The Gate to Perfection (Web PDF) von Rabbi Professor Dr. Walter Homolka

Chapter 1. The Concept of Peace in the Hebrew Bible
Chapter 2. The Jewish-Hellenistic Symbiosis in the 'Sefarim Chizoniim, and in Philo and Josephus
Chapter 3. Views on Peace in Talmudic Times: Mishnah, Talmud, Midrash
Chapter 4. Medieval Jewish Philosophy and its Attitude toward Peace
Chapter 5. The Concept of Peace in the Jewish Enlightenment and Emancipation
Chapter 6. The Jewish Reformation
Chapter 7. Jews, Judaism and the Concept of Peace in Our Time

Appendix: The PLO-Israel Accord, 13 September 1993

A timely book: as Israelis and Arabs are moving towards a settlement, this study offers a valuable historical dimension, from the Jewish point of view, to the main issue involved, i.e., the idea of peace. The authors maintain that peace has always played an important role in Jewish thought, that in fact Judaism as a religion is characterized by the striving for peace. They reach this conclusion after having examined a variety of sources, ranging from the biblical texts of Old Israel to the Talmudic tradition and Jewish Philosophy of Religion up until the twentieth century.

Rabbi Professor Dr. Walter Homolka is rector of the Abraham Geiger College at Potsdam University, Germany's first rabbinical seminary since the Holocaust. He is Chairman of the Leo Baeck Foundation and an Executive Board Member of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. His publications includeLeo Baeck: Teacher of Theresienstadt(1991) andRiders towards the Dawn(1993).