About this item
Since the late 1700s, when the Jewish community ceased to be a semiautonomous political unit in Western Europe and the United States and individual Jews became integrated—culturally, socially, and politically—into broader society, questions surrounding Jewish status and identity have occupied a prominent and contentious place in Jewish legal discourse. This book examines a wide array of legal opinions written by nineteenth- and twentieth-century orthodox rabbis in Europe, the United States, and Israel. It argues that these rabbis' divergent positions—based on the same legal precedents—demonstrate that they were doing more than delivering legal opinions. Instead, they were crafting public policy for Jewish society in response to Jews' social and political interactions as equals with the non-Jewish persons in whose midst they dwelled.
About the Author
Dr. Daniel Gordis is Senior Vice President and the Koret Distinguished Fellow at Shalem College. The author of more than ten books, Gordis is a regular columnist for both the Jerusalem Post and for Bloomberg View. Gordis' writing has appeared in magazines and newspapers including the New York Times, The New Republic, the New York Times Magazine, Azure, Commentary and Foreign Affairs, and his books have received numerous awards. He won the National Jewish Book Award for Saving Israel, and two of his books were Finalists for the National Jewish Book Award. Gordis' newest book is a history of the State of Israel entitled ISRAEL: A CONCISE HISTORY OF A NATION REBORN. Ambassador Dennis Ross, reflecting on the book, wrote, "When I am asked 'Is there one book to read about Israel? ' I now have an answer." Ari Shavit wrote, "Like Israel itself, Daniel Gordis's Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn is audacious, intensive and unique." Yossi Klein HaLevi wrote, "Daniel Gordis has written a luminous history .... Gordis gives us the soul of Israel, and helps explain why the most hated country on the planet is also among the most beloved." Professor Alan Dershowitz has called Gordis "one of Israel's most thoughtful observers." The Forward has called him "one of the most respected Israel analysts around." In 2014, the Jerusalem Post listed him as one of the world's 50 most influential Jews, while Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic has written, "If you asked me, 'of all the people you know, who cares the most about the physical, moral and spiritual health of Israel? ' I would put the commentator and scholar Daniel Gordis at the top of the list."
