Breaking the Tablets: Jewish Theology After the Shoah

by David Weiss Halivni

How is it possible, after the Shoah, to declare one's faith in the God of Israel? Breaking the Tablets is David Weiss Halivni's eloquent and insightful response to this question. Halivni, Auschwitz survivor and one of the greatest Talmudic scholars of the past century, declares that at this time of God's near absence, Jews can still observe the words of the Torah and pray for God to come near again. Jews must continue to study the classic texts of rabbinic Judaism but now with greater humility, recognizing that even the greatest religious leaders and thinkers interpret these texts only as mere people, prone to human error. Breaking the Tablets is important reading for anyone who feels burdened by the question of how it is possible to believe in God and practice their religion.

180 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Andrew Jampol-Petzinger]

This book is worth the price of admission for the eponymously-titled book chapter alone, which presents an iconoclastic argument for his own Lurianically-influenced conception of post-Biblical history that is both theologically groundbreaking and academically insightful. Peter Ochs’ introductions, while occasionally a bit overwrought, nonetheless sustain the tendencies of Halivni himself, to blend disciplinary rigors in order to achieve a maximal confrontation with the reader’s native preconceptions.

[Megan]

I enjoyed reading this book. It was thoroughly well-argued, and unconventionally argued. Halivni took an unusual approach, and it was very interesting.

It's an intense book--requires some serious background knowledge.