New Jewish Canon

Dr. Yehuda Kurtzer is the President of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, and a leading thinker and author on the meaning of Israel to American Jews, on Jewish history and Jewish memory, and on questions of leadership and change in American Jewish life. He is also the author of Shuva: The Future of the Jewish Past (Brandeis, 2012).Dr. Claire E. Sufrin is a scholar of religion specializing in modern Jewish thought and theology. She is Associate Professor of Instruction and Assistant Director of Jewish Studies in the Crown Family Center for Jewish and Israel Studies at Northwestern University.

"Extraordinarily rich, lively and illuminating. … [Theeditors] have succeeded magnificently in achieving their goal."—Jonathan Kirsch, the Jewish Journal

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: "The State of Jewish Ideas: Towards a New Jewish Canon"I. Jewish Politics and the Public Square1. Michael Walzer, Exodus and Revolution, 1985Essay: William Galston2. George Steiner, "Our Homeland, the Text," 1985; Judith Butler, "Judith Butler's Remarks to Brooklyn College on BDS," 2013Essay: Julie Cooper3. Jonathan Woocher, Sacred Survival: The Civil Religion of American Jews, 1986Essay: Sylvia Fishman4. Benny Morris, The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947–1949, 1987; and The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited, 2004;Ari Shavit, "Survival of the Fittest? An Interview with Benny Morris," 2004 and "Lydda, 1948," 2013Essay: Daniel Kurtzer5. Irving (Yitz) Greenberg vs. Meir Kahane, Public Debate at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, 1988Essay: Shaul Magid6. Yeshayahu Leibowitz, Eliezer Goldman (ed.), Judaism, Human Values, and the Jewish State, 1992Essay: Joshua Shanes7. Israeli Supreme Court Part 1: Israeli Knesset Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, 1992; Aharon Barak, "A Judge on Judging: The Role of a Supreme Court in a Democracy," January 2002Essay: Yigal Mersel 8. Aharon Lichtenstein, "On the Murder of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin z"l," 1995Essay: David Wolkenfeld9. Aviezer Ravitzky, Messianism, Zionism, and Jewish Religious Radicalism, 1996Essay: Yehuda Magid10. Israeli Supreme Court Part 2: The Israeli Supreme Court sitting as the High Court of Justice, Horev v. Minister of Transportation, 1997; The Israeli Supreme Court sitting as the High Court of Justice: Baruch Marzel v. Jerusalem District Police Commander, Mr. Aharon Franco, 2002 Essay: Donniel Hartman 11. Samuel G. Freedman, Jew vs. Jew: The Struggle for the Soul of American Jewry, 2000Essay: Noam Pianko12. Breaking the Silence Testimonies, Founded in 2004Essay: Sarah Anne Minkin13. Steven M. Cohen and Jack Wertheimer, "Whatever Happened to the Jewish People?," 2006Essay: Erica Brown14. Yitzhak Shapira and Yosef Elitzur, Torat HaMelekh, 2009Essay: Hillel Ben-Sasson15. Moshe Halbertal, "The Goldstone Illusion," 2009Essay: Elana Stein Hain16. Peter Beinart, "The Failure of the American Jewish Establishment," 2010Essay: Sara Yael Hirschhorn17. Daniel Gordis, "When Balance Becomes Betrayal"  and Sharon Brous, "Lowering the Bar," 2012Essay: Yehuda Kurtzer18. Matti Friedman, "An Insider's Guide to the Most Important Story on Earth," 2014Essay: Rachel FishII. History, Memory and Narrative1. David Hartman, "Auschwitz or Sinai?," 1982Essay: Rachel Sabath Beit Halachmi2. Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory, 1982Essay: Alexander Kaye3. Emil Fackenheim, To Mend the World, 1982Essay: Benjamin Pollock4. Robert M. Cover, "The Supreme Court, 1982 Term—Foreword: Nomosand Narrative," 1983 Essay: Christine Hayes5. Kahan Commission (Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Events at the Refugee Camps in Beirut), 1983 Essay: Yehuda Kurtzer 6. Amos Oz, In the Land of Israel, 1983Essay: Wendy Zierler7. David Biale, Power and Powerlessness in Jewish History, 1986Essay: Judah Bernstein8. Elie Wiesel, Acceptance Speech, on the Occasion of the Award of the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, 1986Essay: Claire E. Sufrin9. Primo Levi, The Drowned and the Saved, 1986Essay: Sarah Cushman10. Irving (Yitz) Greenberg, "The Third Great Cycle of Jewish History," 1987Essay: Joshua Feigelson11. Deborah Lipstadt, Denying the Holocaust, 1993; Yaffa Eliach, There Once Was a World: A 900-Year Chronicle of the Shtetl of Eishyshok, 1998 Essay: Yehuda Kurtzer12. Haym Soloveitchik, "Rupture and Reconstruction," 1994Essay: Yehuda Kurtzer13. Naomi Seidman, "Elie Wiesel and the