Insist­ing that argu­men­ta­tion is at the heart of the Jew­ish expe­ri­ence his­tor­i­cal­ly and the­o­log­i­cal­ly, Rab­bi Schwartz presents a con­cise guide to ten clas­sic con­tro­ver­sies. Rep­re­sent­ing var­i­ous cru­cial peri­ods in Jew­ish his­to­ry, these debates are arranged in three cat­e­gories: Bib­li­cal Judaism, Rab­binic Judaism, and Mod­ern Judaism. The author’s method of analy­sis for each debate is to con­sid­er its con­text, its con­tent, and its con­ti­nu­ity. The lat­ter term involves the ongo­ing rel­e­vance of the issues at stake.

For, as Rab­bi Schwartz insists, the impor­tance of argu­men­ta­tion in Jew­ish cul­ture is not so much its res­o­lu­tion as its process. Most of these con­tro­ver­sies have out­comes that are not clear­ly res­o­lu­tions. The issues remain alive. In cas­es where one view has pre­vailed, as in the Hil­lel ver­sus Sham­mai debates, it is note­wor­thy that the pre­vail­ing view does not erase its adversary’s view.

In the ​“con­tent” sec­tions, Rab­bi Schwartz takes the lib­er­ty of mix­ing direct quo­ta­tion with dia­logue that he invents to sharp­en and clar­i­fy each issue. This poet­ic license may present prob­lems for some purists, but it makes the dis­cus­sions much more acces­si­ble for stu­dents. It is clear that the author intends the book to be a teach­ing text, an entry into a much vaster realm of Jew­ish thought and expres­sion. Indeed, a stu­dent ver­sion of the book is forth­com­ing from Behrman House.

Rep­re­sen­ta­tive top­ics include ​“Moses and Korah,” ​“The Five Daugh­ters and the Twelve Tribes,” ​“The Vil­na Gaon and the Baal Shem Tov,” and ​“Her­zl and Wise.” All are han­dled with appeal­ing vivid­ness and spir­it.

Through­out, Rab­bi Schwartz encour­ages the exer­cise of ​“Holy Chutz­pah,” by which he means argu­ing ​“for the sake of Heav­en.”

Dis­cus­sion ques­tions, notes, rec­om­mend­ed reading.

Read Bar­ry Schwartz’s Posts for the Vis­it­ing Scribe

Room for Debate: Ques­tions for Reflec­tion and Discussion

Chap­ter 1. Abra­ham and God

The Text: Gen­e­sis 18:22 – 32

1. Does ​“the Judge of all the earth deal just­ly” in the Gen­e­sis account?

2. Does Abra­ham have the right to ques­tion God?

3. Does Abra­ham win this debate, or does God?

Con­tem­po­rary Issues

1. When is col­lec­tive pun­ish­ment moral­ly acceptable?

2. Was the col­lec­tive pun­ish­ment of the Japan­ese by the drop­ping of atom­ic bombs on Hiroshi­ma and Nagasa­ki justified?

3. Are civil­ians who aid ter­ror­ists inno­cent and deserv­ing of non­com­bat­ant immunity?

Chap­ter 2. Moses and Korah

The Text: Num­bers 16:1 – 16

1. Should Moses have been will­ing to lis­ten to Korah?

2. Does Korah have a case, that all are holy?

3. Were Korah and his fol­low­ers legit­i­mate dissenters?

Con­tem­po­rary Issues

1. Is Jerusalem a holy city, and sub­ject to polit­i­cal negotiation?

2. Is the Sab­bath holy, and requir­ing ces­sa­tion from work?

3. Is the Bible holy, and God’s word?

Chap­ter 3. The Five Daugh­ters and the Twelve Tribes

The Text: Num­bers 27:1 – 11, 36:1 – 12

1. Is the com­pro­mise of women inher­it­ing but mar­ry­ing with­in the tribe a good one?

2. Are women sec­ond-class cit­i­zens under bib­li­cal law?

3. Can the halakhah regard­ing the tra­di­tion­al role of women be cat­e­go­rized as sep­a­rate but equal?

Con­tem­po­rary Issues

1. Is the inclu­sion and equal­i­ty of women in Judaism com­plete today?

2. Should gays be extend­ed all reli­gious rights in Judaism, includ­ing marriage?

3. Are ille­gal immi­grants the equiv­a­lent of the bib­li­cal ​“stranger” and jus­ti­fied in receiv­ing a path to full citizenship?

