This dissertation combines a sustained reflection on the European and North American Post-Holocaust theological landscape with the themes of otherness, exclusion, and identity. The study aims to offer a constructive contribution toward ecclesiology in a post-Holocaust world riven with a rejection of otherness. The consensus among Holocaust scholars is that the moral failure of the churches to engage on behalf of the vast majority of victims of the Third Reich evinces a profound sickness at the heart of the Christian faith. Both Holocaust theologians and ecclesial statements have made notable strides towards diagnosing and curing this illness through proposals to radically reshape Christian theology in the shadow of Holocaust atrocities. However, rarely have these proposals outlined revisions in the realm of practical theology, specifically relating to ecclesiology and how the Christian community might live as church in the post-Holocaust era. This study conducts an interdisciplinary analysis of dominant trends within post-Holocaust theology through the hermeneutical lens of the propensity to abandon, dominate, or eliminate the Other. It argues that the leitmotif of post-Holocaust proposals for revision, i.e. the refutation of antisemitism and a renewed emphasis on Christian/Jewish solidarity, is potentially an exacerbation of the problem of otherness rather than a corrective. Chapter one cultivates a conceptual lens of a rejection of otherness, highlighting its pervasiveness and its deleterious implications for Christian churches. Chapter two surveys a wide range of post-Holocaust ecclesial statements as well as reflections by Holocaust theologians in order to portray the churches’ own perception of their role during the Holocaust and how they have begun to reformulate Christian theology and practice in this light. Chapter three analyzes three dominant trends that come to light when the post-Holocaust landscape is assessed through the lens of otherness. Chapter four explores dynamics of Christian and ecclesial identity as a framework for the cultivation of multi-dimensional identities which make space for the Other. Finally, chapter five will briefly envision some ecclesial characteristics and practices that might better equip churches with the moral resources to resist a rejection of otherness and build an ethical responsibility for the Other into the core of ecclesial identity.

This dissertation examines the ethical systems created in response to the crisis of the Holocaust by Emmanuel Levinas, Elie Wiesel and Richard Rubenstein. Prior to the Holocaust, European Jewish philosophers grounded ethics in traditional metaphysics. Unlike their predecessors, Levinas, Wiesel and Rubenstein all make ethics "first philosophy" by grounding ethics in the temporal experience of suffering rather than ontology or theology, deliberately rejecting ethical views rooted in traditional metaphysical claims. With varying degrees of success, they all employ Jewish texts and traditions to do so. Their applications of Jewish sources are both orthodox and innovative, and show how philosophical approaches to ethics can benefit from religion. Suffering becomes not only the first priority of ethics, but an experience that simultaneously necessitates and activates ethical response. According to this view, human beings are not blank slates whose values are informed exclusively by culture and moral instruction alone; nor is human consciousness awakened or even primarily constituted by reason, as argued by deontologists. Rather, consciousness is characterized by affectivity and sensibility as interconnected faculties working in concert to create ethical response. This dissertation argues that if what makes ethical response possible is located in human consciousness rather than in metaphysics or culture, a re-orientation of philosophy toward the investigation of human affectivity and its role in ethical response is in order. All three thinkers examined actively resist categorization and repudiate claims that a single philosophical system can be successfully applied to all aspects of life, and this dissertation does not choose one of the three projects examined here as the most persuasive or significant. Instead, it explores how the work of Levinas, Wiesel and Rubenstein might be combined, built upon and expanded to form an ethics that is deeply informed by human experience and makes human and non-human suffering our greatest priorities.

This dissertation examines the problem of coming to terms with the past in post-World War II Germany in the wake of the Holocaust by examining the philosophical critiques of Theodor Adorno and Eric Voegelin. It then extends these critiques into the ongoing discussion of post-Holocaust philosophy and theology, while introducing the speculative philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead as a helpful and appropriate means for continuing metaphysical reflection and perceiving the influence of the past upon the present and future in post-Holocaust discourse. This dissertation suggests, alongside Adorno and Voegelin, that finally coming to terms with the past proves much more dangerous than helpful. Instead, the focus should remain on remembering and reflecting critically upon the deleterious past of the Holocaust in order to avoid forgetfulness or effacement of the past. Whitehead's philosophy provides a metaphysical means for considering how the past remains with us in the present and into the future. Out of this injunction to remember comes a theology of remembrance, which draws heavily from Walter Benjamin's writing on weak messianism and inverse theology. The final focus of the dissertation is the development of a Christian theology of remembrance that requires Christians to rethink theology in light of the Holocaust.

