| ID | 154270 |
| Title Proper | Acques picard, jacques revel, michael p. steinberg and idith zertal, eds., makers of jewish modernity: thinkers, artists, leaders and the world they made |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Yakira, Elhanan |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Makers of Jewish Modernity is an ambitious, intriguing and occasionally useful volume. While the book is a somewhat impressive and even compelling venture, it is also disturbing. The editors describe their work as a collection of “original portraits of thinkers, writers, artists, and leaders who founded, formed, and transformed the Twentieth Century and laid down intellectual, cultural and political foundations ahead of us. […] Modern Jewish experience forms a dimension of our post-Enlightenment world.” (1) Contrary to what its title conveys, this book is not about “Jewish modernity” as such, but about Jewish modernity insofar as it is a “dimension” of the contemporary world at large. Perhaps this explains the fact that, with the exception of the literary critic Jacques Derrida, Makers of Jewish Modernity does not include a single “thinker, writer, artist and leader” who is a “Mizrahi” (Middle Eastern or Sephardic) Jew. Moreover, although Derrida was born in Algeria, his thought and writings appear to be largely “Ashkenazified” (European). While Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein certainly are among the founders of the “post-Enlightenment world,” it is not clear that the same applies to the founder of political Zionism, Theodor Herzl; the historian Simon Dubnow; Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook; Hebrew poet, Dahlia Ravikovitch; scientist and thinker, Professor Yeshayahu Leibowitz; or Hebrew poet, Natan Alterman, – all of whom appear in this volume. |
| `In' analytical Note | Jewish Political Studies Review Vol. 27, No.3-4; Fall 2016: p.46-54 |
| Journal Source | Jewish Political Studies Review 2016-01 27, 3-4 |
| Key Words | World Jewry |