Why should Jews survive?

In this provocative book, Goldberg launches a bold attack on what he calls the "Holocaust cult," challenging Jews to return to a deeper, richer sense of purpose. He argues that this cult - with shrines like the U.S. Holocaust Museum, high priests such as Elie Wiesel, and rites like UJA death camp pilgrimages - is deeply destructive of Jewish identity. As the current "master story" of Judaism, Goldberg writes, the Holocaust has been used to depict Jews as uniquely victimized in human history - transforming them from God's chosen to those who manage to survive despite God's silent complicity in their persecution. Jews need positive reasons for remaining Jewish, he argues; they need to return to the Exodus as their master story - the story of God leading the Jews out of slavery and making with them an eternal covenant that gave the Jews a unique place in God's plan. The Jews should survive, Goldberg concludes, because they are the linchpin in God's redemption of the world.

Year

1995

Language

English

Publisher

Oxford University Press, USA

Editions

1

Pages

202

ISBN

9780195111262

Data source: Wikidata