Abstract
This issue is redacted at another time of terrible loss in Israel, the bus bombing and terrorist attacks of February 22. Included among the murdered, Matthew Eisenfeld z”l and Sarah Duker z”l were known to many members of this Network: Matthew, a rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary, scholar, poet, spokesperson for peace; Sarah, graduate student in science at the Hebrew University, scholar, poet, spokesperson for peace. “For those do I weep, My ears stream tears, Comfort has left me, None can restore My spirit, My children are desolate.”
We do not yet know what contributions, if any, postmodern Jewish study may make to the understanding of Jewish political life or of Israel’s place in the world. Are the Network’s practices of dialogue, commentary, and relational thinking pertinent to the study of Israel’s relations to others and to itself? In the midst of this most recent moment of tragedy, we have no ready responses. We wait for members of the Network to begin to speak to these concerns and to call the Network to its appropriate responsibilities with respect to them.
The two main sections of this issue have particular and unanticipated pertinence for this sad time. Our ongoing section on Talmud examines rabbinic views on martyrdom as an act of sanctifying the Divine Name, the theme of last summer’s Postmodern Talmud Institute at Princeton. A new section on “Postcritical Christian Philosophy and Judaism” brings to light a more hopeful side of the people Israel’s relations to other peoples: the work of Christian theologians whose work as Israel’s loving “others” may lend some assurance to Jews who are forced now to relive only the frightening side of Israel’s relations to others.
May the memory of the two young sages of Israel, along with all the others who were lost, be for a blessing. They dedicated their lives and profound talents to the life of God, Torah, and Israel, and to practices of study, dialogue and decision-making that embody many of the ideals Network members hold dear.
Recommended Citation
"Old Series: Volume 5, Number 1 (March 1996)." Journal of Textual Reasoning Old Series: Vol. 5 (1996): 1-57. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/jtr/vol0/iss5/1