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This volume takes a fresh view of the role representations of the past play in the construction of Jewish identity. Its central theme is that the study of how Jews construct the past can help in interpreting how they understand the nature of their Jewishness. The individual chapters illuminate the ways in which Jews responded to and made use of the past. If Jews' choices of what to include, emphasize, omit, and invent in their representation of the past is a fundamental variable, then this volume contributes to the creation of a more nuanced approach to the construction of the histories of Jews and their thought.
About the author
Lorenzo DiTommaso is Professor of Religion at Concordia University, Montréal. His next book, The Architecture of Apocalypticism, the first volume of a trilogy, is forthcoming from Oxford University Press.
Summary
Takes a fresh view of the role representations of the past play in the construction of Jewish identity. Its central theme is that the study of how Jews construct the past can help in interpreting how they understand the nature of their Jewishness. The individual chapters illuminate the ways in which Jews responded to and made use of the past.
Additional text
The editors [of History, Memory, and Jewish Identity] sought to – and succeeded in – bringing together important studies demonstrating how the past has been a source of memory and a means to shape identity in various contexts. ... This volume presents a welcome contribution to an ongoing debate about the relationship between history and memory and the ways the past shapes present mentalities and future prospects.
