Paul Mendes-Flohr
Biographic Data
| ID | 262425 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Paul Mendes-Flohr |
| GIVEN NAMES | Paul |
| FAMILY NAME | Mendes-Flohr |
| SIGNATURE | MENDES-FLOHR P |
| AFFILIATIONS | Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3608-2947 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 42 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 38 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 37 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 5 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1976 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
The Courage to Be an Outsider
By disposition an outsider, Martin Buber had the requisite ‘civil courage’ to speak the truth as he saw it and thus the spiritual stamina to court the scorn of being marked an outsider, or worse. Accordingly, he called upon his fellow Zionists resolutely to reject the prevailing form of European nationalism and its self-righteous, self-centred pursuit of Realpolitik. The failure to eschew what Buber alarmingly called a ‘hypertrophic’ nationalism …
Secular Religiosity: Heretical Imperative, Jewish Imponderables
The article develops a concept of "secular religiosity" to characterize "post-traditional" Jewish affiliation as an individual and private matter, which the sociologist Peter Berger casts as a "heretical imperative" to make autonomous, individual choices. The waning of the heteronomous authority of rabbinic Judaism, yielded theological and hermeneutic strategies to address the "secular religiosity" of individuals who sought to affirm distinctive …
When Memory Comes: Let the Tears Flow
The title of the essay alludes to Friedländer’s Holocaust memoir of 1979. Lament – unabashedly lachrymose – evoked by the memory of Auschwitz resists and implicitly questions the politicization of Holocaust commemoration. Furthermore, lamentation defies both theological and secular explanations of the Holocaust as defiling and vitiating the depth of our grief, and paradoxically our hope-against-hope that the evil that continues to haunt the human…
Meir Kahane: The Public Life and Political Thought of an American Jewish Radical
Jewish Intellectuals on the Chimera of Progress: Walter Benjamin, Martin Buber and Leo Strauss
Stéphane Mosès’ Angels
Is the World Redeemable? Contra Redemption
At this juncture in history what is urgently needed, to state it rather paradoxically, is redemption from visions of redemption. In my brief reflections, I appeal for a studied, indeed resolute retreat from the very concept of redemption, in particular from its contemporary theological and secular iterations
In the Shadow of Death: Jewish Affirmations of Life
The Book of Genesis reports that "On the sixth day of Creation "God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good" (1:31). The very, so a Talmudic sage taught refers to "death". We are to share God's exultant affirmation of His work of creation as culminating in death. For death is intrinsic to the blessings of life. As Buber notes in the epigraph cited above, life is "unspeakably beautiful because death looks over our shoulder". …
About the Term Exile
Jewish Historiography Between Past and Future: 200 Years of Wissenschaft des Judentums
From its modest beginnings in 1818 Berlin, Wissenschaft des Judentums has burgeoned into a scholarly discipline pursued by a vast cadre of scholars. Now constituting a global community, these scholars continue to draw their inspiration from the determined pioneers of Wissenschaft des Judentums in nineteenth and twentieth Germany. Beyond setting the highest standards of philological and historiographical research, German Wissenschaft des Judentums…
Gnostic Anxieties: Jewish Intellectuals and Weimar Neo‐Marcionism
In the wake of World War I and Imperial Germany’s ignominious defeat, a “neo‐gnostic spirit” swept through the intellectual landscape of the fledgling Weimar Republic, threatening to undermine its commitment to liberal democracy. Jews were particularly alarmed by what they perceived to be the political implications of the burgeoning fascination with Gnosticism
Martin Buber: A Life of Faith and Dissent
The first major biography in English in over thirty years of the seminal modern Jewish thinker Martin Buber An authority on the twentieth†'century philosopher Martin Buber (1878-1965), Paul Mendes-Flohr offers the first major biography in English in thirty years of this seminal modern Jewish thinker. The book is organized around several key moments, such as his sudden abandonment by his mother when he was a child of three, a foundational trauma t…
