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The Gate to Perfection
The Idea of Peace in Jewish Thought
Walter Homolka and Albert Friedlander
Preface by Elie Wiesel
142 pages, bibliog.
ISBN 978-1-57181-018-2 $135.00/£99.00 / Hb / Published (October 1994)
eISBN 978-1-80073-674-0 eBook
Reviews
"This book is original, lucid and scholarly. It is a major contribution to theological thought, while at the same time an inspiration to non-scholars who are interested in the sources of belief. The book is not eurocentristic but covers all the various traditions in the United States and Israel as well." · Neil Postman
Description
A timely book: as Israelis and Arabs are moving towards a settlement, this study offers a valuable historical dimension, from the Jewish point of view, to the main issue involved, i.e., the idea of peace. The authors maintain that peace has always played an important role in Jewish thought, that in fact Judaism as a religion is characterized by the striving for peace. They reach this conclusion after having examined a variety of sources, ranging from the biblical texts of Old Israel to the Talmudic tradition and Jewish Philosophy of Religion up until the twentieth century.
Rabbi Professor Dr. Walter Homolka is rector of the Abraham Geiger College at Potsdam University, Germany's first rabbinical seminary since the Holocaust. He is Chairman of the Leo Baeck Foundation and an Executive Board Member of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. His publications include Leo Baeck: Teacher of Theresienstadt (1991) and Riders towards the Dawn(1993).