Reviews

In the wake of the Holocaust, the eminent philosopher (The Jewish Return into History: Reflections in the Age of Auschwitz & a New Jerusalem, etc.), a Holocaust survivor, seeks to ``chart a path for a future Judaism.'' The disappointing result is a curious, neither seminal nor comprehensive, overview of Judaism past and present. Peppered with midrashic stories, the work wrestles with uncomfortable traditional concepts like that of the chosen people, and contrives links between historical episodes and the Holocaust (Nazism, for example, is described as a modern idolatry; during the three weeks preceding the Six-Day War, Jews, he claims, were threatened by a second Holocaust). Readers may find Fackenheim severe and condescending: he considers any human being to be less than human and any Jew less than Jewish who, aware of the Holocaust, has not imagined himself or herself in a cattlecar at least once; he gears the book toward ``amcha,'' the ``ordinary Jewish folk who may not be learned or saintly but are far from frivolous, unintelligent, unwilling to learn and . . . thoughtless''). Jewish Book Club alternate. (October 7)

Author of nine books and over 100 articles, Fackenheim is one of the most distinguished Jewish philosophers of our time. In this lucid and readable volume he presents both an introduction to Judaism and an analysis of its essence in light of the Holocaust and the creation of the state of Israel. Beginning with the religious situation of the Jew today, he examines such concepts as Jewish peoplehood, Zionism, God, and the Bible; such issues as anti-Semitism, assimilation, and the relationship between Judaism and other religions; and the meaning of prayer, repentance, and the Messiah for today's Jew. Throughout, Fackenheim clarifies his points with both personal reminiscences and reference to the Midrash and Jewish legend. Highly recommended. Maurice Tuchman, Hebrew Coll. Lib., Brookline, Mass.