Search Results

This chapter presents and analyzes a variety of secular and religious “substitute faiths” embraced by modern (particularly American) Jews that have replaced classical Jewish beliefs, which have undermined the place of theology in Jewish life and thought, and which have advocated a reductionist and therefore mistaken view of Jewish identity. These “substitute faiths” include: the civil religion of American Judaism, secular Jewish nationalism, secular “Cultural Judaism,” legalism, “prophetic Judaism,” liberal politics, Jewish survivalism, collectivism, Judaism of the “sovereign self.” The attempt to equate Judaism with a distorted view of the kabbalistic teaching of “Tikkun Olam” is also discussed. Jewish theological thought and discourse is then offered as an authentic and strategically viable alternative to these “substitute faiths.”

For Judaism, ours is an unredeemed, pre-messianic world. This chapter focuses upon how hope, faith, and sacred deeds offer human beings an opportunity and a challenge to help move the world toward messianic redemption. Various views of the human role in the messianic process, including the kabbalistic notion of tikkun — “repair,” are examined, as are various forms of redemption such as individual, collective, and cosmic redemption. Further ideas of Jewish eschatology, such as the afterlife, are also presented.

Theological responses to the holocaust by scholars such as Fackenheim, Berkovits, Greenburg, and Rubenstein are all finally inadequate and it may be that silence and seeking to repair the world (Tikkun Olam) are what is required of us.

Jews and Christians have a shared hope and a common task. That hope has been interpreted in different ways in both religions: as the coming of the kingdom of God on earth and as a hope of life in the hereafter, beyond space and time. Hope of a coming messiah and a messianic age remain part of mainstream Judaism. Both religions today, however, would emphasize that the priority is not so much to interpret the world as to change it. There is a common task that in Judaism has sometimes been called ‘repairing’ or ‘healing the world’ (Tikkun Olam).

This chapter provides a justification for the ethic of political reconciliation from the Jewish tradition. It seeks to show how the Jewish tradition provides a grounding for the concepts of reconciliation, justice, peace, and mercy that the previous chapters set forth. For these tasks, it turns both to an analysis of language as found in the Jewish scriptures and an analysis of God's response to evil as found in the Jewish tradition.

This chapter identifies parallels between the philosophies of Muhammad Iqbal and Charles Peirce. By emphasising the ‘by their fruits, ye shall know them’ evaluation of human actions, it distinguishes the methodological parallel between Iqbal's understanding of Islam and American pragmatism. This parallel is brought to the fore when Iqbal's conception of tauhid (‘oneness (of God)’) and Peirce's conception of ‘personality’ are compared. Other parallels between Iqbal and Peirce include nature possessing signs of transcendence, rejection of scientific mechanical cosmology, creative development of the ego, and teleological drive of the cosmos towards harmony. Ultimately, Iqbal and Peirce share a common mission of repair (tikkun), repairing what modernity had damaged by refocusing one's attention upon the genuinely progressive teleological causality at the heart of the cosmos.

Despite misconceptions espoused by media and political figures, a belief in God does not equate to a lack of concern for the environment. This chapter shows that, although belief in God and interest in the environment do not always lead to behaviors that support the environment, many religious people are concerned about the environment and its future. For many, this concern is borne from their faith. Muslims expressed a sense of accountability to God, and Jews invoked the concept of tikkun olam. Christians referenced the concept of stewardship and care for God’s creation. This chapter also examines these larger themes in the context of the specific public conversations about climate change.

This chapter explores the concept of reciprocity through examples contained in the vision quest narrative in chapter 3. It explores and expands on community psychology’s definitions for community to include nature, ancestors, and Spirit in an “initiatory constellation,” which is central to adolescent identity formation. A working model for understanding and using the central elements in a psychological sense of community is introduced for guiding youth and community development through rites of passage design strategies. The chapter proposes three core questions to help frame our exploration into the intersection of rites of passage and community: What are youth being initiated into? By whom? and For what purpose? The answer to these key questions can guide the design of more viable and potent village-oriented rites of passage.