Hatred and Love: Jewish Conceptions of Personal Hatred and Public Love in Antiquity and Modernity

‘Love’ or ‘friendship’ is a core theme of Jewish and Christian thought. Hence, the paramount significance of the commandment to “Love your neighbor” Lev 19:18b in the reception history of the Hebrew Bible. Indeed, as Franz Rosenzweig noted, it is the foundational principle of the Jewish and Christian ethos. At this critical juncture in history, when a plethora of “cultures of hate” have emerged to claim the public and political arena, it is of undoubted value to highlight the inviolable principle of Neighborly Love. Yet, at the same time it is also urgent to acknowledge that monotheistic faiths abound in tropes of personal hatred and political enmity. This conference posits that the Jewish and Christian ethic of love and friendship may only be fully appreciated against the backdrop of concepts and attitudes of personal ‘hatred’ and enmity within the respective religious cultures. Speakers include Jeffrey Stackert and Paul Mendes-Flohr, both of the University of Chicago Divinity School, Klaus-Peter Adam of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Dana Hollander of McMaster University, and Malka Simkovich of Catholic Theological Union. The conference is sponsored by the Greenberg Center for Jewish Studies and the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago through a grant by the Henri Luce Foundation. For information, contact Nancy Pardee at npardee@uchicago.edu.