Judaism in Modern Times

This book provides an introduction to Judaism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries for all students of Judaism and world religions, and covers major movements that have been developed. Written by a leading teacher and researcher, each chapter features a clear and authoritative introduction to its subject, accompanied by a reading by a specialist in the particular field. Illustrating the story of religious life in modern times, modern Judaism over the past two centuries has had to answer two urgent questions: how should Jews live among gentiles? And, is it possible to live among gentiles? By choice Jews had for centuries lived segregated lives, but in modern times many wished to integrate themselves into the politics and culture of the countries where they lived, whilst at the same time to retaining their enduring faith. This book provides an introduction to six integrationist Judaisms – religious systems that appeal to Scripture and set forth a way of life, world view and definition of who and what is ‘Israel’.
The three nineteenth century Judaisms – Reform, which in turn provoked the development of integrationist Orthodoxy as well as the mediating Conservative Judaism – dealt with the issue of how Jews could live by their faith but also within their national community, whether in Europe or the USA. The three twentieth century Judaisms treated here – Zionism, Jewish Socialism and Yiddishism, and the American Judaism of Holocaust and Redemption – responded to the crisis of political and racial anti-Semitism with messages on how, where, and under what conditions in the social order Jews can live at all. The book concludes with an examination of what we can learn about religious experience in general from the case of Judaism.

Author Biography

Jacob Neusner is Distinguished Research Professor of Religious Studies at the University of South Florida, Tampa, Life Member of Clare Hall, Cambridge University, and Member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He has published more than 500 books on Judaism and holds sixteen honorary degrees and academic medals.