Toward a Jewish Theology of Liberation: The Challenge of the 21st Century
by Marc H. Ellis
Category: Religion

Turmoil still grips the Middle East and fear now paralyses post-9/11 America. The comforts and challenges of this book are thus as timely as when first published in 1987. With new reflections on the future of Judaism and Israel, Ellis underscores the enduring problem of justice. The use of liberation theology to make connections between the Holocaust and contemporary communities from the Third World reminds both Jews and oppressed Christians that they share a common ground in the experiences of abandonment, suffering, and death. The connections also reveal that Jews and Christians share a common cause in the battle against idolatry -- represented now by obsessions for personal affluence, national security, and ethnic survival. According to Ellis, Jews and Christians must never allow the reality of anti-Semitism to become an excuse to evade solidarity with the oppressed peoples -- be they African, Asian, Latin American or, especially Palestinian.