The Jewish Social Contract: An Essay in Political Theology

by David Novak

Overview

The Jewish Social Contract begins by asking how a traditional Jew can participate politically and socially and in good faith in a modern democratic society, and ends by proposing a broad, inclusive notion of secularity.


David Novak takes issue with the view--held by the late philosopher John Rawls and his followers--that citizens of a liberal state must, in effect, check their religion at the door when discussing politics in a public forum. Novak argues that in a "liberal democratic state, members of faith-based communities--such as tradition-minded Jews and Christians--ought to be able to adhere to the broad political framework wholly in terms of their own religious tradition and convictions, and without setting their religion aside in the public sphere.


Novak shows how social contracts emerged, rooted in biblical notions of covenant, and how they developed in the rabbinic, medieval, and "modern periods. He offers suggestions as to how Jews today can best negotiate the modern social contract while calling upon non-Jewish allies to aid them in the process. The Jewish Social Contract will prove an enlightening and innovative contribution to the ongoing debate about the role of religion in liberal democracies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781400824397
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	01/10/2009
Series:	New Forum Books , #39
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

David Novak is J. Richard and Dorothy Shiff Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Toronto. He is the author of eleven books, including Covenantal Rights (Princeton), which won the 2000 American Academy of Religion Award for best book in constructive religious thought.

Table of Contents

List of Abbreviations ix
Preface xi


Chapter One: Formulating the Jewish Social Contract 1
The Democratic Contract 1
The Political Value of the Social Contract 7
A Contract between Minorities 10
Community and Society 12
Claims for Cultural Autonomy 21


Chapter Two: The Covenant 30
Covenant and Social Contract 30
The Noahide Covenant 34
Divine Interest in the Covenant 36
Interhuman Covenants 40
The Covenant between God and Israel 47
Covenants between Jews 53
Covenants between Jews and Gentiles 56
Contracts: Social and Private 59


Chapter Three: The Covenant Reaf .rmed 65
Covenantal Necessity 65
The Voluntary Covenant 70
Covenantal Autonomy 77
Some Social Contracts within Judaism 81


Chapter Four: The Law of the State 91
Political Subordination 91
The Law of the Gentiles 100
Palestine and Babylonia 103
Samuel's Principle 114
Secularity and Secularism 120


Chapter Five: Kingship and Secularity 124
Royal Law 124
Royal Justice 132
Ibn Adret's Halakhic Answer 142
Gerondi's Theological Answer 147
Abravanel's Philosophical Answer 150


Chapter Six: Modern Secularity 157
The Dawn of Modernity 157
Baruch Spinoza: Covenant as Social Contract 158
Moses Mendelssohn: Judaism as a Religious Denomination 164
Religious Pluralism in a Secular State 169
Traditional Judaism Continued in the Secular State 173
Mendelssohn's Problematic Legacy for Judaism 178


Chapter Seven: The Social Contract and Jewish-Christian Relations 188
The New Jewish-Christian Situation 188
Political Theology 195
Beyond Liberalism and Conservatism 201
The Question of Trust 205
Jews, Christians, Atheists, and Secularists 212


Chapter Eight: The Jewish Social Contract in Secular Public Policy 218
Jews, Judaism, and Public Policy 218
Criteria for Jewish Public Policy 223
Jewish Suspicions of General Morality 229
The Unavoidability of General Morality 230
The Political Argument for the Social Contract 235
Jewish Self-Interest and Political Alliances 237


Bibliography 239
Index 251

What People are Saying About This

Michael Walzer

David Novak provides a brilliant reconstruction of Jewish legal and political thought from the Bible to Spinoza and Mendelssohn. And this reconstruction is also an argument: that religious Jews (and by extension, religious Christians), if they understand their heritage, will make the best citizens of a pluralist and secular democratic state. At the same time, Novak also argues that ideological secularists do not make good pluralist citizens. Readers who don't agree with that last point will still find this a book with which it is a pleasure to disagree—-and also an education.
— Michael Walzer, Institute for Advanced Study

Suzanne Last Stone

Novak's analysis of the biblical and rabbinic sources is erudite and thought provoking.
— Suzanne Last Stone, Yeshiva University

From the Publisher

"David Novak provides a brilliant reconstruction of Jewish legal and political thought from the Bible to Spinoza and Mendelssohn. And this reconstruction is also an argument: that religious Jews (and by extension, religious Christians), if they understand their heritage, will make the best citizens of a pluralist and secular democratic state. At the same time, Novak also argues that ideological secularists do not make good pluralist citizens. Readers who don't agree with that last point will still find this a book with which it is a pleasure to disagree—-and also an education."—Michael Walzer, Institute for Advanced Study

"This book breaks important new ground. Novak's thoughtful Jewish voice is welcome and significant."—Peter C. Meilaender, Houghton College, author of Toward a Theory of Immigration

"Novak's analysis of the biblical and rabbinic sources is erudite and thought provoking."—Suzanne Last Stone, Yeshiva University

Meilaender

This book breaks important new ground. Novak's thoughtful Jewish voice is welcome and significant.
— Peter C. Meilaender, Houghton College, author of "Toward a Theory of Immigration"

Editorial Reviews

"In his ambitious new book, The Jewish Social Contract, David Novak restores the nexus between theology and politics implicit in covenantalism and social contract. . . . [The book] provides a rationale for how orthodox religious people might accept the legitimacy of the democratic, delimited secular orders in which they live."—-Alan Mittleman, First Things

From the Publisher

In his ambitious new book, The Jewish Social Contract, David Novak restores the nexus between theology and politics implicit in covenantalism and social contract. . . . [The book] provides a rationale for how orthodox religious people might accept the legitimacy of the democratic, delimited secular orders in which they live.

First Things

In his ambitious new book, The Jewish Social Contract, David Novak restores the nexus between theology and politics implicit in covenantalism and social contract. . . . [The book] provides a rationale for how orthodox religious people might accept the legitimacy of the democratic, delimited secular orders in which they live.

" First Things n Mittleman