Author: Dan Mendelsohn Aviv
ISBN: 978-1-926780-07-8 Release Date: 16-April-2012 Synopsis End of the Jews: Radical Breaks, Remakes and What Comes Next explores a pattern of crisis followed by a radical break and remake as a persistent phenomenon in Jewish history. The Jewish people have collectively braved many turning points over the past four millennia and, in each instance, did so by making a radical break from past forms of worship, notions of self and nation as well as sense of place in the world. In other words, the Jews have ended numerous times in their history, but not in the sense of “the end,” but rather “an end.” And yet, despite numerous “ends,” the Jewish people have survived due to their ability to transform those radical breaks into seeming continuities which maintained and reinforced a sacred chain of tradition from Abraham through Moses and the march of centuries into the present moment. Each remake, though loyal to the “original,” was fundamentally different. Many tend to shy away from declaring their moment as one of crisis and radical transformation. Usually, we are more reserved, claiming we live in a “period of transition.” However, the evidence supporting this book’s declaration is compelling. The radical break is upon us, and this book explores the beginnings of the remake, dubbed by Mendelsohn Aviv as the Next Jew. www.endofthejews.com Read the Introduction here.
About the Author  Dr. Dan Mendelsohn Aviv has been engaged in Jewish learning as an educator, lecturer, professor, and published scholar for almost twenty years. Having spent three years creating an alternative model for informal education, he recently returned to his greatest passion-classroom instruction at the Toronto Heschel School. He is also an itinerant blogger and loves his MacBook almost as much as he loves his darling Noa and his three children.
Endorsements "From animal sacrifice to blogs in 250 pages. In End of the Jews, Dan Mendelsohn Aviv educates and entertains—and provides an indispensable and timely guide to the past, present, and future of the Jewish People. A terrific read.” Gregory Levey, author of How to Make Peace in the Middle East in Six Months or Less Without Leaving Your Apartment “We are not who we were. We may not even be who we are. Some people write Jewish history as if it was a children's story. Some write as if the only people reading are dusty scholars. Dan Mendelsohn Aviv tells the tale of a surprisingly disjunctive history of the Jewish people in a breezy, easy way that is nevertheless underpinned by research and scholarship.” Dan Friedman, arts and culture editor of the Jewish Daily Forward “As today’s Jews grapple with innovative approaches and new technologies that sometimes challenge and often enhance Jewish tradition, Dan Mendelsohn Aviv reminds us that Jews have a long history of making radical breaks and enacting fresh approaches to Jewish meaning and observance. Journeying from the history of sacrificial Judaism to the emergence of traditional Jewish institutional life and extending to today’s New Jews who dwell in spaces both online and off, End of the Jews is only the beginning of the process of excavation, analysis and self-reflection that continues to shape today’s discussion on Jewish identity and meaning.”
Esther D. Kustanowitz, writer & blogger "Dan Mendelsohn Aviv's brain is so fertile he should probably be locked away somewhere." Eli Valley, the Jewish Daily Forward comic artist
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