Days of Awe: Reimagining Jewishness in Solidarity with Palestinians

Seventy years after Zionism was an unquestionable tenet of Jewish identity, a growing number of American Jews are expressing solidarity with Palestinians, questioning old allegiances to Israel. Atalia Omer's book "Days of Awe" examines this shift through interviews with Jewish activists, data analysis, and fieldwork within a progressive synagogue community. She highlights people politically inspired by social justice campaigns, such as the Black Lives Matter movement and protests against anti-immigration policies, who discover that their ethical outrage at US policies extends to Israel's treatment of Palestinians. This shift produces innovations within Jewish tradition, including multi-racial and intersectional conceptions of Jewishness and movements to reclaim prophetic Judaism, pointing toward the possible futures of post-Zionist Judaism.

\n Format: Paperback / softback
\n Length: 368 pages
\n Publication date: 21 May 2019
\n Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
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For many Jewish people in the mid-twentieth century, Zionism was an unquestionable tenet of what it meant to be Jewish. Seventy years later, a growing number of American Jews are instead expressing solidarity with Palestinians, questioning old allegiances to Israel. How did that transformation come about? What does it mean for the future of Judaism?

In her book "Days of Awe," Atalia Omer examines this shift through interviews with a new generation of Jewish activists, rigorous data analysis, and fieldwork within a progressive synagogue community. She highlights people politically inspired by social justice campaigns, including the Black Lives Matter movement and protests against anti-immigration policies. These activists, she shows, discover that their ethical outrage at US policies extends to Israel's treatment of Palestinians. For these American Jews, the Jewish history of dispossession and diaspora compels a search for solidarity with liberation movements. This shift produces innovations within Jewish tradition, including multi-racial and intersectional conceptions of Jewishness and movements to reclaim prophetic Judaism. Charting the rise of such religious innovation, Omer points toward the possible futures of post-Zionist Judaism.

This shift has significant implications for the future of Judaism, as it challenges traditional notions of Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people and emphasizes the need for a more inclusive and equitable approach to Jewish identity and politics. It also highlights the growing importance of interfaith dialogue and cooperation between Jews and other marginalized communities in the fight for social justice and human rights. As Omer notes, the future of post-Zionist Judaism is still uncertain and will depend on a range of factors, including the response of Jewish communities to these challenges and the broader political and social climate in the United States and around the world. However, by exploring the roots of this shift and the potential for religious innovation, "Days of Awe" provides a valuable contribution to the ongoing conversation about the future of Judaism and the role of Jews in shaping a more just and peaceful world.

\n Weight: 540g\n
Dimension: 225 x 164 x 20 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9780226616070\n \n