Sovereign Jews

Yaacov Yadgar is Stanley Lewis Professor of Israel Studies at the University of Oxford and the author of Secularism and Religion in Jewish-Israeli Politics: Traditionists and Modernity.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: A Jewish Sovereignty?Part I: Religion, Judaism, Tradition 1. Religion – The History and Politics of an Ahistorical Concept2. Are Jewish Traditions a Religion?3. Tradition as Language and NarrativePart II: Zionism and Jewish Traditions    4. Zionism, Jewish ‘Religion,’ and Secularism5. Zionism and Jewish Traditions6. Main Zionist Streams and Jewish TraditionsPart III: The Israeli Nation-State and Jewish Traditions 7. Israeliness vs. Jewishness: National Identity in Israel and Jewish Traditions8. Statist Jews: Secularity, Sovereignty, Zionism – and Judaism9. Who Needs the Status Quo? Statist Jews and "Religious Coercion"NotesBibliography

"Sovereign Jews is an impressive work that critically engages with extant literature, theories and Zionist thinkers, while providing an innovative analysis upon which further research can be based. It provides indispensable theoretical reading not only for those interested in Jewish Studies, but also for those studying nationalism, ethnicity and the politics of belonging." — Nations and Nationalism"This work is a natural extension of Yadgar's former insightful writings on the complex existence of tradition and traditionists in Israel, and it is recommended to scholars of religion and Jewish studies." — Religious Studies Review"…Yadgar's book provides an interesting perspective on religion and state, and his discussion of Zionist thinkers is illuminating." — Journal of Jewish Identities"…offer[s] some insightful and thought-provoking interpretations of Zionism and the modern Jewish state." — AJL Reviews"This book makes an important contribution to the study of Zionist ideology and the relationship between state and religion in Israel. As the author shows rather convincingly, Zionism and the State of Israel needed the Jewish tradition to supply meaning to their political-theological project. This is a fascinating argument that expands our critical understanding of the ideological foundations of the Jewish national movement." — Eran Kaplan, author of Beyond Post-Zionism