The Holocaust and Jewish Theology

doi:10.1017/9781108233705.012

12 - The Holocaust and Jewish Theology

from Part IV - Contemporary Issues

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 December 2020

Michael L. Morgan

Edited by

Steven Kepnes

Show author details

Steven Kepnes: Affiliation:
Colgate University, New York

Book contents

Get access

Summary

The central theological questions raised for Jewish belief by the Holocaust concern the existence and nature of God. In this paper, I focus on four figures who addressed these theological questions in a serious way: Richard Rubenstein, Eliezer Berkovits, Irving Greenberg, and Hans Jonas. I show that Jonas’s argument for a limited and changing God is the most radical of these theological responses and that the radical character of his response can best be appreciated by contrasting his approach with the other three theological accounts, especially in terms of how the problem of theodicy functions in those accounts.

Keywords

Holocaust Auschwitz God theodicy kabbalah Jewish belief

Type: Chapter
Information: The Cambridge Companion to Jewish Theology , pp. 267 - 296

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108233705.012 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Selected Further Reading

Berkovits, Eliezer. Faith after the Holocaust. New York: KTAV, 1973.Google Scholar

Berkovits, Eliezer. God, Man and History: A Jewish Interpretation. Middle Village: Jonathan David Publishers, 1959.Google Scholar

Fackenheim, Emil L. Fackenheim’s Jewish Philosophy: An Introduction. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2013.Google Scholar

Fackenheim, Emil L. God’s Presence in History. New York: New York University Press, 1970.Google Scholar

Fackenheim, Emil L. The Jewish Return into History, New York: Schocken, 1978.Google Scholar

Fackenheim, Emil L. To Mend the World. New York: Schocken, 1982.Google Scholar

Greenberg, Irving. “Cloud of Smoke, Pillar of Fire.” In Auschwitz: Beginning of a New Era? Reflections on the Holocaust, 26–55. Edited by Fleischner, Eva. New York: KTAV, 1977.Google Scholar

Jonas, Hans. “The Concept of God after Auschwitz: A Jewish Voice.” The Journal of Religion 67.1 (1987): 1–13.CrossRef Google Scholar

Jonas, Hans. Mortality and Morality: A Search for the Good after Auschwitz. Edited by Vogel, Lawrence. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1996.Google Scholar

Katz, Steven T., Biderman, Shlomo, and Greenberg, Gershon, eds. Wrestling with God: Jewish Theological Responses during and after the Holocaust. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.Google Scholar

Morgan, Michael L. Beyond Auschwitz: Post-Holocaust Jewish Thought in America. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.CrossRef Google Scholar

Rubenstein, Richard L. After Auschwitz: History, Theology, and Contemporary Judaism, Second Edition. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992.Google Scholar

Rubenstein, Richard L. Morality and Eros. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1970.Google Scholar

Rubenstein, Richard L. and Roth, John K.. Approaches to Auschwitz. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1987.Google Scholar