Religion and State in Twentieth-Century Jewish Thought

The relationship between religion and state is among the most vital issues affecting cultural and political life in Israeli society. It leads to the creation of political parties, forges coalitions, and brings down governments. It plays a role in every public discussion about a constitution, about the law, and about civil rights. It is at the crux of the debate on questions of national identity and culture and leaves an indelible stamp on Israel-Diaspora relations. We may assume, then, that the religion and state relationship will continue to be both a short-term and a long-term pivot of concern and controversy--communally, legally, ideologically, and existentially.

This book appears in the wake of a previous volume by this editor, Religion and State in Jewish Philosophy: Models of Unity, Division, Collision and Subordination (Jerusalem: The Israel Democracy Institute, 1998). While the previous volume concentrated on constitutive systems of political thought developed largely during the Middle Ages, the present book focuses on current thought, which was fashioned mainly in response to the Zionist endeavour and the State of Israel. The present anthology, therefore, addresses not only theoretical questions but also practical and concrete concerns evoked by the modern national reality. Preceding them with reference to the systems of Benedict de Spinoza and Moses Mendelssohn was nonetheless deemed appropriate, since they provide a necessary platform for the study of religion and state questions in more recent times.

The book centers on the work of Jewish political thinkers with different ideological affiliations and from different countries. After a thematic clarification of fundamental questions on the religion and state problem, the bulk of the book is devoted to a discussion of the writings and views of major thinkers, ending with reflections about the place of Judaism in a Jewish and democratic state.