abstract: This thesis analyzes the unsettling presence of the Holocaust in Cynthia Ozick’s The Shawl (1980), Philip Roth’s The Ghost Writer (1979), and Nathan Englander’s What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank (2013). Characters in these texts struggle to maintain a stable sense of what it means to be Jewish in America outside of a relationship to the Holocaust. This leaves the characters only able to form negative associations about what it means to live with the memory of the Holocaust or to over-identify so heavily with the memory that they can’t lead a normal life. These authors construct a re-formed memory of the Holocaust in ways that prompt a new focus on how permanently intertwined the Holocaust and Jewish identity are. In this context, re-formed means the way Jewish American writers have reconstructed the connection between Jewish identity and its relation to the Holocaust in ways that highlight issues of over-identification and negative identity associations. By pushing past the trope of unspeakability that often surrounds the Holocaust, these authors construct a re-formed memory that allows for the formation of Jewish American identity as permanently bound with constant Holocaust preoccupation, the memory of Anne Frank, and the Holocaust itself. The authors’ treatment of issues surrounding Jewish identity contribute to the genre of post-Holocaust literature, which focuses on re-forming the discussion about present day Jewish American connection to the Holocaust. Giving voice to the Holocaust in new ways provides an opportunity for current and future generations of Jewish Americans to again consider the continued importance of the Holocaust as a historical event within the Jewish community. In a world that is once again becoming increasingly anti-semitic as a result of the current political climate, white supremacist riots, desecration of Jewish grave sites, and shootings at temples, the discussion that these texts open up is increasingly important and should remain at the forefront of American consciousness. The research in this thesis reveals that through the process of Holocaust memory constantly being re-formed through the work of these Jewish American authors, its continued influence on Jewish American culture is not forgotten. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis English 2020

By the time anti-Jewish Nazi propaganda was widely analogizing Jews to rodents and other nonhuman animals in need of extermination, the accusation that Jewish people might be subhuman, or nonhuman, had been informing non-Jewish perceptions of the Jewish people for hundreds of years. As Jay Geller has detailed, casting Jews as lone wolves, or as rats or mice (and beyond), has a long and powerful history. Indeed, this insidious maneuver—dehumanize a threatening community through animalization in order to justify its oppression, or at times, extermination—is familiar to virtually every marginalized community and absolutely relies on consensus that the “natural” order places human beings above animals. This dissertation argues that post-Holocaust, Jewish American poets help us reconsider the boundaries of “human” and “animal” in the American imagination, ultimately creating an animal poetics that flips the script, demonstrating that yes, we are all animals, which demands not only a human commitment to justice and respect between cultures but also to ecological justice and respect between species. Through examining prominent animal poems by three Jewish American post-Holocaust poets, Gerald Stern, Adrienne Rich, and Maxine Kumin, this dissertation asks, “What does it mean to behave like a Jew when it comes to our ecological connections to other animal species?” and, more specifically, “What is the connection between post-Holocaust Jewish American poets, ecologically informed animal representation, and Jewishness?” My readings model a novel approach to these poets’ work by using Jewish traditions, such as teshuvah (an atonement ritual) and biblical prophecy, to illuminate layers of meaning in the poems that might otherwise have stayed shadowed, particularly for readers without ready access to a Jewish framework. Because these poets’ animal poems are best read as both ecological as well as Jewish, this dissertation makes a case for including animal poems by Stern, Rich, and Kumin in the syllabi and anthologies that represent American ecological literature and ecopoetry—and not just including them, in fact, but contextualizing them within a Jewish framework. All three poets suggest that behaving like a Jew, when it comes to nonhuman animals, means taking responsibility for our brutal humanity as well as our essential animality—which is at least as often noble and good as it is otherwise. By highlighting the value of a Jewish ecocritical