For this volume Rabbi David Ellenson, former chancellor of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and a renowned scholar of responsa literature and modern Jewish prayer books, has chosen twenty-three of his essays, written over three decades, that address “the multivalent push and pull between Jewish tradition and Western culture.” Reflecting his interest in the intersection of theology, history, and society, the essays demonstrate the consistency of his intellectual and religious interests throughout his life.
The essays “argue for and celebrate an inclusive Jewish community that affirms gender equality, a lenient approach to conversion, the embrace of GLBTQ persons as equals, and a strong Israel that is faithful to the democratic and Jewish values that informed the founders of the Jewish state.” Some of the essays are academic: “Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch to Leipman Phillip Prins of Amsterdam: An 1873 Responsum on Education”; “A Theology of Fear: The Search for a Liberal Jewish Paradigm”; “Wissenschaft des Judentums, Historical Consciousness, and Jewish Faith: The Diverse Paths of Frankel, Auerbach, and Halevy.” Other entries will likely have more appeal to the general reader: “Denominationalism: History and Hopes”; “Reform Zionism Today: A Consideration of First Principles.” Taken together, they represent Rabbi Ellenson’s wide-ranging interests.
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