The Jewish Political Tradition: Volume two: Membership [Hardcover]

Michael Walzer (Author), Menachem Lorberbaum (Author), Noam J. Zohar (Author), Ari Ackerman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0300094280 | ISBN-13: 978-0300094282 | Publication Date: April 10, 2003

The second volume of "The Jewish Political Tradition", this work is concerned with the theme of membership. It brings together important texts on membership topics from 3000 years of Jewish history, many newly translated or translated for the first time. Commentaries from modern religious and secular scholars, representing a range of viewpoints on the right and the left, accompany the texts. Among the contributors are Arthur Isak Applbaum, Ruth Gavison, Moshe Halbertal, Martha Minow, David Novak, Ilana Pardes, Steven B. Smith and Nomi Maya Stolzenberg. They deal with some of the most controversial issues in Jewish life, not only in the past but also at the start of the 21st century. Who is a Jew? How are the boundaries of a community drawn, and how are they policed? How does one join the community? How does one leave? The volume also takes up the question of degrees of membership: what kinds of hierarchies exist among Jews? In the final chapter, the book deals with "others", gentiles, because the boundaries of Jewish membership cannot be understood without asking who stands on the other side.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Jewish Political Tradition is remarkable for both what it does and how it does it. It is a splendid achievement. When Jews call themselves the people of the book, this is the sort of book they have, or at least ought to have, in mind." Noah J. Efron, Boston Book Review

From the Publisher

Also available: The Jewish Political Tradition, Volume 1: Authority

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 656 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (April 10, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300094280
• ISBN-13: 978-0300094282
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,576,166 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful analysis of "who is a Jew" and more, December 11, 2007

By 

israelmaven (Brookline, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Jewish Political Tradition: Volume Two: Membership (Paperback)

This book is a collaboration of two dozen very smart scholars -- mainly philosophers, lawyers and political scientists -- who mined the Jewish tradition for writings on the question of membership. It is a wonderful resource for exploring the nature of the perennial "who is a Jew" question as well as questions about conversion, gender inequality and heresy. The most politically relevant section is the final one, which looks at Jews' relationship with gentiles and closes with a fascinating review of sources considering the status of non-Jews in the State of Israel.

The book's selections are well-chosen and well-edited, though some seem cut a bit too short (inevitable, I suppose, in such a wide-ranging compendium). The interpretive essays on each reading are gems of insight that will keep you thinking and talking. The Jewish Political Tradition would be a wonderful book for discussion in an adult Jewish education class.