Holiness and Society is obviously an essential book for those who want to understand Jewish political thought, identity, or sociology.
In the foreword to Ronen Shoval’s valuable new book, Holiness and Society: A Socio-Political Exploration of the Mosaic Tradition, the author observes that, “There are those who question the very existence of a Jewish philosophy altogether, let alone one which can be assigned to politics.” This is a challenge to be overcome for a book that declares, from the outset, its intention to deal with Jewish political thought. Nevertheless, Shoval successfully rises to the challenge, presenting arguments which will be of interest even to those without a specialised knowledge of Jewish political and philosophical scholarship. Shoval argues of Biblical political theology that, “From the first appearance of the Israelites as a people, and indeed even beforehand, it had a political mission.” Moreover, he promises to “show how the idea of the chosen nature of the People of Israel is part of a series of efforts to politically organize humanity under God’s sovereignty,” and that, “The Torah itself dictates the character of Israelite politics and formulates its dominant foundations.”
These are bold claims with potentially wide-ranging implications. Fortunately for his readers, Shoval has an exceptional grasp of the philosophical, political, sociological, and theological literature needed to make such an argument. Moreover, his intervention provides not only an exceptional contribution to the scholarly discourse, but a timely one. We can all, no doubt, think of recent instances of repugnant political activism directed not merely against policies advanced by some Jews or some Jewish political groups, but against the very existence of the Jews as a people. Understanding the Mosaic tradition as a political enterprise can help to make sense of the abhorrent rise of modern antisemitism as having an inescapable political dimension—rather than origins which are purely theological, racial, or cultural.
In his first chapter, Shoval observes that “The effort to create a systematic study of the Jewish political tradition which includes the Bible as a political text began with the work of Elazar, and was later expanded by Wildavsky, Walzer, and Trigano. These works created a real opening for analyzing the Biblical text through a sociological-political lens.” Shoval’s work builds upon these earlier developments, and he makes his case along sociological lines, adopting a sociological reading of the Bible inspired by the work of Leo Strauss—a reading in contrast to what he calls the “traditional” and “critical” approaches, and even in contrast to a “literary” approach (with which there are some similarities):
Like the literary reader, I also seek to examine the Bible as it is. I am not pursuing the historical truth of the Bible, but rather seeking to understand what it says. However, unlike the literary reader, my main focus is not the text but rather the human thought behind it. My working assumption is that the Biblical story reflects thoughts and worldviews accepted by living human beings, and which shaped the character of a diverse human society. I seek to expose these thoughts and worldviews, based on a reading and analysis of the Biblical story.
Put another way, Shoval’s approach is not to read the Bible as presenting an explicit set of consistent, political principles. Instead, he examines the text for its underlying political assumptions and implications. For example, such a reading might consider what the ten commandments (and their primacy) suggest about certain fundamental rights (e.g., to property and to safety), about justice, about hierarchy and the role of the family, about the role of religion in the polity, and so on. And, since that episode is but one example, although an important one, an even more diligent reading would consider other Biblical episodes that would seek to confirm or deny the political conclusions.
In this regard, Shoval’s effort is commendably diligent: although he admits to a focus upon the Pentateuch, he also draws in Biblical matter from further afield to demonstrate that there is still a general political ethos underlying the whole. This Jewish political thought is the prime object of Shoval’s study, and his explication of it is one of the best modern attempts hitherto undertaken—an accomplishment highlighted by situating his work in the discursive context. His review of the existing literature—covered in the first chapter, “Theoretical Introduction”—is excellent and concise, particularly for those who are new to the disciplines under study, but also for those experienced scholars who will benefit from Shoval signposting his own approach in relation to the existing scholarship. This reviewer, who holds a Ph.D. in Literature & Culture, had frequent cause to consider how beneficial such a volume would have been as a supplemental reading in courses like “The Bible as Literature,” as offering perspectives and theoretical approaches that could broaden student understanding of the text and its wider socio-political implications.
