The last two centuries have witnessed a radical transformation of Jewish life. Marked by such profound events as the emancipation from the ghettoes of Europe, the Holocaust and the establishment of the State of Israel, Judaism's long journey through the modern age has been a complex and tumultuous one, leading many Jews to ask themselves not only where they have been and where they are going, but what it means to be a Jew in today's world. Tracing the dramatic changes in Jewish religion, culture, and identity from the seventeenth century to 1948, The Jew in the Modern World, Third Edition, remains the most complete sourcebook on modern Jewish history available. Now thoroughly expanded and updated, this critically acclaimed volume of primary materials features previously unpublished and inaccessible sources concerning the Jewish experience in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa; women in Jewish history; American Jewish life; the Holocaust; and Zionism and the nascent Jewish community in Palestine on the eve of the establishment of the State of Israel. The documents are arranged chronologically in each chapter and are meticulously and extensively annotated and cross-referenced. Providing useful tables detailing Jewish demographic trends, this unique text is ideal for courses in modern Jewish history, Zionism and Israel, the Holocaust, or modern European history.

The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History

History

Mendes-Flohr, Paul

Reinharz, Jehuda

World

Oxford University Press

The identity of contemporary Jews is multifaceted, no longer necessarily defined by an observance of the Torah and God's commandments. Indeed, the Jews of modernity are no longer exclusively Jewish. They are affiliated with a host of complementary and sometimes clashing communities--vocational, professional, political, and cultural--whose interests may not coincide with that of the community of their birth and inherited culture. In Cultural Disjunctions, Paul Mendes-Flohr explores the possibility of a spiritually and intellectually engaged cosmopolitan Jewish identity for our time. Reflecting on the need to participate in the spiritual life of Judaism so that it enables multiple relations beyond its borders and allows one to balance Jewish commitment with a genuine obligation to the universal, Mendes-Flohr lays out what this delicate balance can look like for contemporary Jews, both in Israel and in diasporic communities worldwide. Cultural Disjunctions walks us through the labyrinth of twentieth-century Jewish cultural identities and commitments. Ultimately, Mendes-Flohr calls for Jews to remain "discontent," not just with themselves but also and especially with the reigning social and political order, and to fight for its betterment.&nbsp;

Cultural Disjunctions: Post-Traditional Jewish Identities

Politics & Social Sciences

Anthropology

University of Chicago Press

Martin Buber: A Life of Faith and Dissent (Jewish Lives)

Biographies & Memoirs

Leaders & Notable People

Yale University Press

When the German-Jewish philosopher Franz Rosenzweig entitled his 1926 collection of essays on Jewish and universal cultural topics Zweistromland―a land of two rivers―he meant to underscore, indeed celebrate, the fact that German-Jewish culture is nurtured by both German culture and the Jewish religious and cultural heritage. In this thought-provoking book, Paul Mendes-Flohr explores through the prism of Rosenzweig’s image how German Jews have understood and contended with their twofold spiritual patrimony. He deepens the discussion to consider also how the German-Jewish experience bears upon the general modern experience of living with multiple cultural identities. German Jews assimilated the cultural values of Germany but were not themselves assimilated into German society, Mendes-Flohr contends. Yet, by virtue of their adoption of values sponsored by enlightened German discourse, they were no longer unambiguously Jewish. The author discusses how their identity and cultural loyalty became fractured and how German Jews―like other Jews and indeed like all denizens of the modern world―were obliged to confront the challenges of living with plural identities and cultural affiliations.

German Jews: A Dual Identity (The Franz Rosenzweig Lecture Series)

Europe

From the prizewinning Jewish Lives series, the first major biography in English in over thirty years of the seminal modern Jewish thinker Martin Buber An authority on the twentieth‑century philosopher Martin Buber (1878–1965), Paul Mendes-Flohr offers the first major biography in English in thirty years of this seminal modern Jewish thinker. The book is organized around several key moments, such as his sudden abandonment by his mother when he was a child of three, a foundational trauma that, Mendes-Flohr shows, left an enduring mark on Buber’s inner life, attuning him to the fragility of human relations and the need to nurture them with what he would call a “dialogical attentiveness.” Buber’s philosophical and theological writings, most famously I and Thou, made significant contributions to religious and Jewish thought, philosophical anthropology, biblical studies, political theory, and Zionism. In this accessible new biography, Mendes-Flohr situates Buber’s life and legacy in the intellectual and cultural life of German Jewry as well as in the broader European intellectual life of the first half of the twentieth century. About Jewish Lives: Jewish Lives is a prizewinning series of interpretative biography designed to explore the many facets of Jewish identity. Individual volumes illuminate the imprint of Jewish figures upon literature, religion, philosophy, politics, cultural and economic life, and the arts and sciences. Subjects are paired with authors to elicit lively, deeply informed books that explore the range and depth of the Jewish experience from antiquity to the present. In 2014, the Jewish Book Council named Jewish Lives the winner of its Jewish Book of the Year Award, the first series ever to receive this award. More praise for Jewish Lives: "Excellent." –New York Times "Exemplary." –Wall Street Journal "Distinguished." –New Yorker "Superb." –The Guardian

From Mysticism to Dialogue: Martin Buber's Transformation of German Social Thought

Wayne State University

For Gustav Landauer, literary critic and anarchist, participant of the Bavarian revolution and scholar of mysticism, culture and politics occupied the same spiritual space. While identifying with ethical socialism, his Jewish sensibility increasingly gained over the years, not only, but in great measure due to Buber's influence. This volume assesses Landauer's literary and political activities, paying particular attention to his impact on Buber.

Gustav Landauer: Anarchist and Jew

Mali, Anya

De Gruyter Oldenbourg

Deutsch-jüdische Geschichte in der Neuzeit, 4 Bde., Bd.3, Umstrittene Integration 1871-1918

Lowenstein, Steven M.

PULZER, PETER

C.H.Beck

Jüdische Identität: Die zwei Seelen der deutschen Juden

Fink Wilhelm GmbH + Co.KG

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Mendes-Flohr, Paul. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Mendes-Flohr, Paul