Geoffrey D. Claussen and Emily A. Filler, “The Exodus and Some Possibilities of Jewish Political Thought,” in T&T Clark Handbook of Political Theology, ed. Rubén Rosario Rodriguez (London: T&T Clark, 2019), 301–316.
This co-authored book chapter seeks to illustrate the some of the breadth of modern Jewish political thought by considering diverse ways that Jews have understood the political messages of the story of the Exodus from Egypt. We consider a series of disputed questions: What is good leadership? How should we judge violence? May the Exodus be a universal paradigm for liberation? Who is the community of Israel that experienced the Exodus? What is the significance of the covenant between God and the community? What was the purpose of the Exodus? For each of these questions, we seek to showcase some of the debates that have led to divergent approaches to modern Jewish political theology.
