When the German-Jewish philosopher Franz Rosenzweig entitled his
1926 collection of essays on Jewish and universal cultural topics
Zweistromland -- a land of two rivers -- he meant to underscore,
indeed celebrate, the fact that German-Jewish culture is nurtured
by both German culture and the Jewish religious and cultural
heritage. In this thought-provoking book, Paul Mendes-Flohr
explores through the prism of Rosenzweig's image how German Jews
have understood and contended with their twofold spiritual
patrimony. He deepens the discussion to consider also how the
German-Jewish experience bears upon the general modern experience
of living with multiple cultural identities.
German Jews assimilated the cultural values of Germany but were
not themselves assimilated into German society, Mendes-Flohr
contends. Yet, by virtue of their adoption of values sponsored by
enlightened German discourse, they were no longer unambiguously
Jewish. The author discusses how their identity and cultural
loyalty became fractured and how German Jews -- dike other Jews and
indeed like all denizens of the modern world -- were obliged to
confront the challenges of living with plural identities and
cultural affiliations.
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