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More About This Textbook
Overview
"Fascinating . . . an insightful entrance point to understanding the evolution of the theologies of America's largest Jewish denominations."—Tikkun
"I know of no other treatment of these issues that matches Eisen's talents for synthesizing a wide variety of historical, philosophical, and social scientific sources, and bringing them to bear in a balanced and open-minded way on the delicate questions of why modern Jews relate as they do to the practices of Judaism."—Joseph Reimer, Boston Book Review
"At once an incisive survey of modern Jewish thought and an inquiry into how Jews actually live their religious lives, Mr. Eisen's book is an invaluable addition to the study of American Judaism."—Elliott Abrams, Washington Times
Winner of the 1999 Koret Jewish Book Award for Thought and Philosophy.
Editorial Reviews
Joseph Reimer
I know of no other treatment of these issues [of Judaism] that matches Eisen's talents for synthesizing a wide range of historical, philosophical, and social scientific sources, and bringing them to bear in a balanced and open-minded way on the delicate questions of why modern Jews relate as they do to the practices of Judaism. -- Boston Book ReviewLibrary Journal
In his new book, Eisen (religious studies, Stanford, and author of Chosen People in America), examines modern Jewish ritual as a window into Jewish feeling. He offers some striking ideas, pointing out that modernity has affected even those who consider themselves of orthodox belief. He seeks to show how Jews of all spectra are continually reinventing traditions. After all, nostalgia and the search for usable history partly motivate religious practice, and in our times the Passover haggadah has been rewritten by various Jewish movements to emphasize different aspects of freedom. -- Paul M. Kaplan, Lake Villa Districk Library, Round Lake Beach, IllinoisSamuel Hynes
An insightful entrace point to understanding the evolution of the theologies of America's largest Jewish denominations. -- Tikkun MagazineDavid Singer
Arnold Eisen has certainly chosen an opportune time to "rethink" the place of observance in modern Judaism....If Eisen's promiscuous use of religious language serves any purpose, it is to remind us what Judaism has lost in the various attempts to modernize it....Welcome though the current turn to ritual is, it seems unlikely to endure if it is not accompanied by a revival of a more far-reaching and spiritual sort. -- CommentaryProduct Details
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Table of Contents
1: Founding Theories of Modernity and the Critique of Jewish Practice
2: Twentieth-Century Theories of Modernity and the Study of Jewish Practice
3: The Distinctiveness of Modern Jewish Practice
4: The Politics of Jewish Ritual Observance
5: New Reasons for Old Commandments: The Strategy of Symbolic Explanation
6: Nostalgia as Modern Jewish Mitzvah
7: Buber, Rosenzweig, and the Authority of the Commandments
8: The Reconstruction of Jewish Tradition in Twentieth-Century America Conclusion Notes Index