Yotam Hotam | University of Haifa (original) (raw)
Books by Yotam Hotam
State University of New York Press, 2023
It seems hard to imagine a concept more significant to modern thought than critique. Critique inv... more It seems hard to imagine a concept more significant to modern thought than critique. Critique involved distancing oneself from religious explanations and theological argumentation and came to represent the essence of secular consciousness's potential to deliver modernity's promise of human progress through rational inquiry and scientific development. Critiques of Theology debunks this common understanding. Based on a novel reading of previously less-discussed writings by Sigmund Freud, Walter Benjamin, Theodor Adorno, and Hannah Arendt, the book shows how the practice of critique emerged out of religious traditions and can, in many ways, be traced back to them. This study points to a persistent misreading of critique and demonstrates that it does not come from outside of religion to build a new world of ideas; on the contrary, it redeploys those already present within its theological constellations.
Papers by Yotam Hotam
The Divine People, 2023
The rise of right-wing “populist” parties the world over has generated considerable anxiety about... more The rise of right-wing “populist” parties the world over has generated considerable anxiety about the future of liberal democracy. In fact, many of these parties explicitly endorse what Hungary’s Victor Orban termed ‘illiberal democracy’ – meaning a political system in which certain procedural elements of democracy (e.g. elections) remain but the laws and courts no longer aim to deliver equal treatment or protect basic human rights. In practice, illiberal democracy offers a way for nationalist movements to claim democratic credentials while legally discriminating against their purported external and internal enemies – all in the name of national preservation. While these trends are evident in countries around the globe, they are particularly present in contemporary Israel.
Seeking to better understand these movements, the authors of this report set out to study the political-theological dimensions of illiberal democracy or ‘post-liberalism’ as it is often called. Of particular interest is the way that post-liberals understand three fundamental political concepts: the law, the state, and the people, all of which exist as theological categories within Western religious traditions. As a political theory, liberalism carefully distinguished among the three concepts and their associated institutions; this was particularly the case with the liberal ideal of law as disinterested and universal. In contrast, we argue that post-liberal political movements tend to collapse the theoretical and practical distinctions between these categories: the law becomes whatever serves the interests of “the people” (a rhetorical concept that need not correspond with an actual popular majority), with the state charged with securing its implementation.
In undertaking this analysis, our study builds on the German jurist Carl Schmitt’s contention that modern political concepts are secularized theological ones, an idea expressed, for instance, in the notion of king-as-lawgiver. Every historical era has a corresponding political theology. Most recently, liberalism advanced the ideal of an impartial law that would be equally applicable to all, enforced by a disinterested sovereign bound to serve and protect the people. This too reflects a familiar theological scheme however adamantly its champions proclaim their secularist credentials. With this frame of reference in mind, we can interrogate the political-theological concepts that accompany the post-liberal project. This is all the more crucial because—however ironically given the avowed nationalism expressed by its champions—post-liberalism is a global political project that involves coordination by reactionary forces in countries ranging from India and Turkey to Israel, Hungary, Brazil, and the United States.
The ideologues of these movements proffer an alternative vision of the proper relationship between the law, the state, and the people than prevailed under liberal democracy. By way of example our report examines two of these thinkers: the American political theorist Patrick Deneen and the Israeli-American scholar Yoram Hazony, who offer different, albeit overlapping, visions for twenty-first century political and social life. These figures voice familiar critiques of globalization, multiculturalism, and ‘woke’ corporations, but also break with many tenets of faith that defined twentieth-century conservatism – from rejecting individual liberties and (some) free market principles to turning away from the small government ideal.
Both scholars advance political-theological visions relating to “the people,” either as manifestations of the “voice of God” (Deneen) or of a divine order supposedly built around the nation-state as its primary unit. However “the people” or “the nation” do not necessarily correspond to a demographic majority in either the United States or Israel, which is one reason why the ‘populist’ label is somewhat misleading. Rather—and here too we can see a fissure with last century’s conservative principles—both Deneen and Hazony believe a strong state is required to uphold and actively cultivate the sort of “traditional” moral values they hold dear. At present the idealized national community–made up of strong patriarchal families and tight-knit religious congregations, with social bonds coerced rather than freely chosen–only exists in small enclaves. Nor can these idealized communities become actualized under prevailing economic conditions, characterized as they are by two-income households, wage stagnation, and a miniscule social safety net. Far from representing a threat to liberty as imagined by Milton Friedman, the state apparatus is absolutely crucial to engineering the ‘traditional’ family and national community.
