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Divided Self: Israel and the Jewish Psyche Today »

Book cover image of Divided Self: Israel and the Jewish Psyche Today by David J. Goldberg

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)

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Author Biography: David J. Goldberg

David J. Goldberg OBE is Rabbi Emeritus of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, London, having served Europe's largest Progressive congregation for nearly thirty years.

Book Synopsis

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.

Table of Contents

1The Zionist version of Jewish history7
2Relativism and absolutism in biblical times16
3Dependency on more powerful neighbours24
4Learning the lessons of exile30
5The Roman disaster39
6The shifting ground of diaspora existence47
7Factors in survival61
8Emerging from the ghetto72
9Redefining the Jew82
10Zionists, socialists, old Jews, 'new' Hebrews90
11Zionism for the few, integration for the many97
12The golden age of German Jewry105
13Liberal values and political realities116
14Zionisms's radical demands124
15Holocaust survivors and Zionist incomprehension132
16From destruction in Europe to redemption in Israel140
17A false sense of security149
18Israel, the diaspora and Likud159
19The sea change169
20From optimism to disillusionment180
21Taking stock; Israel and the diaspora today197
22'The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing'210

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