Israel and the Nations
The Bible, the Rabbis, and Jewish-Gentile Relations
Israel and the Nations: The Bible, The Rabbis, and Jewish-Gentile Relations explores the Jewish theology and law (Halakhah) relating to non-Jews. It analyzes biblical, talmudic, medieval, and contemporary Jewish writings about gentiles and their religions.
The Bible challenges the Jewish people to be “a blessing for all the families of the earth.” Yet throughout history, Jewish experience with gentiles was complex. In the biblical and talmudic eras most gentiles were assumed to be idolators. In the Middle Ages most rabbis considered their Christian neighbors idolators, and Christian enmity sharpened the otherness Jews felt toward their Christian hosts. Muslims were monotheists, but Jewish-Muslim relations were sometimes positive and at other times difficult. With the advent secular tolerance in modernity, Jews found themselves in a new relationship with their gentile neighbors. How should Jews relate to gentiles today, and what are the bounds of Jewish tolerance and religious pluralism?
The book will interest both Jewish laypersons familiar with Jewish tradition as well as scholars of theology and interfaith relations
Eugene Korn holds a doctorate in philosophy from Columbia University and is an ordained Orthodox rabbi. He has taught philosophy at Columbia, Yeshiva, and Seton Hall Universities. His books include To Be a Holy People: Jewish Tradition and Ethical Values, Jewish Theology and World Religions; Plowshares in Swords?: Religion and Violence; Christianity in the Eyes of Judaism; and Covenant and Hope. His works have been translated into Hebrew, German, Italian and Spanish.
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