RE-FORMING JUDAISM

Jewish scholars and rabbis provide an intellectual history of their faith in this nonfiction anthology.

“Often Jewish history is approached with assumptions about origins, and historicity is quickly assigned to events,” writes Hochman. The editor seeks to offer a more nuanced timeline of Jewish history that explores pivotal moments of “disruption” that challenged the way the faithful approached their theology, history, and future. Indeed, as Davids argues in the book’s introduction, “the path from the ancient Middle East to contemporary liberal Judaism is most certainly neither linear nor predetermined.” Arranged chronologically, the collection’s 21 chapters are divided into five parts, beginning with essays that center on momentous events detailed in Jewish Scripture, including “disruptive prophets” like Nathan, who publicly called out King David’s sins during the 587 B.C.E. Babylonian siege of Jerusalem and destruction of the First Temple. Parts 2 and 3 survey disruptions and the corresponding intellectual responses within the faith, including Pauline Christian theology and developments in the medieval era. The anthology’s final two sections, which form over half of the volume’s pages, focus on the modern and postmodern eras, from the origins of Reform Judaism in the 1800s to contemporary issues surrounding Jewish feminism and the centrality of the Holocaust to 20th- and 21st-century Jewish identity. In addition to Davids (who has published extensively on liberal Zionism) and Hochman (who directs the Louchheim School for Judaic Studies at HUC-JIR), the engrossing book boasts an impressive lineup of more than 20 Jewish scholars and rabbis who have not only an expertise in Jewish intellectual traditions, but also display a sensitivity toward contemporary issues associated with race, gender identity, and sexual orientation. Each cogent chapter is accompanied by a wealth of scholarly footnotes. While clearly written in the context of Liberal, Reform, and Progressive Judaism, the rigorous anthology avoids the common pitfall of viewing innovation as inherently good, reminding readers that Jewish responses to disruptions were not monolithic or sudden and that “precious continuity” may be as important as progress.

A well-written, expertly researched collection of essays on Jewish history and issues.