Abraham: The First Jew

by Anthony Julius

Overview

The story of Abraham, the first Jew, portrayed as two lives lived by one person, paralleling the contradictions in Judaism throughout its history

In this new biography of Abraham, Judaism's foundational figure, Anthony Julius offers an account of the origins of a fundamental struggle within Judaism between skepticism and faith, critique and affirmation, thinking for oneself and thinking under the direction of another. Julius describes Abraham's life as two separate lives, and as a version of the collective life of the Jewish people.

Abraham's first life is an early adulthood of questioning the polytheism of his home city of Ur Kasdim until its ruler, Nimrod, condemns him to death and he is rescued, he believes, by a miracle. In his second life, Abraham's focus is no longer on critique but rather on conversion and on his leadership over his growing household, until God's command that he sacrifice his son Isaac. This test, the Akedah (or "Binding"), ends with another miracle, as he believes, but as Julius argues, it is also a catastrophe for Abraham. The Akedah represents for him an unsurpassed horizon—and in Jewish life thereafter. This book focuses on Abraham as leader of the first Jewish project, Judaism, and the unresolvable, insurmountable crisis that the Akedah represents—both in his leadership and in Judaism itself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798228601123
Publisher:	Tantor
Publication date:	07/22/2025
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 5.70(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Anthony Julius is deputy chairman of the international law firm Mishcon de Reya and a professor in the Faculty of Laws, University College London. He is the author of T. S. Eliot, Anti-Semitism and Literary Form, among other books. He lives in London, UK.

Editorial Reviews

With his extraordinary new book, Abraham: The First Jew, the British jurist and historian Anthony Julius provides a new dualistic taxonomy that deserves to find its way into scholarship and biblical discourse.”—David Wolpe, Commentary

“A bold new biography.”—Simon Rocker, Jewish Chronicle

“Julius has written an important and original book. In just 392 pages, he has offered us a profound intellectual exploration of the forces that are shaping Jewish identity in our age.”—Alan Bekhor, The Article

“Julius . . . has written a formally inventive overview of Judaism’s founder including novelistic scenes, debates and multi-pronged considerations of the story’s key events. . . . It is a text rich in allusions to philosophers, Romantic poets and midrash, capturing the existential dilemmas central to Jewish life and prefigured by our ancestor.”—PJ Grisar, Forward

“Julius’s story . . . tells us what Jews have made of Abraham. That assignment is an ample one, and Julius displays a critical intellect that is up to the task.”—Robert Siegel, Moment

“This brilliantly original and often deeply moving book tells the story of Abraham so as to set out a narrative of ‘faith’ itself—the relation of faith to reason, the abiding tension between claimed conviction and inescapable or tragic questioning, the way in which, like Abraham, we may be both ‘residents’ and ‘aliens’ in the world of discourse about God. A unique and searching masterpiece.”—Rowan Williams, theologian and poet, University of Cambridge

“Anthony Julius’s Abraham is beautifully written, provocative, and wise.”—Martha C. Nussbaum, University of Chicago

“Fascinating and profound, scholarly and playful, philosophical and aesthetic, Anthony Julius’s Abraham is an original and compelling hybrid that brings Abraham to life and through him discusses the nature of faith and his own personal philosophy.”—Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Jerusalem: The Biography

“Learned, rich in revelation, beautifully articulated and researched. In an age when the phrase ‘the Abrahamic religions’ is tossed about with ease, it is more than fascinating to follow Anthony Julius’s meditations on the man himself.”—Stephen Fry, author of Mythos

From the Publisher

2024-11-09
Atypical portrayal of the life and person of Abraham.

British attorney and scholar Julius introduces the reader to the patriarch Abraham in a way that few have considered him before. Drawing from Moses Maimonides and other rabbinic sources, Julius concentrates not on the Abraham who is highlighted in the Torah, but on Abraham at an earlier stage of life. In fact, the author presents Abraham 1 and Abraham 2 as the embodied dichotomy of this ancient man and, in many ways, of the Jewish people who call him their ancestor. Abraham 1 is a philosopher who spurns idolatry but also argues with his culture and is unsettled about his own understanding of who and what God is. That would all change in time, as he evolved into Abraham 2 and founded a nation. Julius’ approach is fresh and intriguing, but his execution is uneven. Even for as great a figure as Abraham, Julius tends to craft as great a figure as Abraham into something spectacularly new, as if he were not already epic enough. For instance, the author develops his characters through soliloquies or dialogues, which is useful to a point. However, even in pure imagination, it is hard to picture Sarah telling Abraham, “Autonomy is achieved in solidarity,” or to hear Abraham say to himself, “Reasoning has led me to a determinate conclusion.” This tactic takes on a life of its own late in the book, at which point Julius conceptualizes Abraham 1 and Abraham 2 engaged in a debate. Back and forth, they bandy profound insights and arguments amid slightly veiled insults, page after page. The author uses this tool in order to draw out the dichotomy that was Abraham, and which still is Judaism. His results, however, risk coming across as academically pompous.

A promising concept with over-the-top results.

Kirkus Reviews