Description
Book SynopsisAvi Sagi's book ponders one of the most intriguing shifts in modern Jewish thought: from a metaphysical and theological stand-point toward a new manner of philosophising based primarily on practice. Different chapters study this great shift and its various manifestations. The central figure of this new examination is Isaiah Leibowitz, whose thoughts encapsulate more than any other Jewish thinker this stance of religion without metaphysics. Sagi explores corresponding issues such as observance, the possibility of pluralism, the meaning of penance without messianic suppositions, and pragmatic coping with theodicy after the Holocaust, presenting the different possibilities within this great alteration in Jewish thought.
Trade Review"In this book Sagi poses some interesting questions, centered on how one explains modern Judaism as a religion whose members, to a great degree, do not believe in God but remain true to the tenets of the religion. Sagi argues that post-Holocaust existentialism largely replaced the traditional religious beliefs of Judaism, yet the religion still survives. Examining the philosophical works of some of those who have influenced this movement, and analyzing what these conditions mean to the future of Judaism makes for thought-provoking reading. Several of the chapters in this book have previously appeared as journal articles." -- Annotation ©2010 Book News Inc. Portland, OR
Table of ContentsPreface. Chapter One: Are Toleration and Pluralism Possible in Jewish Religion? Notes. Chapter Two: Yeshayahu Leibovitz: The Man against his Thought. Notes. Chapter Three: Leibowitz and Camus: Between Faith and the Absurd. Notes. Chapter Four: Jewish Religion without Theology. Notes. Chapter Five: The Critique of Theodicy: From Metaphysics to Praxis. Notes. Chapter Six: The Holocaust: A Theological or a Religious-Existentialist Problem? Notes. Chapter Seven: Tikkun Olam: Between Utopian Idea and Socio-Historical Process. Notes. Bibliography. Index.