lens, this dissertation suggests that there may be as many culturally situated versions of ecocriticism as there are cultures, which could increase our appreciation of our interconnection within and beyond our species. Further, by bringing a Jewish lens to these three Jewish poets’ animal poems, this dissertation situates Jewish animality specifically as a source of strength and wisdom. In so doing, this project defiantly counters millennia of efforts to dehumanize Jewish people, instead reminding that all human beings’ ability to thrive on this earth requires mutual respect between, and within, animal species. Ultimately, this dissertation argues that these Jewish American poets, who came into their adulthood and poetic expressions in the shadow of the Nazi Holocaust, light the way to a Jewish—and human—animal whose survival will not depend on random birthplace but on the dignifying interconnection of all animal species, and all the varieties therein. / English

This thesis examines three students of Karl Barth’s work, all of whom articulate Christian theologies of Israel and Judaism under the influence of his thought and thus the wording of the title, after him. The three theologians are Paul M. van Buren (1924-1998), John Howard Yoder (1927-1997), and Robert Jenson (1930-2017). All three studied with or were supervised by Barth during the 1950s. Later, each of them would make significant contributions to post-Holocaust theologies of Israel and Judaism. In this thesis, I seek to elucidate the conceptual relationship between these two elements—each theologian’s early engagement with Barth and their later contributions to post-Holocaust theology—and argue that by examining the former, one can better understand the theological bases for the latter. I begin with an analysis of Barth’s doctrine of Israel. Barth claims that Israel and rabbinic Judaism are eternally determined to be witnesses to God’s own self-determination in Jesus Christ to be the God whose mercy rules in God’s judgment. A close comparative reading of van Buren, Yoder, and Jenson then follows. I begin by outlining the ways these three theologians appropriate and depart from Barth during or shortly after their time studying with him. I then trace the way each theologian’s early appropriation of and departure from Barth relates fundamentally to the development of their theologies of Israel and Judaism. My analysis reveals that each of the three critique Barth’s doctrine of God’s self-determination as the pre-determination of the identity of Israel and Judaism to be witnesses of Jesus Christ. This common critique enables each of the three to articulate a more positive account of Israel’s and rabbinic Judaism’s witness. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis examines three students of Karl Barth’s work, all of whom articulate Christian theologies of Israel and Judaism under the influence of his thought and thus the wording of the title, after him. Paul M. van Buren, John Howard Yoder, and Robert Jenson studied with or were supervised by Barth in the 1950s. Each of them would later make significant contributions to post-Holocaust theologies of Israel and Judaism. In this thesis, I seek to elucidate the conceptual relationship between these two elements—each theologian’s early engagement with Barth and their later contributions to post-Holocaust theology. My analysis reveals that these three theologians all critique Barth’s doctrine of God’s self-determination as the pre-determination of the identity of Israel and Judaism to be witnesses of God’s judgment. This critique enables each of the three to articulate a more positive account of Israel’s and rabbinic Judaism’s witness.

Alors que le silence s’était fait grand au lendemain de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, le judéocide a été depuis trois décennies investi par la recherche historique. Le constat est toutefois bien différent pour la période de la reconstruction des collectivités juives après 1945 qui demeure en grande partie absente de l’historiographie contemporaine. Or, le séisme que constitue le judéocide incite à analyser les divers processus qui se mettent en place et qui visent à terme à la reconstruction de la collectivité juive de Belgique. Cette thèse doctorale cherche donc à éclairer ce processus de retour à la normale. L’objectif est plus spécifiquement d’interroger la période de la reconstruction sous l'angle de l'engagement politique. C’est une histoire socio-politique et une histoire culturelle du politique de la reconstruction de la collectivité juive à Bruxelles que cette analyse propose. L'approche ainsi adoptée identifie tant les enjeux majeurs auxquels la collectivité juive fait face après la Libération que les réponses spécifiques qu'apporte l'activisme politique durant une décennie-charnière