The drawing of boundaries has always been a key part of the Jewish tradition and has served to maintain a distinctive Jewish identity. At the same time, these boundaries have consistently been subject to negotiation, transgression and contestation. The increasing fragmentation of Judaism into competing claims to membership, from Orthodox adherence to secular identities, has brought striking new dimensions to this complex interplay of boundaries and modes of identity and belonging in contemporary Judaism. Boundaries, Identity and Belonging in Modern Judaism addresses these new dimensions, bringing together experts in the field to explore the various and fluid modes of expressing and defining Jewish identity in the modern world. Its interdisciplinary scholarship opens new perspectives on the prominent questions challenging scholars in Jewish Studies. Beyond simply being born Jewish, observance of Judaism has become a lifestyle choice and active assertion. Addressing the demographic changes brought by population mobility and ‘marrying out,’ as well as the complex relationships between Israel and the Diaspora, this book reveals how these shifting boundaries play out in a global context, where Orthodoxy meets innovative ways of defining and acquiring Jewish identity. This book is essential reading for students and scholars of Jewish Studies, as well as general Religious Studies and those interested in the sociology of belonging and identities.

The drawing of boundaries has always been a key part of the Jewish tradition and has served to maintain a distinctive Jewish identity. At the same time, these boundaries have consistently been subject to negotiation, transgression and contestation. The increasing fragmentation of Judaism into competing claims to membership, from Orthodox adherence to secular identities, has brought striking new dimensions to this complex interplay of boundaries and modes of identity and belonging in contemporary Judaism. Boundaries, Identity and Belonging in Modern Judaism addresses these new dimensions, bringing together experts in the field to explore the various and fluid modes of expressing and defining Jewish identity in the modern world. Its interdisciplinary scholarship opens new perspectives on the prominent questions challenging scholars in Jewish Studies. Beyond simply being born Jewish, observance of Judaism has become a lifestyle choice and active assertion. Addressing the demographic changes brought by population mobility and ‘marrying out,’ as well as the complex relationships between Israel and the Diaspora, this book reveals how these shifting boundaries play out in a global context, where Orthodoxy meets innovative ways of defining and acquiring Jewish identity. This book is essential reading for students and scholars of Jewish Studies, as well as general Religious Studies and those interested in the sociology of belonging and identities.

Christhu Doss examines how the colonial construct of communalism through the fault lines of the supposed religious neutrality, the hunger for the bread of life, the establishment of exclusive village settlements for the proselytes, the rhetoric of Victorian morality, the booby-traps of modernity, and the subversion of Indian cultural heritage resulted in a radical reorientation of religious allegiance that eventually created a perpetual detachment between proselytes and the “others.” Exploring the trajectories of communalism, Doss demonstrates how the multicultural Indian society, known widely for its composite culture, and secular convictions were categorized, compartmentalized, and communalized by the racialized religious pretensions. A vital read for historians, political scientists, sociologists, anthropologists, and all those who are interested in religions, cultures, identity politics, and decolonization in modern India.

For many, the Holocaust made thinking about ethics in traditional ways impossible. It called into question the predominance of speculative ontology in Western thought, and left many arguing that Western political, cultural and philosophical inattention to universal ethics were both a cause and an effect of European civilization's collapse in the twentieth century. Emmanuel Levinas, Elie Wiesel and Richard Rubenstein respond to this problem by insisting that ethics must be Western thought's first concern. Unlike previous thinkers, they locate humanity's source of universal ethical obligation in the temporal world of experience, where human suffering, rather than metaphysics, provides the ground for ethical engagement. All three thinkers contend that Judaism’s key lesson is that our fellow human is our responsibility, and use Judaism to develop a contemporary ethics that could operate with or without God. Ethics and Suffering since the Holocaust explores selected works of Levinas, Wiesel, and Rubenstein for practical applications of their ethics, analyzing the role of suffering and examining the use each thinker makes of Jewish sources and the advantages and disadvantages of this use. Finally, it suggests how the work of Jewish thinkers living in the wake of the Holocaust can be of unique value to those interested in the problem of ethics in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Presenting a thorough investigation of the work of Levinas, Wiesel and Rubinstein, this book is of key interest to students and scholars of Jewish studies, as well as Jewish ethics and philosophy.

Abū’l-Barakāt is a renowned philosopher of the Arabic-Jewish milieu who composed in his magnum opus the Kitāb al-Mu‘tabar, a comprehensive metaphysics which challenged the accepted notions of the traditional metaphysical philosophy. ‘Abū’l-Barakāt al-Baghdādī’s Metaphysical Philosophy’ examines the novel philosophical conceptions of the first book of the Metaphysics of the Kitāb al-Mu‘tabar. The aim is to present a developed conception of Abū’l-Barakāt’s systematic metaphysics. This is accomplished by following the order of topics discussed, while translating the relevant passages. These different topics comprise stages of cognition that move from an analysis of time, creation and causality to the conception of a higher spiritual realm of mental entities and a conception of God as the First Knower and Teacher. The epistemological and ontological conceptions are analyzed at each culminating stage. ‘Abū’l-Barakāt al-Baghdādī’s Metaphysical Philosophy’ analyzes vast portions of the metaphysical study for the first time. The book will thus be a valuable resource for all those seeking an original and broad metaphysics, and for students and scholars of Jewish and Islamic Philosophy. Furthermore, it is of importance for those seeking a metaphysics related to scientific theories and those interested in the history of science and metaphysics.

