Israelis and the Jewish Tradition: An Ancient People Debating Its Future (The Terry Lectures Series) [Hardcover]

David Hartman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 28, 2000 | Series: The Terry Lectures Series

In this powerful book one of the most important Jewish thinkers in the world today grapples with issues that increasingly divide Israel's secular Jewish community from its religious Zionists. Addressing the concerns of both communities from the point of view of one who is deeply committed to religious pluralism, David Hartman suggests a more inclusive and inviting framework for the modern Israeli engagement of the Jewish tradition. He offers a new understanding of what it means to be Jewish -- one which is neither assimilationist nor backward-looking, and one that enables different Jewish groups to celebrate their own traditions without demonizing or patronizing others. In a world polarized between religious and secular and caught within a sectarian denominationalism, Hartman shows the way to build bridges of understanding.

The book explores the philosophies of two major Jewish thinkers of the Middle Ages, Yehuda Halevi and Moses Maimonides. A careful analysis of Maimonides' approach to Judaism shows that messianism is not the predominant organizing principle that makes Judaism intelligible and significant, Hartman contends. He argues against Halevi's triumphalism and in favor of using the Sinai covenant for evaluating the religious significance of Israel, for this approach gives meaning to Zionists' religious commitments while also empowering secular Israelis to reengage with the Jewish tradition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Faced with the profound contemporary polarization between secular and religious in Israel, Hartman, a recipient of two National Jewish Book Awards for previous works (Maimonides: Torah and Philosophic Quest, etc.), proposes a third path: one that allows secular Israelis seeking meaning in their Jewish identity to return to traditional texts without suffering authoritarian condemnation for not adhering to Jewish law. Hartman goes a step fartherDand will ruffle many religious feathersDin arguing for the "demythologization" of the Jewish people, for an abandonment of the "narcissistic frame of mind in which the reality of God revolves exclusively around my people's history, my rituals and my traditions." In seeking a paradigm for this open-ended approach, Hartman turns to the two great medieval Jewish philosophers: Maimonides and Rabbi Judah Halevi. The latter viewed Judaism as a mystical, revelation-based religion oriented toward messianic redemption and the particularity of the Jews. Maimonides, in contrast, took an Aristotelian rationalist approach to Judaism, focusing more on the universalistic spirit of the Bible's creation narrative than on the particularism of the revelation at Mt. Sinai. Halevi's mode of thought, Hartman asserts, underlies the attitudes of religious Zionists who oppose territorial compromise in the Middle EastDa position Hartman rejects, favoring territorial compromise just as he preaches compromise regarding the religious tradition. Judaism, he says, is a text-based interpretive tradition, and secular Jews can reenter the interpretive conversation without committing themselves to halakic observance. Much of what Hartman says will be controversial, but he offers a serious proposal for reimagining Judaism in the modern, secularist world. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Hartman, founder and director of Jerusalem's Shalom Hartman Institute, addresses "the crisis facing secular and religious Zionists in Israel today" in a book based on the 1998 Terry Lectures he delivered at Yale Divinity School. Palestinian peace negotiations challenge "a central ideological tenet" of many religious Zionists' messianism, while many secular Israelis seek to reengage with Jewish tradition without rejecting Western culture. Hartman examines contrasting Middle Ages approaches to Jewish tradition in the chapters "The God of History in Yehuda Halevi" and "The Cosmic God of Maimonides' Thought." In "The Maimonidean Sensibility," he offers "a meaningful precedent and model for individuals seeking ways to reclaim their tradition while at the same time sharing in the values and cultural traditions of the broader human community." Mary Carroll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; 1ST edition (September 28, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300083785
• ISBN-13: 978-0300083781
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #582,454 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A courageous thinker, May 16, 2005

By 

Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Israelis and the Jewish Tradition: An Ancient People Debating Its Future (The Terry Lectures Series) (Hardcover)

Rabbi David Hartman is a courageous thinker who dares to look honestly at the problems facing the Jewish people today, and to attempt real and innovative answers to them. He is also a distinguished Jewish thinker and scholar as is made evident in this work in his writing on the 'Kuzari' and on the Rambam. It is not necessary to agree with all that he has to say, but there is value in listening and thinking carefully to what this most engaged Jewish thinker has to say.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Romantic and Rational Judaism, August 8, 2001

By 

Baruch Frydman-Kohl (Toronto, ON Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Israelis and the Jewish Tradition: An Ancient People Debating Its Future (The Terry Lectures Series) (Hardcover)

David Hartman has applied his considerable intellectual talent to 1) articulate a problem facing contemporary Israel (and much of the Jewish people), 2) explore two medieval thinkers - Yehudah Halevi, the romantic, and Maimonides, the rationalist - regarding their attitudes toward both miracle and messianism, and 3) apply the insights of their two approaches to the current situation. Hartman illustrates the hopeful allure of Halevi, the enduring sobriety of Maimonides, and his own continuing concern for questions of political and social ethics which also characterises contemporary philosophical discussion. Quite worthwhile.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars stronger early on, fuzzy at the end, March 14, 2009

By 

Michael Lewyn (Forest Hills, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Israelis and the Jewish Tradition: An Ancient People Debating Its Future (The Terry Lectures Series) (Hardcover)

This book is a not-very-well connected series of lectures in book form.

The first and most readable section discusses the four major ideologies in Israel: religious anti-Zionism (which views Zionism as theologically meaningless, if not harmful), religious Zionism (which tends to view the state of Israel as the first step towards messianic redemption), secular Zionism (which views Zionism as an important means of preserving Jewish identity, but isn't so interested in religion) and secular post-Zionism (which views Israel as just another democracy).

The second and third essays compare two medieval Jewish philosophers, Judah Halevi and Moshe ben Maimon (also known as "Maimonides" and "Rambam"). Halevi believed that spirituality and the Torah's laws are based on relevation but not on reason, while Rambam believed that even the most seemingly irrational Torah commandments have a rational basis, and that the best way to know God is "through philosophical reflection on the nature of being, which is independent of history." Hartman tends to favor Rambam, because a overly relevation-oriented Judaism tends to be susceptible to dangerous bursts of messianic enthuasiasm. Hartman even claims that an "event-grounded theology" leads to "manic-depressive episodes", which strikes me as perhaps a stretch.

The fourth essay asks: how is Rambam' rationalism compatible with Judaism? After all, says Hartman, the Jewish Bible ("Tanach") constantly discusses divine reward and punishment, while Rambam emphasizes human reason. According to Hartman, the Talmud supplies the missing link between the Tanach and Rambam, by emphasizing the role of human reason in turning the generalities of the Torah into specific legal rules. (On the other hand, the Talmud has plenty of fantastic tales as well).

The last essay is the wobbliest; Hartman seems to favor some sort of synthesis of philosophy and universalism, based on broad liberal values such as "the sanctity of human beings" and "egalitarianism, human rights, and social justice" - a synthesis that builds on, but goes beyond Jewish law and Rambam's rationalism. No doubt, these are fine values- but these sorts of universal liberal values are unlikely either to sustain Judaism or to tell us when and how these principles they should be balanced against other values.