Not in the Heavens: The Tradition of Jewish Secular Thought Paperback - 2015

From the rear cover

"Not in the Heavens offers a lucid and superbly informed overview of the major currents of secularization in modern Jewish thought. Its particular originality is in its persuasive demonstration of the roots of these trends in aspects of Jewish religious philosophy that go back to the medieval period and the Enlightenment."--Robert Alter, University of California, Berkeley

"Although religious Jews have always anticipated spending 'next year in Jerusalem, ' others have preferred to tarry, as it were, 'this year in Tel Aviv, ' the symbolic capital of secular Jewry. This is their story, told by a master Jewish historian with erudition, sympathy, and full awareness of the ironies that tie both destinations--and the destinies of religious and secular Jews--inextricably together."--Martin Jay, University of California, Berkeley

"A rich and engaging work on the tradition of secular Jewish thought. Weaving together historical narrative and textual analysis, theology and philosophy, scripture and interpretation, and political theory and cultural criticism, Biale offers a provocative rethinking of Judaism's relation to the secular. Not in the Heavens is the most exhaustive and sustained discussion of Jewish secularism that I have read."--Jerome E. Copulsky, Goucher College

"This is an excellent book. Biale provides an entirely new synthesis of a largely untouched subject. No one has previously attempted to discuss secular thinking as a separate phenomenon in modern Jewish life. This book, while accessible and aimed at a general audience, is also a major contribution to Jewish studies."--David Sorkin, author of The Religious Enlightenment: Protestants, Jews, and Catholics from London to Vienna