It is important to note that Deneen and Hazony differ from one another in fundamental ways, notably with regard to their assessment of neoliberal economic principles. Moreover, Hazony grounds the sanctity of the nation in the Hebrew Bible while Dennen’s idea of ‘civic virtue’ is rooted, he argues, in a proper understanding of Christian liberty. Yet both men are noteworthy for rejecting the idea of individual liberty, long central not merely to liberal political models but conservative ones as well. They critique individual freedom from two directions. For Deneen, individual liberty comes at the expense of the common good, with self-interested individuals endlessly fixated on cultivating their authentic selves to the detriment of the communal whole. Government protections—for LGBTQ+ people, for instance—merely coddle this egoistic social order.
Hazony, for his part, views individual freedom as inherently inferior to the collective freedom one supposedly enjoys as part of a “sacred nation” (goy kadosh). He has been particularly vocal in criticizing anything that would restrain the will of the people – from international conventions to the Israeli Supreme Court. This argument is all the more important to note in light of Israel’s rapidly unfolding judicial ‘reform’ push—led by the Tikvah-funded Kohelet Policy Forum—which aims not only to undermine the Supreme Court’s already limited authority to protect individual rights, but more profoundly, to curtail its independence by overhauling the process of judicial appointment.
We argue that the common thread running through these two visions of the post-liberal political order is a renewed focus on constraint: just as people should submit to ‘natural’ social relations and processes—be they an unwanted pregnancy or heterosexual marriage—they should exercise loyalty and restraint when interacting with their political leaders, provided that the latter act in the national interest. The vision, from the family to the state house, is decidedly patriarchal and authoritarian.
Sitting on the precipice of a major constitutional crisis in Israel–not to mention significant moves toward West Bank annexation–as well as ongoing political turmoil in the United States, our report underscores that the imperatives of nationalism and those of democracy pull in contradictory directions. In particular, laws and state institutions that operate on a discriminatory basis in the name of protecting ‘the people’ deserve wholehearted rejection regardless of where they occur. Liberalism’s ideal of equal protection under the law may have never existed in fact, but we contend that whatever replaces it will likely be much worse – both for marginalized populations deemed ‘outsiders’ to the nation or for those stigmatized as ‘traitors’ within.
Maarag: The Israel Annual of Psychoanalysis, 2022
Regimes of Belonging – Schools – Migrations. Teaching in (Trans)National Constellations, 2021
This paper takes issue with the relations between modern secular education and religion by taking... more This paper takes issue with the relations between modern secular education and religion by taking the main sector of public education in Israel as a case study. By focusing particularly on the educational arena in Israel, the paper presents two reflections. First, that the 'secular' is not a universal category but a culturally dependent one that already makes a distinction between 'insiders' and 'outsiders'. Second, and in building on the first reflection, that any appeal for integration in education should also include an engagement with the variety of religious identities that may challenge some of the most intimate secular views and concepts, including the concept of integration itself. To present the case, the paper starts with a theoretical framework, followed by a brief examination of the Israeli case study. The paper concludes by exploring some of the questions that these discussions may present for education.
Culture and Conflict in Palestine/Israel, 2021
ABSTRACT The paper analyzes micro-inequality in Tel Aviv night clubs, relying upon Levinas’s conc... more ABSTRACT The paper analyzes micro-inequality in Tel Aviv night clubs, relying upon Levinas’s concept of the face. In-depth interviews with nightclub doormen, or “selectors”, as they are called in Israel, revealed that the clients’ faces comprise a critical component of their screening work. At the same time, they reported that customers’ faces make it difficult for them to do their jobs and force them to engage in evading faces and suspending ethical judgments. The paper shows how in these face-to-face interactions, the face of the “Other” (the “dangerous” Mizrahi male client) is fully recognized and then suspended, enabling the selectors to affirm and then resist its ethical call. The paper’s discussion points to some of the implications of the ability of the selectors to affirm and resist the ethical obligation that Levinas attributes to the face, including a focus on the selectors’ justification of violence.
