Preface What is a theologian doing appearing here in the guise of an ethician? Somewhat to my own surprise, I gradually realized that my interest in the ...

This essay presents and analyzes the recent work of four prominent contemporary Jewish ethicists: Eugene Borowitz, David Novak, Byron Sherwin, and Walter Wurzburger. These authors are united in their affirmation of covenant as the central category of Jewish moral obligation and their concern to construct a Jewish ethic out of the classical sources of Judaism. Yet, as an individual analysis of their books will show, they adopt markedly different views of the authority of traditional Jewish law , the respective roles (...) of individual and community in moral deliberation, and the degree to which changing historical circumstances alter moral truths. (shrink)

A book of practical ethical wisdom applied to contemporary life.

This major intellectual response to the leading theologian of liberal Judaism provides a significant indication of future directions in Jewish religious thought.