Shuva: The Future of the Jewish Past

Title Page, Copyright, Dedication, Frontispiece

Shuva Yehuda Kurtzer Shuva The Future of the Jewish Past Brandeis universitY Press Waltham, Massachusetts Brandeis University Press An imprint of University Press of New England www.upne.com© 2012 Brandeis University All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Designed by Kaelin Chappell Broaddus Typeset in Quadraat OT by Kaelin Chappell Broaddus University Press of New England is a member of the Green Press Initiative. The paper used in this book meets their minimum requirement for recycled paper. For permission to reproduce any of the material in this book, contact Permissions, University Press of New England, One Court Street, Suite 250, Lebanon NH 03766; or visit www.upne.com This book was published with the generous support of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies, sponsor of the Charles R. Bronfman Visiting Chair in Jewish Communal Innovation at Brandeis University. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kurtzer, Yehuda. Shuva: the future of the Jewish past / Yehuda Kurtzer. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isBn 978-1-61168-230-4 (cloth: alk. paper)— isBn 978-1-61168-231-1 (pbk.: alk. paper)— isBn 978-1-61168-232-8 (ebook) 1. Judaism—History—Philosophy. 2. Memory—Religious aspects—Judaism. 3. Commandments (Judaism) 4. Love—Religious aspects—Judaism. 5. Holocaust, Jewish (1939–1945)—Influence. 6. Repentance—Judaism. I. Title. BM157.K87 2012 296.09—dc23 2011049317 1 2 3 4 5 Dedicated to my grandparents, of blessed memory: Jacob and Minnie DoPPelt nathan and sylvia Kurtzer May their memory always be for a blessing. There are stars whose light reaches the earth only after they themselves have disintegrated and are no more. And there are people whose scintillating memory lights the world after they have passed from it. These lights— which shine in the darkest night—are those which illumine for us the path. —Hannah Senesh ...