A01=Jonathan Wyn Schofer
aging
Author_Jonathan Wyn Schofer
belief
body
Category=JBSR
Category=QDTQ
compassion
death
defecation
divinity
drought
embodiment
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
ethics
etiquette
faith
fragility
frailty
god
helping others
helpless
human nature
hunger
imperfection
instruction
judaism
love
morality
nonfiction
pedagogy
persecution
rabbi
religion
service
spirituality
teachings
vulnerability
wisdom
Product details
- ISBN 9780226740096
- Weight: 454g
- Dimensions: 16 x 24mm
- Publication Date: 01 Dec 2010
- Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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While imparting their ethical lessons, rabbinic texts often employ vivid images of death, aging, hunger, defecation, persecution, and drought. In "Confronting Vulnerability", Jonathan Wyn Schofer carefully examines these texts to find out why their creators thought that human vulnerability was such a crucial tool for instructing students in the development of exemplary behavior. These rabbinic texts uphold virtues such as wisdom and compassion, propound ideal ways of responding to others in need, and describe the details of etiquette. Schofer demonstrates that these pedagogical goals were achieved through reminders that one's time on earth is limited and that God is the ultimate master of the world. Consciousness of death and of divine accounting guide students to live better lives in the present. Schofer's analysis teaches us much about rabbinic pedagogy in late antiquity and also provides inspiration for students of contemporary ethics. Despite their cultural distance, these rabbinic texts challenge us to develop theories and practices that properly address our frailties rather than denying them.
Jonathan Wyn Schofer is associate professor of comparative ethics at Harvard Divinity School and the author of The Making of a Sage: A Study in Rabbinic Ethics.
