The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State

The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State (2008) explains the increasingly loud call for implementing shari'a in Muslim countries. Feldman argues that current systems of government in certain Muslim countries have unchecked executive power because the previous system – in which scholarly interpretation of shari'a served to counterbalance executive power – was undermined by failed reforms in the modern era.[45] Drawing on the success of this previous system, Feldman proposes a viable path for Islamic governance that depends on legislators to serve as the check on authoritarian executives.

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Praise for To Be A Jew Today

"To Be a Jew Today is a beautiful book, a necessary and important book. Written with learning, insight, and anguish, it is a provocation to be argued over (I certainly did) and wrestled with, but it cannot be ignored."

RABBI BENAY LAPPE
President and Rosh Yeshiva of SVARA: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva

“To Be a Jew Today is a field guide to a richer, more meaningful spiritual life—and not just for Jews. Feldman's answers to the question of 'What's the point of being a Jew?' offer a whole new paradigm for how to think about Jewishness, one that will change how you walk through the world, whether you're Jewish or not."

DAVID WOLPE
Rabbi emeritus of Sinai Temple, Los Angeles, and author of David: The Divided Heart and Why Faith Matters

"More than with any book I've read in years, Jewish readers will draw new insights into their own Judaism from Noah Feldman's fresh, fascinating, and compelling analyses of contemporary Jewish life. Feldman exhibits the gift of all great teachers and influential public intellectuals: the ability to take even the most complex ideas and convey them with clarity, context, and honesty."

RABBI DAVID SAPERSTEIN
Director emeritus of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom

"To Be a Jew Today is an instant classic, not only because it explains being Jewish in our lifetime, but also because it talks about timeless universal Jewish themes in a magnetic and accessible way."

ROSALIE SILBERMAN ABELLA
Former Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and Pisar Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School

"In this exciting and passionately argued new book, Noah Feldman offers us a lifetime of thinking and struggling with being a Jew, and thinking with Judaism, in America today. Broad in scope, sparkling with new insights, often provocative and daring, and deeply rooted in the Jewish textual tradition, Feldman deftly weaves memoir, philosophy, legal theory, and sociological analysis to paint a complex yet accessible portrait of being a Jew and taking Judaism seriously in this crucial time of transition. Highly recommended."

SHAUL MAGID
Professor of Jewish studies at Dartmouth College and author of The Necessity of Exile: Essays from a Distance

"To Be a Jew Today takes the reader on a rich and nourishing journey that is at once spiritual, emotional, and intellectual while deeply engaged in untangling and understanding and holding space for the mysterious and the unknown. It speaks to those ready to be welcomed into a sacred conversation."

LILA KAGEDA
Director of Biomedical Ethics and the Humanities and Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, New York Medical College