History, Metahistory, and Evil: Jewish Theological Responses to the Holocaust

240 Pages·2020·1.118 MB·English

by  Barbara Krawcowicz

History,
Metahistory,
and Evil
Jewish Theological Responses to
the Holocaust
New Perspectives in Post-Rabbinic Judaism
Series Editor
Shaul Magid (Dartmouth College)
History,
Metahistory,
and Evil
Jewish Theological Responses to
the Holocaust
Barbara Krawcowicz
B
oston
2020
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Krawcowicz, Barbara, 1976- author.
Title: History, metahistory, and evil : Jewish theological responses to the
Holocaust / Barbara Krawcowicz.
Description: Boston : Academic Studies Press, 2020. | Series: New
Perspectives in Post-Rabbinic Judaism | Includes bibliographical
references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020030300 (print) | LCCN 2020030301 (ebook) | ISBN
9781644694817 (hardback) | ISBN 9781644694824 (adobe pdf) | ISBN
9781644694831 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Holocaust (Jewish theology) | Orthodox Judaism.
Classification: LCC BM645.H6 K73 2020 (print) | LCC BM645.H6 (ebook) |
DDC 296.3/1174--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020030300
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020030301
Copyright © 2020 Academic Studies Press
All rights reserved.
ISBN 9781644694817 (hardback)
ISBN 9781644694824 (adobe pdf)
ISBN 9781644694831 (ePub)
Book design by Lapiz Digital Services.
Cover design by Ivan Grave.
Published by Academic Studies Press.
1577 Beacon Street
Brookline, MA 02446, USA
[email protected]
www.academicstudiespress.com
For Bryan, who will never read it,
and for Martin, who already has.

Contents
Acknowledgements xi
Preface by Shaul Magid xiii
Introduction xvii
1. Covenantal Metahistory 1
Covenantal Theodicy 4
Paradigmatic Thinking 20
2. Paradigmatic Thinking and the Holocaust 40
Shlomo Zalman Ehrenreich 43
Shlomo Zalman Unsdorfer 62
Yissakhar Shlomo Teichthal 80
Conclusion 96
3. Paradigmatic Thinking and Post-Holocaust Theology 99
Paradigmatic Thinking and the Rise of Historicism 101
Richard L. Rubenstein 104
Emil L. Fackenheim 122
Eliezer Berkovits 138
Conclusion 152
4. The End of Metahistory in the Warsaw Ghetto 156
Conclusion 179
Bibliography 185
Index 202

Comparison does not necessarily tell us how things “are”; like models and
metaphors, comparisons tell us how things might be conceived, how they
might be “redescribed.”
Jonathan Z. Smith, Drudgery Divine