Holocaust and Jewish Thought

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer discusses the influence made by the Holocaust upon contemporary Jewish thought. In particular, the paper looks at the works of Richard L. Rubenstein, Eliezer Berkovits and Emil Fackenheim and notes how these major scholars are forced to grapple with an issue that threatens to permanently undermine the faith of the Jewish people in the God of their ancestors. In addition, the paper also notes the general despair which often seems to characterize Jewish works in the post-Holocaust epoch. In the end, the writer maintains that the horrors of the Holocaust have forced many Jewish theologians to consider that they may be worshipping a God who is either not omnipotent - or not omni-benevolent.

From the Paper:

"To start with, the holocaust was an event of catastrophic suffering for the Jewish people and this suffering forced - at least among some prominent intellectuals - a re-assessment of religion and, more especially, a re-assessment of God. Simply put, the horrors of the Holocaust challenged the traditional religious text from which the Jewish people had long read in a way that no other event could possibly have done. Specifically, traditional Judaism had frequently been at odds with modernity insofar as the proponents of historicism and positivism (to say nothing of the teachings of Hegel and Kant and even Marx) took issue with an historical narrative that emphasized the existence of a transcendent deity who not only created the world but who also designated the Jewish people as a "special people" with a special communion with God."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Berkovits, Eliezer. "Jewish Education in a World Adrift." Tradition, 11.3 (1970): 5-12.
• Braiterman, Zachary. (God) after Auschwitz: Tradition and Change in Post-Holocaust Jewish Thought. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998.
• Braiterman, Zachary. "Hitler's Accomplice? The Tragic Theology of Richard Rubenstein." Modern Judaism, 17.1 (1997): 75-89.
• Fackenheim, Emil. The Jewish Return into History: Reflections in the Age of Auschwitz and a New Jerusalem. New York: Schocken Books.
• Glazer, Nathan. American Judaism. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1972.

More papers on Holocaust and Jewish Thought:

• Analytical Essay # 130704 : "Holocaust and Contemporary Jewish Religious Thought"
• Essay # 23754 : "The Holocaust's Affects on America"
• Essay # 58617 : "The Phenomenon behind Holocaust Denial"

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