Chapter 4 examines Franz Rosenzweig’s relationship to classical rabbinic Judaism and his response to Hegel regarding the individual, the state, and sacrifice in warfare. It argues that Rosenzweig’s presentation of Jewish life and community is connected to his critique of the dominant tradition of Western philosophy, that Hegel’s account of Judaism has important parallels to rabbinic understandings, and that Christianity’s connection to power-politics leaves it intertwined with ‘paganism’ for Rosenzweig.

Chapter 5 shows that Walter Benjamin’s ‘Critique of Violence’ stands in close relation to classical rabbinic understandings of law and power. It shows that the rabbinic texts have a surprisingly antinomian character when illuminated by Benjamin’s writings, and that Benjamin’s critique of mythic violence has an underlying connection to biblical and rabbinic ideas, including criticism of idolatry and understanding of God as the sole authorizer of violence.

Chapter 2 looks at Mendelssohn’s understanding of permitted or forbidden areas of Jewish participation in modern society. It highlights how key areas of life in the modern state, such as military service and carrying out capital punishment, become highly problematic in Mendelssohn’s theopolitical framework and understanding of divine sovereignty, and explores the profound implications of this for Mendelssohn’s political philosophy as a whole and for his account of the relation between Judaism and Christianity.

This concluding chapter assesses similarities and differences among Moses Mendelssohn, Hermann Cohen, Franz Rosenzweig, and Walter Benjamin regarding politics, power, God, and violence, as well as exploring further connections between these authors and rabbinic ideas about idolatry and the value of individual life. In light of the consistent pattern of thought and reasoning found in all four thinkers and classical rabbinic literature, the chapter argues for a fundamental rethinking of typical understandings of Judaism and politics, the history of Jewish thought, and the ethical and political dynamics of the broader Western philosophical tradition.

Chapter 1 examines Moses Mendelssohn’s claim that Jewish legal violence has been suspended following the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and is no longer legitimate. While other scholars have viewed this claim as a departure from previous Jewish thought, this chapter shows that Mendelssohn’s assertions stand in close connection to classical rabbinic understandings of the relation between violence and the Temple.

The Introduction sets out the main arguments of the book and gives an overview of each chapter.

Chapter 3 explores the significant changes in Hermann Cohen’s account of the State between his early philosophical writings and his later Religion of Reason out of the Sources of Judaism. It shows how Cohen draws upon ideas of messianism, prophetic thought, and monotheism in his later work to argue that those who seek to serve God should not identify themselves with the modern state.

The science of studying diamond inclusions for understanding Earth history has developed significantly over the past decades, with new instrumentation and techniques applied to diamond sample archives revealing the stories contained within diamond inclusions. This chapter reviews what diamonds can tell us about the deep carbon cycle over the course of Earth’s history. It reviews how the geochemistry of diamonds and their inclusions inform us about the deep carbon cycle, the origin of the diamonds in Earth’s mantle, and the evolution of diamonds through time.