A socio-political approach to the historical developments of Jewish religious thought until the Holocaust

According to the narrative of the Hebrew Bible, the special relationship between God and the Israelites first began through His promises to Abraham, and contemporary Jews consider themselves the inheritors and continuators of that same experience. This continuity, however, does not imply stasis or immutability. The present study seeks to demonstrate how Jewish religious thought has undergone, at times, fundamental transformations in response to external (political, social, economic) and internal (psychological, philosophical) developments. This article does not aim to provide an exhaustive account of all the details of this millennia-long historical trajectory. Instead, its primary objective is to examine the turning points of this history from a socio-political perspective, illustrating how religious teachings possess an inherent capacity to adapt to the conditions of each era. In other words, throughout history, Jews have endeavored to forge a connection between their religious thought and the exigencies of their time, reinterpreting their doctrines in light of new and emerging circumstances. By adopting a socio-political approach, the authors aim to provide an analytical introduction to the main contours of these developments prior to the Holocaust. To this end, and to offer a concrete illustration of this adaptability, we analyze the evolution of five foundational tenets of Jewish thought—namely, the presence or absence of God, traditional theodicies, the concept of the divine covenant, the meaning and purpose of history, and strategies for preserving faith—against the backdrop of these historical transformations.