The No-State Solution: A Jewish Manifesto

by Daniel Boyarin

Overview

A provocative manifesto, arguing for a new understanding of the Jews’ peoplehood
 
“A self-consciously radical statement that is both astute and joyous.”—Kirkus Reviews
 
Today there are two seemingly mutually exclusive notions of what “the Jews” are: either a religion or a nation/ethnicity. The widespread conception is that the Jews were formerly either a religious community in exile or a nation based on Jewish ethnicity. The latter position is commonly known as Zionism, and all articulations of a political theory of Zionism are taken to be variations of that view.
 
In this provocative book, based on his decades of study of the history of the Jews, Daniel Boyarin lays out the problematic aspects of this binary opposition and offers the outlines of a different—and very old—answer to the question of the identity of a diaspora nation. He aims to drive a wedge between the “nation” and the “state,” only very recently conjoined, and recover a robust sense of nationalism that does not involve sovereignty.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300251289
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	01/31/2023
Pages:	200
Sales rank:	231,183
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Daniel Boyarin is the Hermann P. and Sophia Taubman Professor of Talmudic Culture Emeritus at the University of California at Berkeley, where he held joint appointments in the Department of Near Eastern Studies and the Department of Rhetoric.

Editorial Reviews

A self-consciously radical statement that is both astute and joyous.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Trenchant, plangent, and courageous, Daniel Boyarin’s polemic rewrites the ground rules of what has been known for centuries as ‘the Jewish question.’ Any future discussion must take his ’no-state solution’ into account.”—Haun Saussy, University of Chicago

“Daniel Boyarin’s book delves into the very heart of what it means to be Jewish in the world today, not as an assertion of exclusiveness but rather as the starting point for a universalist idea about Jewishness drawn from its complicated multifaceted history. The manifesto is thus a provocation to think anew about what constitutes nation, society, culture, and the ultimate goals of cosmopolitan humanistic enquiry. A masterpiece!”—Ato Quayson, author of Tragedy and Postcolonial Literature

“In his intrepid manifesto, Daniel Boyarin calls for a Jewish nationalism not sited in a nation-state. Far beyond the Jewish case, it provokes both those who see no more need for national identity and those who insist on a territorial home for each. As unexpected in his arguments as he is witty in his prose, Boyarin is in characteristically good form in this essential new statement.”—Samuel Moyn, Yale University

“Daniel Boyarin’s stirring manifesto for a Jewish diaspora nation proposes an expansive anti-statist argument that makes common cause with the freedom of Palestinians and the rights of Black Lives. His rousing call for subaltern solidarity provokes me to ask: how does the ‘no-state’ solution address the claims for an independent nation-state or a bi-national state as articulated by the Palestinian people whose sovereignty has been repeatedly subverted and whose dignity is daily disfigured? Read this daring essay that invites your argument, not your agreement.”—Homi Bhabha, Harvard University

From the Publisher

In his intrepid manifesto, Daniel Boyarin calls for a Jewish nationalism not sited in a nation-state. Far beyond the Jewish case, it provokes both those who see no more need for national identity and those who insist on a territorial home for each. As unexpected in his arguments as he is witty in his prose, Boyarin is in characteristically good form in this essential new statement.”—Samuel Moyn, Yale University

Samuel Moyn

2022-11-29
A Talmudic scholar who is disenchanted with Israel’s current injustices against Palestinians vows to support Jewish identity and culture through diaspora.

Boyarin, who has authored many books about Judaism and comparative religion, believes that the Jewish identity is shaped less by ethnicity and nationality than by common narratives, languages, and practices. As a young man, the author was deeply engaged in the Zionist socialist youth movement, which imbued him with a deep sense of social justice for everyone. After serving in the Army Reserves in Israel, he lived and studied there for 20 years, raising a family. During that time, he began to realize that Israel was not committed to social justice. Living in the U.S. for the past 30 years, he is ever dedicated to Talmudic study and Jewish culture. In this “manifesto,” the author looks at how two ideals—a prosperous nation-state and commitment to social justice for all—can be achieved. Probing thorny issues with aplomb, Boyarin questions a variety of concepts of Judaism as a religion and Jews as a people. Ultimately, he demonstrates the significance of what binds all Jews and makes them what they are: “shared trials and tribulations…shared practices, shared languages, and other cultural forms.” He emphasizes the importance of the Talmud and the lively dialogue that it has engendered across time and space. “Ideas are generated out of quotations, quotations contested, amended, emended, combined, and renewed.” The author draws insightful comparisons to Black learning, identity, and isolation. As jazz is to Black vernacular, so is Talmudic diaspora learning to Jewish sociality. Boyarin is clearly committed to eliminating labels about religion and state, and he will inspire like-minded readers with his focus on “just Jews, singing, dancing, speaking, and writing in Hebrew, Yiddish, Judezmo, learning the Talmud in all sorts of ways, fighting together for justice for Palestinians and Black Lives Matter.”

A self-consciously radical statement that is both astute and joyous.

Kirkus Reviews

Daniel Boyarin’s stirring manifesto for a Jewish diaspora nation proposes an expansive anti-statist argument that makes common cause with the freedom of Palestinians and the rights of Black Lives. His rousing call for subaltern solidarity provokes me to ask: how does the ‘no-state’ solution address the claims for an independent nation-state or a bi-national state as articulated by the Palestinian people whose sovereignty has been repeatedly subverted and whose dignity is daily disfigured? Read this daring essay that invites your argument, not your agreement.”

Anne F. Rothenberg Professor of the Humanities at Homi Bhabha

In his intrepid manifesto, Daniel Boyarin calls for a Jewish nationalism not sited in a nation-state. Far beyond the Jewish case, it provokes both those who see no more need for national identity and those who insist on a territorial home for each. As unexpected in his arguments as he is witty in his prose, Boyarin is in characteristically good form in this essential new statement.”

Henry R. Luce Professor of Jurisprudence at Yale L Samuel Moyn

Trenchant, plangent, and courageous, Daniel Boyarin’s polemic rewrites the ground rules of what has been known for centuries as ‘the Jewish question.’ Any future discussion must take his ‘no-state solution’ into account.”

University of Chicago Haun Saussy

Daniel Boyarin’s book delves into the very heart of what it means to be Jewish in the world today not as an assertion of exclusiveness, but rather as the starting point for a universalist idea about Jewishness drawn from its complicated multifaceted history. The manifesto is thus a provocation to think anew about what constitutes nation, society, culture, and the ultimate goals of cosmopolitan humanistic enquiry. A masterpiece!”

author of Tragedy and Postcolonial Literature Ato Quayson