(Nach Berichten von Martin Buber) "Aus den Anfangen unsrer Schriftiibertragung", so iiberschrieb Martin Buber seinen ersten Bericht, den Bericht iiber die Prinzipien, die ihn und Rosenzweig leiteten, iiber die Arbeitsweise bei der Schriftiibertragung und iiber die wachsende gegenseitige Befruchtung im Verstehen und im Verstandlichmachen der Schrift. Dieser Bericht, der in der Rosenzweig-Gedenknummer der Zeitschrift "Der Orden Bne Briss" (Berlin, Marz 1930) dreieinhalb Monate nach Rosenzweigs Tod erschienen ist und in dem Aufsatzband "Martin Buber und Franz Rosenzweig, Die Schrift und ihre Verdeutschung" (Verlag Schocken, Berlin 1936) fast unverandert abgedruckt wurde, ist noch ganzund gar von dem unmittelbaren Erleben - dem menschlichen der 1 Zusammenarbeit wie dem sachlichen der Schrifterhellung-gepragt : " ... AIs 1923 Franz Rosenzweig, mit der Ubertragung von Gedich ten lehuda Halevis beschaftigt, sich haufig an mich um Rat wandte, und wir bald dazu gelangten, an der Hand der jeweiligen Beispiele miteinander die Problematik des Ubersetzens iiberhaupt und die Probleme der iibersetzerischen Aufgabe zu erartern, ergaben sich uns unmerklich, zuerst nur als der zuweilen erleuchtete, meist dammrige Hintergrund unsres Gesprachs, dann aber immer gebieterischer als seine magnetische Mitte, die Fragen: 1st die Schrift iibersetzbar? 1st sie schon wirklich iibersetzt? Was bleibt noch zu tun? wenig? viel? das Entscheidende? ...

The volume collects a series of groundbreaking new studies which delve into the work of Franz Rosenzweig and assess its enduring yet still unacknowledged value for Epistemology, Aesthetics, Moral and Political Philosophy, going far beyond Theology and Philosophy of Religion.

A representative survey of the contemporary Rosenzweig research, gathering the state of affairs of the main spearheads of the research and it highlights the incentives for the programs to come.

It is a widespread idea that the roots of the Christian sermon can be found in the Jewish derasha. But the story of the interrelation of the two homiletical traditions, Jewish and Christian, from New Testament times to the present day is still untold. Can homiletical encounters be registered? Is there a common homiletical history - not only in the modern era, but also in rabbinic times and in the Middle Ages? Which current developments affect Jewish and Christian preaching today, in the 21st century? And, most important, what consequences may result from this mutual perception of Jewish and Christian homiletics for homiletical research and the practice of preaching? This book offers the papers of the first international conference (Bamberg, Germany, 6th to 8th March 2007) which brought together Jewish and Christian scholars to discuss Jewish and Christian homiletics in their historical development and relationship and to sketch out common homiletical projects.

With exacting scholarship and fecund analysis, Manuel Oliveira probes through the lens of Martin Buber (1878-1965) the theological and political ambiguities of Israel’s divine election. These ambiguities became especially pronounced with the emergence of Zionism. Wary, indeed, alarmed by the tendency of some of his fellow Zionists to conflate divine chosenness with nationalism, Buber sought to secure the theological significance of election by both steering Zionism from hypertrophic nationalism and by a sustained program to revalorize what he called alternately “Hebrew Humanism.” As Oliveira demonstrates, Buber viewed the idea of election teleologically, espousing a universal mission of Israel, which effectively calls upon Zionism to align its political and cultural project to universal objectives. Thus, in addressing a Zionist congress, he rhetorically asked, “What then is this spirit of Israel of which you are speaking? It is the spirit of fulfillment. Fulfillment of what? Fulfillment of the simple truth that man has been created for a purpose (...) Our purpose is the upbuilding of peace (...) And that is its spirit, the spirit of Israel (...) the people of Israel was charged to lead the way to righteousness and justice.”

Franz Rosenzweig's near-conversion to Christianity in the summer of 1913 and his subsequent decision three months later to recommit himself to Judaism is one of the foundational narratives of modern Jewish thought. In this new account of events, Benjamin Pollock suggests that what lay at the heart of Rosenzweig's religious crisis was not a struggle between faith and reason, but skepticism about the world and hope for personal salvation. A close examination of this important time in Rosenzweig's life, the book also sheds light on the full trajectory of his philosophical development.