SOPHIA, 2019
Between 1910 and 1917, Walter Benjamin composed a range of philosophical works and fragmented tex... more Between 1910 and 1917, Walter Benjamin composed a range of philosophical works and fragmented texts all of which touch upon the concept of youth (Jugend) and its intersection with issues of modernity and theology, faith and political action, religion and secularization, God, and the world. Yet, while scholars have rather extensively discussed Benjamin’s early works on language, literature, and esthetics, less attention has been given to his work on youth. This paper focuses on Benjamin’s writings on youth from these early years. Its aim is to
demonstrate how these writings were intended as contributions to the composition of a comprehensive theory of youth, which itself was to combine philosophical discussion with theological imagination. More concretely, by using the example of Meister Eckhart (1260–1328), who is rarely discussed in connection to Benjamin’s thought, the paper shows how Benjamin draws on Christian mystical notions of time, transcendence, and divinity, albeit in a secularized and therefore transformed guise, and how Benjamin’s intellectual endeavor can hence be labeled a modern-mystical theory of youth.
Journal of Philosophy of Education, 2019
This paper revisits the admixture of secular and spiritual aspects in Bildung. It aims at re-exam... more This paper revisits the admixture of secular and spiritual aspects in Bildung. It aims at re-examining the intimate relations between the secular, rational and enlightened educational ideals, which were invested in the formation of the Bildung concept at the turn of the eighteenth century, and the religious, and mystical foundations of these ideals. The paper argues that Bildung should be regarded as a symbol of the unvarying presence of what sociologist Philip Wexler termed ‘mystical interactions’, that is, the manner in which mysticism becomes a resource for understanding the secular-modern (rational) education. Rather than holding to a simple differentiation between rational, enlightened education and religiosity, the paper points to the entwining of reason and faith in Bildung.
The article revisits how Zionist sport activists and leaders in the Palestine of the 1920s and 19... more The article revisits how Zionist sport activists and leaders in the Palestine of the 1920s and 1930s portrayed the desired transformation of their bodies and identities. It focuses, in particular, on the role that images of the “orient’’ played in that wishful transformation. For this purpose, the paper
juxtaposes two different sport experiences that were carried out by members of the Maccabi Sport Organization: hiking expeditions within Palestine of the 1920s and 1930s and two motorcycle tours from Palestine to Europe, held in 1930 and 1931. In focusing on these two divergent examples, the article shows how the wishful transformation that Zionist sport activists and leaders expressed was informed by what could be termed re-orient-ation. By using such a term, the article points to an unresolved desire to actively re-build a local Palestinian Jewish identity while simultaneously preserving an obdurate self-image of a European settler in a degenerate East.
The following paper elaborates on the compound character and the importance of an intellectual di... more The following paper elaborates on the compound character and the importance of an intellectual discussion regarding Modernity, secularisation and theology that raged within a cluster of German scholars during the 1950s and 1960s (Hans Jonas (1903–93), Hans Blumenberg (1920–96), Gershom Scholem (1897–1982) and Eric
Voegelin (1901–85)). It argues that these scholars were united discursively owing to the appearance of the concept of Gnosis in their postwar debate. Challenging the thesis of Karl Löwith (1897–1973), in which he defined Modernity as secularised Christian theology,
they connected Modernity with the Gnostic theology. By innovatively returning to late antiquity and re-introducing the obscure Gnostic theology, these scholars interwove the intellectual debates of the early twentieth century – in which the concept of Gnosis was redefined – into an acute post-1945 moral crisis, in order to make a case either for or against Modernity.