dans l'histoire des Juifs de Belgique. Dans cette réflexion sur l'investissement politique comme moteur de reconstruction, l’analyse se porte plus spécifiquement sur la participation à ce processus du milieu juif progressiste et communiste bruxellois. En appréhendant la présence et l’action spécifique des Juifs communiste dans la reconstruction à Bruxelles, cette recherche met en lumière la manière dont l'engagement politique dans ses applications concrètes peut être un facteur de revalorisation et de reconstruction de soi et de sa collectivité. A cette fin, cette étude s’articule principalement autour des archives du mouvement des Juifs communistes bruxellois, Solidarité Juive (documents administratifs et presse yiddish), de celles ses animateurs ainsi que des archives d'un certains nombres d'instances du PCB. Ces sources ainsi revisitées situent cette recherche au confluent de quatre pôles historiographiques que cette étude aliment :l’histoire des Juifs en Belgique et le judéocide, le parcours des militants juifs communistes en Belgique, l’histoire du communisme en Belgique et enfin celui des processus mémoriels.<p><p>Après une introduction et un aperçu chronologique, cette thèse s’articule autour de six chapitres. Le premier, intitulé "Une collectivité en reconstruction", esquisse une typologie socio-politique qui cerne les débats qui animent la "rue juive" au lendemain de la Seconde Guerre. Ce chapitre offre donc un tableau circonstancié des lignes de force du processus de réinsertion qui constituent le fil rouge de notre propos. Les chapitres suivants étudient plus en détail l'engagement social, mémoriel, culturel et politique des Juifs communistes à Bruxelles et leur impact effectif sur le processus de reconstruction. Le deuxième chapitre, "L'ancrage social de la mouvance judéo-communiste", illustre et analyse l'action sociale et l’implication des militants juifs communistes au sein du maillage institutionnel juif bruxellois. L'intérêt pour le devenir de la jeunesse juive est central dans ce processus. "Entre nécessité et enjeu politique :l’avenir de l’enfance juive", le chapitre 3 s'intéresse autant à la politique menée et ses applications concrètes qu'à la pédagogie qui sous-tend de manière éclairante cette démarche. L’'inscription de ces militants dans la reconstruction à travers son implication dans la promotion d'une culture yiddish populaire et sécularisée d'une part et la valorisation de la mémoire de la Résistance juive et du combat antifasciste d'autre part, deux objets (et agents) implicites mais fondamentaux de la reconstruction constituent les chapitres 4 et 5. A travers ces deux volets, cette recherche met également en lumière le processus de constitution d'une image de soi à revaloriser après les années de persécution. Le chapitre 6, "L'idéologie à l'épreuve de la reconstruction", analyse l'évolution des rapports et des tensions entre les militants juifs et le PCB. Ce portrait collectif du militantisme juif communiste à Bruxelles après 1945 met en évidence la nature même de cet engagement. Ce chapitre s'attache à décrire l'impact de cette relation et de sa détérioration sur le processus de reconstruction. Le propos illustre la tentative des militants juifs de réaliser la synthèse entre une allégeance indéfectible à une utopie politique et aux structures qui l’incarnent, et un attachement revendiqué à une identité spécifique.<p>Enfin, avant de conclure, cette recherche s’intéresse à l'investissement de ce militantisme juif et communiste dans une phase avancée du processus de reconstruction et de redéploiement de la collectivité juive bruxelloise autour des centres communautaires. A travers la redéfinition du paysage juif à la fin des années 1950, l'épilogue propose une réflexion sur la nature de l'identité juive et communiste d'après-guerre. Ce groupe élabore une réponse évolutive qui tente la conciliation entre des aspirations diverses. Cette dynamique centrale de la réintégration sociétale met en exergue l’impact d’un engagement politique radical, égalitaire, universaliste. Agissant comme un révélateur des tensions socio-politiques de la Belgique d'après-guerre, cet engagement politique – ce qui est propre à tout groupe minoritaire – s'avère un vecteur de reconstruction mais également d'émancipation. Il crée les conditions d'une certaine audace et offre un marchepied idéal au processus d'intégration. Créant les conditions de l'émancipation, il engendre l'explosion des possibles. Le paradoxe est néanmoins que, ce faisant, le PCB favorise la dissonance entre un cadre politique rigidement inadapté aux utopies et aux rêves qu'il avait pu susciter, et le processus d'émancipation qu’il alimente et qui libère, enfin, les "enfants du ghetto".<p> / Doctorat en Histoire, art et archéologie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished