Wrestling with an angel : power, morality, and jewish identity / Ehud Luz ; translated from the Hebrew by Michael Swirsy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Luz, Ehud.

Standardized Title:

Maʼavaḳ be-naḥal Yaboḳ. English

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jews--Identity.

Jews.

Zionism and Judaism.

Jewish ethics.

Power (Social sciences)--Moral and ethical aspects.

Power (Social sciences).

Sovereignty--Moral and ethical aspects.

Sovereignty.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (363 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, c2003.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

By regaining for the Jewish people the capacity to deploy force, Zionism posed moral dilemmas for the Jews that for many generations, living in exile, they had not had to confront. The return to full political life and the use of military force involved a profound revolution in the Jewish identity and aroused deep and painful misgivings. This thought-provoking book examines how the forging of a new moral stance on the use of force has affected Jewish identity in the Land of Israel and throughout the world. Drawing on historiography, philosophy, social commentary, ideological tracts, and belles lettres, Ehud Luz explores the ways that Zionist attitudes toward sovereignty were shaped by their Judaic heritage, in particular the prophetic literature and the halakhic (legal) tradition, which stressed the sanctity of human life and the strict prohibition against the shedding of innocent blood. Luz argues that despite secularization, Jewish tradition continues to influence the political life and national ethos of the Jews, and that the Jewish religious tradition is an important, sometimes even decisive factor in the way that political and cultural issues in Israel are resolved.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Preface

Introduction

1. Power, Freedom, and Political Independence in Jewish Thought

2. Shame, Guilt, and Suffering in Jewish Culture until Modern Times

3. The Shame of Exile and the Zionist Recovery of Jewish Dignity

4. ''The Remnant of Israel''

5. The Wager in Greenberg's The Ways of the River

6. Messianism and Realism

7. Criticism of the Idea of Sovereignty in Non-Zionist Thought

8. Sovereignty and Jewish Commitment after the Holocaust in the Thought of Emil Fackenheim, George Steiner, and Irving Greenberg

9. Sovereignty and Power in Zionist Debate during the Mandate Period

10. Reacting to Arab Terror

11. Halakha and Morality in Religious Zionism after the Six-Day War

12. Persecuted or Persecutor?

13. Challenging the Zionist Ethos

Conclusion

Notes

References

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 315-338) and index.

ISBN:

9786611730109

9781281730107

1281730106

9780300129298

0300129297

OCLC:

1013957818