Requium for the Mandarins of Jerusalem
Man kann keine Kultur mit der Politik machen, aber man kann Politik mit der Kultur machen. Theodor Heuss The above epigraph, drawn from the writings of the first president of the Federal Republic of Germany, graces a wall of the Savigny Platz S-Bahn station in Berlin. It expresses an attitude distinctive of Central European intellectuals, especially in the years before the Second World War. It is an attitude that assumes the supremacy of Kultur, …
German Jews: A Dual Identity
When the German-Jewish philosopher Franz Rosenzweig entitled his 1926 collection of essays on Jewish and universal cultural topics Zweistromland a land of two rivers he meant to underscore, indeed celebrate, the fact that German-Jewish culture is nurtured by both German culture and the Jewish religious and cultural heritage. In this thought-provoking book, Paul Mendes-Flohr explores through the prism of Rosenzweig’s image how German Jews have und…
Dialogue As a Trans-Disciplinary Concept: Martin Buber's Philosophy of Dialogue and Its Contemporary Reception
Gustav Landauer: Anarchist and Jew
For Gustav Landauer, literary critic and anarchist, scholar of mysticism and participant of the Bavarian revolution, culture and politics occupied the same spiritual space. While identifying with ethical socialism, his Jewish sensibility increasingly gained over the years, not only, but in great measure due to Buber’s influence. This volume brings together leading scholars to assess Landauer’s ramified literary and political activities, his life …
Martin Buber and Martin Heidegger in Dialogue
Reflections on the Promise and Limitations of Interfaith Dialogue
The Kingdom of God. Martin Buber’s Critique of Messianic Politics
Through a textual and contextual analysis of Martin Buber’s scholarly disquisition, Königtum Gottes (1932), the article focuses on his critique of political Messianism. This critique is addressed to his friends who participated in the Bavarian Revolution of 1918/19, the political theology of Friedrich Gogarten and Carl Schmitt, and given trends in Zionism. This article discusses the affinities of Buber’s critique of political Messianism with that…
Introduction Translating Texts, Translating Cultures
»Vielmehr bietet [der Kommentar] auf höchstem Niveau eine substantielle Auseinandersetzung mit den Hintergründen, den Zusammenhängen, der Theorie und der Praxis des Grundgesetzes. Besseres lässt sich von einem Verfassungskommentar nicht sagen.“ Herbert Günther Staaatsanzeiger für das Land Hessen 2018 (50), 1494–1495
Martin Buber: A Builder of Bridges
»Vielmehr bietet [der Kommentar] auf höchstem Niveau eine substantielle Auseinandersetzung mit den Hintergründen, den Zusammenhängen, der Theorie und der Praxis des Grundgesetzes. Besseres lässt sich von einem Verfassungskommentar nicht sagen.“ Herbert Günther Staaatsanzeiger für das Land Hessen 2018 (50), 1494–1495
Cultural Zionism's Image of the Educated Jew: Reflections on Creating a Secular Jewish Culture
Journal Article CULTURAL ZIONISM'S IMAGE OF THE EDUCATED JEW: REFLECTIONS ON CREATING A SECULAR JEWISH CULTURE Get access Paul Mendes-Flohr Paul Mendes-Flohr Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Modern Judaism - A Journal of Jewish Ideas and Experience, Volume 18, Issue 3, October 1998, Pages 227–239, https://doi.org/10.1093/mj/18.3.227 Published: 01 October 1998
The Kiss of God: Spiritual and Mystical Death in Judaism. Michael Fishbane
Gershom Scholem: The Man and His Work
Nathan Rotenstreich zum Gedenken (1914-1993)
From Mysticism to Dialogue: Martin Buber's Transformation of German Social Thought
Martin Buber and Martin Heidegger in Dialogue
A Land of Two Peoples: Martin Buber on Jews and Arabs
Theologian, philosopher, and political radical, Martin Buber (1878-1965) was actively committed to a fundamental economic and political reconstruction of society as well as the pursuit of international peace. In his voluminous writings on Arab-Jewish relations in Palestine, Buber united his religious and philosophical teachings with his politics, which he felt were essential to a life of public dialogue and service to God. Collected in A Land of …
To Brush History Against the Grain: The Eschatology of the Frankfurt School and Ernst Bloch
To Brush History Against the Grain": The Eschatology of the Frankfurt School and Ernst Bloch Get access Paul R. Mendes-Flohr Paul R. Mendes-Flohr Paul R Mendes-Flohr is Senior Lecturer in Modern Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem He is the author of Von der Mystik zum Dialog Martin Bubers geistige Entwicklung bis hin zu "Ich und Du" (1978) and the editor (with J Reinharz) of The Jew in the Modern World A Documentary History (198…
