The Jewish reformation : Bible translation and middle-class German Judaism as spiritual enterprise

More Details

Full Title:: The Jewish reformation : Bible translation and middle-class German Judaism as spiritual enterprise / Michah Gottlieb

Subjects:: Mendelssohn, Moses,1729-1786
Zunz, Leopold,1794-1886
Hirsch, Samson Raphael,1808-1888
Bible.Old Testament.German--Versions
Bible.Old Testament--Versions, Jewish
Bible.Old Testament--Translating--Germany
Jews--Germany--History--18th century
Jews--Germany--History--19th century
Judaism--Germany--History--18th century
Judaism--Germany--History--19th century
Germany--Ethnic relations
Germany--Religious life and customs

Bibliography:: Includes bibliographical references (425-448) and index.
Summary:: "Jewish texts and traditions. An expression of this was the remarkable turn to Bible translation. In the century and a half between Moses Mendelssohn's pioneering translation and the final one by Martin Buber and Franz Rosenzweig, German Jews produced sixteen different translations of at least the Pentateuch. Buber and Rosenzweig famously critiqued bourgeois German Judaism as a craven attempt to establish social respectability to facilitate Jews' entry into the middle class through a vapid, domesticated account of Judaism. Exploring Bible translations by Moses Mendelssohn, Leopold Zunz, and Samson Raphael Hirsch, I argue that each sought to ground a "reformation" of Judaism along bourgeois lines, which involved aligning Judaism with a Protestant concept of religion. They did so because they saw in bourgeois values the best means to serve God and the authentic actualization of Jewish tradition. Through their learned, creative Bible translations, Mendelssohn, Zunz, and Hirsch presented distinct visions of middle-class Judaism that affirmed Jewish nationhood while lighting the path to a purposeful, emotionally rich, spiritual life grounded in ethical responsibility"--
Language:: English
Physical Type/Description:: x, 462 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm