Information Resources

New and Notable
Recent Publications of Interest

(List posted in late January 2002)

In an effort to help interested readers keep abreast of new publications in the disciplines that lie at the heart of the work of the Institute for Christian & Jewish Studies, we offer a short list of recently-published books and brief descriptions of each book. These descriptions are not reviews: No positive or negative judgments are offered with regard to the books' contents.

Lawrence Fine, editor. Judaism in Practice From
the Middle Ages through the Early Modern Period. Princeton Readings in Religions, Princeton University Press, 2001. This volume contains a collection of original materials that survey Jewish ritual and religious practice between 600 and 1800 C. E. and focus on how people actually lived their Judaism from day to day. Texts include ritual manuals, legal codes, mystical books, autobiographical writings, folk literature, and liturgical poetry. The unusual nature of this collec-tion lies in its treatment of aspects of Jewish culture that are routinely neglected -- the religious life of ordinary people, the role and status of women, art and aesthetics, marginalized and remote Jewish communities. Many of these materials have been translated into English for the first time. Contributing scholars include Howard Tzvi Adelman, Avriel Bar Levav, Judith R. Baskin, Dan Ben-Amos, Kalman P. Bland, J. H. Chajes, Robert Chazan, Mark R. Cohen, Marc Michael Epstein, Paul Fenton, Lawrence Fine, Daniel Frank, S. D. Goitein,
Matt Goldish, Arthur Green, Joel Hecker, Gershon David Hundert, Lawrence A. Hoffman, Paula E. Hyman, Ephraim Kanarfogel, Lawrence Kaplan, Joel L. Kraemer, Miles Krassen, Jonathan N. Lipman, Ivan G. Marcus, Daniel C. Matt, Renée Levine Melammed, Allan Nadler, Marc Saperstein, Raymond P. Scheindlin, Michael Swartz, Steven M. Wasserstrom, and Chava Weissler.

Daniel H. Frank, Oliver Leaman, and Charles H. Manekin, editors. The Jewish Philosophy Reader. Routledge, 2000. A comprehensive anthology of classic writings in Jewish philosophy from the Bible to the postmodern period, The Jewish Philosophy Reader is divided into four parts: Foundations and First Principles, Medieval and Renaissance Jewish Philosophy, Modern Jewish Thought, and Contemporary Jewish Philosophy. Each section contains an introduction written by the editors. The readings include representative writings from each of the four eras by the following major philosophical thinkers: Isaac Abrabanel, Leo Baeck,
S. H. Bergman, Eugene Borowitz, Martin Buber, Hermann Cohen, Chasdai Crescas, Emil Fackenheim, Abraham Geiger, Gersonides, Lenn E. Goodman, Heinrich Graetz, Judah Halevi, David Hartman, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Moses Hess, Samson Raphael Hirsch, Abraham Ibn Ezra, Solomon Ibn Gabirol, Bachya Ibn Paquda, Menachem Kellner, Abraham Isaac Kook, Nachman Krochmal, Yeshayahu Leibowitz, Emmanuel Levinas, Maimonides, Ignaz Maybaum, Moses Mendelssohn, David Novak, Philo, Judith Plaskow, Franz Rosenzweig, Saadia Gaon, Gershom Scholem, Joseph Soloveitchik, Spinoza, Leo Strauss, Immanuel Wolf, Leopold Zunz, and others.

Marc Gopin. Between Eden and Armageddon:
The Future of World Religions, Violence, and Peacemaking. Oxford University Press, 2000.
As Americans have been made all too aware by the events of September 11, 2001, the recent rise in the power, influence, and importance of organized religion
in our world has been accompanied by a commensurate increase in violent acts carried out in the name of religion. While there is a clear relationship between violence and religious militancy, history indicates that religion has also played a significant role in peacemaking in many cultures. In this book Marc Gopin integrates the study of religion with the study of conflict resolution and argues that in the future religion can be vital in the construction of a global community that can, on the basis of shared moral commitments and vision, restrict violent conflict. Through a study of religious myths and moral traditions, Gopin believes we can better under-stand when and why religious people become violent, and when and why they become peacemakers. Gopin emphasizes that peacemakers and theologians must work consciously to develop the potential of the world's religions to deal with conflict, and he offers recom-mendations for policy planners both inside and outside
of government.

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