Judaism : a way of being / David Hillel Gelernter.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gelernter, David Hillel.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Judaism.

Jewish way of life.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (256 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, 2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Written for observant and non-observant Jews and anyone interested in religion, this remarkable book by the distinguished scholar David Gelernter seeks to answer the deceptively simple question: What is Judaism really about? Gelernter views Judaism as one of humanity's most profound and sublimely beautiful achievements. But because Judaism is a way of life rather than a formal system of thought, it has been difficult for anyone but a practicing Jew to understand its unique intellectual and spiritual structure. Gelernter explores compelling questions, such as:How does Judaism's obsession with life on earth versus the world-to-come separate it fundamentally from Christianity and Islam? Why do Jews believe in God, and how can they after the Holocaust? What makes Classical Judaism the most important intellectual development in Western history? Why does Judaism teach that, in the course of the Jewish people's coming-of-age, God moved out of history and into the human mind, abandoning all power but the capacity to talk to each person from inside and thereby to influence events only indirectly?In discussing these and other questions, Gelernter seeks to lay out Jewish beliefs on four basic topics-the sanctity of everyday life; man and God; the meaning of sexuality and family; good, evil, and the nature of God's justice in a cruel world-and to convey a profound and stirring sense of what it means to be Jewish.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

I. Picturing Judaism

II. Separation

III. Veil

IV. Perfect Asymmetry

V. Inward Pilgrimage

VI. David's Dance

Appendix A: Why Believe in God?

Appendix B:What Makes Judaism the Most Important Intellectual Development in Western History?

Appendix C: Jewish and Christian Ethics

Notes

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

1-282-35301-2

9786612353017

0-300-15646-4

OCLC:

1024013229