Exclusion and Hierarchy

Orthodoxy, Nonobservance, and the Emergence of Modern Jewish Identity

Inbunden, Engelska, 2005

1 069 kr

Beställningsvara. Skickas inom 10-15 vardagar. Fri frakt för medlemmar vid köp för minst 249 kr.

Following the Jewish Enlightenment, many eighteenth-century Jews chose not to observe the religious laws and customs that had earlier marked them as culturally different from their Christian peers. As the Jewish population became increasingly assimilated, an ultraorthodox movement also emerged, creating a discrete identity for a group within the Jewish community that opted not to move toward the mainstream but instead to embrace the traditional laws.By tracing the evolution of the approach of the Orthodox to their nonpracticing brethren, Adam S. Ferziger sheds new light on the emergence of Orthodoxy as a specific movement within modern Jewish society. In the course of this process, German Orthodoxy in particular articulated a new hierarchical vision of Jewish identity and the structure of modern Jewish society. Viewing Orthodox Judaism as no less a nineteenth-century phenomenon than Reform Judaism or Zionism, Ferziger looks at the ways it defined itself by its relationship to the nonobservant Jewish population. Ferziger argues that as the Orthodox movement emerged, it rejected the stance that the assimilated and nonobservers were deviant outcasts. Instead, they were accepted as legitimate members of a Jewish community, in which Orthodox Jews occupied the pinnacle, as the guardians of its tradition.This book's contribution, however, moves beyond a historical study of Orthodox Judaism. The sociological methodology that Ferziger employs enables the reader to appreciate how other religious groups have sought to carve out their places within the mosaic of modern society.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2005-06-09
Mått152 x 229 x 30 mm
Vikt632 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
SerieJewish Culture and Contexts
Antal sidor320
FörlagUniversity of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN9780812238655

Tillhör följande kategorier

PrefaceIntroduction. The Emergence of Parallel Phenomena: Orthodox Judaism and the Modern Nonobservant JewPART I. TRADITION, EXCLUSION, INCLUSION, AND HIERARCHYIntroduction1. A "Community of the Faithful": Hakham Zevi Hirsch Ashkenazi (1660-1718) and the Religious Pluralism of the Spanish-Portuguese Diaspora2. The Forerunners of Orthodoxy3. The Age of the Hatam Sofer: Early Nineteenth-Century Orthodoxy and the Emergence of Internal Boundaries4. The Formulation of Hierarchical Judaism: Rabbi Jacob Ettlinger and the Nature of modern Jewish IdentityPART II. VARIATIONS OF HIERARCHICAL JUDAISM: GERMAN ORTHODOXY IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURYIntroduction5. The Hirschian Hierarchy: Communal Separation and the Nonobservant Jews6. Bambergerian Unity and the Hierarchical Principle7. The Conscious Hierarchy of Berlin Separatist OrthodoxyConclusion: The Hierarchical Model and Orthodox Centers Outside of GermanyAfterwordAppendix: Pre-Modern Rabbinic Sources Regarding Non-ObservanceList of AbbreviationsNotesBibliographyIndexAcknowledgments

"This book enhances our understanding of an essential feature in modern Orthodoxy that has heretofore been underemphasized. Ferziger's sociological approach to rabbinic responsa is rare in the English-language literature, and his theoretical framework is well thought out, clearly presented, and very useful." (Samuel Heilman) "This very nuanced and informed study charts Orthodox responses to concrete cases of nonobservance and deviant behavior in nineteenth-centruy central Europe and thereby traces the emergence of modern Orthodoxy." (American Historical Review)