Beyond the “Theoretical Introduction” the other eight chapters address the Covenant, the nature of the Jewish political idea, the Exodus, purity and the Tabernacle, chapters on both institutions of and ceremonies of collective holiness, the Hebrew Constitution, and a metaethical consideration of collective holiness. These are followed by a brief epilogue on “The Biblical Vision of Collective Holiness.” Hence four sections of the book are devoted to addressing collective holiness, which Shoval contends plays a central role in Jewish political thought. This understanding proceeds from the stated aim of the book, “to demonstrate that Biblical holiness is not a fenced-off phenomenon, separate from the secular world, but rather a totalizing vision encompassing all spheres of life and levels of society. … a political phenomenon applied to a kingdom and to a nation.” Thus the idea of collective holiness is bound up in the very political project for which he argues, and which is supported by his Biblical readings.
Although the arguments for and about collective holiness occupy a justly central place in Shoval’s argument, and are the primary focus of several chapters, this reviewer should like to single out two other chapters for especial praise. The second chapter (“And You Shall Keep My Covenant: The Covenant as Breeding Ground for the Jewish Political Idea”) is, in many ways, even more important than the theoretical introduction, because it provides an account of the iterative development of the Jewish political idea which is grounded in careful readings of the text paired with a firm sociological understanding of what those readings imply. Consequently, this chapter provides the necessary developmental context for much of the discussion about collective holiness, which is covered in the later chapters. Moreover, it is probably the chapter that will be of most interest to philosophical and political historians and, when taken along with the third chapter, makes for an extremely compelling account of the historicity of Jewish political thought, even though Shoval goes out of his way to admit that such a contention is not his primary focus.
Appropriately, the second chapter ends with an explication of the idea of collective holiness, and the equally praiseworthy third chapter develops the Jewish political idea still further, first by identifying its significant differences with Christian approaches to the political and the secular, but then by positing a “Constitutional Model” of collective holiness. This move might seem somehow provocative or anachronistic, but, when understood within the context of the Covenant and the Decalogue, it is anything but. Drawing upon the work of Hans Kelsen, Shoval provides an interpretive framework for understanding the Decalogue as the grounding for a constitutional understanding of Jewish society, in terms of its superiority and normative function, but not (as he freely admits) in terms of “all the procedural arrangements, the definition of authoritative bodies, or the mechanism of change of legal instructions.”
For Kelsen, and likewise for Shoval, it is the hierarchy of norms which are the core of a Biblical constitutional model, and not the logistical details aforementioned. The third chapter posits the Decalogue as an example of Kelsen’s “Supreme Norms,” sitting at the top of a hierarchy of legal norms which together make up the Biblical constitution. Such a constitution may be verified by readings which show the Biblical text generally to be in agreement with that which is derived from the Decalogue, and Shoval engages in precisely this task, using the Biblical account of the Tower of Babel as a compelling object of study.
Throughout his text, Shoval’s case is masterfully presented in terms which are clear and concise, even for those who are less practised in the field of socio-political theory. As noted above, his survey of the existing literature is precise and detailed, and never verges into details that would be both confusing and unnecessary for the vast majority of readers. Likewise, his Biblical readings are carried off in a refreshingly direct style of prose that illuminates rather than obscures the relevance to his arguments. In defining and explaining some concepts, a small selection of charts and graphs are provided, although this reviewer found Shoval’s lucid and engaging explanations to be far more illuminating than the pictorial representations. The endnotes are full, copious, and occasionally even engaging, and they demonstrate a truly scholarly understanding of the discourse. Finally, a thorough bibliography and a very professional index round out the presentation much to the credit of the whole.
Holiness and Society is obviously an essential book for those working in areas related to Jewish political thought, identity, or sociology. But it is also a valuable work for those who are interested in the development of political thought more generally, especially insofar as the political and secular are related to the religious dimensions of society and culture. There is also a strong sociological case to be made for its importance as an account of collective holiness. Thus, with this most commendable volume, Ronen Shoval offers new arguments and insights about faith and governance that will command wide-ranging interest and application indeed.
Shawn Phillip Cooper, Ph.D. is an Assistant Editor at The European Conservative. His work, addressing the intersection of culture and politics, has been published in venues including The American Conservative, The American Postliberal, The Lamp, Law & Liberty, The American Mind , and in numerous scholarly volumes and journals.