"In this anthology, Sarah Hammerschlag offers readers a dive into the deep reservoir of modern French Jewish thought. Her brilliantly curated book is presented in roughly chronological order, exploring Jewish philosophy and theology as a response to shifting contexts.... a fabulously rendered anthology that can launch readers into the brilliance of modern French Jewish thought, where a captivating universe of new thinkers remains to be discovered for many English readers, students, and more seasoned scholars alike."

H-Net

"This is a wide-ranging, roughly chronological anthology, whose historical and disciplinary breadth, thorough and thoughtful introduction, and even-handed prefaces to its selections make it well suited to pedagogical purposes."

French Studies

"Until now, few resources readily available to scholars and students of contemporary French and Francophone studies have provided sufficient religious, political, or historical context to frame the critical questions posed at these defining moments in the relationship between France’s Jewish population and the French state. Sarah Hammerschlag’s masterfully edited anthology addresses this need by giving voice to French Jewish thinkers—from Simone Weil, Emmanuel Levinas, Sarah Kofman, and Albert Memmi to Jacqueline Mesnil-Amar, Alain Finkielkraut, Hélène Cixous, and Jacques Derrida, among others—in their efforts to formulate and reformulate their beliefs, philosophies, and positions at major moments of crisis and change....Beyond its rich content, the strengths of this anthology are multiple. The clear, compelling introduction to the volume as a whole, to each thematic section, and to the authors’ lives, works, and theories make the essays accessible even for non-specialists. Moreover, the fluid translations are particularly noteworthy in their comprehensible rendering of the writings of stylistically different, highly complex philosophers."

French Review

“This is much more than an anthology. Brilliantly composed and introduced by one of the most learned and astute scholars in the field, it is a treasure trove of insights into contemporary debates about identity and belonging, particularism and universality, and the intertwined fates of politics and religion.”

Vivian Liska, University of Antwerp

"In short, modern French Jewish thought is largely unknown in the United States. A recent anthology seeks to bring the richness of these writers to an American audience, Sarah Hammerschlag’s Modern French Jewish Thought: Writings on Religion and Politics...The volume...was one of my favorite Jewish books of 2018 with its twenty-four well-chosen texts to illustrate the length of French Jewish thought."

Alan Brill

"Extraordinary memoirs...there is much to reward the reader."

Times Literary Supplement