Radical Judaism: Rethinking God and Tradition (The Franz Rosenzweig Lecture Series)

Excellent

I need to first state that the title of this review is not meant to be facetious. In this book, Rabbi Green (not related) admits to his own perplexities as a heterodox Jew in the post-modern world. I do have to make one admission before I continue. I studied with Rabbi Green at the University of Pennsylvania in 1974-1975 school year. I did well in his class and remember that he was and most likely still is a powerful teacher. To write a review about this book is extremely hard. Rabbi Green is a scholar par excellence in his field. This book has many gems to be mined. One can see the depth of his learning in the area of Jewish mysticism and Judaism in general. It is difficult to write a review about his theology for what one is really saying is that "I would have written it differently". With that caveat, I truly begin. Rabbi Green is both politically and religiously progressive. Based on the book, I do not know which drives which. Rabbi Green seeks to create a new horizon for Judaism in the 21st century. The problem he faces I believe is that he admits that he is a mystical-panentheist, using personal metaphors. Such a horizon can not bind. He believes in an imperfect God, one who is evolving. His God appears to be rooted in our "evolving" consciousness. In this regard, it seems to me that God is subjective. Yet, on the other hand, he believes that God permeates all of creation. To draw from another myth, his struggle with God reminds me more of Odysseus wrestling with the shape shifter Proteus. His chapter on Torah was the most satisfying. Both a beginner and those advanced in the study of Torah can learn from Rabbi Green's sensitivity with the text. I agree with him that Spinoza does a disservice to Torah by treating it like any other book. I would recommend Leo Strauss' book on Spinoza as another means to untie the knot. (For those who have a certain prejudice against Leo Strauss, I note that he began his career as a Jewish scholar. He was a friend of Gershom Scholem and well respected by Walter Benjamin. The late Saul Lieberman supposedly made a similar remark about Leo Strauss as he made against Gershom Scholem about their respective studies.) As a counterpoint to Rabbi Green, I would recommend the Jewish writings of Leo Strauss presently being edited by Kenneth Hart Green. Leo Strauss offers another approach to interpreting the Bible which may offer another way for someone Jewish to understand their Tradition. I am not convinced about Rabbi Green's understanding of evolution. It is somewhat simplistic. It appears that he wants to overlap modern science with religion. To me, science and religion are inexorably in conflict. Science by definition is atheistic. By definition, they can not prove miracles. Again, for those who are following Rabbi Green's path, I would also suggest that they read Hans Jonas' writing post Gnosticism. He offers an alternative myth about God and his self-limitation and our responsibility in the world. He has also written about saving the planet which is the basis of the Green movement in Germany and the environmental movement in Japan. His writings have not caught on in the United States and should become a part of Jewish renewal. I would have liked Rabbi Green to address the issue of sacred limits. Among the many controversies in this book, his chapter on Israel may gather the most attention. I think his treatment concerning the State of Israel is basically misguided. As an aside, I thought the Prayer for Israel does not speak to messianic pretensions since I had always thought that it was written by Agnon. Even if you disagree with Rabbi Green, you must admire his honesty. It takes great courage to show one's beliefs so nakedly. The book should be read. But, I imagine that it will be only discussed in the rarefied air. For those who seek the continuation of Judaism, the question really is, "Will it play in Peoria?" I am afraid that it will never find its way there. Last, but not least, I think the word Seeker does a disservice to Rabbi Green's life quest. Though it is not original to me, I believe that he is a spiritual explorer. We should be so fortunate to be like Rabbi Green to explore the heights as well as the depths of the spiritual map. My true review is a 3 plus/ 4 minus.An addendum: I would also recommend the writings of Lev Shestov, who through his philosophic studies, tries to burst through the idea of God to God. He is heavy on Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Pascal, Nietzsche, etc. He wrote also on Husserl.

