The central dimension of Azariah de' Rossi's complex and diverse treatise, Meءor עeinayim, is undoubtedly what Joanna Weinberg describes as “his real contribution to critical scholarship” (p. xxix), and this is especially evident in his innovative chapters on Philo, rabbinic aggadah and Jewish chronology. De' Rossi's studies are compounded by ponderous Hebrew prose replete with citations, proof-texts, references, and allusions. Nevertheless, Weinberg skillfully makes this classic manageable in English. Her abundant notes clarify the classical Jewish texts he addressed and the innumerable Jewish and non-Jewish sources from antiquity to the sixteenth century integral to his scholarly endeavor. The translation is also complemented by a comprehensive index of sources.

For too long, scholars have denied that “Jewish political thought” constitutes a viable field of study. Without a sovereign state, scholars argue, Jews lacked occasion to debate the questions of power, obligation, and authority that preoccupy Western political theorists. The Jewish Political Tradition offers a devastating rebuttal to this argument, for it reconstructs a continuous and vibrant tradition of Jewish political thought. Edited jointly by Michael Walzer, an eminent political theorist, and Israeli scholars associated with the Shalom Hartman Institute, this ambitious anthology (two of four volumes have now been published) pairs pri-mary texts spanning Jewish history with commentary by contemporary scholars. Uncovering political reflection in genres previously ghettoized as legalistic or theological (e.g. Midrash, responsa, biblical exegesis), the editors open up an exciting field for research. But The Jewish Political Tradition is not merely of scholarly interest. Inviting readers “to join the arguments of the texts, to interpret and evaluate, to revise or reject, the claims made by their authors,” the editors insist that the tradition remains a vital resource for contemporary Jews (8). Indeed, the project makes an audacious (and salutary) contribution to Israeli debates: Against advocates of a state ruled by halakhah, the editors contend that traditional Jewish texts sanction toleration, pluralism, and the secularization of politics.

The central dimension of Azariah de' Rossi's complex and diverse treatise, Meءor עeinayim, is undoubtedly what Joanna Weinberg describes as “his real contribution to critical scholarship” (p. xxix), and this is especially evident in his innovative chapters on Philo, rabbinic aggadah and Jewish chronology. De' Rossi's studies are compounded by ponderous Hebrew prose replete with citations, proof-texts, references, and allusions. Nevertheless, Weinberg skillfully makes this classic manageable in English. Her abundant notes clarify the classical Jewish texts he addressed and the innumerable Jewish and non-Jewish sources from antiquity to the sixteenth century integral to his scholarly endeavor. The translation is also complemented by a comprehensive index of sources.

Marianne R. Sanua offers a balanced examination of a largely unexplored topic, the Jewish Greek subsystem that developed on American college campuses in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and thrived until the closure, merger, or reorientation of many of these organizations in the 1960s and early 1970s. One of the first studies to take the Greek system seriously and recognize it for the social and cultural force it was during its heyday in the early part of the twentieth century, Sanua's book provides readers with rare access to the aspirations, concerns, and ideals of a large segment—estimated between one fourth and one third—of the American Jewish college-going population of this time period.

This is a uniquely informed and informative work on the vicissitudes of the radical Jewish left in America, post-1945, and the losing battle it has waged against more conservative impulses within American Jewry. It is also notably uninformative about the liberalism of American Jews that ostensibly forms the focal point of its discussion. It ably documents a variety of topics: the persistent intra-Jewish strife over political dissent, the overfree use by both sides of Holocaust rhetoric, the penchant for Jewish political discourse to indulge in citing so-called “prophetic” and “Talmudic” models to legitimize or delegitimize controversial contemporary positions, and the recent demise of an organized, active Jewish left wing. In contrast, the author displays little interest, if any, in survey data on Jewish opinion, and he is similarly unconcerned with comparing Jews and other ethnic or religious groups or otherwise contextualizing the phenomena he discusses in general American political terms. The result is a book that possesses many merits save one: it is not a well-rounded or convincing treatment of postwar American Jewish liberalism.

Israel, and before that the idea of a Jewish state in the traditional homeland, has long captured the imagination of many, if not always most, American Jews. The close connection between Jews in Israel and the United States intensified as the events of the last century unfolded, especially the Holocaust, the struggle for Israel's independence, and then the unending effort to safeguard that independence and ensure security. The 1967 Six-Day War, the run-up to which conjured up images of another calamity, had a profound effect in the Diaspora, driving home the reality of Israel's precarious security and the state's central importance in modern Jewish life. That watershed produced a relatively short-lived period when it seemed that American Jews were united in their support for Israel. But, since 1977, that “sacred unity” has been called into question as sharp divisions have appeared—exacerbated by controversial Israeli government decisions and the pressures of the peace process since 1991.

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