Highlighting well-known Jewish thinkers from a very wide spectrum of opinion, the author addresses a range of issues, including: What makes a thinker Jewish? What makes modern Jewish thought modern? How have secular Jews integrated Jewish traditional thought with agnosticism? What do Orthodox thinkers have to teach non-Orthodox Jews and vice versa? Each chapter includes a short, judiciously chosen selection from the given author, along with questions to guide the reader through the material. Short biographical essays at the end of each chapter offer the reader recommendations for further readings and provide the low-down on which books are worth the reader's while. Introduction to Modern Jewish Thinkers represents a decade of the author's experience teaching students ranging from undergraduate age to their seventies. This is an ideal textbook for undergraduate classes.

Auteur
Dr. Alan Levenson teaches Jewish history and thought at Siegal College.

Contenu
1 Acknowledgments
2 Introduction
Part 3 PART ONE - MODERN JUDAISM: ATTACK AND DEFENSE
Chapter 4 SAMSON RAPHAEL HIRSCH'S DEFENSE OF JUDAISM: THE RECONCILIATION OF MODERNITY AND THE MITZVOT
Chapter 5 BARUCH SPINOZA'S CRITIQUE OF TRADITIONAL RELIGION
Chapter 6 MOSES MENDELSSOHN'S DEFENSE OF JUDAISM: BETWEEN REASON AND REVELATION
Chapter 7 ABRAHAM GEIGER'S DEFENSE OF JUDAISM: CONTINUITY AND CHANGE
Part 8 PART TWO - RECOVERING TRADITION FOR THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE COMMUNITY
Chapter 9 MARTIN BUBER: RESTORING THE JEWISH INDIVIDUAL
Chapter 10 FRANZ ROSENZWEIG: FROM ALIENATED EXISTENTIALIST TO BA'AL TESHUVAH
Chapter 11 THEODOR HERZL: A JEWISH MODERNIST FROM WESTERN EUROPE
Chapter 12 AHAD HA'AM (ASHER ZVI GINZBERG): A JEWISH MODERNIST FROM EASTERN EUROPE
Chapter 13 MORDECAI KAPLAN: A SECULARIST (RE)CONSTRUCTS RELIGION
Part 14 PART THREE - RECOVERING KEDUSHAH (THE SACRED) IN A PROFANE AGE
15 ISRAEL SALANTER: RESTORING "FEAR OF HEAVEN" TO HUMAN BEHAVIOR
16 ABRAHAM ISAAC KOOK: MYSTICISM AND NATIONALISM
17 JOSEPH SOLOVEITCHIK: HALACHAH AND EXISTENTIALISM
18 ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL: UNIVERSAL HASIDISM
19 CONCLUSION (MENDING THE WORLD/MENDING ISRAEL)
20 Index
21 About the Author