title: Jewish Meaning in a World of Choice: Studies in Tradition and Modernity (A JPS Scholar of Distinction Book)
author: Rabbi David Ellenson Ph.D.
description: <DIV>&quot;This volume is an excellent addition to academic Judaica collections.&quot;&mdash;Barbara M. Bibel, Jewish Book Council</DIV> (Barbara M. Bibel <i>Jewish Book Council</i>)<br /><br /><DIV>&quot;Scholars and students of Jewish religious thought, ethics, and modern Jewish history will welcome this erudite collection by one of today&#39;s great Jewish leaders.&quot;<I>&mdash;Jewish Media Review</I></DIV> (<i>Jewish Media Review</i>)<br /><br /><DIV>&quot;This is an excellent collection of articles that any reader interested in the work of David Ellenson and the focus of his scholarship will surely appreciate.&quot;&mdash;David Tesler, <I>Association of Jewish Libraries</I></DIV> (David Tesler <i>Association of Jewish Libraries</i>)<br /><br /><DIV>&quot;A welcome addition to public and college library Judaic Studies shelves.&quot;<I>&mdash;Midwest Book Review</I></DIV> (<i>Midwest Book Review</i>)<br /><br /><DIV>&#8220;For over three decades David Ellenson has shaped the life of world Jewry through the power of his scholarship, depth of vision, and kindness of soul. His uniqueness is that in his writings he searches not to hide or homogenize complexity but rather to study it, celebrate it, and enable it to challenge our preconceptions. This book is critical for all who want to know not only the foundations and struggles of modern Jewish life but, more important, the future direction it can take.&#8221;&#8212;Donniel Hartman, president of the Shalom Hartman Institute<BR>&#160;<BR></DIV><DIV></DIV> (Donniel Hartman 2014-02-27)<br /><br /><DIV>&#8220;From the gifted pen of Rabbi David Ellenson come lucid essays covering Zionism, religious pluralism, feminism, and equal rights that illuminate not only a lifetime of scholarship and activism but also the complex bonds that link Jews&#160;in the United States with their forebears in Europe and contemporaries in Israel. Each essay sparkles like a gem, with compelling grace and power.&#8221;&#8212;Deborah Dash Moore, Frankel Center for Judaic Studies, University of Michigan <BR></DIV> (Deborah Dash Moore 2014-02-27)
zlib_text: ![](Images/image00371.jpeg)
  
  **Between**
  
   **Jewish tradition**
  
   **and Modernity**
  
  ![](Images/image00370.jpeg)
  
  David Ellenson. Photograph by Richard Lobell.
  
  ![](Images/image00372.jpeg)
  
  ![](Images/image00367.jpeg)
  
  between
  
  jewish
  
  tradition
  
  and
  
  modernity
  
  rethinking an old opposition
  
  Edited by Michael A. Meyer and David N. Myers
  
  Essays in Honor of David Ellenson
  
  Wayne State University Press
  
  _Detroit_
  
  © 2014 by Wayne State University Press, Detroit,
  
  Michigan 48201. All rights reserved. No part of
  
  this book may be reproduced without formal permission.
  
  Manufactured in the United States of America.
  
  Library of Congress Control Number: 2014936565
  
  ISBN 978-0-8143-3859-9 (cloth)
  
  ISBN 978-0-8143-3860-5 (e-book)
  
  CoNtENtS
  
  Preface and Acknowledgments ix
  
   **** Introduction: At the Border: David Ellenson and the Study
  
  of Modern Judaism
  
  DAviD N. MyErS 1
  
   **Part 1: Law**
  
   **1.** Caring for an Intermarried Jew by Converting His Partner:
  
  Rabbi Uzziel’s Earliest Responsum on _Gi