AN ORTHODOX EMBRACE OF GENTILES? INTERFAITH TOLERANCE IN THE THOUGHT OF S. D. LUZZATTO AND E. BENAMOZEGH

Abstract

Ever since the beginning of the Enlightenment there has been a markedly tolerant shift in the philosophical and ethical stance of Jews and Judaism toward non-Jews and their religions. This is certainly true in the social sphere, in the political conceptualization of the liberal society, and in the extension of ethical commitments to non-Jews.1 But this has generally been considered typical mostly of liberal Jewish thought and in opposition to Orthodox philosophical and halakhic constructs. The details of philosophical and ethical positions in this matter, however, yield some surprising results. Although in the practical realm there is a considerable degree of acceptance of Gentiles among liberal Jewish philosophers of the Enlightenment and the nineteenth century, there is also a significant effort, especially in Germany, to articulate the supremacy of Judaism over all other faiths. Among some philosophers there has even been a perpetuation, at least on a philosophical level, of the need to destroy false religions.2 For example, Hermann Cohen, the great exponent of ethical monotheism and the ethical treatment of the stranger, also states,