Death of Death
Resurrection and Immortality in Jewish Thought
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- $25.99
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- $25.99
Publisher Description
Does death end life, or is it the passage from one stage of life to another? In The Death of Death, noted theologian Neil Gillman offers readers an original and compelling argument that Judaism, a religion often thought to pay little attention to the afterlife, delivers a deathblow to death itself. This new work is an intellectual and spiritual milestone for all of us interested in the meaning of life, as well as the meaning of death. Combining astute scholarship with keen historical, theological, and liturgical insights, Gillman traces the evolution of Jewish thought about death and the afterlife. From Judaism' s original belief not only in the afterlife but in bodily resurrection, to later ambivalence about resurrection and reincarnation, today, somewhat surprisingly, more contemporary Jewish scholars including Gillman have unabashedly returned to the notion of bodily resurrection. The Death of Death gives new life to a very old debate. By exploring Jewish thought about death and the afterlife, it presents readers with challenging new ideas.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In a masterful survey of Jewish attitudes toward the concepts of resurrection and immortality, Gillman, who teaches Jewish philosophy at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, defies the common notion that Judaism is a religion that fails to address the afterlife. Gillman traces Judaic ideas of resurrection and immortality from their earliest formations through the medieval and modern eras to today. In the process, he discusses Psalms, the book of Daniel, Maimonides, Moses Mendelssohn, Martin Buber and contemporary Jewish thinkers like leading Reform rabbi Eugene Borowitz. Gillman demonstrates that the ideas of resurrection and immortality were introduced into Judaism as early as the fifth century B.C. and that debates about the existence of an afterlife in Judaism have often revolved around whether or not afterlife involves a resurrection of the physical body or the immortality of the soul. Gillman concludes from his study of biblical and historical texts that bodily resurrection will occur at the "end of days" and that through this resurrection "God will banish death forever." Gillman's lucid exposition offers valuable insights into the history of Jewish theology.
