Authors: David J. Goldberg
ISBN-13: 9781845110543, ISBN-10: 1845110544
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: I. B.Tauris & Company, Limited
Date Published: September 2006
Edition: (Non-applicable)
David J. Goldberg OBE is Rabbi Emeritus of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, London, having served Europe's largest Progressive congregation for nearly thirty years.
Rabbi David Goldberg, one of today's most respected and outspoken Jewish leaders, grapples with the dilemmas of contemporary Jewishness with characteristic candor. He contrasts the flexibility of the Jewish Diaspora, whose identity has been historically predicated on powerlessness, with the militant assertiveness of modern Israel, which sometimes seems to have more power than it knows what to do with. With wit, insight and compassion he highlights the growing gulf between Israeli and Diaspora Jewishness. Following Churchill's quip about Britain and America, Goldberg argues that Israeli and Diaspora Jews are in danger of becoming divided by a common heritage. This book will stimulate, engage and provoke readers of all beliefs and cultures.
1 | The Zionist version of Jewish history | 7 |
2 | Relativism and absolutism in biblical times | 16 |
3 | Dependency on more powerful neighbours | 24 |
4 | Learning the lessons of exile | 30 |
5 | The Roman disaster | 39 |
6 | The shifting ground of diaspora existence | 47 |
7 | Factors in survival | 61 |
8 | Emerging from the ghetto | 72 |
9 | Redefining the Jew | 82 |
10 | Zionists, socialists, old Jews, 'new' Hebrews | 90 |
11 | Zionism for the few, integration for the many | 97 |
12 | The golden age of German Jewry | 105 |
13 | Liberal values and political realities | 116 |
14 | Zionisms's radical demands | 124 |
15 | Holocaust survivors and Zionist incomprehension | 132 |
16 | From destruction in Europe to redemption in Israel | 140 |
17 | A false sense of security | 149 |
18 | Israel, the diaspora and Likud | 159 |
19 | The sea change | 169 |
20 | From optimism to disillusionment | 180 |
21 | Taking stock; Israel and the diaspora today | 197 |
22 | 'The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing' | 210 |