Martin's Buber's Reception Among Jews
Journal Article MARTIN'S BUBER'S RECEPTION AMONG JEWS Get access Paul Mendes-Flohr Paul Mendes-Flohr HEBREW UNIVERSITY Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Modern Judaism - A Journal of Jewish Ideas and Experience, Volume 6, Issue 2, May 1986, Pages 111–126, https://doi.org/10.1093/mj/6.2.111 Published: 01 May 1986
About the Term Exile
Cultural Zionism's Image of the Educated Jew: Reflections on Creating a Secular Jewish Culture
Journal Article CULTURAL ZIONISM'S IMAGE OF THE EDUCATED JEW: REFLECTIONS ON CREATING A SECULAR JEWISH CULTURE Get access Paul Mendes-Flohr Paul Mendes-Flohr Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Modern Judaism - A Journal of Jewish Ideas and Experience, Volume 18, Issue 3, October 1998, Pages 227–239, https://doi.org/10.1093/mj/18.3.227 Published: 01 October 1998
Nationalism as a Spiritual Sensibility: The Philosophical Suppositions of Buber's Hebrew Humanism
Rosenzweig and the Komeraden: A Non-Zionist Alliance
Jewish Continuity in an Age of Discontinuity: Reflections from the Perspective of Intellectual History
From Relativism to Religious Faith: The Testimony of Franz Rosenzweig's Unpublished Diaries
Journal Article From Relativism to Religious Faith: The Testimony of Franz Rosenzweig's Unpublished Diaries Get access Paul R. Mendes-Flohr, Paul R. Mendes-Flohr Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Jehuda Reinharz Jehuda Reinharz Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Leo Baeck Institute Year Book, Volume 22, Issue 1, January 1977, Pages 161-174, https://doi.org/10.1093/le…
Werner Sombart's: The Jews and Modern Capitalism: An Analysis of its Ideological Premises
Werner Sombart's: The Jews and Modern Capitalism: An Analysis of its Ideological Premises Get access Paul R. Mendes-Flohr Paul R. Mendes-Flohr Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Leo Baeck Institute Year Book, Volume 21, Issue 1, January 1976, Pages 87–107, https://doi.org/10.1093/leobaeck/21.1.87 Published: 01 January 1976
From Relativism to Religious Faith: The Testimony of Franz Rosenzweig's Unpublished Diaries
Journal Article From Relativism to Religious Faith: The Testimony of Franz Rosenzweig's Unpublished Diaries Get access Paul R. Mendes-Flohr, Paul R. Mendes-Flohr Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Jehuda Reinharz Jehuda Reinharz Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Leo Baeck Institute Year Book, Volume 22, Issue 1, January 1977, Pages 161-174, https://doi.org/10.1093/le…
Between Existentialism and Zionism
This essay seeks to delineate the existential situation of the modern Jew through a critical but appreciative analysi of Sartre's Anti-Semite and Jew. Following Sartre, it is argued that the Jews of modernity, especially in the Diaspora, are characterized by conflicting fidelities-universalism and particularism—which indelibly shape their basic sensibilities. It is then proposed that there are existentially “inauthentic” and “authentic” options t…
The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History
The last two centuries have witnessed a radical transformation of Jewish life. Marked by such profound events as the emancipation from the ghettoes of Europe, the Holocaust and the establishment of the State of Israel, Judaism's long journey through the modern age has been a complex and tumultuous one, leading many Jews to ask themselves not only where they have been and where they are going, but what it means to be a Jew in today's world. Tracin…
A Land of Two Peoples: Martin Buber on Jews and Arabs
Theologian, philosopher, and political radical, Martin Buber (1878-1965) was actively committed to a fundamental economic and political reconstruction of society as well as the pursuit of international peace. In his voluminous writings on Arab-Jewish relations in Palestine, Buber united his religious and philosophical teachings with his politics, which he felt were essential to a life of public dialogue and service to God. Collected in A Land of …
To Brush History Against the Grain: The Eschatology of the Frankfurt School and Ernst Bloch
To Brush History Against the Grain": The Eschatology of the Frankfurt School and Ernst Bloch Get access Paul R. Mendes-Flohr Paul R. Mendes-Flohr Paul R Mendes-Flohr is Senior Lecturer in Modern Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem He is the author of Von der Mystik zum Dialog Martin Bubers geistige Entwicklung bis hin zu "Ich und Du" (1978) and the editor (with J Reinharz) of The Jew in the Modern World A Documentary History (198…
