Claude Montefiore: His Life and Thought

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Abstract

Claude Montefiore: His Life and Thought is an intellectual history and biography of the founder of British Liberal Judaism and one of the most original Jewish scholars of his day. It attempts to place Montefiore within the context of Jewish thought during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It argues that Montefiore's own personal conception of Liberal Judaism, which was never fully appreciated by his followers, should be regarded as more than simply a progressive Jewish denomination, and rather as an attempt to re-mould Reform Judaism in terms of contemporary liberal Christianity. Montefiore is an important figure in Anglo-Jewish history, not least for the way in which his complex identity reflects the difficulty inherent in attempting to make Judaism genuinely relevant to the modern world. Reviews: 'Daniel Langton's book on Claude Montefiore provides the first full-length study of the founder of English Liberal Judaism. Although a number of articles on Montefiore and a collection of his writings have been published since his death in 1938, no detailed treatment of this radical thinker has been made available until now... The book fills an important gap in Anglo-Jewish history and should be welcomed, particularly by those interested in the development of Progressive Judaism in the U.K... [This is] an articulate, well-reasoned, and valuable book, which I recommend.' (Ed Kessler, Cambridge University). 'The weight of the book is devoted to Montefiore's thought; the man was first and foremost a thinker... If there is one outstanding strength of Dr Langton's examination of Montefiore's theology, it surely lies in his frank admission of the extent to which Montefiore saw himself - and actively and unashamedly projected himself - as a later day expositor of the Jewish content of the teachings of Jesus.' (Geoffrey Alderman, Jewish Journal of Sociology).
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationLondon
PublisherVallentine Mitchell
Publication statusPublished - 2002

Publication series

NameParkes-Wiener Series on Jewish Studies
PublisherVallentine Mitchell

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