JWST 382 Chapter Notes - Chapter 02-22: Psychodynamics

• School: McGill University
• Department: Jewish Studies
• Course: JWST 382
• Professor: Eric Caplan

Document Summary

Jewish relationship w cruelty begins w imperial subjugation. Bc jews were oppressed, they saw cruelty as temporary and morality/spirituality things that could exist on earth. Judaism is abt transcending our past/reality (tho not the world) Voice of god in the torah can b heard in many diff ways. Jews hav obligation to separate bias of interpreter. Don"t deny the potential for cruelty in humans. But it is not permanent and can b undone. Belief that cruelty is not destiny is belief in the god of israel. God has both understandable and non-understandable dimensions. Jews understand god"s reality thru possibility of transcendence/transformation. Looking at reality while also considering future. Humans hav an obligation to pass along/develop knowledge. Abraham rejects the absolute/physical for a god that cannot be quantified/defined. His belief in something that transcends reality saves him/shapes his adult beliefs. The repetition compulsion and the binding of isaac for sacrifice. Abraham breaks some boundaries, but also carries oppression with him.