Jewish Secularity. The Search for Roots and the Challenges of Relevant Meaning

Gordis, David M.; Zachary I. Heller (Eds.)

ISBN 10: 0761857931 / ISBN 13: 9780761857938

Published by University Press of America, Lanham, Boulder, New York, etc., 2012

About this Item

Quarto. vi, 130pp. Original glossy boards with white an black lettering on cover, white on spine. "If Judaism were simply a religion, the title of this collection of essays would be an oxymoron. But, of course, as has been recognized as a commonplace for several centuries, Judaism is not easily characterized as simply a religion. The the religious dimension of Judaism is a central if not defining characteristic, Judaism is a culture and civilization which embraces the secular as well. Nor can the Jews be easily subsumed under any of the conventional categories of social groupings, nation, culture, religion or ethnicity. For precisely this reason Jews are most often referred to as a "people," a designation which is as much as anything a concession to the inadequacy of other categories to describe them. All this is to suggest the presence of secular dimensions alongside the religious in Jewish life." (Introduction).

Seller Inventory # 55719

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Jewish Secularity. The Search for Roots and the Challenges of Relevant Meaning
• Publisher: University Press of America, Lanham, Boulder, New York, etc.
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0761857931
• ISBN 13: 9780761857938
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First edition.
• Condition: Fine condition
• Seller catalogs:
  • Judaica

About this title

Synopsis

A growing number of Jews identify themselves as secular or “somewhat secular.” Is this expansive definition of Jewishness a new phenomenon? What are its roots? What are its implications for the Jewish community, its institutions, and its future? In reflecting on secular forms of Jewishness, the contributors to this book explore the sources of Jewish secularism and its articulation in Jewish thought, belief, literature, and culture. Included in this book are several personal accounts of Jewish journeys, as well as analyses of the extent of the division between secular Jews and others in the Jewish community. In sum, Jewish Secularity: The Search for Roots and the Challenges of Relevant Meaning provides an overview of a profound development in the evolving history of Jewish life in America.

About the Author

David M. Gordis is president of Hebrew College and professor emeritus of Rabbinics. He is the founding director of the National Center for Jewish Policy Studies and the initiator of the Interreligious Center on Public Life. An ordained rabbi, he is widely regarded for his classic Jewish scholarship, his communal leadership, and his extensive writings on Jewish life in America and Israel. Prior to assuming the presidency of Hebrew College in 1993, he served as vice president of the University of Judaism in Los Angeles (now renamed the American Jewish University) and as executive vice president of the American Jewish Committee.

Zachary I. Heller served as associate director of the National Center for Jewish Policy Studies (successor to the Wilstein Institute) from 1996 until his death in 2010. He combined a career in the rabbinate with national and international Jewish communal leadership. He is the author of numerous articles in the fields of Jewish policy and bioethics and the editor of several volumes of Jewish policy studies.