The New Diaspora and the Global Prophetic: Engaging the Scholarship of Marc H. Ellis ed by Susanne Scholz and Santiago Slabodsky

Abstract

Reviewed by: The New Diaspora and the Global Prophetic: Engaging the Scholarship of Marc H. Ellis ed by Susanne Scholz and Santiago Slabodsky Seth Ward, retired The New Diaspora and the Global Prophetic: Engaging the Scholarship of Marc H. Ellis. Edited by Susanne Scholz and Santiago Slabodsky. Dispatches from the New Diaspora. Lanham, MD, and London: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, 2021. Pp. 307. $110.00. Ellis, the prolific author or editor of some thirty volumes, is best known as a “Jewish Scholar of Conscience” who introduced a Jewish liberation theology. Readers interested in his theological development and approach will find his interview in this book, conducted by its editors, to be especially enlightening. He traces his early influences to Dorothy Day and Richard Rubenstein and provides a needed introduction to key terms used by many of the chapter authors, such as Constantinian Judaism, the ecumenical deal, idolatry, empire, exile, and “the prophetic,” many of which he often describes as having “come to him.” A key element of Ellis’s approach is to emphasize the problem in modern times of the dichotomy between Jewish ethics and the oppression and killing of Arab Palestinians linked to the rise of the Jewish State. Nevertheless, Ellis recognizes that “Anti-Zionism is mostly theoretical,” that “seeing Israel as a colonial venture—only—is historically shortsighted,” and that Jews “are not returning to a position of powerlessness,” to decolonize Israel (p. 15). Ellis’s response may be seen as the “radical position linking the future of the Jewish People to the liberation of Palestinians” (Kwok Pui-Lan, p. 153). The terms in the book’s title, “New Diaspora” and “Global Prophetic,” flow from this as well. Nevertheless, while he raises this as a conundrum in the introduction, his writings often are [End Page 126] not seen that way. In any case, this book is not a venue for critical evaluation of Ellis’s thought in light of this conundrum or working out its ramifications. Books of this nature often seek to add to research in areas of specialization of a deservedly honored scholar or to do innovative studies that honor his or her profile in the field. Exemplifying this are Robert O. Smith’s critique of the term “Judaeo-Christian tradition,” Luis Rivera Pagán’s re-reading of the Bible (Hebrew Bible and Christian Testament) in solidarity with the Palestinian people, and Charles Ramsey’s study of Muhammad Asad. The book most often appears to be engaging the scholarship of Ellis mostly along the lines of “friends paying tribute to him” (p. ix), outlining the crucial role he has played as a colleague, mentor, advisor, and friend in their professional and personal lives. Sources for many essays are largely Ellis’s own writings and personal reflections. For example, Naim Ateek’s dismissal of Yitz Greenberg and other rabbis footnotes only Ellis. Appearing in 2021, the book does not engage the Abraham Accords, although there are references to Black Lives Matter. Unsurprisingly, contributors tend to discuss Latin American and Palestinian issues, with the Palestinian side mostly represented by Christians—themselves increasingly marginalized in a kind of double Exile in the Palestinian Autonomous area. The Foreword is by Susannah Heschel; Scholz and Slabodsky offer the introduction and the Ellis interview. The section headings should be familiar from Ellis’s writings. In addition to contributors already mentioned, the book includes chapters by Sarah Roy, Jessica Wai-Fong Wong, Miguel A. De La Torre, Claudio Carvalhaes, Thia Cooper, Rubén Rosario Rodríguez, William A. Walker III, Jin Young Choi, Brant Rosen, Keren Batiyov, Robert Cohen, Karen Baker Fletcher, and the two editors. Ellis’s sons, Aaron and Isaiah, offer personal and moving tributes as Postscripts. Seth Ward, retired University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY Copyright © 2023 Journal of Ecumenical Studies