After emancipation : Jewish religious responses to modernity / David Ellenson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ellenson, David Harry, 1947-2023.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Judaism--History--Modern period, 1750-.

Judaism.

History.

Jews--Identity.

Jews.

Jews--Intellectual life.

Responsa--1948-.

Responsa.

Judaism--Modern period.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

547 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cincinnati : Hebrew Union College Press, [2004]

Summary:

Twenty three essays which are grouped into five sections. In the first, Ellenson reflects among other things upon the expression of Jewish values and Jewish identity in contemporary America. In the second section, he indicates how Jewish religious leaders in nineteenth century Europe labored to demonstrate that the Jewish religion and Jewish culture were worthy of respect by the larger gentile world. In a third section, Ellenson shows how the leaders of Liberal and Orthodox branches of Judaism in Central Europe constructed novel parameters for their communities through prayer books, legal writings, sermons and journal articles. The fourth section takes a look at twentieth century Jewish legal decisions on new issues such as the status of women, fertility treatments and even the obligations of the Israeli government towards its minority populations. The last section analyzes some contemporary works of legal and liturgical creativity: the new Israeli Masorti prayer book, David Hartman's works on covenantal theology and Marcia Falk's Book of Blessings.

Contents:

Reflections on modernity: Judaism resurgent? : American Jews and the evolving expression of Jewish values and Jewish identity ; Jacob Katz on the origins and dimensions of Jewish modernity ; Max Weber on Judaism and the Jews

The challenge of emancipation: Emancipation and the directions of modern Judaism : the lessons of Melitz Yosher ; A disputed precedent : the Prague Organ in nineteenth-century central European legal literature and polemics ; Samuel Holdheim and Zacharias Frankel on the legal character of Jewish marriage ; Traditional reactions of modern Jewish reform : the paradigm of German Orthodoxy ; The Rabbiner-Seminar Codicil : an instrument of boundary maintenance

Denominationa responses: The Israelitische Gebetbücher of Abraham Geiger and Manuel Joël ; The prayers for rain in the Siddurim of Abraham Geiger and Isaac Mayer Wise ; German Jewish Orthodoxy : tradition in the context of culture ; Gemeindeorthodoxie in Weimar, Germany : the approaches of Nehemiah Anton Nobel and Isak Unna ; The curriculum of the Jewish Theological Seminary in historical and comparative perspective : a prism on the emergence of American Jewish religious denominationalism

Modern responsa: Women and the study of Torah : a responsum by Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin of Jerusalem ; Gender, Halakhah, and women's suffrage : responsa of the first three chief rabbis on the public role of women in the Jewish state ; Parallel worlds : Wissenschaft and Psak in the Seridei Eish ; A Jewish legal authority addresses Jewish-Christian dialogue : two responsa of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein ; Jewish legal interpretation and moral values : two responsa by Rabbi Ḥayim David Halevi on the obligations of the Israeli government towards its minority population ; Interpretive fluidity and Psak in a case of Pidyon Shevuyim : an analysis of a modern Israeli responsum as illuminated by the thought of David Hartman ; Artificial fertilization and procreative autonomy : two contemporary responsa

New initiatives, new directions: A new rite from Israel : reflections on Siddur Vaʼani Tefillati of the Masorti (Conservative) Movement ; David Hartman on Judaism and the modern condition ; Marcia Falk's The book of blessings : the issue is theological.

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

National Jewish Book Awards - Modern Jewish Thought and Experience, Winner, 2005

ISBN:

0878202234

9780878202232

OCLC:

55131472

Publisher Number:

99809138683