Arthur Green, Radical Judaism: Rethinking God and Tradition, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2010. Jewish theology has gone through many a metamorphosis over roughly two thousand years since the closing of the biblical canon. It is precisely thanks to this flexibility of the Jewish theological tradition that Judaism has been able to survive many extremely critical periods in its lifespan. In responding to the many dangers Jews have had to face during the three millenia of their existence perhaps none has been as threatening as the one brought about by relatively recent scientific advances such as Darwin's theory of evolution, the insights of modern astro-physics and the Shoah, (the catastrophe also known as the Holocaust). These three have placed a huge question mark over the traditionally accepted existence of the biblical theistic God. While in the end it is true that the existence or non-existence of God cannot be proved, it can be said that, by and large, science and the non-responsiveness/absence of a God-from-beyond have put an end to the plausibility of the existence of the biblical God. In view of most Jewish theologians' apparent fear that the survival of Judaism without the biblical God is an impossibility, they have, and this has been done a number of times before, set out once again to reinterpret the Bible God in order to enable his continued existence.. Arthur Green's book, in my opinion, is yet another such desperate attempt at rescuing the biblical God from oblivion. Although to me, as a Jewish theologian and Bible scholar, it is perfectly clear that Judaism is well able to survive and to continue making a valuable contribution to world society without the biblical God, it seems that this is not the case for Green. I shall enlarge upon my position a bit later. It is somewhat amusing how Green repeatedly avows his non-belief in the God as depicted by the biblical writers. He makes it clear that in no way does he accept a fundamentalist reading of scripture. Historical and literary criticism do make sense to him as does also responsibly done archaeology. But a literal reading of the biblical text, what our rabbis call pshat, is not acceptable to him and for that I applaud him. Yet, the reality of God and God's pertinence for Judaism must by all means be maintained, it seems, and so, to accomplish this, Green turns to Jewish mysticism and more particularly to Kabbalah. Because it is impossible to convey his thinking in detail here, let me just say that God, for Green, is imbedded in human conscience/soul. God resides in every person; we are all intimately God-related and therefore horizontally related to one another. This possession, human God-connected conscience, lies within everyone and is available to be tapped so as to be translated into beneficial action for the world, but not every human being is aware of the great gift that lies within each person`s self. Judaism's task/mission is to make humanity aware of this inherent gift and to challenge everyone to act upon it for the good of creation. Our world is in danger of self-destruction because of our advanced human evolutionary state which provides us with enormous powers for good or for evil. Humanity's suicide at whose brink we stand can be avoided and even reversed once all people realize that they are called to goodness by the God-within-them. It is the immanence of God and our potential awareness of it that calls us to transcend our basic biological existence which we share with all other earthly beings, animate and inanimate. The theology that Green bases himself on is the Talmud's Rabbi Ben Azzai's insistence that the most important biblical teaching is that we, humans, are created in the image of God and second, the challenge contained in God's call to Adam and Eve, (i.e., to humanity): ayekha - "where are you?" With the exception of Green's repeated reference to Kabbalah in which he grounds his theology, there is nothing new, let alone radical, in his teaching. Much of the same is found in Mordecai Kaplan, Abraham Joshua Heschel, but in both cases, minus Green`s Kabbalah mysticism. Let me, however, make it clear that all these teachers' ultimate theological thrust is wise and well worth listening to. My final remark is this: the very same valuable thrust toward achieving a fully realized humanity is found in Spinoza's writing. By following Spinoza, one arrives there without the biblical God, as well as without the supra-rational hermetic teachings of Kabbalah. Once we take the wonder of nature in its evolutionary development which encompasses everything and everybody in the universe seriously and realize our connectedness to and total dependence on it, we arrive at the very same mandate for humanity that Green proposes, but this time on the basis of our evolutionary intellect and rationality which nature provides.

What an amazing book. Or should I say "What an amazing author." Dr. Green has put a set of Jewish clothes on the worldview of Baruch Spinoza to present a totally satisfying way to be Jewish while still believing in the "real" world as our scientists are discovering it. Dr. Green is all-inclusive, regarding all of humanity as descendents of a common ancestor. He points out that we as a species have taken control of the planet, and that along with that control comes great responsibility. I look forward to re-reading this book many times, and getting more and more out of it. Thank you, Dr. Green.

One of my favorite books of this past year! Rabbi Green is to Judaism as Father Richard Rohr is to Christianity. By that I mean they are both absolute sages. This book is valuable to anyone who is a spiritual seeker, not just those within Judaism. Wonderful book, and one I recommend to anyone who will listen.

The authors approach to themes and values within Jewish tradition make it accessible to a broad audience. He does a very good job of articulating a modern theology for liberal Jews that celebrates for observance of Jewish law to find meaning in Jewish experience.

For those like me who have trouble reconciling evolutionary science with the biblical creation story, and for those of us who see a contradiction between the deliverance of the complete Torah (with its telling of the future trials of the Israelites) and free will, this book was a real revelation. Rabbi Green provides a much-needed alternative to blind acceptance. Instead, the book provides the basis for a religious faith that can change with our increasing understanding of the universe and our place in it.

I found this book most inspiring - not written solely for a Jewish audience, but explaining concepts behind Judaism and interpreting it in a very refreshing way.

Very good summary of Jewish spiritual thought and some interesting applications - however this author Is quite apologetic for rather than clearly formulating his own theology