The Study of the Shoah (the Holocaust): Complexity and Dilemmas

Spring 2004

Wednesdays 6 pm – 9pm

Rabbi Manes Kogan

E-mail:

Dealing with Complex Concepts: The Chosen People

  1. The Problem – The Problem?
  1. The Solution – The Solutions - The Solution?
  • Read Exodus 19: 5-6, Deuteronomy 7:6-11, Deuteronomy 14:2 and Deuteronomy 26:18-19: What is the idea of the Chosen People described in these verses?
  • Read Chapter 117 from: Biblical Literacy by Rabbi Telushkin. How does Rabbi Telushkin explain the concept of the Chosen People? How do we know that the issue is troubling him? What do you think of his solution?
  • Read Chapter 261 from Jewish Literacy by Rabbi Telushkin. What are the new ideas Rabbi Telushkin introduces in this chapter?
  • Read “The Covenant and the Election of Israel” by David Lieber in Etz Hayim: Torah & Commentary. Why did the spread of the Enlightenment and of the Emancipation challenge the concept of the Chosen People? How did Jews and Non-Jews deal with this complex concept before the spread of the Enlightenment and of the Emancipation?
  • Read The Dean and The Chosen People by Richard Rubenstein and answer to the following questions:
  1. Why did the Holocaust happen according to Dean Gruber?
  1. Explain the following statement: “In the past the Jews had been smitten by Nebuchadnezzar and other “rods of God’s anger.” Hitler was simply another such rod”.
  1. How are the Jews ‘special’ for the Christians?
  1. What has Rubenstein to say about the Jews (What is Rubinstein’s challenge to the Jewish Community?)
  2. How could we see the Dean as being in sort of a GrayZone?
  3. How is the Dean’s opinion different from the one of the Satmer Rebbe?
  4. How is Rubinstein helping us understand the harshness the Jews use to judge their behavior during the Holocaust?
  5. What is the problem with Rubenstein’s analysis?

Bibliography

After Auschwitz: History, Theology, & Contemporary Judaism

By Richard L. Rubenstein

Paperback/ January1994/ 0801842859

Biblical Literacy: The Most Important People, Events, & Ideas of the Hebrew Bible

By Joseph Telushkin, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin

Hardcover/ September1997/ 0688142974

Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know About the Jewish Religion, Its People & Its History

By Joseph Telushkin

Hardcover/ September2001/ 0688085067

Etz Hayim: Torah & Commentary

By David L. Lieber

Hardcover/ September2001/ 0827607121

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