“Accepting and Excepting will appeal to scholars of Jewish philosophy, theologians of religion, as well as all people concerned about religion in a pluralistic world. It is a masterful, nuanced, and profoundly relevant contribution to Jewish and non-Jewish religious thinking and interreligious philosophy.”

—Israel Drazin, Midwest Book Review

“Raphael Jospe is a thinking Jew and at the same time an important Jewish thinker. As a thinking Jew, he is not afraid to stake out brave positions on controversial topics such as the nature of Jewish chosenness, pluralism, idolatry, and prophecy among the nations. As an important Jewish thinker, he finds support for his positions in a wide variety of authoritative Jewish sources. These include the Bible and Rabbinic Literature, and thinkers such as Sa’dia Gaon, Judah Halevi, Maimonides, and Abraham ibn Ezra. Jospe brings these medieval thinkers into creative conversation with moderns like Moses Mendelssohn and especially Mordecai Kaplan. Throughout this lively and sparkling book, we also find Jospe himself in dialogue with a wide variety of contemporary scholars of Jewish Thought. Raphael Jospe is not only a thinker, but he is also an activist; for over a generation he has taken a leading role in encounters with Christianity and Mormonism. There is thus much to be learned from this learned and thought-provoking book.”

—Menachem Kellner, Wolfson Professor Emeritus of Jewish Thought at the University of Haifa and Founding Chair (retired) of the Department of Philosophy and Jewish Thought at Shalem College, Jerusalem

“Based on a learned reading of biblical, rabbinic, medieval, and modern sources, Raphael Jospe presents a smiling, wise, and pluralistic Judaism that respects and accepts the Other. In our divisive times, this is a welcome and urgent message.”

—Zev Warren Harvey, professor emeritus in the Department of Jewish Thought, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

“Raphael Jospe’s Accepting and Excepting offers Jewish approaches to religious pluralism —both internal Jewish pluralism and Jewish views of other religions—which are a product of the author’s reflections on this subject, starting when he was a thoughtful and inquisitive high school student to the present day, as a retired professor of Jewish philosophy. The result of these reflections is a book which is highly informed by scholarship but with remarkable personal aspects. Jospe’s teaching, research and participation in intra-faith and inter-faith encounters make him uniquely qualified to address among other questions: How can Jews be loyal to their own religious and theological stances without denying or denigrating the positive aspects of competing religious doctrines? How can Jews advocate pluralism without adopting a relativistic approach towards their own beliefs? In our era of cleavage and controversy, this voice for tolerance out of the sources of Judaism is most welcome.”

—Daniel J. Lasker, Blechner Professor Emeritus of Jewish Values, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev 

“The thread of blue binding this book’s pages is a line Mordecai Kaplan sent the future author in 1967: 'In Judaism as a civilization, “belonging” is prior to “believing” although meaningless without believing.' Collating years of study, seeking the meanings and connections of believing and belonging, Raphael Jospe traces the narrow ledge dividing pluralism from relativism, always surer of his footing on solid moral ground than trusting pitons anchored overhead. Torah and Talmud, and philosophical classics from Aristotle to Kant, mark the trail with traces of bold advances and partial falls. Maimonides, Nahmanides, Bahya, and Halevi have left guideposts and cautions. So have Muslim philosophers like al-Farabi, al-Ghazali, and Averroes, and Jewish greats from Rashi and Ibn Ezra to Spinoza and Mendelssohn, from Falaquera to Rosensweig, Buber, Heschel, and Jonathan Sacks. The probing conversation does not neglect our own contemporaries, many of them Jospe’s friends and fellow seekers.“

—Lenn E. Goodman, Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities, Philosophy, Furman Hall, author of Judaism: A Contemporary Philosophical Investigation

“In our polarized world, challenged by moral relativism on the one hand and extremist religious ideologies on the other, Raphael Jospe offers us a timely vision of deep religious commitment together with a moral clarity that genuinely respects and indeed celebrates diversity. Mastering— and often critiquing—an impressive array of classical and modern Jewish sources, as well as insights from beyond Jewish tradition, he presents both a theoretical and practical road map for an authentic Jewish pluralist outlook, both interreligious as well as intra-religious. As Professor Jospe states, his goal is not to disregard differences, 'but to enhance them out of dialogue with other perspectives, learning with and from each other out of true respect for “the other.”' Accordingly he presents a vision of wisdom and hope for our world in which 'everyone will sit under their own vine and their own fig tree and no-one will make them afraid' (Micah 4:4)”

—Rabbi David Rosen, KSG CBE, former International Director of Interreligious Affairs of the American Jewish Committee and an International President of Religions for Peace

Raphael Jospe (Ph.D. Brandeis University) is a retired professor of Jewish philosophy in Jerusalem. Author/editor of more than 20 books and editor of the Jewish philosophy division of the Encyclopaedia Judaica, he is involved in inter-religious dialogue and has lectured at the Vatican and at the World Council of Churches.

