The biblical scholar, historian, and Jewish thinker Yehezkel Kaufmann
(1889-1963) is best known for two magisterial works: a two-volume
interpretation of Jewish history, Golah ve-nekhar (Exile and Alienation,
1928-1932), and a four-volume study of biblical religion, Toledot
ha-emunah ha-yisre'elit (A History of the Israelite Faith, 1937-1956).
Toledot in particular is the most monumental achievement of modern
Jewish biblical scholarship. No other figure, not even Martin Buber, has
had such a profound influence on the work of Jewish scholars of the
Bible. Whether by supporting his ideas with new evidence, modifying them
in light of new discoveries or methods, or attacking them, and whether
addressing his work explicitly or implicitly, a substantial amount of
modern Jewish biblical criticism builds upon the foundation set by
Kaufmann. The latter’s phenomenological analysis of biblical monotheism
as well as his critique of theoretical and methodological assumptions
that are still dominant in historical studies in general, and biblical
scholarship in particular, are an invaluable asset for those who engage
in biblical scholarship, historical studies, and comparative religion.
The idea of this volume was conceived at an international symposium held
in Switzerland, from June 10-11, 2014, Yehezkel Kaufmann and the
Reinvention of Jewish Exegesis of the Bible in Bern. This gathering was
held at the Universities of Bern and of Fribourg in order to commemorate
the centenary of Yehezkel Kaufmann’s matriculation at the University of
Bern on May 5, 1914, and to document and reassess the significance of
his legacy and its reception. The symposium had three foci,
corresponding with sections I-III of this volume: Kaufmann’s biography
and intellectual background, his impact on Jewish studies, and his
contribution to modern biblical scholarship.
The volume provides a comprehensive and multi-faceted account of
Kaufmann’s work, through which Anglophone readers, students and scholars
alike, can explore the hitherto unrecognized significance and profundity
of Kaufmann’s legacy. It includes not only the symposium papers but also
other essays, including two testimonies by two of his students, Menahem
Haran and Moshe Greenberg and some of Kaufmann’s own writings-all
heretofore unavailable in English-that are crucial for a fuller
appreciation of his life project.
