Secularism in Question: Jews and Judaism in Modern Times (Jewish Culture and Contexts)

Joskowicz, Ari

ISBN 10: 0812247272 / ISBN 13: 9780812247275

Published by University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015

About this Item

2015. Hardcover. . . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland.

Seller Inventory # V9780812247275

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Secularism in Question: Jews and Judaism in Modern Times (Jewish Culture and Contexts)
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
• Publication Date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0812247272
• ISBN 13: 9780812247275
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

For much of the twentieth century, most religious and secular Jewish thinkers believed that they were witnessing a steady, ongoing movement toward secularization. Toward the end of the century, however, as scholars and pundits began to speak of the global resurgence of religion, the normalization of secularism could no longer be considered inevitable. Recent decades have seen the strengthening of Orthodox movements in the United States and in Israel; religious Zionism has grown and radically changed since the 1960s, and new and vibrant nondenominational Jewish movements have emerged.

Secularism in Question examines the ways these contemporary revivals of religion prompt a reconsideration of many issues concerning Jews and Judaism from the early modern era to the present. Bringing together scholars of history, religion, philosophy, and literature, this volume illustrates how the categories of "religious" and "secular" have frequently proven far more permeable than fixed. The contributors challenge the problematic assumptions about the development of secularism that emerge from Protestant European and American perspectives and demonstrate that global Jewish experiences necessitate a reappraisal of conventional narratives of secularism. Ultimately, Secularism in Question calls for rethinking the very terms that animate many of the most contentious debates in contemporary Jewish life and far beyond.

Contributors: Michal Ben-Horin, Aryeh Edrei, Jonathan Mark Gribetz, Ari Joskowicz, Ethan B. Katz, Eva Lezzi, Vivian Liska, Rachel Manekin, David Myers, Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin, Andrea Schatz, Christophe Schulte, Daniel B. Schwartz, Galili Shahar, Scott Ury.

About the Author

Ari Joskowicz teaches Jewish studies and European studies at Vanderbilt University. He is author of The Modernity of Others: Jewish Anti-Catholicism in Germany and France. Ethan B. Katz teaches history at the University of Cincinnati.