Tradition vs. traditionalism
Subtitle: contemporary perspectives in Jewish thought
By: Avi Sagi ; translated from Hebrew by Batya Stein
Series: VIBS -- v. 197; PAR; Value inquiry book series -- v. 197.; Value inquiry book series
Publisher: Rodopi
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Amsterdam; New York, NY
Language: eng
Number of pages: 219
ISBN-13: 9789042024786
Subjects: Tradition (Philosophy); Jewish philosophy; Tradition; Jüdische Philosophie; Tradition (Judaism)
Description: "This book is a first attempt to examine the thought of key contemporary Jewish thinkers on the meaning of tradition in the context of two models. The classic model assumes that tradition reflects lack of dynamism and reflectiveness, and the present's unqualified submission to the past. This view, however, is an image that the modernist ethos has ascribed to the tradition so as to remove it from modern existence. In the alternative model, a living tradition emerges as open and dynamic, developing through an ongoing dialogue between present and past. The Jewish philosophers discussed in this work - Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Yeshayahu Leibowitz, David Hartman, and Eliezer Goldman-ascribe compelling canonic status to the tradition, and the analysis of their thought discloses the tension between these two models. The book carefully traces the course they have plotted along the various interpretations of tradition through their approach to Scripture and to Halakhah."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 199-209) and index.
Table of contents: title: 1. Returning to Tradition: Paradox or Challenge; title: Pt. 1. Tense Encounter with Modernity; title: 2. Soloveitchik: Jewish Thought Confronts Modernity; title: 3. Compartmentalization: From Ernst Simon to Yeshayahu Leibowitz; title: Pt. 2. Harmonic Encounter with Modernity; title: 4. Religious Commitment in a Secularized World: Eliezer Goldman; title: 5. David Hartman: Renewing the Covenant; title: Pt. 3. Between Old and New: Judaism as Interpretation?; title: 6. Scripture in the Thought of Leibowitz and Soloveitchik; title: 7. Halakhah in the Thought of Leibowitz and Soloveitchik; title: 8. Eliezer Goldman: Judaism as Interpretation; title: Epilogue: "My Name's my Donors' Name"