The period of the Yishuv (1900â48) saw a flourishing of creative thinkers who reworked the contours of Jewish and Zionist thought while building the Jewish homeland. Eliezer Schweid, who grew up during the period he describes here, writes profoundly and sympathetically about these thinkersâGordon, Brenner, Jabotinsky, Bialik, Kaufmann, Kook, Katznelson, and others from a standpoint of intimate first-hand knowledge. The issues they wrestled with are vital for an understanding of Israelâs recent development and remain crucial for envisioning the possibilities of Israelâs future both internally and in relation to its neighbours, the world, and Jewish tradition.
Eliezer Schweid was lifelong Professor of Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University, Israel Prize laureate, philosopher and public intellectual, and author of over 40 books on Jewish thought, applying the Jewish legacy to issues of Jewish and universal human concern.
Leonard Levin has translated many of Eliezer Schweidâs books, including The Responsibility of Jewish Philosophy (Brill, 2013) and edited Studies in Judaism and Pluralism (Ben-Yehuda, 2016). He is professor of Jewish philosophy at Academy for Jewish Religion, Yonkers, NY.
Yuval Lieblich, M.A. (in philosophy, Tel Aviv University, 2012) is an author, translator and musician. His debut novel received the Israel Ministry of Culture prize in 2016. He lives in Israel.
This 5th volume, like the other books in this full multi-volume work, will be the standard reference in modern Jewish philosophy, essential for libraries and scholars addressing the role of religious ideas in contemporary value discourse.