Introduction

Personal background

Truth matters—but at what cost?

Rejection of partisanship and affirmation of differences

Some Views on Pluralism and Chosenness
David Novak
Lenn Goodman
Alan Brill
Sandra Lubarsky
Vered Sakal
Ephraim Meir
Pluralism is not Relativism

PART ONE

AFFIRMING CHOSENNESS AND PLURALISM

Chapter One

Affirming Chosenness and Pluralism: Are they Compatible?

Chosenness as Historical Destiny in Diverse Cultures

Jewish vs. Christian readings of Genesis and salvation: Exclusivity in this world, or in the world to come

Toleration and pluralism

Mordecai Kaplan: revaluation vs. transvaluation

Revaluating chosenness

Chapter Two

Chosenness and Pluralism—Ritual Exclusivity vs. Spiritual Inclusivity

Conclusion: “The Lord is close to all who call Him in Truth”

Chapter Three

Pluralism out of the Sources of Judaism: The Quest for Religious Pluralism without Relativism

Preface

Philosophical Challenges—Toleration vs. Pluralism: Alexander Altmann and Avi Sagi

Christian Challenges

A Jewish Challenge: Menachem Kellner

Subjectivity and Cultural Relativity in Revelation

Abraham ibn Ezra and the Limitations of Revelation

Al-Farabi: Religious vs. Philosophical Language

Maimonides: “The Torah Speaks According to Human Language”

The Possibility of Multiple Revelations: Netanel ibn Al-Fayyumi

Sa`adiah Gaon and “The Community of Monotheists”

On Cultural Relativism in Conceiving of God

Moses Mendelssohn and Religious Pluralism

Kant’s Unknowable “Ding an sich” and Heisenberg’s “Uncertainty Principle”

“The Lord is Close … To All who Call Him in Truth”

Conclusion: Pluralism as the Way of Torah

Addendum: A Reply to a Response

Chapter Four

“We Have Met the Enemy and They Are Us—`Avodah Zarah as an Internal Jewish Category”

Prologue: “We Have Met the Enemy and They Are Us”

The Biblical Background of the Term `Avodah Zarah

The Talmudic Background of the Term `Avodah Zarah

Judah Halevi and Maimonides on `Avodah Zarah: Improper Practice or Improper Belief

Moses Mendelssohn: The Ceremonial Law as an Antidote to `Avodah Zarah

Yoel (Joel) Teitelbaum: Zionism as `Avodah Zarah

Mordecai Kaplan and “Revaluation”

Conclusion: Revaluation of Sancta and the Concept of `Avodah Zarah

Internal Jewish Pluralism

`Avodah Zarah and chosenness as internal categories

A Challenge in Each Generation

Addendum: Mendelssohn on Atheism

Chapter Five

Franz Rosenzweig’s Inexpressible Joy

The Inexpressible Joy of Being a Jew

Similarity to Judah Halevi

Law (Gesetz) and Commandment (Gebot)

Rosenzweig on Openness to Everything Jewish

Love and the Inexpressibility of Revelation

Conclusion

PART TWO

ON RELATIONS WITH CHRISTIANITY AND MORMONISM

Chapter Six

Jewish Views of Christianity—Some Reflections

Chapter Seven

Regina Coeli—A Jewish Source?

Chapter Eight

Jews and Mormons—Similarities and Differences

Background

Similarities and Differences

Chosenness and its Implications

The Tension of Universalism and Particular Lineage

PART THREE

ENCOUNTERS WITH OTHER TRADITIONS AND CULTURES

Chapter Nine

Yafet in the Tents of Shem—Attitudes Towards “The Wisdom of Greek” (Ḥokhmat Yevanit) Among the Rabbis and Jewish Philosophers

Introduction

Judah Halevi and Ḥokhmat Yevanit

What is ḥokhmat yevanit?

