham's capitulation to God's decree was an acknowledgment that God was acting justly. But while Neumann offers logical arguments on how the Hebrew Bible has been selectively used by the left, he resorts to ad hominem attacks to make his points spending, for example, a disproportionate amount of time on Tikkun magazine founder Michael Lerner. Even open-minded readers are likely to find Neumann undermines his case with offensive statements such as his contention that Jews pursuing social justice are looking to rebrand "Marxism as Judaism." Though the author's tendency toward inflammatory language and generalizations will turn some readers off, the work nonetheless will spark useful discussions about the intersections of Judaism and politics.