Chap­ter 4. David and Nathan

The Text: 2 Samuel 11 – 12

1. Should David have been allowed to remain king?

2. Does the pun­ish­ment fit the crime?

3. Does David repent?

Con­tem­po­rary Issues

1. What exam­ples of prophet­ic fig­ures speak­ing ​“truth to pow­er” exist today?

2. Does this sto­ry have par­al­lels to the impeach­ments of Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton?

3. Should immoral orders from supe­ri­ors be refused?

Chap­ter 5. Ben Zakkai and the Zealots

The Text: Git­tin 56a‑b, Avot d’Rabbi Natan 4:5

1. Was accom­mo­da­tion — or resis­tance — to Rome in the nation­al interest?

2. Does any­thing jus­ti­fy Abba Sikra’s actions against his fel­low citizens?

3. Is there a mid­dle ground between paci­fism and armed resistance?

Con­tem­po­rary Issues

1. Should Masa­da be a sym­bol of hero­ism today?

2. Should the Unit­ed States sup­port armed resis­tance against dictators?

3. Should Israel nego­ti­ate with sworn ter­ror­ist organizations?

Chap­ter 6. Hil­lel and Shammai

The Text: Shab­bat 21b, 31a; Ketubot 16b

1. Is Shammai’s atti­tude toward a prospec­tive con­vert understandable?

2. Should a bride be flat­tered even if involves a lie?

3. Doesn’t it make more sense to light the Hanukkah can­dles Shammai’s way?

Con­tem­po­rary Issues

1. Should a greater effort be made to wel­come inter­faith cou­ples into Jew­ish life?

2. Should the Jew­ish com­mu­ni­ty make a greater effort to gain converts?

3. Should a qual­i­fied judge be denied a nom­i­na­tion based on judi­cial philosophy?

Chap­ter 7. The Vil­na Gaon and the Baal Shem Tov

The Text: Var­i­ous attrib­uted quotes

1. Is prayer — or study — the pri­ma­ry means of relat­ing to God?

2. Does exces­sive cel­e­bra­tion lead peo­ple away from Torah?

3. Is ​“every spo­ken word” a mes­sage from God?

Con­tem­po­rary Issues

1. Should Jew­ish prayer today be tra­di­tion­al or innovative?

2. Should it include chant­i­ng, med­i­ta­tion, folk singing, dancing?

3. What is the most appro­pri­ate metaphor for God: par­ent or ruler?

Chap­ter 8. Spin­oza and the Ams­ter­dam Rabbis

The Text: Writ of Excom­mu­ni­ca­tion and Spin­oza writings

1. What, exact­ly, are Spinoza’s ​“evil opin­ions and abom­inable heresies”?

2. Are they wor­thy of excommunication?

3. Was Spin­oza an atheist?

Con­tem­po­rary Issues

1. Should Judaism today be based on rea­son or revelation?

2. Should the human­is­tic con­gre­ga­tion have been admit­ted to the Reform movement?

3. Should Broth­er Daniel have been giv­en cit­i­zen­ship under the Law of Return?

Chap­ter 9. Geiger and Hirsch and Frankel

The Text: Rab­bis’ ser­mons, books, and con­fer­ence transcripts

1. Can the laws of the Torah change with the times?

2. Should Jew­ish prayer be all or part in Hebrew, or in the vernacular?

3. Should the Torah be sub­ject to mod­ern his­tor­i­cal analysis?

Con­tem­po­rary Issues

1. Is patri­lin­eal descent (Judaism deter­mined through the father) legitimate?

2. Should kashrut be elim­i­nat­ed, or mod­i­fied to be more eth­i­cal­ly responsible?

3. Is a civ­il divorce suf­fi­cient for a Jew­ish couple?

Chap­ter 10. Her­zl and Wise

The Text: Her­zl diary and speech­es; Wise address to the ccar

1. Are the Jew­ish peo­ple a faith com­mu­ni­ty or an eth­nic group?

2. Is a Jew­ish home­land the only real answer to anti-Semitism?

3. Why was Wise so vehe­ment in his oppo­si­tion to Zionism?

Con­tem­po­rary Issues

1. Can Jew­ish life flour­ish again in Ger­many and the for­mer Sovi­et Union?

2. Should all Jews be Zion­ist, in the sense of sup­port­ing Israel?

3. Do Jews out­side Israel have a right to crit­i­cize the gov­ern­ment of Israel?