Ḥokhmat Yevanit, War, and the Fall of Jerusalem to Pompey

Ḥokhmat Yevanit as a Secret Code: Rambam

Ḥokhmat Yevanit as Rhetoric

Rabbi Yishma`el: A Time which is Neither Day nor Night

Rabbi Eliezer: Refrain from “Logic”?

Shem Tov ibn Falaquera's Ambivalence Regarding Ḥokhmat Yevanit

Ḥokhmat Yevanit and the Medieval Controversies Over Philosophy.

Ḥokhmat Yevanit as Magic

Judah Halevi and Ḥokhmat Yevanit: Divergent Readings

Judah Halevi's Philosophy and Neoplatonism

Judah Halevi's Philosophy and Astral Magic

Judah Halevi's Philosophy: Esoteric or Exoteric?

A Philosophical Critique of Philosophy: Ḥokhmat Yevanit as Pseudo

Philosophy

The Silence of the Rabbis on Philosophy

Nine Centuries of Silence

Rabbinic Literature as Philosophy

Conclusion

Summation

Appendix

The Maccabees and the Causes of the Rebellion

Greek Names and Religious Terms

Chapter Ten

God Willing: Im Yirẓeh Hashem—In Sha Allah

Introduction

The First Evidence of Im Yirẓeh Hashem—in the New Testament

The Evidence in Josephus

Philo

Evidence from the Talmud and Midrash?

Evidence from Post-Talmudic Literature: “The Alphabet of Ben-Sira” and the “Or `Olam” Midrash

“With the Help of God” (Be-`ezrat Hashem) as Opposed to “God Willing” (Im Yirẓeh Hashem)

Baḥya ibn Paquda—an Exceptional Case

In sha Allah in the Qur’an

Al-Ghazali’s Occasionalism

Summary

Appendix A: Naḥmanides (Moses ben Naḥman) on Nature and Natural Order

Appendix B: The Expression Yehi Raẓon

Chapter Eleven

Sa`adiah Ga’on’s “Reliable Tradition”— Who Are the “Community of Monotheists?”

On “Reliable Tradition”

Al-Khabr Al-Ṣadiq

Taqlid

Manqul

Athar

Who are “The Community of Monotheists?”

PART FOUR

EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL CHALLENGES

Chapter Twelve

Love Your Fellow as Yourself— Universalism and Particularism in Jewish Exegesis of Leviticus 19:18

Preface

Who is the Re`a that we are Supposed to Love?

How the Verse was Translated in Ancient Versions

Re`a as Meaning Another Jew

Re`a as Meaning Another Human Being

How Can One be Commanded to Love Someone “As Yourself”?

Moses Mendelssohn on our Verse

Isaac Markus Jost

Hermann Cohen

Aḥad Ha-`Am

Franz Rosenzweig

Martin Buber

Emmanuel Levinas

Conclusion

Chapter Thirteen

The New Anti-Zionism and the Old Antisemitism—Transformations

Précis

Introduction: Three Threats to Jewish Existence

Historical Background of the Ideological Threat

The Ideological Threat: Classical Greco-Roman Versions

The Ideological Threat: Modern Enlightenment Versions

Enlightenment: The Cultural Dimension of the Ideological Threat

Emancipation: The Political-social Dimension of the Ideological Threat

Zionist Responses to the Ideological Threat

Contemporary Transformations

Arab-Islamic Judeophobia

Anti-Zionism as Antisemitism

Conclusion

Chapter Fourteen

The Reform Movement and Jewish Status—Some Observations

Reform Opposition to the Patrilineal Decision

Three Personal Observations

Chapter Fifteen

Fundamentalism—A Jewish Perspective

Precis

Introduction

The Reform Pittsburgh Platform (1885)

Reactions

Roman Catholic Reaction: Pius Ix and Papal Infallibility

Evangelical Protestant Reaction: Biblical Inerrancy

Jewish Reaction: Da`At Torah

Addendum 1: Emunat Ḥakhamim (“Belief in the Sages”)

Addendum 2: The Infallibility of the Rabbis According to Ramban

(Naḥmanides)

Addendum 3: Fundamentalist Appropriation/Misappropriation of Traditional Texts: The Example of Misreading Rambam (Maimonides)

The Mosaic Authorship of the Torah (“Torah Mi-Sinai”—Torah from Sinai) vs. The Divine Authority of the Torah (“Torah Min Ha-shamayim”—Torah from Heaven)

The Problem of Literalist Interpretation of Scripture and of the Sages

PART FIVE

AFTERWORD

Chapter Sixteen

Personal Reflections

Index