The Love of God : Divine Gift, Human Gratitude, and Mutual Faithfulness in Judaism / Jon D. Levenson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Levenson, Jon D., author.

Series:

Library of Jewish ideas.

Library of Jewish Ideas ; 8

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

God (Judaism)--Love.

God (Judaism).

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (261 p.)

Edition:

Pilot project. eBook available to selected US libraries only

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2015]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The love of God is perhaps the most essential element in Judaism-but also one of the most confounding. In biblical and rabbinic literature, the obligation to love God appears as a formal commandment. Yet most people today think of love as a feeling. How can an emotion be commanded? How could one ever fulfill such a requirement? The Love of God places these scholarly and existential questions in a new light.Jon Levenson traces the origins of the concept to the ancient institution of covenant, showing how covenantal love is a matter neither of sentiment nor of dry legalism. The love of God is instead a deeply personal two-way relationship that finds expression in God's mysterious love for the people of Israel, who in turn observe God's laws out of profound gratitude for his acts of deliverance. Levenson explores how this bond has survived episodes in which God's love appears to be painfully absent-as in the brutal persecutions of Talmudic times-and describes the intensely erotic portrayals of the relationship by biblical prophets and rabbinic interpreters of the Song of Songs. He examines the love of God as a spiritual discipline in the Middle Ages as well as efforts by two influential modern Jewish thinkers-Martin Buber and Franz Rosenzweig-to recover this vital but endangered aspect of their tradition.A breathtaking work of scholarship and spirituality alike that is certain to provoke debate, The Love of God develops fascinating insights into the foundations of religious life in the classical Jewish tradition.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

A Note on Transliteration from Hebrew

Preface

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

1. A Covenantal Love

2. Heart, Soul, and Might

3. The Once and Future Romance

4. The Consummation of the Spiritual Life

5. "Because He has sold Himself to us with the Torah"

Notes

Index of Primary Sources

Index of Modern Authors

Notes:

Includes indexes.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Mai 2019)

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9781400873395

1400873398

OCLC:

934475883