Judaism: The Genealogy of a Modern Notion

by Daniel Boyarin

Overview

Judaism makes the bold argument that the very concept of a religion of ‘Judaism’ is an invention of the Christian church. The intellectual journey of world-renowned Talmud scholar Daniel Boyarin, this book will change the study of “Judaism”—an essential key word in Jewish Studies—as we understand it today. Boyarin argues that although the world treats the word “Judaism” as appropriate for naming an alleged religion of the Jews, it is in fact a Christian theological concept only adopted by Jews with the coming of modernity and the adoption of Christian languages.    

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813572642
Publisher:	Rutgers University Press
Publication date:	10/22/2018
Series:	Key Words in Jewish Studies
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	235
File size:	4 MB
Age Range:	16 Years

About the Author

DANIEL BOYARIN is the Taubman Professor of Talmudic Culture at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author or coauthor of several books, including Imagine no Religion: How Modern Abstractions Hide Ancient Realities.
 

Table of Contents

Contents

Preface What Are We Talking About When We Talk About “Judaism”?

Part 1 The Terms of the Debate

Chapter 1 Debate of the Terms

Part 2 The State of the Lexicon: Questioning the Archive

Chapter 2 Jewry without Judaism: The Stakes of the Question

Chapter 3 Getting Medieval Yahadut

Part 3: A New Dispensation: The Christian Invention of “Judaism”

Chapter 4 “Judaism” out of the Entrails of Christianity

Chapter 5 From Yiddishkayt to Judentum; From Judentum to Yahadut;, or Philology and the Transformation of a Folk

Epilogue

Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

"What Boyarin does in Judaism is offer us a complex map, a detailed topography, of how the term Judaism came to be used to define Jewish 'doings,' and for some, to define Jews....One of the greatest things a scholar of Boyarin’s stature can do is make arguments that create the requisite space for future scholars to do their work. A book of this scope can never, and should never, close a conversation, but rather open one. Judaism is a term we all use reflexively but do not quite know what it actually means. Boyarin’s contribution to that reflexivity is a major contribution to scholarship."

H-Judaic

"How Christians Invented 'Judaism,' According to a Top Talmud Scholar," by Tomer Persico
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-how-christians-invented-judaism-according-to-a-top-talmud-scholar-1.7417536

Haaretz

"A brilliant book that marks a fresh beginning for scholarly conversations about Judaism, religion, and even the historical utility of categories."

author of Jews, Christians, and the Roman Empire - Annette Yoshiko Reed

"This book offers a reflective, and even-meta reflective discussion of the term 'Judaism.' Boyarin, as always, offers provocative, trail blazing insights to reckon with."

author of Textual Mirrors: Reflexivity, Midrash, and the Rabbinic Self - Dina Stein

"Boyarin has created a very interesting argument."

Histoire sociale/Social History

"A significant and radical contribution."

author of How the Bible Became Holy - Michael Satlow

"Boyarin’s book provide[s] [the reader] to think through some of these theoretical questions, and to continue our ongoing conversation about the ancient individuals, groups, and ideas that continue to resonate down to the present."

Marginalia

"This book offers a reflective, and even-meta reflective discussion of the term 'Judaism.' Boyarin, as always, offers provocative, trail blazing insights to reckon with."

From the Publisher