Idea of Modern Jewish Culture

Eliezer Schweid (1929-2022) was Professor Emeritus of Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University. He published over forty books in general and specific areas of Jewish thought of all periods, and commented frequently on the relevance of the legacy of Jewish thought to contemporary issues of Jewish and universal human concern. He was the recipient of the distinguished Israel Prize and two honorary doctorates. Leonard Levin teaches Jewish philosophy at the Academy for Jewish Religion, Yonkers, NY.

"…Schweid's work is a significant addition to the analysis of European Jewish thought in the modern period."

• Preface; Foreword; Culture as a Concept & Culture as an Ideal; Tensions & Contradiction; Internalizing the Cultural Ideal; The Underlying Philosophy of Jewish Enlightenment; The Meaning of Being a Jewish-Hebrew Maskil; Crossroads: The Transition from Haskalah to the Science of Judaism; The Dialectic between National Hebrew Culture & Jewish Idealistic Humanism; The Philosophic Historic Formation of Jewish Humanism: A Modern Guide to the Perplexed; The Science of Judaism -- Research in Judaism as a Culture; The Science of Judaism, Reform Judaism & Historical Positivism; A Critique of the Science of Judaism & the Cultural Ideal of the Enlightenment; Accelerated Change & Revolution; The Vision of Jewish Cultural Renaissance in Political Zionism; The Pioneering (Halutzic) Culture of the Jewish Labor Movement in Palestine; Polar Views on Sources of Jewish Culture; Alienation from Religion & Tradition; The Jewish Folk Culture of Eretz Israel; Judaism as the Totality of a National Historic Culture; Sanctity & the Jewish National Movement; The Dimension of Sanctity in Pioneering Labor Zionism; Orthodox Zionist Culture -- Sanctifying Modernity; Judaism as a Culture in the Diaspora; The Secular Jewish Culture of Yiddish; The Transition from the Hebrew Culture of Pre-State Eretz Israel to Israeli Culture; Glossary; Bibliography; Index.