The Idea Of History In Rabbinic Judaism

History provides one way of marking time, but there are others, like the Judaism of the dual Torah, set forth in the Rabbinic literature from the Mishnah through the Talmud of Babylonia, which tells the story of how a historical way of thinking about past, present, and future, time and eternity, the here and now in relationship to the ages gave way to another mode of thought altogether. At stake are [1] a conception of time different from the historical one and [2] premises on how to take the measure of time that form a legitimate alternative to those that define the foundations of the historical way of measuring time. Fully exposed, those alternative premises may prove as logical and compelling as the historical ones.

Despite the vicissitudes of their anomalous historical experience, the Jews survive as am identifiable entity. They have withstood one challenge after another - both physical and intellectual - somehow maintaining an historical continuity. How Jewish writers have dealt with this enigma serves as the subject of this volume. With these words from the Preface, Michael A. Meyer characterizes the scope of his Ideas of Jewish History. As the only volume of readings in the area of Jewish historiography and the philosophy of Jewish history, Ideas of Jewish History acquaints the reader with both the universal and the particular challenges inherent in the writing of Jewish history.

This classic survey of the main features of the Jewish historical landscape exposes students to the rich scholarly literature on Jewish history, theology, philosophy, mysticism, and social thought that has been produced in the last century and a half. It shows Judaism as a creative response to ultimate issues of human concern by members of a group that has faced a unique concatenation of political, economic, and geographical circumstances. -- From product description.

The author analyzes the idea of history from both a Jewish and a philosophical perspective, with emphasis on its special significance for Judaism.

The popularization of history is by no means to be pursued to the detriment of its severely scientific treatment. What is to be guarded against is the notion that tedium is inseparable from the scientific method. I have always been of the opinion that the dulness commonly looked upon as the prerogative of scholarly inquiries, is not an inherent attribute. In most cases it is conditioned, not by the nature of the subject under investigation, but by the temper of the investigator. Often, indeed, the tediousness of a learned disquisition is intentional: it is considered one of the polite conventions of the academic guild, and by many is identified with scientific thoroughness and profound learning....

In this volume, Professor Shmueli, a distinguished Israeli scholar, has synthesized an original and profound view of Jewish history.

How the rabbis of late antiquity used time to define the boundaries of Jewish identity The rabbinic corpus begins with a question–“when?”—and is brimming with discussions about time and the relationship between people, God, and the hour. Time and Difference in Rabbinic Judaism explores the rhythms of time that animated the rabbinic world of late antiquity, revealing how rabbis conceptualized time as a way of constructing difference between themselves and imperial Rome, Jews and Christians, men and women, and human and divine. In each chapter, Sarit Kattan Gribetz explores a unique aspect of rabbinic discourse on time. She shows how the ancient rabbinic texts artfully subvert Roman imperialism by offering "rabbinic time" as an alternative to "Roman time." She examines rabbinic discourse about the Sabbath, demonstrating how the weekly day of rest marked "Jewish time" from "Christian time." Gribetz looks at gendered daily rituals, showing how rabbis created "men's time" and "women's time" by mandating certain rituals for men and others for women. She delves into rabbinic writings that reflect on how God spends time and how God's use of time relates to human beings, merging "divine time" with "human time." Finally, she traces the legacies of rabbinic constructions of time in the medieval and modern periods. Time and Difference in Rabbinic Judaism sheds new light on the central role that time played in the construction of Jewish identity, subjectivity, and theology during this transformative period in the history of Judaism.

A collection of essays by the classic Zionist thinkers and statesman of all political and spiritual persuations. This book contains a lengthy introduction on Zionist thought and its history. the book offers an anthology of selection from the writings of leading zionist figures from the early 19th century until the establishment of the state of israel. among the important thinkers whose works are presented here are: Theodor Herzl, Ahad Ha-am, Martin Buber, Louis Brandeis, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, Judah Magnes, Max Nordau, Ludwig Lewinsohn, Solomon Schechter, Mordecai Kaplan, Vladimir Jabotinsky, Chaim Weitzmann, and David ben Gurion.