Applying Jewish Ethics: Beyond the Rabbinic Tradition is a groundbreaking collection that introduces the reader to applied ethics and examines various social issues from contemporary and largely under-represented, Jewish ethical perspectives. For thousands of years, a rich and complex system of Jewish ethics has provided guidance about which values we should uphold and utilize to confront concrete problems, create a healthy social fabric, and inspire meaningful lives. Despite its longevity and richness, many Judaic and secular scholars have misconstrued this ethical tradition as a strictly religious and biblically based system that primarily applies to observant Jews, rather than viewing it as an ethical system that can provide unique and helpful insights to anyone, religious or not. This pioneering collection offers a deep, broad, and inclusive understanding of Jewish ethical ideas that challenges these misconceptions. The chapters explain and apply these ethical ideas to contemporary issues connected to racial justice, immigration, gender justice, queer identity, and economic and environmental justice in ways that illustrate their relevance for Jews and non-Jews alike.
Jennifer A. Thompson is the Maurice Amado Professor of Applied Jewish Ethics and Civic Engagement and Director of the Jewish Studies Program at California State University. Allison B. Wolf is associate professor of philosophy and researcher at the Center for Migration Studies at Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, Colombia.
Part I: What is Jewish Ethics? Chapter 1: An Overview of Secular Ethics and Applied Ethics Allison B. Wolf Chapter 2: What is Jewish Ethics? Jennifer A. Thompson Part II: Applying Jewish Ethics A Jewish Social Fabric Chapter 3: Jewish Perspectives on Charity: A Philosophy for Hopeless Times Leah Kalmanson Chapter 4: Beyond the Binary of Silence and Speech: What Jewish Liturgy and Spirals Reveal about the Limits and Potentials of Spiritual Caregiving for Survivors of Sexual Violence Lena Sclove Chapter 5: A Social Fabric of Interdependence: The Ethics of Care Work Jennifer A. Thompson Part III: Being and Belonging Chapter 6: Not in My Name: Jewishness, Womanhood, and the Ethics of Identification Naomi Scheman Chapter 7: Failed Messiah: H. Leivick's Der Goylem and the Ethics of Action Melissa Weininger Part IV: Enacting Justice Chapter 8: Hans Jonas' Ethics of Responsibility in an Age of Pervasive Technology Andrea Lehner Chapter 9: Views from Far and Near: Jewish Memory and Culture in the Aftermath of Violence in Argentina Natasha Zaretsky Chapter 10: A Judaic Approach to Immigration (In)Justice in the Americas. Allison B. Wolf
Applying Jewish Ethics: Beyond the Rabbinic Tradition offers readers a long-overdue interdisciplinary interpretation of Jewish ethics accompanied by a clear account of how Jewish moral concepts can expand our basic understandings of todays' most thorny social problems. Wolf and Thompson make a clear and concise case for why applied ethics needs Jewish ethics. Their carefully curated anthology counters misconceptions about Jewish ethics with accessible explanations of basic Jewish moral principles. Contributors to the volume illustrate the normative power of these principles through a series of engagements with questions of environment justice, immigration, gender justice, queer identities, and more. Anyone curious about Jewish applied ethics should start with this book! -- Alison Bailey, Illinois State University
