Open wounds : the crisis of Jewish thought in the aftermath of Auschwitz /

"Because Jewish thought is wounded through the Holocaust, it is in a state of crisis," writes Patterson (Univ. of Memphis)--a "crisis" attributed not to the lack of post-Holocaust response, but to its having "failed to be Jewish enough," meaning "a thinking that on some level takes the teachings and commandments of Torah to be absolute, that incorporates Hebraic categories into its thinking, and that is informed by the sifrei kodesh, the texts of the sacred traditions." This book examines such central and unique issues as the inadequacy of modern/postmodern thought, how the Hebrew language itself informs Jewish thought after Auschwitz, how the sacred texts can be brought into the response, the proper understanding of the Jewish expression tikkun haolam (repair of the world), and the potential that mystical Jewish thought might add to understanding the Holocaust. Patterson concludes that theodicy, often the focus of Holocaust explanations, has no place in Jewish thought; rather the issue is "the Nazis' radical assault on the relation to God." This book is exceedingly provocative and insightful in achieving an understanding "not so much to explain the evil of what happened as to understand what must happen next." Detailed chapter references; extensive bibliography. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers; general readers. H. M. Szpek Central Washington University