Recent political and social developments in the United States reveal a deep misunderstanding of race and religion. From the highest echelons of power to the most obscure corners of society, color and conviction are continually twisted, often deliberately for nefarious reasons, or misconstrued to stymie meaningful conversation. This timely book wrestles with the contentious, dynamic, and ethically complicated relationship between race and religion through the lens of Judaism. Featuring essays by lifelong participants in discussions about race, religion, and society— including Susannah Heschel, Sander L. Gilman, and George Yancy—this vibrant book aims to generate a compelling conversation vitally relevant to both the academy and the community. Starting from the premise that understanding prejudice and oppression requires multifaceted critical reflection and a willingness to acknowledge one’s own bias, the contributors to this volume present surprising arguments that disentangle fictions, factions, and facts. The topics they explore include the role of Jews and Jewish ethics in the civil rights movement, race and the construction of American Jewish identity, rituals of commemoration celebrating Jewish and black American resilience, the “Yiddish gaze” on lynchings of black bodies, and the portrayal of racism as a mental illness from nineteenth-century Vienna to twenty-first-century Charlottesville. Each essay is linked to a classic Jewish source and accompanied by guiding questions that help the reader identify salient themes connecting ancient and contemporary concerns. In addition to the editor, the contributors include Sander L. Gilman, Annalise E. Glauz-Todrank, Aaron S. Gross, Susannah Heschel, Sarah Imhoff, Willa M. Johnson, Judith W. Kay, Jessica Kirzane, Nichole Renée Phillips, and George Yancy.

Applying Jewish Ethics: Beyond the Rabbinic Tradition introduces the reader to applied ethics and examines various social issues from contemporary and largely underrepresented Jewish ethical perspectives. The chapters explain and apply Jewish ethical ideas to contemporary issues connected to racial justice, immigration, gender justice, queer identity, and economic and environmental justice in ways that illustrate their relevance for Jews and non-Jews alike.

Recent political and social developments in the United States reveal a deep misunderstanding of race and religion. From the highest echelons of power to the most obscure corners of society, color and conviction are continually twisted, often deliberately for nefarious reasons, or misconstrued to stymie meaningful conversation. This timely book wrestles with the contentious, dynamic, and ethically complicated relationship between race and religion through the lens of Judaism. Featuring essays by lifelong participants in discussions about race, religion, and society— including Susannah Heschel, Sander L. Gilman, and George Yancy—this vibrant book aims to generate a compelling conversation vitally relevant to both the academy and the community. Starting from the premise that understanding prejudice and oppression requires multifaceted critical reflection and a willingness to acknowledge one’s own bias, the contributors to this volume present surprising arguments that disentangle fictions, factions, and facts. The topics they explore include the role of Jews and Jewish ethics in the civil rights movement, race and the construction of American Jewish identity, rituals of commemoration celebrating Jewish and black American resilience, the “Yiddish gaze” on lynchings of black bodies, and the portrayal of racism as a mental illness from nineteenth-century Vienna to twenty-first-century Charlottesville. Each essay is linked to a classic Jewish source and accompanied by guiding questions that help the reader identify salient themes connecting ancient and contemporary concerns. In addition to the editor, the contributors include Sander L. Gilman, Annalise E. Glauz-Todrank, Aaron S. Gross, Susannah Heschel, Sarah Imhoff, Willa M. Johnson, Judith W. Kay, Jessica Kirzane, Nichole Renée Phillips, and George Yancy.

We make religion irrelevant when we lock it up in the house of prayer - when we keep religion away from the streets. If we want Judaism to matter in today's world, we must respond - deeply - to society's call. The Torah is a living tradition that we need to bring to the most urgent social issues of our time. We must fully enter the public arena, recognizing that our common responsibilities transcend our particular paths. The essence of spiritual life shines at the core of all the crude and harsh realities we see every day - and when we ignore these realities, we are like blind fish completely unaware of the very water in which they swim. Jewish Ethics & Social Justice is a collection of sweeping meditations on how to make Judaism universally relevant again. Explore hot social issues - global hunger, prison reform, worker rights, and more - through the eyes of the Jewish ethical tradition. Learn about the core values of Jewish activism - discover a deeper connection to the timeless issu

The essay "Buddhist and Jewish Ethics: A Response to Masao Abe" (pp. 464-473) relates to a paper by Abe due to be published in 1990 which explains his Buddhist understanding of ultimate reality. Though his primary discussion is with Christianity, he also seeks to understand how Jewish thinkers have come to terms with the Holocaust, hoping in this way to initiate Buddhist-Jewish dialogue. Borowitz explains Jewish philosophical and theological responses to the Holocaust.

This book is open access and available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. It is funded by Knowledge Unlatched. Religion, ethnicity and race are facets of human identity that have become increasingly contested in the study of the Bible - largely due to the modern discipline of biblical studies having developed in the context of Western Europe, concurrent with the emergence of various racial and imperial ideologies. The essays in this volume address Western domination by focusing on historical facets of ethnicity and race in antiquity, the identities of Jews and Christians, and the critique of scholarly ideologies and racial assumptions which have shaped this branch of study. The contributors critique various Western European and North American contexts, and bring fresh perspectives from other global contexts, providing insights into how biblical studies can escape its enmeshment in often racist notions of ethnicity, race, empire, nationhood and religion. Covering issues ranging from translation and racial stereotyping to analysing the significance of race in Genesis and the problems of an imperialist perspective, this volume is vital not only for biblical scholars but those invested in Christian, Jewish and Muslim identity.

A National Jewish Book Award Winner Rabbi Dorff focuses on the social aspects of the Jewish tradition, while tackling such timely topics as poverty, war, intrafaith and interfaith relations, and forgiveness. In addition, he discusses Jewish social ethics as they both relate to and contrast with Christian and American belief systems in modern society. Dorff argues that Jewish sources, when properly placed within the framework of the realities of our own times, can provide important guidance for Jews on how to act in their daily lives.