Jewish Philosophers and Jewish Philosophy (review)

General Book Reviews 163 The volume concludes with a supplementary chapterevaluating the presentation of Jews and Judaism in the new Catholic Catechism. While Cunningham finds many of the post-Vatican II dimensions ofthe Catholic-Jewish dialogue incorporated in the text, it falls into stereotypical presentations of Jews and Judaism far too often, particularly in sections not explicitly directed towards the Catholic-Jewish relationship. Many ofthe key post-Vatican II official statements on Catholic-Jewish relations are almost never referenced in the Catechism. At the end of the book are found several pages of definitions of terms and categories. Also included is a comprehensive bibliography of important publications on various aspects of the Christian-Jewish relationship. Education for Shalom is a very useful volume. It is well researched and clearly written. It will prove especially useful for people in education whether teachers or educational researchers. But general audiences can also gain considerable insight from it. It is a book not to be missed by anyone interested in the state of the contemporary Catholic-Jewish relationship. John T. Pawlikowski, OSM, Ph.D. Catholic Theological Union, Chicago Jewish Philosophers and Jewish Philosophy, by Emil L. Fackenheim, edited by Michael L. Morgan. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1996. 226 pp. $39.95. What makes a Jewish philosophical statement "Jewish" and what make it "philosophical "? What is the relation between Jewish philosophy and general philosophy? And more particularly, what is the relation between Jewish philosophy and Judaism itself, Jewish life and Jewish history? This complex of questions has been at the heart of Emil Fackenheim's agenda as a Jewish philosopher for decades. They pervade his Encounters Between Judaism and Modern Philosophy (1973) and To Mend the World (1982). This new anthology of Fackenheim papers, originally published between the late forties and the early nineties, pursues this inquiry. The anthology contains a total of 18 papers. Part I includes eight papers on "Jewish Philosophers" dealing with the thought of thinkers from Maimonides, AI-Farabi, and Ibn Sina to Samuel Hirsch (and his relation to Hegel), Hermann Cohen, Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, Leo Strauss, and Pinchas Peli. Part II includes four papers on "The Holocaust and Jewish Philosophy," and Part III, six papers on "Jewish Philosophy," concluding with Fackenheim's "Retrospective of My Thought." There are simply very few thinkers among us today who have both the range and the expertise to handle this set of thinkers and issues. 164 SHOFAR Springl999 Vol. 17, No.3 Professor Michael L. Morgan, the most lucid expositor of Fackenheim's thinking, provides an Introduction both to the volume as a whole and to each of its three parts, all ofwhich are models of what introductions of this kind should accomplish. Morgan locates each paper in its historical context and in the context of Fackenheim's thought as a whole, provides a brief synopsis of the content of each paper, and pinpoints its unique contribution to the broader range of issues under consideration. Much ofthe material in Part I ofthe collection demands a degree ofphilosophical sophistication. The most illuminating papers here are those on Samuel Hirsch and Hermann Cohen, and not simply because these two thinkers are rarely taught by contemporary teachers of Jewish philosophy. Fackenheim's accomplishment here is to reflect on what is of enduring interest and value in their writings. The two papers on Buber are a masterful review ofthe essential contributions of a thinker who more than any other has shaped Fackenheim's own thought. The paper on Peli will charm those of us who knew him; it also indicates unsuspected depths in his thought. The papers in the two final parts of the volume are much more accessible to the general reader. Fackenheim has spent decades reflecting on the meaning of the Holocaust, and this selection draws on his previously published material. Finally, the more interesting of the papers in Part III focus on the philosophical implications of the creation of the State of Israel. There is both a greater urgency and a more fragmented quality to Fackenheim's writing here, partly because since 1983 he has been an Israeli citizen and is personally involved in the destiny of the State, and partly because the issues...