Nine rich and masterful readings of the Talmud by the French Jewish philosopher Emmanuel Levinas translate Jewish thought into the language of modern times. Between 1963 and 1975, Levinas delivered these commentaries at the annual Talmudic colloquia of a group of French Jewish intellectuals in Paris. In this collection, Levinas applies a hermeneutic that simultaneously allows the classic Jewish texts to shed light on contemporary problems and lets modern problems illuminate the texts. Besides being quintessential illustrations of the art of reading, the essays express the deeply ethical vision of the human condition that makes Levinas one of the most important thinkers of our time.

Annette Aronowicz is the Robert F. and Patricia G. Ross Weis Professor of Judaic Studies and Professor of Religious Studies at Franklin and Marshall College. She is author ofFreedom from Ideology: Secrecy in Modern Expressionsand Jewsand Christians on Time and Eternity: Charles Pguy's Portrait of Bernard-Lazare.

Levinas's Talmudic Readings: Thirty Years Later / Annette Aronowicz

Acknowledgments

Translator's Introduction / Annette Aronowicz

Four Talmudic Readings

Introduction

Toward the Other

The Temptation of Temptation

Promised Land or Permitted Land

"As Old as the World?"

From the Sacred to the Holy: Five New Talmudic Readings

Preface

Judaism and Revolution

The Youth of Israel

Desacralization and Disenchantment

And God Created Woman

Damages Due to Fire

Glossary