A Best-Selling Hebrew Book of the Modern Era

David B. Ruderman

ISBN 10: 0295994134 / ISBN 13: 9780295994130

Published by University of Washington Press, US, 2014

About this Item

The history of a single book sheds light on the beginnings of modern Jewish thoughtIn 1797, in what is now the Czech Republic, Pin?as Hurwitz published Book of the Covenant. Nominally an extended commentary on a sixteenth-century kabbalist text, Pin?as's publication was in fact a compendium of scientific knowledge and a manual of moral behavior. Its popularity stemmed from its ability to present the scientific advances and moral cosmopolitanism of its day in the context of Jewish legal and mystical tradition. Describing the latest developments in science and philosophy in the sacred language of Hebrew, Hurwitz argued that an intellectual understanding of the cosmos was not at odds with but actually key to achieving spiritual attainment. In A Best-Selling Hebrew Book of the Modern Era, David Ruderman offers a literary and intellectual history of Hurwitz's book and its legacy. Hurwitz not only wrote the book, but also was instrumental in selling it, and his success ultimately led to the publication of more than forty editions in Hebrew, Ladino, and Yiddish. Ruderman provides a multidimensional picture of the book and the intellectual tradition it helped to inaugurate. Complicating accounts that consider modern Jewish thought to be the product of a radical break from a religious, mystical past, Ruderman shows how, instead, a complex continuity shaped Jewish society's confrontation with modernity.

Seller Inventory # LU-9780295994130

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Best-Selling Hebrew Book of the Modern Era
• Publisher: University of Washington Press, US
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0295994134
• ISBN 13: 9780295994130
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 431 grams

About this title

Synopsis

The history of a single book sheds light on the beginnings of modern Jewish thought

In 1797, in what is now the Czech Republic, Pinḥas Hurwitz published Book of the Covenant. Nominally an extended commentary on a sixteenth-century kabbalist text, Pinḥas’s publication was in fact a compendium of scientific knowledge and a manual of moral behavior. Its popularity stemmed from its ability to present the scientific advances and moral cosmopolitanism of its day in the context of Jewish legal and mystical tradition. Describing the latest developments in science and philosophy in the sacred language of Hebrew, Hurwitz argued that an intellectual understanding of the cosmos was not at odds with but actually key to achieving spiritual attainment.

In A Best-Selling Hebrew Book of the Modern Era, David Ruderman offers a literary and intellectual history of Hurwitz’s book and its legacy. Hurwitz not only wrote the book, but also was instrumental in selling it, and his success ultimately led to the publication of more than forty editions in Hebrew, Ladino, and Yiddish. Ruderman provides a multidimensional picture of the book and the intellectual tradition it helped to inaugurate. Complicating accounts that consider modern Jewish thought to be the product of a radical break from a religious, mystical past, Ruderman shows how, instead, a complex continuity shaped Jewish society’s confrontation with modernity.

About the Author

David B. Ruderman is Joseph Meyerhoff Professor of modern Jewish history at the University of Pennsylvania.