Modern Jewish Theology

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Abraham Heschel’s assertion that “no religion is an island” is especially true of modern Judaism. From Moses Mendelssohn’s defense of religious freedom to Heschel’s support of the civil rights movement, modern Jewish theology is characterized by an ongoing dialogue with other faith traditions, especially Christianity. This course explores the diverse manifestations of modern Jewish theology and its dialogical contextualizations from the eighteenth century to the present. We will read and analyze seminal works by Heschel, Mendelsohn, Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, Margarete Susman, and Emmanuel Levinas, among others. In each case, we will analyze their reliance on diverse ancient, medieval, and modern traditions. Topics to be discussed include the theology of praxis, modern messianism and mysticism, political theology, theological ethics, theories of religious language, and Jewish existentialism. In addition to providing access to texts and ideas that continue to shape contemporary Judaism, the arc of the course invites reflective wrestling with its core definitions: What should we consider modern in the context of Jewish thought? What speculation amounts to a system we can call theology? Does modern interreligious dialogue blur the boundary between Christian and Jewish theology? And if so, what makes certain ideas Jewish?