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Explorations in Jewish Historical
Experience: The Civilizational Dimension Jewish Identities in a Changing
World Volume 3 S.N. EIsenstadt |
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This volume brings
together several of Prof. S.N Eisenstadt's essays written over the years on
Jewish history and identity. The major argument of the essays follows the
Weberian view of Jewish historical experience as that of a distinct
civilization, as a distinct Great Religion, the first monotheistic
civilization - without, however, accepting many of Weber's concrete analyses.
The core of the argument that underlies these essays is, that the best way to
understand the Jewish experience is to look on Jews not just as a religious
or ethnic group, nation or "people", although they have been all of
these, but as bearers of a distinct civilization. These essays examine
the historical experience of the Jewish people and communities in ancient
medieval and modern times in the framework of such civilizational analysis in
which special attention is given to the analysis of Israeli society and to
continual changing place of Israel in a central component of Jewish identity,
in line with the different historical experience and collective agendas of
the Jewish countries. |
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