Double Takes: Thinking and Rethinking Issues of Modern Judaism in Ancient Contexts

This book comprises a series of ten essays written by the authors both individually and collaboratively. While the subjects of these essays are wide ranging, they share a common recognition that issues at the forefront of contemporary Jewish thought must be measured against the background of ancient traditions, which revisit rabbinic and biblical times and beyond. The intent of these essays is to illustrate how shadows of longstanding traditions continue to shade current perceptions. Double Takes challenges the reader’s assumptions about modern Jewish thought by demonstrating how the past can be an unpredictable lens for the present-day. An examination of contemporary themes in a historical perspective reveals unanticipated, even disconcerting, refractions. The book appears in the Studies in the Shoah series as volume 26.