Abraham Geiger's liberal Judaism : personal meaning and religious authority / Ken Koltun-Fromm.

ISBN:

9780253111852

9780253347442

9781282072763

Title:

Abraham Geiger's liberal Judaism : personal meaning and religious authority / Ken Koltun-Fromm.

Author:

Koltun-Fromm, Ken.

Personal Author:

Koltun-Fromm, Ken.

Publication Information:

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 180 pages).

Series:

Jewish literature and culture

Contents:

Introduction: Abraham Geiger, religious authority, and personal meaning -- Historical memory and the authority of religious Judaism -- The practice of hermeneutical authority -- The gendered politics of authority -- Rabbinic authority -- Jewish education and the authority of personal meaning -- Conclusion: the practice of authority.

Local Note:

eBooks on EBSCOhost

Personal Subject:

Geiger, Abraham, 1810-1874-Teachings.

Subject Term:

Reform Judaism.

Authority -- Religious aspects.

Meaning (Philosophy) -- Religious aspects.

Format:

Electronic Resources

Electronic Access:

Click to view here

Publication Date:

2006

Publication Information:

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
296.8341092 22	1:E-BOOK	1	1:ONLINE	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

German rabbi, scholar, and theologian Abraham Geiger (1810-1874) is recognized as the principal leader of the Reform movement in German Judaism. In his new work, Ken Koltun-Fromm argues that for Geiger personal meaning in religion--rather than rote ritual practice or acceptance of dogma--was the key to religion's moral authority. In five chapters, the book explores issues central to Geiger's work that speak to contemporary Jewish practice--historical memory, biblical interpretation, ritual and gender practices, rabbinic authority, and Jewish education. This is essential reading for scholars, rabbis, rabbinical students, and informed Jewish readers interested in Conservative and Reform Judaism.

Published with the generous support of the Lucius N. Littauer Foundation.

Author Notes

Ken Koltun-Fromm is Associate Professor of Religion at Haverford College and author of Moses Hess and Modern Jewish Identity (IUP, 2001), winner of the Koret Jewish Book Award for Philosophy and Thought.

Reviews (1)

Choice Review

Geiger, a pioneering leader of the 19th-century Jewish reform movement in Germany, is the subject of only a few books in English, one of which is Susannah Heschel's excellent Abraham Geiger and the Jewish Jesus (CH, Sep'98, 36-0267). In his tightly focused, though occasionally repetitive work, Koltun-Fromm (Haverford) convincingly articulates the heart of Geiger's theology. On Koltun-Fromm's reading, Geiger's liberalism is characterized not by adherence to abstract rational principles, but rather by personal authority deriving from the quickening influence of Judaism's essential spirit on the contemporary concerns of Jews. By emphasizing the dynamic interplay of past and present in the reflection and practice of local Jewish communities, Geiger adroitly wended his way between the dangers of universalism, on the one hand, and individualism, on the other. Geiger was a progressive proponent of religious Wissenschaft who still held firmly to certain inherited ideas, especially when it came to gender roles in Judaism. Koltun-Fromm argues that, despite certain blind spots in his thinking, Geiger's consistent understanding of personal authority in his writings on hermeneutics, Jewish worship and ritual, rabbinical leadership, and religious education is a potent resource for 21st-century Jews. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty/researchers. S. Gowler Berea College