In recent years, critical thought and theological discourse have been challenging each other, as ... more In recent years, critical thought and theological discourse have been challenging each other, as they share mutual themes alongside contesting motivations. Against this broad background, this outline presents a possible formula for “critical theology,” which negotiates between the critical and the theological fields of inquiry. Stemming from the contemporary Israeli framework of religion, society and political imagination, the formula points to the difference between the call to critically navigate in the theological field of meanings, and the call to faithfully adopt its message; between the call “to the call” of theology, and the call “by means of” theology. By doing so, the outline aims to present theology as the original realm of non-religious, perhaps even un-religious, critique, and not as its adversary, while nonetheless maintaining “the religious” as such. Critical theology, we suggest, from our Israeli/Jewish perspective, is a social and political challenge of our time in which religion and religiosity have returned to the forefront of the social, political and cultural world.
http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/VedkRWA6ezZPQqhc6dBf/full
German scholars of Jewish origin who were students of Martin Heidegger in the 1920s and 1930s are... more German scholars of Jewish origin who were students of Martin Heidegger in the 1920s and 1930s are frequently criticized for their supposed postwar refusal to ‘disavow earlier liaisons with Heidegger.’ These scholars are thus indicted for being fundamentally anti-liberal or apolitical, and for those reasons dangerous disciples of Heidegger. By
examining the works of Karl Lo¨ with and Hans Jonas, two of Heidegger’s influential former students, the following paper presents a more nuanced reading of the relationship between master and disciples, namely that Jonas and Lo¨with operate with Heidegger’s philosophical grammar in order to turn against Heidegger, philosophically and politically. Within this framework, the article fleshes out the crucial importance of theology to the understanding of Jonas’ and Lo¨ with’s philosophical critique of Heidegger’s thought. Following this theological turn, the paper demonstrates the
complexity of Jonas’ and Lo¨with’s postwar approach, that is an anti-Heideggerian ethical and political quest which is anchored nonetheless in Heidegger’s philosophy. As such, Jonas’ and Lo¨with’s political projects demonstrate the manner in which Heideggerian
categories are not exhausted by Heidegger’s own political interpretation; they grippingly denotes the aptitude to steer Heideggerian philosophy towards new ethical and political shores.
This article examines the intersections between religion and education by taking the central Euro... more This article examines the intersections between religion and education by taking the central European educational tradition known as Bildung to bear on a re-reading of the relations between the secular “consciousness” and religion. The need for a change in the secular consciousness was already advocated by Habermas. Setting itself apart from Habermas’ position, however, this article challenges the dichotomy between religion and the secular mindset, by throwing a light on the continuity between secular education and its religious roots in the European scene.
In addition to his literary work, Micha Joseph Berdichevsky is noted for his diverse academic stu... more In addition to his literary work, Micha Joseph Berdichevsky is noted for his diverse academic studies that deal primarily with Jewish Antiquity. Within this framework, Berdichevsky actively pursued a study of the nature and the emergence of Christianity; yet until recently, this aspect of his work has received little scholarly attention. This article focuses on Berdichevsky's view of Christian theology and demonstrates his dissociation of Paul, the creator of Christianity out of Hellenism, from the Jewish Saul, the persecutor of Christians, a theological as well as historical speculation that enabled him to propose a dichotomy between Hellenistic-Christian spiritualism and a supposed Jewish "natural" religion. By taking an historical approach in which Berdichevsky's context appears to be of utmost relevance to the understanding of his motives, the article argues that Berdichevsky's critique of Paul is a rigorous Zionist critique, shaped within the intellectual atmosphere of his time. In this sense, the article proposes that Berdichevsky formulated a specific (Jewish) political-theological strategy, meaning a structure of argumentation in which theology is a primordial layer from which political claims are deduced.
State University of New York Press, 2023
It seems hard to imagine a concept more significant to modern thought than critique. Critique inv... more It seems hard to imagine a concept more significant to modern thought than critique. Critique involved distancing oneself from religious explanations and theological argumentation and came to represent the essence of secular consciousness's potential to deliver modernity's promise of human progress through rational inquiry and scientific development. Critiques of Theology debunks this common understanding. Based on a novel reading of previously less-discussed writings by Sigmund Freud, Walter Benjamin, Theodor Adorno, and Hannah Arendt, the book shows how the practice of critique emerged out of religious traditions and can, in many ways, be traced back to them. This study points to a persistent misreading of critique and demonstrates that it does not come from outside of religion to build a new world of ideas; on the contrary, it redeploys those already present within its theological constellations.
