After Tragedy and Triumph: Essays in Modern Jewish Thought and the American Experience [Hardcover]

Michael Berenbaum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 1990

The story of American Jewry is inextricably entwined with the awesome defeat of the Holocaust and the rebirth of the state of Israel. However, for Michael Berenbaum, and others of his generation, whose adult consciousness included the war in Lebanon and the Palestinian Uprisings, the tale is more anguished, for the Jewish People are now divided, uncertain about the implications of the past and the direction of their future. Berenbaum explores the Jewish identity of this generation, the first to mature after tragedy and triumph. He probes the Holocaust's impact on Jewish consciousness and the imprint of American culture on Jewish identity. Challenging Zionism's conventional assumptions, he details American Jews' changing relationship to Israel as he examines the tensions created within Jewish tradition between a history of victimization and the empowerment of Jews. While demonstrating that the security of victory is one step from the anguish of victims, even when the victors have recently emerged from the fire, Berenbaum holds out the hope of liberation for Judaism, maintaining that five thousand years of history, with its chapter of Holocaust and empowerment, provide a unique foundation upon which to build a future. Michael Berenbaum is Hymen Goldman Professor of Theology at Georgetown University and Project Director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. He is the author or editor of several books, including The Vision of the Void: Theological Reflections on the Works of Elie Wiesel and The Holocaust: Religious and Political Implications (with John Roth).

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The project director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and author of works on Elie Wiesel and the Holocaust here presents 13 clear and interesting essays, divided into two parts: the first examines the place of the Holocaust in contemporary American culture and the second, post-World War II Jewish thought. Berenbaum begins by addressing such questions as the uniqueness of the Holocaust and the best way to represent all victims at public commemorations. In the second, more provocative section he deals with such subjects as the place of the Jewish philosophers Franz Rosenzweig and Martin Buber in contemporary Jewish life and the role of political Zionism in Israel. He also discusses Orthodox Jewry: the issues it raises for other forms of Judaism, its relationship to American Jewish life and its place in Israel. Recommended for Jewish studies and larger collections.
- Maurice Tuchman, Hebrew Coll . Lib., Brookline, Mass.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Brilliant scholarship, astute political awareness, religious sensitivity, and lucid prose -- these virtues characterize Michael Berenbaum and his perceptive essays. Insightfully probing the Holocaust, contemporary Jewish thought, and American experience, After Tragedy and Triumph is a triumph." John K. Roth

"These essays offer us an important new Jewish voice. Michael Berenbaum combines a creative mind with the insights gleaned from firsthand experience. He gives an original portrait of how understanding of the Holocaust has become central in American Jewish life and how that understanding of the Holocaust has become central in American Jewish life and how that understanding itself has been defined by the American experience. His theological commentary ranges from the fresh appreciation of Martin Buber and critique of Franz Rosenzweig to Orthodoxy's problems and possibilities with pluralism. Everything he touches he clarifies and illuminates. By sharing his insights our understanding is transformed. The reader is enriched -- this is valuable reading." Rabbi Irving Greenberg

"Berenbaum's hand is surest when criticizing parochialism in Jewish life, whether for an excessively restrictive approach to the Holocaust, an obsession with Jewish victimhood, a discomfort in understanding the Holocaust within a wider American context or an unwillingness to address modern categories when contemplating the Jewish past or present." Michael R. Marrus, Moment

"In this impressive collection of essays that attempts to understand the Jew in contemporary America, Michael Berenbaum "...addresses three central issues; The identity of Jews after the tragedy of the Holocaust and the triumph of Israel, the tensions created within Jewish tradition between a history of victimization and the assumption of power, and the choices facing free Jewish communities in the wake of decreased anti-Semitism...Illuminating." Dimensions

"Holocaust-related issues are at the core of this stimulating book of essays by Michael Berenbaum, an American scholar who is project director at the Washington Holocaust Museum." Geoffrey Wigoder, The Jerusalem Post

"With probing analysis...Berenbaum is at his best as a synthesizer of other's theological and historical views, finding his own voice through their creative integration. Passionately, crisply, and lucidly written, his essays are well worth re-reading." Religious Studies Review

"...an interesting and provocative series of essays, well worth the reading for people interested in a number of areas touching upon American Jewry." Journal of American Ethnic History

"Berenbaum clearly outlines the predominant theological and historical approaches to the Holocaust, making the complicated events which have occupied thinkers for decades accessible to a larger public. One can learn from each of these approaches, Berenbaum's respectful assessment of his colleagues implies; his essays enable his readers to treat these dfferent interpretations as complementary, rather than competing." Sara R. Horowitz, Shofar

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 228 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; First Edition edition (November 30, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 052138057X
• ISBN-13: 978-0521380577
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,059,570 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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