Michael Walzer, Menachem Lorberbaum, Noam J. Zohar and Ari Ackerman, eds. The Jewish Political Tradition. Volume Two: Membership. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. 656 pp.

Abstract

For too long, scholars have denied that “Jewish political thought” constitutes a viable field of study. Without a sovereign state, scholars argue, Jews lacked occasion to debate the questions of power, obligation, and authority that preoccupy Western political theorists. The Jewish Political Tradition offers a devastating rebuttal to this argument, for it reconstructs a continuous and vibrant tradition of Jewish political thought. Edited jointly by Michael Walzer, an eminent political theorist, and Israeli scholars associated with the Shalom Hartman Institute, this ambitious anthology (two of four volumes have now been published) pairs pri-mary texts spanning Jewish history with commentary by contemporary scholars. Uncovering political reflection in genres previously ghettoized as legalistic or theological (e.g. Midrash, responsa, biblical exegesis), the editors open up an exciting field for research. But The Jewish Political Tradition is not merely of scholarly interest. Inviting readers “to join the arguments of the texts, to interpret and evaluate, to revise or reject, the claims made by their authors,” the editors insist that the tradition remains a vital resource for contemporary Jews (8). Indeed, the project makes an audacious (and salutary) contribution to Israeli debates: Against advocates of a state ruled by halakhah, the editors contend that traditional Jewish texts sanction toleration, pluralism, and the secularization of politics.