Friendship in Jewish History, Religion, and Culture

Published by Penn State University Press 2021

Friendship in Jewish History, Religion, and Culture

Edited by: Lawrence Fine

Volume 12 in the series Dimyonot: Jews and the Cultural Imagination

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780271090108

Overview
Contents

About this book

The ubiquity of friendship in human culture contributes to the fallacy that ideas about friendship have not changed and remained consistent throughout history. It is only when we begin to inquire into the nature and significance of the concept in specific contexts that we discover how complex it truly is. Covering the vast expanse of Jewish tradition, from ancient Israel to the twenty-first century, this collection of essays traces the history of the beliefs, rituals, and social practices surrounding friendship in Jewish life.

Employing diverse methodological approaches, this volume explores the particulars of the many varied forms that friendship has taken in the different regions where Jews have lived, including the ancient Near East, the Greco-Roman world, Europe, and the United Sates. The four sections—friendship between men, friendship between women, challenges to friendship, and friendships that cross boundaries, especially between Jews and Christians, or men and women—represent and exemplify universal themes and questions about human interrelationships. This pathbreaking and timely study will inspire further research and provide the groundwork for future explorations of the topic.

In addition to the editor, the contributors are Martha Ackelsberg, Michela Andreatta, Joseph Davis, Glenn Dynner, Eitan P. Fishbane, Susannah Heschel, Daniel Jütte, Eyal Levinson, Saul M. Olyan, George Savran, and Hava Tirosh-Samuelson.

Author / Editor information

Fine Lawrence :

Lawrence Fine is Irene Kaplan Leiwant Chair of Jewish Studies and Professor of Religion Emeritus, at Mount Holyoke College. He is the author or editor of seven books, including the award-winning Physician of the Soul, Healer of the Cosmos: Isaac Luria and His Kabbalistic Fellowship.

Reviews

“This innovative and accessible anthology highlights the significance of a frequently neglected facet of Jewish life. I know of no other scholarly work that explores the varieties of human friendship in such a wide range of Jewish sources. The attention to gender is particularly noteworthy and adds immensely to the value and interest of this important volume.”
—Judith R. Baskin, author of Midrashic Women: Formations of the Feminine in Rabbinic Literature

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction Studying Friendship in Jewish History, Religion, and Culture Lawrence Fine Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part 1 Love, Intimacy, and Friendship Between Men
Chapter 1 “Cherished in Life, for They Loved Each Other Exceedingly” Friendship in Medieval Ashkenaz Eyal Levinson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	21
Chapter 2 God in the Face of the Other Mystical Friendship in the Zohar Eitan P. Fishbane Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	38
Chapter 3 Friendship and Gender The Limits and Possibilities of Jewish Philosophy Hava Tirosh-Samuelson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	55
Part 2 Women and the Bonds of Friendship
Chapter 4 “She and Her Friends” On Women’s Friendship in Biblical Narrative Saul M. Olyan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	79
Chapter 5 Friends and Friendship in the Memoir of Glückel of Hameln Learning from Experience Joseph Davis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	89
Chapter 6 “Got Yourself Some Friends? Now Build a Movement!” Friendship in the Jewish Women’s Movement in the United States Martha Ackelsberg Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	106
Part 3 Friendship and Its Challenges
Chapter 7 Jacob and Esau Twinship, Identity, and Failed Friendship George Savran Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	129
Chapter 8 Hebraica Amicitia Leon Modena and the Cultural Practices of Early Modern Intra-Jewish Friendship Michela Andreatta Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	145
Chapter 9 Friendship and Betrayal Hasidism and Secularism in Early Twentieth-Century Poland Glenn Dynner Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	167
Part 4 Crossing Boundaries Friendship Between Women and Men, and Between Jews and Gentiles
Chapter 10 Interfaith Encounters Between Jews and Christians in the Early Modern Period and Beyond Toward a Framework Daniel Jütte Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	185
Chapter 11 Friendship, Jewish Female Philosophers, and Feminism Hava Tirosh-Samuelson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	212
Chapter 12 A Friendship in the Prophetic Tradition Abraham Joshua Heschel and Martin Luther King Jr. Susannah Heschel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	232
Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	251
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	253

Language: English
Publisher: Penn State University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 270
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 6
- Images: 6
- Other: 6 illustrations
Keywords: Friendship; Friendship in Judaism; Interpersonal Relations in Judaism; Jewish ethics; Jewish Philosophy; Kabbalah; Hasidism

eBook

Published: February 4, 2021
ISBN: 9780271090108