Challenging colonial discourse: Jewish studies and Protestant theology in Wilhelmine Germany

On the basis of postcolonial theory, this study shows how Jewish scholars, in the controversies about the "essence" of Judaism and Christianity at the beginning of the 20th century, challenged the intellectual hegemony of Liberal Protestantism in Germany. By carefully examining the impact of the political circumstances-the loss of relevance of political liberalism, the spreading of antisemitism, and the crisis of Jewish identity in an age of contested emancipation and assimilation-on the theological discourse, it provides a critical analysis of anti-Jewish implications of Protestant theology in the 19th and 20th centuries and discusses the function of Jewish polemics against Protestant distortions of Jewish history, religion and culture. Furthermore, it develops important guidelines for a contemporary interdisciplinary relationship between Jewish Studies and Christian theology

Intro -- Foreword by Susannah Heschel -- Preface -- Introduction -- PART ONE THE CONTEXT OF THE ENCOUNTERS AND CONTROVERSIES -- Chapter One: The Political and Social Situation of the Jewish Community in Wilhelmine Germany, 1890-1914 -- 1. The Collapse of the Jewish Coalition with Liberalism and the Spread of "Modern Anti-Semitism -- 2. The Remaining Limitations of the Emancipation of the Jews and Judaism -- 3. The "Assimilation Crisis" and Tendencies toward Recollecting Jewish Identity -- 3.1. "Assimilation," "Acculturation," and "German-Jewish Subculture -- 3.2. "Defense Work" between "Trotzjudentum" and "Jewish Renaissance -- 3.3. "Self-Emancipation" - the Impulse of the Zionist Movement -- Chapter Two: The Self-Conception and Research Conditions of Jewish Studies -- 1. The Beginnings and Development of Jewish Studies in the Nineteenth Century -- 2. Profile and Scholarly Self-Understanding of the Educational Institutions of Jewish Studies -- 2.1. "Positive-Historical" Judaism - the Jewish Theological Seminary in Breslau -- 2.2. Liberal Judaism - The "Lehranstalt für die Wissenschaft des Judentums" in Berlin -- 2.3. "Torah and Scholarship" - The Orthodox Rabbinical Seminary of Berlin -- 3. The Conditions of Jewish Studies' Encounter with Protestant Theology -- 3.1. Jewish Research between Discrimination and Claim to Relevance -- 3.2. Jewish Studies and "Defense Work" against Anti-Semitism -- PART TWO THE PERCEPTION OF PROTESTANT THEOLOGY -- Chapter Three: Jewish Studies and the Protestant "Mission to the Jews", 1880-1914 -- 1. The Jewish Perception of Protestant "Allies" in the Debate with Anti-Semitism, 1880-1890 -- 1.1. The Contemporary Context: Demonization of Judaism through Anti-Talmud Propaganda and Accusations of Ritual Murder.