Levinas, Judaism, and the Feminine: The Silent Footsteps of Rebecca
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Challenging previous interpretations of Levinas that gloss over his use of the feminine or show how he overlooks questions raised by feminists, Claire Elise Katz explores the powerful and productive links between the feminine and religion in Levinas's work. Rather than viewing the feminine as a metaphor with no significance for women or as a means to reinforce traditional stereotypes, Katz goes beyond questions of sexual difference to reach a more profound understanding of the role of the feminine in Levinas's conception of ethical responsibility. She combines feminist interpretations of Levinas with interpretations that focus on his Jewish writings to reveal that the feminine provides an important bridge between his philosophy and his Judaism. Katz's reading of Levinas's conception of the feminine against the backdrop of discussions of women of the Hebrew bible points to important shifts in contemporary philosophy toward the creation of life and care for the other.
PrefaceAcknowledgmentsList of AbbreviationsIntroduction11Judaism and the Ethical: Recovering the Other82The Time of Creation223The Inauguration of Sexual Difference354The Hospitality of the Feminine555Eros, Sexual Difference, and the Question of Ethics666Ruth; or, Love and the Ethics of Fecundity787Cain and the Responsibility of Choice978Abraham and the Tempering of Virility1089Maternity, Sacrifice, and Sarah's Choice12610The Silent Footsteps of Rebecca139Notes157Works by Emmanuel Levinas183General Bibliography187Index193
