Judaism, Race, and Ethics: Conversations and Questions (Dimyonot): 8 (Dimyonot: Jews and the Cultural Imagination) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0271085800 ISBN 13: 9780271085807

Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2020

Synopsis

Recent political and social developments in the United States reveal a deep misunderstanding of race and religion. From the highest echelons of power to the most obscure corners of society, color and conviction are continually twisted, often deliberately for nefarious reasons, or misconstrued to stymie meaningful conversation. This timely book wrestles with the contentious, dynamic, and ethically complicated relationship between race and religion through the lens of Judaism.

Featuring essays by lifelong participants in discussions about race, religion, and society― including Susannah Heschel, Sander L. Gilman, and George Yancy―this vibrant book aims to generate a compelling conversation vitally relevant to both the academy and the community. Starting from the premise that understanding prejudice and oppression requires multifaceted critical reflection and a willingness to acknowledge one’s own bias, the contributors to this volume present surprising arguments that disentangle fictions, factions, and facts. The topics they explore include the role of Jews and Jewish ethics in the civil rights movement, race and the construction of American Jewish identity, rituals of commemoration celebrating Jewish and black American resilience, the “Yiddish gaze” on lynchings of black bodies, and the portrayal of racism as a mental illness from nineteenth-century Vienna to twenty-first-century Charlottesville. Each essay is linked to a classic Jewish source and accompanied by guiding questions that help the reader identify salient themes connecting ancient and contemporary concerns.

In addition to the editor, the contributors include Sander L. Gilman, Annalise E. Glauz-Todrank, Aaron S. Gross, Susannah Heschel, Sarah Imhoff, Willa M. Johnson, Judith W. Kay, Jessica Kirzane, Nichole Renée Phillips, and George Yancy.

About this title

About the Author

Jonathan K. Crane is Raymond F. Schinazi Scholar in Bioethics and Jewish Thought at Emory University’s Center for Ethics, Associate Professor of Medicine at Emory School of Medicine, and Associate Professor of Religion at Emory College. He is the founder and coeditor-in-chief of the Journal of Jewish Ethics.

Edition details

• Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0271085800
• ISBN 13: 9780271085807
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304
• Editor: Crane Jonathan K.