"Gershom Scholem is a historian who has remade the world. . . . He is coming to be seen as one of the greatest shapers of contemporary thought, possibly the boldest mind-adventurer of our generation."
This book examines the social, economic, political, and cultural context of first-century Judaism. Precipitated by the coming of the Romans during the previous century, Judaism experienced a crisis of cultural erosion in the first century A.D. The author first describes the ways in which foreign domination threatened the Jewish community - for example, by causing a migration away from the countryside into cities. He then discusses how various groups of Jews tried to preserve their cultural identity through their definitions of Jewishness and through the ethical codes they devised. Groups examined include the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Zealots, the Essenes, and John the Baptist and his followers. The author locates Jesus' teaching in relation to the teachings of these groups, arguing that Jesus was deeply committed to the values of the Jewish tradition even while he proposed radical change that he believed would bring renewal.
They have been part of the population of England for many generations, but how assimilated are the Jewish people in modern English life? Alderman (politics and contemporary history, U. Buckingham) wor
Explores the impact on Jews and Judaism of the crisis of modernity, analyzing modern Jewish dilemmas and providing a prescription for their resolution.
This book explodes the myth of a monolithic, liberal Judaism and tells the story of the many fierce battles that raged in postwar America over what an authentically Jewish position ought to be on issu
This 1996 study reconstructs the apocalyptic eschatology in Matthew's Gospel so that we may understand his time and concerns. Sociological analysis of apocalypticism in Judaism and early Christianity shows that such a comprehensive world view, which emphasized the final judgement and its aftermath within a dualistic and deterministic framework, was adopted by minority of sectarian groups undergoing a situation of great crisis. The Matthean community, after the first Jewish war against Rome, came into conflict with Judaism, gentiles and the larger Christian movement. Matthew's distinctive and often vengeful vision must be set against both his acute need to enhance his community's sense of itself and his pastoral concern. Dr Sim offers for the first time in English an extended and comprehensive comparison of Matthew's outlook with contemporary eschatological literature.
The contributors to this volume throw light on one of the central problems of modern Jewish historiography: How has Jewry and Judaism survived the crisis of the breakup of Jewish traditional society,
The contributors to this volume throw light on one of the central problems of modern Jewish historiography: How has Jewry and Judaism survived the crisis of the breakup of Jewish traditional society,
