Contemporary Psychoanalysis and Jewish Thought

‘Lew Aron’s and Libby Henik’s previous two volumes in the Answering a Question with a Question series have provided a vital set of materials linking psychoanalysis and Jewish thought. In this new collection, dedicated to Aron and including a self-reflective chapter by him, debates produced by this linkage are advanced in a gripping and fertile way. Structured across three areas - clinical presentation, biblical commentary, and historical content – the book is an essential contribution to the literature on religion and psychoanalysis, with a profound Jewish twist: interpretation is never-ending and our deepest concerns can always be made the topic of a new set of questions.’

Stephen Frosh, Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychosocial Studies at Birkbeck, University of London

‘This is a beautiful, rich, and theoretically complex book. Dedicated to the memory of Lew Aron, the contributors explore the links between Jewish and psychoanalytic thought. Its contributors, many world-renowned scholars, address a multiplicity of overlapping issues organized around the threads of Judaism and psychoanalysis.’

Joyce Slochower, NYU Postdoctoral Program

‘The third volume in this important series continues to illustrate the mutuality of influence between Judaism and psychoanalysis - how they encounter, inform and transform each other.’

Seth Aronson, Psy.D., Director of Training, Training and Supervising Analyst, William Alanson White Institute; Faculty, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah

‘In this third volume of the series, traditions dedicated to upsetting facile representations of the human condition, Judaism and Psychoanalysis, are once again creatively and unabashedly brought together. From this conversation emerges an abundance of riches for the reader–with deep implications on our ethical, clinical, historical, political and theoretical approaches and ideas. The authors should be applauded for bringing us such powerful and dimensional ways of formulating ourselves drawing from the wealth of these traditions.’

David Goodman, Boston College

‘My encounter with Libby Henik’s new book—the next volume in a series that she co-wrote and edited with my late friend and colleague Lew Aron—has been a beautiful discovery for me. Each of the chapters has a tantalizing frame in which one gets the feeling of "just let me read a little more…" But it was my reading of Libby Henik’s own introduction that left me thinking, "Oh my God I have to take a closer look at this." Outwardly about the fundamental similarities of psychoanalytic and Jewish modes of thought, the introduction is itself an example of thinking about the creation and elaboration of our own minds, within ourselves and within relationships, in a way that is extraordinarily profound, beautifully expressed, and anchored in self-evident experience.’

Jonathan H. Slavin, Ph.D., Clinical Instructor, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School: Adjunct Clinical Professor, Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, New York University; Former President, Division of Psychoanalysis (39), American Psychological Association; Founding President, Massachusetts Institute for Psychoanalysis