Inescapable frameworks: Moses Hess' 'Rome and Jerusalem' and the recovery of religion, tradition, and identity

Moses Hess' Rome and Jerusalem (1862) might well be called, using a term borrowed from the philosopher Charles Taylor, a book about the "inescapable frameworks" that are involved in thinking well about Jewish identity. Long acclaimed as a classic of Zionist thought, the book is also Hess' most sustained attempt to move his readers to deliberate well about the conflicting commitments that are constitutive of Jewish identity in the modern world. This dissertation seeks to recover Hess' understanding of how to think well about the identity of modern Jewry.; Much of the critical power of Rome and Jerusalem lies in the account of identity that Hess relies upon in order to challenge European Jewry. After an introductory chapter, I discuss the prevailing models for understanding Rome and Jerusalem and show that they lack the sensitivity and insight to unpack Hess' conceptions of identity. I argue that the dominant model that underlies Hess' discussion of Jewish identity in Rome and Jerusalem is markedly at odds with his other writings. If Hess could describe elsewhere a whole, unified and ultimately fulfilling life, in Rome and Jerusalem the self is far more partial, ambiguous, and limited. The third chapter explores the importance of emotive reactions for Hess' understanding of Jewish identity. Two competing conceptions of self and identity underlie Hess' understanding of the emotions: the one based on the conflicted conception of self that is new to Rome and Jerusalem, the other draws from his earlier racial theory of the 1850s. The fourth chapter analyzes Hess' argument that Reform and Orthodox Judaism conceal the inherently ambivalent and situated character of Jewish identity. In chapter five, I construct a critical dialogue between Hess and contemporary philosophers on three aspects of thinking well about identity: inescapable frameworks, personal narratives, and the goal of self-reflection. In the conclusion, I reflect upon the significance of the title, Rome and Jerusalem, and the meaning of Hess' "return" to Judaism. Working through these issues will help clarify the central concern of this dissertation: what it means to think well about Jewish identity in Moses Hess' Rome and Jerusalem.