Jewish Tradition and the Challenge of Darwinism »

Geoffrey Cantor is professor of the history of science at the University of Leeds. Marc Swetlitz has taught history of science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Oklahoma.

Darwin’s theory of evolution transformed the life sciences and made profound claims about human origins and the human condition, topics often viewed as the prerogative of religion. As a result, evolution has provoked a wide variety of religious responses, ranging from angry rejection to enthusiastic acceptance. While Christian responses to evolution have been studied extensively, little scholarly attention has been paid to Jewish reactions. Jewish Tradition and the Challenge of Darwinism is the first extended meditation on the Jewish engagement with this crucial and controversial theory.

The contributors to Jewish Tradition and the Challenge of Darwinism—from several academic disciplines and two branches of the rabbinate—present case studies showing how Jewish discussions of evolution have been shaped by the intersections of faith, science, philosophy, and ideology in specific historical contexts. Furthermore, they examine how evolutionary theory has been deployed when characterizing Jews as a race, both by Zionists and by anti-Semites. Jewish Tradition and the Challenge of Darwinism addresses historical and contemporary, as well as progressive and Orthodox, responses to evolution in America, Europe, and Israel, ultimately extending the history of Darwinism into new religious domains.

Quarterly Review of Biology

"I feel that this volume will provide fresh perspectives and new ideas to consider for scholars interested in the interaction of evolution and religion."—Daniel Stoebel, Quarterly Review of Biology

— Daniel Stoebel

List of Contributors Acknowledgments Introduction

PART 1: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON JEWISH RESPONSES TO EVOLUTION Introduction to Part 1
1 Anglo-Jewish Responses to Evolution
  Geoffrey Cantor
2 Responses to Evolution by Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist   Rabbis in Twentieth-Century America
  Marc Swetlitz
3 “Practically, I Am a Fundamentalist”: Twentieth-Century Orthodox Jews   Contend with Evolution and Its Implications
  Ira Robinson

PART 2: SOCIAL USES OF EVOLUTION: ANTI-SEMITISM, RACISM, AND ZIONISM Introduction to Part 2
4 The Impact of Social Darwinism on Anti-Semitic Ideology in Germany and   Austria, 1860-1945
  Richard Weikart
5 The Evolution of Jewish Identity: Ignaz Zollschan between Jewish and   Aryan Race Theories, 1910-1945
  Paul Weindling
6 Zionism, Race, and Eugenics
  Raphael Falk

PART 3: EVOLUTION AND CONTEMPORARY JUDAISM Introduction to Part 3
7 Crisis Management via Biblical Interpretation: Fundamentalism, Modern   Orthodoxy, and Genesis
  Shai Cherry
8 Torah and Madda? Evolution in the Jewish Educational Context
  Rena Selya
9 Modern Orthodoxy and Evolution: The Models of Rabbi J. B. Soloveitchik   and Rabbi A. I. Kook
  Carl Feit
10 The Order of Creation and the Emerging God: Evolution and Divine Action in the Natural World
  Lawrence Troster

Suggested Reading

Index