Wrestling With God: Jewish Theological Responses During And After The Holocaust

Book Summary

This volume presents a wide-ranging, extremely diverse, selection of Jewish theological responses to the Holocaust. It is the most complete anthology of its kind, bringing together for the first time a large sample of ultra-orthodox sources produced during the war and just after its end, translated from the Hebrew and Yiddish; a substantial selection of essays, originally written in Hebrew, by Israeli thinkers; and a broad sampling of works by American and European philosophers and theologians. These diverse selections represent virtually every significant theological position that has been articulated by a Jewish thinker in response to the Holocaust. The essays deal with the many fundamental questions that arise from reflection on the genocidal assault on the Jews by the Nazi State and its collaborators. For example: Can one quantify good and evil? Does the Holocaust disconfirm Judaisms basic theological claims? Does the rebirth of the State of Israel reconfirm traditional theological claims? Is Jewish history in any way singular? Is the Holocaust unique? If so, what is the theological meaning, if any, of this uniqueness? What does it mean to speak of Divine Providence and Gods intervention in human affairs? What is revelation? What is covenant? What does the problem of evil say about limits to Gods character and attributes? Is the reborn State of Israel Gods compensation for the death camps? Each of the three sections of the book is prefaced by a substantial introduction that contextualizes the material reproduced and explains what is distinctive about it. In addition, introductions to individual authors and selected bibliographies are also provided. his comprehensivevolume is an invaluable resource for scholars and students of Jewish studies, theology, and the Holocaust.

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