Scandal of Jewish Rage," 1996Essay: Erin Leib Smokler 14. Dabru Emet, New York Times, 2000Essay: Marcie Lenk15. Jonathan Sarna, American Judaism: A History, 2004Essay: Marc Dollinger16. David Weiss Halivni, Breaking the Tablets: Jewish Theology After the Shoah,2007Essay: Daniel Weiss17. Ruth Wisse, "How Not to Remember and How Not to Forget," 2008Essay: Dara Horn18. Yossi Klein Halevi, Like Dreamers, 2013Essay: Hannah KoberIII. Religion and Religiosity1. Joseph Soloveitchik,Halakhic Man, 1983Essay: Shlomo Zuckier2. Yehoshua Yeshaya Neuwirth, Shemirath Shabbath Kehilchathah, 1984 Essay: David Bashevkin3. David Hartman, A Living Covenant: The Innovative Spirit in Traditional Judaism, 1985Essay: David Ellenson4. The Complete Artscroll Siddur, 1984Essay: David Zvi Kalman5. Neil Gillman, Sacred Fragments: Recovering Theology for the Modern Jew, 1990; Eugene Borowitz, Renewing the Covenant: A Theology for the Postmodern Jew, 1991Essay: Michael Marmur6. Rachel Adler "In Your Blood, Live: Re-visions of a Theological Purity," 1993Essay: Gail Labovitz7. Rodger Kamenetz, The Jew in the Lotus: A Poet's Rediscovery of Jewish Identity in Buddhist India, 1994Essay: Or Rose8. Avivah Gottleib Zornberg, Genesis: The Beginning of Desire, 1995Essay: Shira Hecht-Koller9. Abraham Joshua Heschel, Susannah Heschel (ed.), Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity, 1996Essay: William Plevan10. Noam Zion and David Dishon, A Different Night: The Family Participation Haggadah, 1997Essay: Emily Filler11. Mendel Shapiro, "Qeri'at HaTorah by Women: A Halakhic Analysis," 2001Essay: Tova Hartman12. Jonathan Sacks, Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of Civilizations, London: Continuum,2002Essay: Michal Raucher13. Rav Shagar, Broken Vessels, 2004Essay: Tomer Persico14. Arthur Green, Radical Judaism: Rethinking God and Tradition, 2010; Daniel Landes, "Hidden Master," 2010; Arthur Green and Daniel Landes, "God, Torah, and Israel: An Exchange," 2011Essay: Samuel Hayim Brody15. Elie Kaunfer, Empowered Judaism: What Independent Minyanim Can Teach Us About Building Vibrant Jewish Communities, 2010Essay: Shawn Landres and Josh AvedonIV. Identities and Communities1. Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Letter to the Jewish Community of Teaneck, 1981Essay: Jonathan Sarna2. Blu Greenberg, On Women and Judaism: A View from Tradition, 1981Essay: Rachel Gordan3. Harold Kushner, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, 1981; Alan Lew, This is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation, 2003Essay: Joshua Ladon4. Evelyn Torton Beck (ed.), Nice Jewish Girls: A Lesbian Anthology, 1982; Susannah Heschel (ed.), On Being a Jewish Feminist, 1983Essay: Claire E. Sufrin5. Paul Cowan with Rachel Cowan, Mixed Blessings: Overcoming the Stumbling Blocks in an Interfaith Marriage, 1988Essay: Samira Mehta6. Judith Plaskow, Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective, 1990Essay: Judith Rosenbaum7. Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Deborah, Golda, and Me: Being Female and Jewish in America, 1991Essay: Arielle Levites8. Barry Kosmin, "Highlights of the CJF 1990 National Jewish Population Survey," 1991; "A Portrait of Jewish Americans," 2013Essay: Mijal Bitton9. Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Literacy, 1991; Paula Hyman, "Who is an Educated Jew?" 2002; Vanessa Ochs, "Ten Jewish Sensibilities," 2003Essay: Hannah Pressman10. Yaakov Levado, "Gayness and God: Wrestlings of an Orthodox Rabbi," 1993Essay: Zev Farber11. Leonard Fein, "Smashing Idols and Other Prescriptions for Jewish Continuity," 1994Essay: Aryeh Cohen12. Steven M. Cohen and Arnold M. Eisen, The Jew Within: Self, Family, and Community in America, 2000Essay: Alan Brill13. A. B. Yehoshua, "The Meaning of Homeland," 2006Essay: James Loeffler14. Elliot N. Dorff, Daniel S. Nevins, and Avram I. Reisner, "Homosexuality, Human Dignity, and Halakhah: A Combined Responsum for the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards," 2006 Essay: Jane Kanarek15. Noah Feldman "Orthodox Paradox," 2007; Jay Lefkowitz, "The Rise of Social Orthodoxy: A Personal Account," 2014Essay: Elli Fischer16. Tamar Biala and Nechama Weingarten-Mintz (eds.), Dirshuni: Midrashei Nashim, 2009Essay: Sarah Mulhern17. Leon Wieseltier, "Language, Identity, and the Scandal of American Jewry," 2011Essay: Jon Levisohn18. Ruth Calderon, Inaugural Knesset Speech, "The Heritage of All Israel," 2013Essay: Yossi Klein Halevi19. Rick Jacobs, "The Genesis of Our Future," 2013Essay: Dan Friedman