Ruth Wisse
Taking in everything from the kingdom of David to the Oslo accords, Ruth Wisse offers a radical new way to think about the Jewish relationship to power.
"challenging, erudite and penetrating. . . Wisse shows no fear in these
pages in saying exactly what she thinks, and you can't help but be impressed
with her chutzpah, even if you totally disagree with her . . .
Jews and
Power makes no claim for objectivity, but it is an elucidating book. It
will cause liberals to question their self-consciousness about Israel, since
Wisse's argument about Jewish apologism challenges liberal ideas of
victimhood. For conservatives, the book offers an intellectual understanding
of what otherwise might seem to be only tribalistic loyalties.
—Los Angeles Times
"Wisse is a
brilliant scholar of enviable narrative gifts, and there is much to admire
in this essay"
—Washington
Post
"Wisse is in fine form with well-reasoned, self-assured arguments bound to provoke heated debate among interested intellectuals."
—Publishers Weekly
"In an era of deepening political and moral confusion, Ruth Wisse supplies a voice that is both clarion and courageous. Hers is a vital message for anyone who cares about Israel's fate and the future of the Jewish people.
Jews and Power is a book for our times and a cogent call for clarity."
—Michael Oren, author of Power, Faith and Fantasy:
America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present
RUTH R. WISSE is Martin Peretz Professor of Yiddish Literature and Professor of Comparative Literature at Harvard University. Born in Czernowitz and raised in Montreal, she was the first professor to introduce courses in Yiddish literature at McGill University, where she helped found the Jewish Studies Department in the late 1960s. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The Rise and Fall—and Rise—of “Jewess”
Dictionary on Wheels
Raising the Dead
A Gathering of Diasporas
What May Be Highly Relevant
