What are Jews for? : history, peoplehood, and purpose / Adam Sutcliffe.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sutcliffe, Adam, author.

Series:

Princeton scholarship online.

Princeton scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jews--Election, Doctrine of.

Jews.

Jews--Historiography.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (376 p.)

Place of Publication:

Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2021.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

What is the purpose of Jews in the world? The Bible singles out the Jews as God's 'chosen people,' but the significance of this special status has been understood in many different ways over the centuries. This book traces the history of the idea of Jewish purpose from its ancient and medieval foundations to the modern era, showing how it has been central to Western thinking on the meanings of peoplehood for everybody. The book delves into the links between Jewish and Christian messianism and the association of Jews with universalist and transformative ideals in modern philosophy, politics, literature, and social thought.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements

Introduction. What Are Jews For? History and the Purpose Question

1. Religion, Sovereignty, Messianism

2. Reason, Toleration, Emancipation

3. Teachers and Traders

4. Light unto the Nations

5. Normalization and Its Discontents

Conclusion. So What Are Jews For? Jews and Contempor ary Purpose

Notes

Index

A NOTE ON THE TYPE

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from home page (viewed on December 18, 2020).

Previously issued in print: 2020.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780691201931

0691201935

OCLC:

1163878124