The Divine People, 2023
The rise of right-wing “populist” parties the world over has generated considerable anxiety about... more The rise of right-wing “populist” parties the world over has generated considerable anxiety about the future of liberal democracy. In fact, many of these parties explicitly endorse what Hungary’s Victor Orban termed ‘illiberal democracy’ – meaning a political system in which certain procedural elements of democracy (e.g. elections) remain but the laws and courts no longer aim to deliver equal treatment or protect basic human rights. In practice, illiberal democracy offers a way for nationalist movements to claim democratic credentials while legally discriminating against their purported external and internal enemies – all in the name of national preservation. While these trends are evident in countries around the globe, they are particularly present in contemporary Israel.
Seeking to better understand these movements, the authors of this report set out to study the political-theological dimensions of illiberal democracy or ‘post-liberalism’ as it is often called. Of particular interest is the way that post-liberals understand three fundamental political concepts: the law, the state, and the people, all of which exist as theological categories within Western religious traditions. As a political theory, liberalism carefully distinguished among the three concepts and their associated institutions; this was particularly the case with the liberal ideal of law as disinterested and universal. In contrast, we argue that post-liberal political movements tend to collapse the theoretical and practical distinctions between these categories: the law becomes whatever serves the interests of “the people” (a rhetorical concept that need not correspond with an actual popular majority), with the state charged with securing its implementation.
In undertaking this analysis, our study builds on the German jurist Carl Schmitt’s contention that modern political concepts are secularized theological ones, an idea expressed, for instance, in the notion of king-as-lawgiver. Every historical era has a corresponding political theology. Most recently, liberalism advanced the ideal of an impartial law that would be equally applicable to all, enforced by a disinterested sovereign bound to serve and protect the people. This too reflects a familiar theological scheme however adamantly its champions proclaim their secularist credentials. With this frame of reference in mind, we can interrogate the political-theological concepts that accompany the post-liberal project. This is all the more crucial because—however ironically given the avowed nationalism expressed by its champions—post-liberalism is a global political project that involves coordination by reactionary forces in countries ranging from India and Turkey to Israel, Hungary, Brazil, and the United States.
The ideologues of these movements proffer an alternative vision of the proper relationship between the law, the state, and the people than prevailed under liberal democracy. By way of example our report examines two of these thinkers: the American political theorist Patrick Deneen and the Israeli-American scholar Yoram Hazony, who offer different, albeit overlapping, visions for twenty-first century political and social life. These figures voice familiar critiques of globalization, multiculturalism, and ‘woke’ corporations, but also break with many tenets of faith that defined twentieth-century conservatism – from rejecting individual liberties and (some) free market principles to turning away from the small government ideal.
Both scholars advance political-theological visions relating to “the people,” either as manifestations of the “voice of God” (Deneen) or of a divine order supposedly built around the nation-state as its primary unit. However “the people” or “the nation” do not necessarily correspond to a demographic majority in either the United States or Israel, which is one reason why the ‘populist’ label is somewhat misleading. Rather—and here too we can see a fissure with last century’s conservative principles—both Deneen and Hazony believe a strong state is required to uphold and actively cultivate the sort of “traditional” moral values they hold dear. At present the idealized national community–made up of strong patriarchal families and tight-knit religious congregations, with social bonds coerced rather than freely chosen–only exists in small enclaves. Nor can these idealized communities become actualized under prevailing economic conditions, characterized as they are by two-income households, wage stagnation, and a miniscule social safety net. Far from representing a threat to liberty as imagined by Milton Friedman, the state apparatus is absolutely crucial to engineering the ‘traditional’ family and national community.