Religious Studies and Rabbinics have overlapping yet distinct interests, subject matter, and methods. Religious Studies is committed to the study of religion writ large. It develops theories and methods intended to apply across religious traditions. Rabbinics, by contrast, is dedicated to a defined set of texts produced by the rabbinic movement of late antiquity. Religious Studies and Rabbinics represents the first sustained effort to create a conversation between these two academic fields. In one trajectory of argument, the book shows what is gained when each field sees how the other engages the same questions: When did the concept of "religion" arise? How should a scholar’s normative commitments interact with their scholarship? The book argues that if scholars from Religious Studies and Rabbinics do not realize they are addressing the same problems, they will not benefit from each other’s solutions. A second line of argument brings research methods, theoretical claims, and data associated with one field into contact with those of the other. When Religious Studies categories such as "ritual" or "the sacred" are applied to data from Rabbinics and, conversely, when text-reading strategies distinctive to Rabbinics are employed for texts from other traditions, both Religious Studies and Rabbinics enlarge their scope. The chapters range across such themes as ritual failure; rabbinic conceptions of scripture, ethics, food, time, and everyday life; problems of definition and normativity in the study of religion; J.Z. Smith’s writings; and the preaching of the African-American Christian evangelical social justice activist John Perkins. With chapters written by world-class theorists of Religious Studies and prominent text scholars of Rabbinics, the book provides a unique opportunity to expand the conceptual reach and scholarly audience of both Religious Studies and Jewish Studies.

In Ontological Aspects of Early Jewish Anthropology, Tyson L. Putthoff explores early Jewish beliefs about how the human self reacts ontologically in God’s presence. Combining contemporary theory with sound exegesis, Putthoff demonstrates that early Jews widely considered the self to be intrinsically malleable, such that it mimics the ontological state of the space it inhabits. In divine space, they believed, the self therefore shares in the ontological state of God himself. The book is critical for students and scholars alike. In putting forth a new framework for conceptualising early Jewish anthropology, it challenges scholars to rethink not only what early Jews believed about the self but how we approach the subject in the first place.

Spinoza is commonly perceived as the great metaphysician of coherence. The Euclidean manner in which he presented his philosophy in the Ethics has led readers to assume they are facing a strict and consistent philosophical system that necessarily follows from itself. As opposed to the prevailing understanding of Spinoza and his work, The Role of Contradictions in Spinoza's Philosophy explores an array of profound and pervasive contradictions in Spinoza’s system and argues they are deliberate and constitutive of his philosophical thinking and the notion of God at its heart. Relying on a meticulous and careful reading of the Theological-Political Treatise and the Ethics, this book reconstructs Spinoza's philosophy of contradictions as a key to the ascending three degrees of knowledge leading to the Amor intellectualis Dei. Offering an exciting and clearly-argued interpretation of Spinoza’s philosophy, this book will interest students and scholars of modern philosophy and philosophy of religion, as well as Jewish studies. Yuval Jobani is Assistant Professor at the Department of Hebrew Culture Studies and the School of Education at Tel-Aviv University.

Abū’l-Barakāt is often considered one of the most comprehensive philosophers of the Arabic-Jewish milieu in the medieval age. His extensive and unique philosophical theories, especially his theories in the particular sciences, were seen as a major challenge for the traditional conceptions of the Aristotelian school of thought during and after this period. ‘Abū’l-Barakāt al-Baghdādī’s Scientific Philosophy’ explores the core material of Abū’l-Barakāt’s scientific studies, found in his magnum opus the Kitāb al-Mu‘tabar. The book then locates these scientific theories within Abū’l-Barakāt’s philosophy more widely. Whilst providing a comprehensive critique of ancient philosophy, including the work of Aristotle, certain affinities between Abū’l-Barakāt’s work and that of more modern scientific conceptions are also examined. Containing vast amounts of previously untranslated text, ‘Abū’l-Barakāt al-Baghdādī’s Scientific Philosophy’ sheds new light on the philosopher’s scientific theories, particularly with regards to his logical conceptions. For this reason, the book will be a valuable resource for students and scholars of Jewish and Islamic Philosophy, whilst the scientific material will appeal to those studying the history of science.

The Hebrew Bible is the main legislative and literary influence on European Poor Law and on literature on poverty and the poor. No extant literature from the ancient world placed more importance upon social welfare and the duty of the better-off toward the poor. It is the founding text for liberation movements. This book assesses why the Bible is so unambiguously positive in its view of the poor, unlike most later literary and legislative works. It seeks to understand what historical circumstances brought about this elevated perception of the poor, by exploring the clash of ideals and realities in the depiction of the poor in the Hebrew Bible and in European culture. Most legal and literary portrayals of the poor tend to be critical, associating the poor with laziness, crime or fraud: why is this not the case in the Bible? Most societies have tended to accept poverty as a natural condition, but not the Bible. The idea of ending poverty starts in the Bible – the Psalms above all inspired a daily struggle to limit the gap between rich and poor. Much of the Bible sees life - most unusually in the history of civilizations - through the eyes of the poor. The book argues that the popular appeal of the Bible in largely impoverished societies lies in its persistent relevance to, and support of, the poor. Yet, in many ways, biblical teachings were incompatible with social and political circumstances centuries and millennia later. Written in a clear, accessible style, the book shows how the Hebrew Bible, in its legislation and impassioned prophetic poetry, inspired the battle to 'make poverty history', to give dignity and hope to the poor and fight inequality. It will appeal to students and scholars of Jewish Studies, the Bible and Comparative Literature, and Development Studies.