Includes bibliographical references and index.

Acknowledgements -- List of Figures -- Notes on Contributors --  Introduction --    Paul Michael Kurtz -- Part 1 -- Representations of the Past -- 1 ‘The Early Speech of Nations’ Biblical Poetry and the Emergence of Germanic Myth --    Ofri Ilany -- 2 The Rise of Jewish Mythology Biblical Exegesis and the Scientific Study of Myth --    Carlotta Santini -- 3 Moses or Hammurabi? Law, Morality & Modernity in Ancient Near Eastern Studies --    Felix Wiedemann -- Part 2 -- Transformations in the Present -- 4  Gesetz als Gegensatz The Modern Halachic Language Game --    Irene Zwiep -- 5 The Truth Shall Abide S.R. Hirsch and Abraham Geiger on the Binding Nature of Torah --    Judith Frishman -- 6 ‘A Law for Jews and Not for Christians’? Mosaic Law and the Deceased Wife’s Sister Debate in Victorian Britain --    Michael Ledger-Lomas -- 7 Moses and the Left Traces of the Torah in Modern Jewish Anarchist Thought --    Carolin Kosuch --   Afterword --    Suzanne Marchand -- Bibliography -- Index.

A historic lawgiver and founder of an ancient nation, Moses was powerful and pivotal in the imagination of modern Germany. The late eighteenth to early twentieth century was an intense period of religious controversy, especially on 'the Jewish question', with new models for understanding faith, science, and the past. This volume focuses on the identification of Jewish law, both Pentateuch and Talmud, with the figure of Moses to trace the fascinations and anxieties of the Bible in modern culture. Through diverse perspectives, it examines the representations and appropriations of Moses as a father of Judaism and framer of European civilization.

English

Description based on print version record.