It is important to note that Deneen and Hazony differ from one another in fundamental ways, notably with regard to their assessment of neoliberal economic principles. Moreover, Hazony grounds the sanctity of the nation in the Hebrew Bible while Dennen’s idea of ‘civic virtue’ is rooted, he argues, in a proper understanding of Christian liberty. Yet both men are noteworthy for rejecting the idea of individual liberty, long central not merely to liberal political models but conservative ones as well. They critique individual freedom from two directions. For Deneen, individual liberty comes at the expense of the common good, with self-interested individuals endlessly fixated on cultivating their authentic selves to the detriment of the communal whole. Government protections—for LGBTQ+ people, for instance—merely coddle this egoistic social order.
Hazony, for his part, views individual freedom as inherently inferior to the collective freedom one supposedly enjoys as part of a “sacred nation” (goy kadosh). He has been particularly vocal in criticizing anything that would restrain the will of the people – from international conventions to the Israeli Supreme Court. This argument is all the more important to note in light of Israel’s rapidly unfolding judicial ‘reform’ push—led by the Tikvah-funded Kohelet Policy Forum—which aims not only to undermine the Supreme Court’s already limited authority to protect individual rights, but more profoundly, to curtail its independence by overhauling the process of judicial appointment.
We argue that the common thread running through these two visions of the post-liberal political order is a renewed focus on constraint: just as people should submit to ‘natural’ social relations and processes—be they an unwanted pregnancy or heterosexual marriage—they should exercise loyalty and restraint when interacting with their political leaders, provided that the latter act in the national interest. The vision, from the family to the state house, is decidedly patriarchal and authoritarian.
Sitting on the precipice of a major constitutional crisis in Israel–not to mention significant moves toward West Bank annexation–as well as ongoing political turmoil in the United States, our report underscores that the imperatives of nationalism and those of democracy pull in contradictory directions. In particular, laws and state institutions that operate on a discriminatory basis in the name of protecting ‘the people’ deserve wholehearted rejection regardless of where they occur. Liberalism’s ideal of equal protection under the law may have never existed in fact, but we contend that whatever replaces it will likely be much worse – both for marginalized populations deemed ‘outsiders’ to the nation or for those stigmatized as ‘traitors’ within.
Maarag: The Israel Annual of Psychoanalysis, 2022
Regimes of Belonging – Schools – Migrations. Teaching in (Trans)National Constellations, 2021
This paper takes issue with the relations between modern secular education and religion by taking... more This paper takes issue with the relations between modern secular education and religion by taking the main sector of public education in Israel as a case study. By focusing particularly on the educational arena in Israel, the paper presents two reflections. First, that the 'secular' is not a universal category but a culturally dependent one that already makes a distinction between 'insiders' and 'outsiders'. Second, and in building on the first reflection, that any appeal for integration in education should also include an engagement with the variety of religious identities that may challenge some of the most intimate secular views and concepts, including the concept of integration itself. To present the case, the paper starts with a theoretical framework, followed by a brief examination of the Israeli case study. The paper concludes by exploring some of the questions that these discussions may present for education.
Culture and Conflict in Palestine/Israel, 2021
ABSTRACT The paper analyzes micro-inequality in Tel Aviv night clubs, relying upon Levinas’s conc... more ABSTRACT The paper analyzes micro-inequality in Tel Aviv night clubs, relying upon Levinas’s concept of the face. In-depth interviews with nightclub doormen, or “selectors”, as they are called in Israel, revealed that the clients’ faces comprise a critical component of their screening work. At the same time, they reported that customers’ faces make it difficult for them to do their jobs and force them to engage in evading faces and suspending ethical judgments. The paper shows how in these face-to-face interactions, the face of the “Other” (the “dangerous” Mizrahi male client) is fully recognized and then suspended, enabling the selectors to affirm and then resist its ethical call. The paper’s discussion points to some of the implications of the ability of the selectors to affirm and resist the ethical obligation that Levinas attributes to the face, including a focus on the selectors’ justification of violence.
