ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates that all Judaism's denominations are committed contributors to the moral and rational goods outlined by Christopher Lewis. It points out how even illiberal forms of Judaism are conducive to a well-regulated life that is attentive to the needs and interests of the vulnerable, careful to limit the causes and effects of conflict, and universalist in its commitment to the flourishing of human beings, animals and the natural environment. The chapter suggests that Judaism's idoloclastic dynamic prevents the world including its own Jewish world being taken captive to authoritarian, fixed ideas or images of God and the human and to closed interpretations of sacred texts. The avoidance and criticism of idolatry is widely considered to be Judaism's defining moment. Lawrence Kaplan has observed that the contemporary authority of the roshei yeshiva the heads of the religious seminaries has arisen in response to the perceived threat of modernity to authority and tradition.
