The Legacy of German Jewry [Hardcover]

Hermann Levin Goldschmidt (Author), David Suchoff (Translator, Introduction), Willi Goetschel (Introduction)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0823228266 | ISBN-13: 978-0823228263 | Publication Date: December 15, 2007 | Edition: 2

First published in 1957, The Legacy of German Jewry is a comprehensive rethinking of the German-Jewish experience. Goldschmidt challenges the elegiac view of Gershom Scholem, showing us the German-Jewish legacy in literature, philosophy, and critical thought in a new light.Part One re-examines the breakthrough to modernity, tracing the moves of thinkers like Moses Mendelssohn, building on the legacies of religious figures like the Baal Shem Tov and radical philosophers such as Spinoza. This vision of modernity, Goldschmidt shows, rested upon a belief that remnantsof the radical past could provide ideas and energy for reconceiving the modern world. Goldschmidt's philosophy of the remnant animates Part Two as well, where his account of the political history of the Jews in modernity and the riches of Jewish culture as recast in German-Jewish thought provide insights into Leo Baeck, Hermann Cohen, and Franz Rosenzweig, among others. Part Three analyzes the post-Auschwitz complex, and uses the Book of Job to break through that trauma.Ahead of his time and biblical in his perspective, Goldschmidt describes the innovative ways that German-Jewish writers and thinkers anticipated what we now call multiculturalism and its concern with the Other. Rather than destined to destruction, the German-Jewish experience is reconceived here as a past whose unfulfilled project remains urgent and contemporary-a dream yet to be realized in practice, and hence a task that still awaits its completion.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

HERMANN LEVIN GOLDSCHMIDT (1914-1998) founded and directed the Jdisches Lehrhaus in Zurich from 1952 to1962. This is his first book to be translated into English.

DAVID SUCHOFF is Professor of English at Colby College. He is the author of Critical Theory and the Novel: Mass Society and Cultural Criticism in Dickens, Melville, and Kafka.

WILLI GOETSCHEL is Professor of German and Philosophy at the University of Toronto. He is the editor of the collected works of Hermann Levin Goldschmidt and author of Constituting Critique: Kant's Writing as Critical Praxis and Spinoza's Modernity: Mendelssohn, Lessing, and Heine.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Fordham University Press; 2 edition (December 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823228266
• ISBN-13: 978-0823228263
• Product Dimensions: 13.6 x 9.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,977,529 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Embraced the concept of multiculturalism before the word itself was commonly used, May 6, 2008

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Legacy of German Jewry (Hardcover)

Written by Hermann Levin Goldschmidt (1914-1998), who founded and directed the Judisches Lehrhaus in Zurich from 1952 to 1962, and first published in 1957, Legacy of German Jewry is a thorough reexamination of the German-Jewish experience, now available in English translation. Part One explores the transition to modernity, retracing the philosophical accomplishments of thinkers such as Moses Mendelssohn, Spinoza, and religious figures such as Baal Shem Tov. This modern path embraces the concept that "remnants" of the radical past could provide ideas and impetus for re-envisioning the modern world. Part Two discusses the political history of the Jews in modernity and the facets of Jewish culture as perceived in German-Jewish thought and exemplified in the public figures of Leo Baeck, Hermann Cohen, and Franz Rosenzweig. Part Three examines the post-Auschwitz complex, and draws upon the Book of Job for strength to overcome the tremendous trauma inflicted by the horrors of the Holocaust. A visionary work that embraced the concept of multiculturalism before the word itself was commonly used, Legacy of German Jewry is highly recommended as a welcome contribution to Judaic studies shelves.