Being Jewish and Doing Justice: Bringing Argument to Life

Now in paperback, Being Jewish and Doing Justice expands the standard concept of Jewish Studies. The prologue offers a novel reading of the idea of 'the people of God, ' placing the people firmly 'in the world.' In this spirit, the book brings argument to bear on a broad range of contemporary moral, social, and political controversies, many of them turning on puzzles about identity. The scope extends from Judaism, Zionism, and anti-Semitism to the language of race, the status of animals, and the rights of the child. Drawing on his training as an academic philosopher, his Jewish education, and his personal experience, author Brian Klug confronts uncomfortable questions with rigor, candor, and humor. And while the chapters are not a series of steps in an overall argument, collectively they develop the title theme: the inner connection between being Jewish and doing justice. Topical and controversial, the issues discussed include: whether anti-Zionism is a form of anti-Semitism * Herzl's Jewish opponents in the East End * if anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism are inextricably entangled * what draws America to Israel and what ties Israel to Auschwitz * how the climate of debate about Israel among Jews can be improved * Israel's 'right to exist' * the 'race question' on the UK census form * Arthur Balfour's take on 'the Jewish race' * ethnicity in America * Black-Jewish relations in Chicago * popular attitudes in Britain towards the 'ritual' slaughter of animals * the treatment of animals in the abattoir and laboratory.