André Neher's Reading of the Book of Amos

Abstract

Half a century has now elapsed since the first publication in 1950 of Andre Neher's Amos, contribution a l'etude du prophetisme. Born in Obernai (Alsace) in 1914 and deceased in Jerusalem in 1988, Andre Neher was one of the great thinkers of contemporary Judaism. His initial career as a secondary-school German teacher was interrupted by the Second World War, which he spent exiled in the 'Free Zone' engaged in intensive Jewish study together with his father and brother. After the war, Neher dedicated himself to Jewish reconstruction, rapidly emerging as one of the spiritual leaders of the young intellectuals of the French-speaking world. A highly original and captivating teacher, he was committed to traditional Judaism and Zionism. He was instrumental in founding the first chair in France of Modern Hebrew and Jewish Studies at the University of Strasbourg, to which he was appointed. Here he contributed to the reflourishing of Jewish intellectual and social life in France through his communal action and manifold writings. Of his twenty odd books, translated into various languages, many are devoted to biblical themes, such as Notes sur VEcclesiaste (1951), l'Essence du prophetisme (1955), Moise et la vocation juive (1956), Jeremie (1960) and his Histoire biblique du peuple juif (1962). Amos was his first important book, initially presented as his doctoral thesis when Neher was first Junior Lecturer in Judaism at the Institute of the