The Chosen: The History of an Idea, the Anatomy of an Obsession

The Chosen explores Judaism s key defining concept and inquires why it remains the central unspoken and explosive psychological, historical, and theological problem at the heart of Jewish-Gentile relations. Crisscrossing the twin cultural and theological divides between Judaism, Christendom, and Islam, The Chosen explains how the Jews, of all people, have come to represent at once the epitome of both the good and the odious. Beker covers not only the great stories of how the Jews came to be chosen and the Christian, Muslim, and Nazi efforts to appropriate the title, but also the key role "chosenness" plays in contemporary anti-Semitism and in the current Middle East conflict over the Land of Israel and the chosen city of Jerusalem.

Author: A. Beker
Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
Published: 07/02/2008
Pages: 240
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 9.42h x 6.48w x 0.77d
ISBN: 9780230600485

Review Citation(s):
Chronicle of Higher Education 09/19/2008 pg. 20
Choice 04/01/2009

About the Author
Avi Beker served as Secretary General of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) until 2003. He served as a member of the Permanent Mission of Israel to the UN and was a delegate to five General Assemblies dedicated to disarmament. He founded the Israel Council for Foreign Relations and the Institute for Research at the WJC. He currently lectures on international diplomacy at Tel Aviv University where he is also head of the UN Project and the Jewish Policy Project.