Overview

It is Wisses bracing theory that the Jewish people have been corrupted--not by power but by powerlessness. She argues that in displaying the resilience necessary to survive in exile, the Jews left too much to God thereby increasing their vulnerability to scapegoating and violence.

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9780805211740

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Praise for Ruth Wisse's Jews and Power In an era of deepening political and moral confusion, Ruth Wisse supplies a voice that is both clarion and courageous. Hers is a vital message for anyone who cares about Israel's fate and the future of the Jewish people. Jews and Power is a book for our times and a cogent call for clarity. -Michael Oren, author of Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present Wisse's brilliantly discerning analysis supplies insights so historically striking, and so currently indispensable, that no honest thinker can do without them. -Cynthia Ozick, author of Heir to the Glimmering World A book . . . that celebrates the Jewish return to sovereign power, in all its promise and complexity, is as unusual as it is welcome. Wisse has written such a book . . . [Jews and Power is] a good, fighting book that contains much information in few pages. --New York Times Book Review Challenging, erudite and penetrating. . . Wisse shows no fear in these pages in saying exactly what she thinks, and you can't help but be impressed with her chutzpah, even if you totally disagree with her . . . Jews and Power makes no claim for objectivity, but it is an elucidating book. It will cause liberals to question their self-consciousness about Israel, since Wisse's argument about Jewish apologism challenges liberal ideas of victimhood. For conservatives, the book offers an intellectual understanding of what otherwise might seem to be only tribalistic loyalties. --Los Angeles Times

Author Information

RUTH R. WISSE is Martin Peretz Professor of Yiddish Literature and Professor of Comparative Literature at Harvard University. Born in Czernowitz (now part of Ukraine) and raised in Montreal, she was the first professor to offer courses in Yiddish literature at McGill University, where she helped found the Department of Jewish Studies in the late 1960s. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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