Jonathan Judaken and his editors at Columbia University Press could never have imagined how the tragic events of October 7, 2023, would forever alter the reading of his book Critical Theories of Anti-Semitism. The massacre by Hamas of more than 1,200 Israelis, the taking of more than 250 hostages, and the war that continues in Gaza cannot be denied while engaging this important text.
Yet, Judaken’s only acknowledgment of October 7 is on page 219, early in his final chapter, and solely about statistics of hate crimes: “These numbers have skyrocketed after October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel.” Judaken’s book, published in June 2024 amidst months of university encampment protests across the US lacks any real-time acknowledgment of these events—a significant omission. While we cannot determine the complications that October 7 represented for Judaken or his publisher, surely a special “Preface” or acknowledgment in the introduction would show that the ideas Judaken engages also impact the reality of our time. The disconnect between the primary subject of the book—the hatred of Jews—from the terror massacre has impacted my reading and reviewing of the text; ironically Judaken’s project has become even more important.
Judaken’s monograph is significant scholarship, representing a synthesis of his career as a teaching scholar. He engages several 20th-century intellectuals: Jean-Paul Sartre, Hannah Arendt, members of the Frankfurt School, Talcott Parsons, Zygmunt Baumann, Jean-Francois Lyotard, Leon Poliakov, and George Mosse. All share a common intellectual thread of being among the founders of “critical theories” spanning more than sixty years and producing an impressive model of intellectual history.
Judaken’s project and methodology engage the single issue of the hatred of Jews as developed among the iconic thinkers listed above, and how their ideas, interpretations, and collective impact offer us insights today. His intellectual challenge of reflecting on a single issue through a plurality of perspectives is best used in an academic realm, probably a graduate seminar, because his review of “critical theories” requires a mature reader with a historical and literary background. This text demands critical reading and exploration of additional materials to fully comprehend the complex topics raised in each chapter.
The introduction does not sufficiently develop the definitions of Judaken’s central arguments. It assumes the reader already understands the complexity of “critical theories,” framing anti-Semitism as a focus of critical theory in a single paragraph where Judaken outlines four “entangled” concerns: 1) scholarship on anti-Semitism demands the same critical attention to its categories of analysis as that applied to concepts like class, gender, and race; 2) the frequently asserted distinctiveness of anti-Semitism must give way to comparative approaches and, ultimately to a to an understanding of interconnected histories; 3) the “plasticity” of anti-Jewish imagery is rooted in inherent ambivalence; 4) the study of anti-Semitism more intensely involves the theoretical and methodological considerations that have defined related fields, such as critical race theory, postcolonial studies, and decolonial thought (3). In my view, these four foundational assumptions require much more analysis, explanation, and context than Judaken offers.
Judaken challenges the conventional definitions, understandings, and even the now-accepted spelling of the term “anti-Semitism,” arguing that the hyphen highlights a political link between Jews and Muslims, both Semites and not perpetual enemies (6). He is committed to the preferred use of Judeophobia but does not offer an analysis of what the current term and accepted definitions lack. He prefers the term Judeophobia but does not analyze what the current term or its definitions lack. While this analysis explains his decision to use Judeophobia, there is insufficient development regarding the shortcomings of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IRHA) “working definition,” which, although it is used by more than 40 countries—including the United States —has not been incorporated into law. While there are disputes about its potential misuse to limit speech, Judaken does not explain how a shift to Judeophobia, which has neither a significant public nor political acceptance, will help in preventing or combatting the hatred of Jews. Throughout the book, his use of both terms without any stated distinctions between them further confuses the issue. The introduction, essential to framing the book, should have been as well developed as each of the chapters, offering Judaken the opportunity to prepare his readers for the complexity of the issues that he raises in his review of critical theories.
While Judaken asserts that anti-Semitism has been undertheorized, it is painfully ironic that the critical theories he explores—rooted in the sociological and philosophical ideas of the thinkers he reviews—are themselves implicated. The irony lies in the fact that these theorists have been indicted as the ideological stimulants for the upsurge of anti-Zionism on campuses, which in turn has caused Jewish students’ experiences of isolation, marginalization, oppression, and fear since October 7.
Judaken’s book deserves our attention because his review of some of the 20th century’s most significant thinkers and their reflections on the hatred of Jews is once again brought to the forefront by tragic urgency. This volume also reminds us that currently we do not have the luxury of social stability or global leadership to merely think about these very painful and difficult ideas. We must be prepared to act to secure communal safety and hope.
Joseph A. Edelheit is a professor emeritus of religious and Jewish studies at St. Cloud State University.
Joseph Edelheit
Date Of Review:
January 10, 2025
