The Jewish Political Tradition, Volume Two: Membership »

Michael Walzer is UPS Foundation Professor of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Menachem Lorberbaum is senior lecturer in the department of Jewish philosophy at Tel Aviv University. Noam J. Zohar is senior lecturer in the department of philosophy at Bar Ilan University. Ari Ackerman is lecturer in the school of education at the Schechter Institute in Jerusalem. All four editors are research fellows at the Shalom Hartman Institute.

“The series to which this book belongs is unprecedented. . . . Every one of the chapters enacts a debate that should have a living resonance, not just for Jews, although obviously for them, but for everyone with a historical sense and a political conscience.”—Hilary Putnam, Boston Review

 “A vast and important resource which will be consulted for years to come by all interested in any aspect of Judaism and Jewish history.”—Ira Robinson, Journal of Religion & Culture (praise for the series)

Library Journal

The second volume in a proposed four-volume series (the first was Authority), this is essentially a collection of documents translated into English from Jewish political history, all revolving around the theme of what makes an individual a member of the Jewish people. The book examines models from biblical times to the present in six chapters that address such topics as gender hierarchy, converts, heretics, apostates, and how gentiles are viewed. Readers unfamiliar with the subject will be surprised by the passion with which many issues are argued. The medieval commentaries, for instance, are very sharp and incisive. There are many accessible books on Jewish history but far fewer on Jewish political thought-especially sound, scholarly volumes such as this. Edited by four research fellows from the Shalom Hartman Institute, this book is for the scholar and informed lay reader. Recommended for libraries with strong Jewish studies or religious thought collections.-Paul Kaplan, Lake Villa Dist. Lib., IL Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.