SOPHIA, 2019
Between 1910 and 1917, Walter Benjamin composed a range of philosophical works and fragmented tex... more Between 1910 and 1917, Walter Benjamin composed a range of philosophical works and fragmented texts all of which touch upon the concept of youth (Jugend) and its intersection with issues of modernity and theology, faith and political action, religion and secularization, God, and the world. Yet, while scholars have rather extensively discussed Benjamin’s early works on language, literature, and esthetics, less attention has been given to his work on youth. This paper focuses on Benjamin’s writings on youth from these early years. Its aim is to
demonstrate how these writings were intended as contributions to the composition of a comprehensive theory of youth, which itself was to combine philosophical discussion with theological imagination. More concretely, by using the example of Meister Eckhart (1260–1328), who is rarely discussed in connection to Benjamin’s thought, the paper shows how Benjamin draws on Christian mystical notions of time, transcendence, and divinity, albeit in a secularized and therefore transformed guise, and how Benjamin’s intellectual endeavor can hence be labeled a modern-mystical theory of youth.
Journal of Philosophy of Education, 2019
This paper revisits the admixture of secular and spiritual aspects in Bildung. It aims at re-exam... more This paper revisits the admixture of secular and spiritual aspects in Bildung. It aims at re-examining the intimate relations between the secular, rational and enlightened educational ideals, which were invested in the formation of the Bildung concept at the turn of the eighteenth century, and the religious, and mystical foundations of these ideals. The paper argues that Bildung should be regarded as a symbol of the unvarying presence of what sociologist Philip Wexler termed ‘mystical interactions’, that is, the manner in which mysticism becomes a resource for understanding the secular-modern (rational) education. Rather than holding to a simple differentiation between rational, enlightened education and religiosity, the paper points to the entwining of reason and faith in Bildung.
The article revisits how Zionist sport activists and leaders in the Palestine of the 1920s and 19... more The article revisits how Zionist sport activists and leaders in the Palestine of the 1920s and 1930s portrayed the desired transformation of their bodies and identities. It focuses, in particular, on the role that images of the “orient’’ played in that wishful transformation. For this purpose, the paper
juxtaposes two different sport experiences that were carried out by members of the Maccabi Sport Organization: hiking expeditions within Palestine of the 1920s and 1930s and two motorcycle tours from Palestine to Europe, held in 1930 and 1931. In focusing on these two divergent examples, the article shows how the wishful transformation that Zionist sport activists and leaders expressed was informed by what could be termed re-orient-ation. By using such a term, the article points to an unresolved desire to actively re-build a local Palestinian Jewish identity while simultaneously preserving an obdurate self-image of a European settler in a degenerate East.
The following paper elaborates on the compound character and the importance of an intellectual di... more The following paper elaborates on the compound character and the importance of an intellectual discussion regarding Modernity, secularisation and theology that raged within a cluster of German scholars during the 1950s and 1960s (Hans Jonas (1903–93), Hans Blumenberg (1920–96), Gershom Scholem (1897–1982) and Eric
Voegelin (1901–85)). It argues that these scholars were united discursively owing to the appearance of the concept of Gnosis in their postwar debate. Challenging the thesis of Karl Löwith (1897–1973), in which he defined Modernity as secularised Christian theology,
they connected Modernity with the Gnostic theology. By innovatively returning to late antiquity and re-introducing the obscure Gnostic theology, these scholars interwove the intellectual debates of the early twentieth century – in which the concept of Gnosis was redefined – into an acute post-1945 moral crisis, in order to make a case either for or against Modernity.
In recent years, critical thought and theological discourse have been challenging each other, as ... more In recent years, critical thought and theological discourse have been challenging each other, as they share mutual themes alongside contesting motivations. Against this broad background, this outline presents a possible formula for “critical theology,” which negotiates between the critical and the theological fields of inquiry. Stemming from the contemporary Israeli framework of religion, society and political imagination, the formula points to the difference between the call to critically navigate in the theological field of meanings, and the call to faithfully adopt its message; between the call “to the call” of theology, and the call “by means of” theology. By doing so, the outline aims to present theology as the original realm of non-religious, perhaps even un-religious, critique, and not as its adversary, while nonetheless maintaining “the religious” as such. Critical theology, we suggest, from our Israeli/Jewish perspective, is a social and political challenge of our time in which religion and religiosity have returned to the forefront of the social, political and cultural world.
