Introduction

Abstract

Introduction Glenn Dynner (bio) In a major scholarly intervention, "away from a definition of anti-semitism: An Essay in the Semantics of Historical Description," David Engel warns of "the hazards of imprecise and irresponsible terminology" found in many works dealing with anti-Jewish violence and derogatory representations of Jews. If everything is "antisemitism" then nothing is "antisemitism," Engel argues; the term loses both "clarity and utility."1 Engel's essay was quite a bombshell—after all, the term is invoked regularly not only in scholarship, but in the titles and mission statements of national and international institutions. Should they even use the term at all? Yet the authors of Key Concepts in the Study of Antisemitism do not appear defensive. Instead, they attempt to answer Engel's critique with precision and responsibility, each author taking up a single aspect of the concept without necessarily defining the whole. We behold a multifaceted antisemitism in which each facet possesses its own complicated history. The current book forum reflects on their approach. Some participants laud the authors' attempts to thematize, historicize, and link up single facets of antisemitism with other concepts. Others draw attention to major lacunae and begin to redress them here. All seem to agree that, thanks to the efforts of Engel and the editors of Key Concepts, new thinking has emerged about one of the most taken-for-granted concepts in the field of Jewish studies. Glenn Dynner Glenn Dynner is the Carl and Dorothy Bennett Professor of Judaic Studies and Director of the Bennett Center at Fairfield University. He is author of "Men of Silk": The Hasidic Conquest of Polish Jewish Society (Oxford, 2006) and Yankel's Tavern: Jews, Liquor and Life in the Kingdom of Poland (Oxford, 2014). He has been a Fulbright scholar, a member of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, NEH Senior Scholar, and a Guggenheim Fellow. NOTES 1. Cohen, "Introduction," 7. BIBLIOGRAPHY Cohen, Jeremy. "Introduction." In Rethinking European Jewish History, edited by Jeremy Cohen and Moshe Rosman, 1–12. Oxford: The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2009. https://doi.org/10.3828/liverpool/9781904113560.003.0003. Google Scholar Engel, David. "Away from a Definition of Antisemitism: An Essay in the Semantics of Historical Description." In Rethinking European Jewish History, edited by Jeremy Cohen and Moshe Rosman, 30–53. Oxford: The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2009. Google Scholar Copyright © 2022 Purdue University