Professor Shmueli has synthesized history, philosophy, biblical scholarship, sociology, literature and psychology into an original and profound new view of Jewish history. Jewish history is viewed as an unfolding of seven successive systems of cultures, where each culture emerges in its time both as a rebel and a successor of previous cultures. Each presents itself as a distinct and often startlingly different framework in which the meaning of Jewish life is always interpreted anew. In this sense, Jewish history may be said to have undergone seven great "Renaissances." This study emphasizes...

Professor Shmueli has synthesized history, philosophy, biblical scholarship, sociology, literature and psychology into an original and profound new view of Jewish history. Jewish history is viewed as an unfolding of seven successive systems of cultures, where each culture emerges in its time both as a rebel and a successor of previous cultures. Each presents itself as a distinct and often startlingly different framework in which the meaning of Jewish life is always interpreted anew. In this sense, Jewish history may be said to have undergone seven great "Renaissances." This study emphasizes...