The Jewish God Question
What Jewish Thinkers Have Said about God, the Book, the People, and the Land
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- $41.99
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- $41.99
Publisher Description
The Jewish God Question explores what a diverse array of Jewish thinkers have said about the interrelated questions of God, the Book, the Jewish people, and the Land of Israel. Exploring topics such as the existence of God, God’s relationship to the world and to history, how to read the Bible, Jewish mysticism, the evolution of Judaism, and more, Andrew Pessin makes key insights from the Jewish philosophical tradition accessible and engaging. Short chapters share fascinating insights from ancient times to today, from Philo to Judith Plaskow. The book emphasizes the more unusual or intriguing ideas and arguments, as well as the most influential.The Jewish God Question is an exciting and useful book for readers wrestling with some very big questions.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Nearly a decade after his book The God Question: What Famous Thinkers from Plato to Dawkins Have Said About the Divine, Pessin, professor of philosophy at Connecticut College, reprises the format to succinctly trace, from Philo to Samuel Lebens, more than two millennia of diverse Jewish perspectives on theology. Of the 72 portraits in the book, one of the most striking is that of 12th-century historian Abraham Ibn Daud, who had surprisingly modern ideas on human freedom, moral responsibility, and living with the consequences of actions. The highlight of the book is the section covering Theodor Herzl's 19th-century argument for a Jewish state safe from anti-Semitism and its opposition by Shalom Dov Baer Schneersohn, who argued that religious Jews must reject Zionism because it seeks to force the hand of God. Also included are Hannah Arendt's dismantling of Eichmann's "radical evil" and Judith Plaskow's pivotal feminist midrash. This impressive summation of a huge wealth of material will be of interest to anyone interested in the history of Jewish thought.