http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/VedkRWA6ezZPQqhc6dBf/full
German scholars of Jewish origin who were students of Martin Heidegger in the 1920s and 1930s are... more German scholars of Jewish origin who were students of Martin Heidegger in the 1920s and 1930s are frequently criticized for their supposed postwar refusal to ‘disavow earlier liaisons with Heidegger.’ These scholars are thus indicted for being fundamentally anti-liberal or apolitical, and for those reasons dangerous disciples of Heidegger. By
examining the works of Karl Lo¨ with and Hans Jonas, two of Heidegger’s influential former students, the following paper presents a more nuanced reading of the relationship between master and disciples, namely that Jonas and Lo¨with operate with Heidegger’s philosophical grammar in order to turn against Heidegger, philosophically and politically. Within this framework, the article fleshes out the crucial importance of theology to the understanding of Jonas’ and Lo¨ with’s philosophical critique of Heidegger’s thought. Following this theological turn, the paper demonstrates the
complexity of Jonas’ and Lo¨with’s postwar approach, that is an anti-Heideggerian ethical and political quest which is anchored nonetheless in Heidegger’s philosophy. As such, Jonas’ and Lo¨with’s political projects demonstrate the manner in which Heideggerian
categories are not exhausted by Heidegger’s own political interpretation; they grippingly denotes the aptitude to steer Heideggerian philosophy towards new ethical and political shores.
This article examines the intersections between religion and education by taking the central Euro... more This article examines the intersections between religion and education by taking the central European educational tradition known as Bildung to bear on a re-reading of the relations between the secular “consciousness” and religion. The need for a change in the secular consciousness was already advocated by Habermas. Setting itself apart from Habermas’ position, however, this article challenges the dichotomy between religion and the secular mindset, by throwing a light on the continuity between secular education and its religious roots in the European scene.
In addition to his literary work, Micha Joseph Berdichevsky is noted for his diverse academic stu... more In addition to his literary work, Micha Joseph Berdichevsky is noted for his diverse academic studies that deal primarily with Jewish Antiquity. Within this framework, Berdichevsky actively pursued a study of the nature and the emergence of Christianity; yet until recently, this aspect of his work has received little scholarly attention. This article focuses on Berdichevsky's view of Christian theology and demonstrates his dissociation of Paul, the creator of Christianity out of Hellenism, from the Jewish Saul, the persecutor of Christians, a theological as well as historical speculation that enabled him to propose a dichotomy between Hellenistic-Christian spiritualism and a supposed Jewish "natural" religion. By taking an historical approach in which Berdichevsky's context appears to be of utmost relevance to the understanding of his motives, the article argues that Berdichevsky's critique of Paul is a rigorous Zionist critique, shaped within the intellectual atmosphere of his time. In this sense, the article proposes that Berdichevsky formulated a specific (Jewish) political-theological strategy, meaning a structure of argumentation in which theology is a primordial layer from which political claims are deduced.
This article brings the concept of the postsecular to bear on the transformation of contemporary ... more This article brings the concept of the postsecular to bear on the transformation of contemporary Jewish national education in Israel. Its main argument is that the arrangements currently on display between secular and sacral notions in national Jewish education illustrate the rise of a new theocratic vision for Israel. This neoreligious thrust challenges the former interplay between secular and religious notions, which has served as the basis for Jewish national (i.e., Zionist) education. The article also places the notion of a postsecular emergent society within a particular social and political context, pointing to a broader and much richer phenomenon than hitherto suggested.
This paper characterizes the modern Jewish debate around Zionism as a profound political theologi... more This paper characterizes the modern Jewish debate around Zionism as a profound political theological controversy by juxtaposing the works of two significant twentieth-century Jewish scholars, Jakob Klatzkin
(1882–1948) and Hans Jonas (1903–1993). The paper demonstrates that, for these scholars, the Zionist political venture was informed by a Gnostic theological message. While Klatzkin campaigned for
Zionism as Gnosticism, Jonas critically challenged this link in his writings from the 1950s and 1960s thus showing his own distancing from Zionism by introduction a critique of gnosticism.