Prophetic Politics and Metasociology / Politique prophétique et métasociologie
Mendès-Flohr Paul. Prophetic Politics and Metasociology / Politique prophétique et métasociologie. In: Archives de sciences sociales des religions, n°60/1, 1985. pp. 67-82
Martin's Buber's Reception Among Jews
Journal Article MARTIN'S BUBER'S RECEPTION AMONG JEWS Get access Paul Mendes-Flohr Paul Mendes-Flohr HEBREW UNIVERSITY Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Modern Judaism - A Journal of Jewish Ideas and Experience, Volume 6, Issue 2, May 1986, Pages 111–126, https://doi.org/10.1093/mj/6.2.111 Published: 01 May 1986
Mendelssohn and Rosenzweig
Jewish Continuity in an Age of Discontinuity: Reflections from the Perspective of Intellectual History
The Unfinished Dialogue: Martin Buber and the Christian Way . John M. Oesterreicher The New Encounter between Christians and Jews . John M. Oesterreicher
Nationalism as a Spiritual Sensibility: The Philosophical Suppositions of Buber's Hebrew Humanism
What Is Judaism? An Interpretation for the Present Age . Emil L. Fackenheim
‘‘The Stronger and the Better Jews’’: Jewish Theological Responses to Political Messianism in the Weimar Republic
In the midst of the Bavarian revolution of 1918-1919, a group of students at the University of Munich organized a study circle to di’scuss the urgent social and political questions of the day. To distinguish themselves from the right-wing Corpstudenten, they fancied themselves to be a Freistudentenschaft, and met weekly in a local bookshop.1 In January 1919, they were addressed by Max Weber, who was soon to assume a professorship at the universit…
Rosenzweig and the Komeraden: A Non-Zionist Alliance
From Mysticism to Dialogue: Martin Buber's Transformation of German Social Thought
Scholarship as a Craft Reflections on the Legacy of Nahum Glatzer 1
Journal Article SCHOLARSHIP AS A CRAFT REFLECTIONS ON THE LEGACY OF NAHUM GLATZER1 Get access Paul Mendes-Flohr Paul Mendes-Flohr THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Modern Judaism - A Journal of Jewish Ideas and Experience, Volume 13, Issue 3, October 1993, Pages 269–276, https://doi.org/10.1093/mj/13.3.269 Published: 01 October 1993
Gershom Scholem: The Man and His Work
Nathan Rotenstreich zum Gedenken (1914-1993)
The Kiss of God: Spiritual and Mystical Death in Judaism. Michael Fishbane
Cultural Zionism's Image of the Educated Jew: Reflections on Creating a Secular Jewish Culture
Journal Article CULTURAL ZIONISM'S IMAGE OF THE EDUCATED JEW: REFLECTIONS ON CREATING A SECULAR JEWISH CULTURE Get access Paul Mendes-Flohr Paul Mendes-Flohr Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Modern Judaism - A Journal of Jewish Ideas and Experience, Volume 18, Issue 3, October 1998, Pages 227–239, https://doi.org/10.1093/mj/18.3.227 Published: 01 October 1998
Introduction Translating Texts, Translating Cultures
»Vielmehr bietet [der Kommentar] auf höchstem Niveau eine substantielle Auseinandersetzung mit den Hintergründen, den Zusammenhängen, der Theorie und der Praxis des Grundgesetzes. Besseres lässt sich von einem Verfassungskommentar nicht sagen.“ Herbert Günther Staaatsanzeiger für das Land Hessen 2018 (50), 1494–1495
Martin Buber: A Builder of Bridges
»Vielmehr bietet [der Kommentar] auf höchstem Niveau eine substantielle Auseinandersetzung mit den Hintergründen, den Zusammenhängen, der Theorie und der Praxis des Grundgesetzes. Besseres lässt sich von einem Verfassungskommentar nicht sagen.“ Herbert Günther Staaatsanzeiger für das Land Hessen 2018 (50), 1494–1495
The Kingdom of God. Martin Buber’s Critique of Messianic Politics
Through a textual and contextual analysis of Martin Buber’s scholarly disquisition, Königtum Gottes (1932), the article focuses on his critique of political Messianism. This critique is addressed to his friends who participated in the Bavarian Revolution of 1918/19, the political theology of Friedrich Gogarten and Carl Schmitt, and given trends in Zionism. This article discusses the affinities of Buber’s critique of political Messianism with that…
Reflections on the Promise and Limitations of Interfaith Dialogue
Philosophy (28 works) · Theology (25 works) · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies (22 works) · Judaism (21 works) · Sociology (19 works) · Political science (18 works) · Art (16 works) · Law (16 works) · Religious studies (16 works) · Politics (14 works)