Abraham Geiger's Liberal Judaism: Personal Meaning And Religious Authority (Jewish Literature and Culture) PDF
Preview Abraham Geiger's Liberal Judaism: Personal Meaning And Religious Authority (Jewish Literature and Culture)
interpretation, ritual and gender “Koltun-Fromm reveals the enduring Jewish Studies / Religion relevance Geiger possesses for modern practices, rabbinic authority, Abraham Geiger’s religious life. Abraham Geiger’s and Jewish education. This is Liberal Judaism: Personal Meaning and Religious Authority is a crucial essential reading for scholars, and imaginative academic study that rabbis, rabbinic students, Abraham Geiger’s Liberal Judaism explores Liberal Judaism has profound communal and personal meaning for scholars and laypersons and informed Jewish readers how religious authority and personal meaning alike.” —Rabbi David Ellenson interested in Conservative and President and I. H. and Anna Grancell interweave to produce a liberal mosaic of Professor of Jewish Religion and Thought, Reform Judaism. Hebrew Union College Jewish practice in Geiger’s religious works. Discussing Geiger’s views of history, memory, KEN KOLTUN-FROMM is Associate Professor of Religion at Haverford College and author of Moses text, education, ritual, gender, and the Hess and Modern Jewish Identity (Indiana University Press, 2001). rabbinate in nineteenth-century German Jewry, German rabbi, scholar, and theologian Abraham Geiger Koltun-Fromm uncovers Geiger’s appeal to (1810–1874) is recognized as the personal meaning to create religious authority principal leader of the Reform Jewish Literature and Culture for modern Jews. movement in German Judaism. series editor, Alvin H. Rosenfeld In his new work, Ken Koltun- Fromm argues that for Geiger, personal meaning in religion— rather than rote ritual practice or acceptance of dogma—was the key to religion’s moral authority. In f ve chapters, the book explores ISBN-13: 978-0-253-34744-2 ISBN-10: 0-253-34744-0 issues central to Geiger’s work that speak to contemporary Jewish http://iupress.indiana.edu Jacket illustration: Abraham Geiger, circa 1860. INDIANA practice—historical memory, biblical courtesy of the leo baeck institute, new 1-80-842-6796 Ken Koltun-Fromm york. Personal Meaning and Religious Authority Koltun-Fromm Abraham Geiger’s Liberal Judaism ABRAHAM GEIGER’S LIBERAL JUDAISM Jewish Literature and Culture Alvin Rosenfeld, editor ABRAHAM GEIGER’S LIBERAL JUDAISM Personal Meaning and Religious Authority Ken Koltun-Fromm indiana university press bloomington and indianapolis The author and the publisher wish to acknowledge the generous support of The Lucius N. Littauer Foundation. This book is a publication of Indiana University Press 601 North Morton Street Bloomington, IN 47404-3797 USA http://iupress.indiana.edu Telephone orders 800-842-6796 Fax orders 812-855-7931 Orders by e-mail For David and Barbara Fromm CONTENTS Acknowledgments • ix Introduction: Abraham Geiger, Religious Authority, and Personal Meaning • 1 1. Historical Memory and the Authority of Religious Judaism • 12 2. The Practice of Hermeneutical Authority • 40 3. The Gendered Politics of Authority • 64 4. Rabbinic Authority • 85 5. Jewish Education and the Authority of Personal Meaning • 113 Conclusion: The Practice of Authority • 134 Notes • 141 Index • 173 Acknowledgments A book like this attempts to acknowledge authority both more and less than it should: more, because my debts to others are innumerable, yet less, for I could never repay them. But I accept that burden of authority as my blessing. Indeed, that blessing exceeds my own grasp to fully account for the authority of personal mean- ing that informs my own life. Still, I am grateful for all the encouragement, sup- port, and advice I have received in years past that helped to advance this project forward. Members of the religion department at Haverford College—David Daw- son, Tracey Huck s, Naomi Koltun-Fromm, John Lardas, Anne McGuire, and Michael Sells—have all (in ways they may not even recognize) made this book possible. I am so very much at home in this department, and my respect for its faculty is sincere and binding. Haverford College too has been overly generous, supporting leave requests and funding through faculty grants. For a liberal arts college dedicated to teaching young students, Haverford cares mightily about aca- demic excellence and the intellectual life. My colleagues in other departments here—too many to mention—further and sustain that excellence, and I have be- come the better scholar and teacher for it. I have not been isolated within a small circle of friends and supporters, and have sought guidance from beyond my more immediate surroundings. My col- leagues in religious studies—Susannah Heschel and David Ellenson, chief among them—have always extended their precious time to review and critique my work. Members of the Works in Progress Group that meets yearly at the Association for Jewish Studies Conference in December have read versions of chapters in this book, and their counsel has been judicious and well received. My semester at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies during my year leave in 2000–2001 proved both rewarding and necessary for embarking on this book project. The se- rene Oxford landscapes, bountiful libraries, and the elusive but real sense of sab- batical time all encouraged a good life of friendship, research, and leisure. My family enjoyed the international community at Yarnton Manor and Wolfson Col- lege, together with punting on the river and, at least for me, local escapes to nearby pubs. My friends at Indiana University Press, especially Janet Rabinowitch and Joyce Rappaport, have guided this manuscript through some rather tortuous paths. I am forever in their debt. The generous support from the Lucius N. Littauer Foun- ix
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