Judah's Desire and the Making of the Abrahamic Israel

In this refreshing exploration of Judah’s identity formation, the emphasis is placed on the psychological underpinnings of Judah’s sentiments towards Israel to shed light on their intricate relationship. Richly contextual, this book draws parallels in Asian contexts, mainly between China and its marginal Others, and offers fresh perspectives on the Judah-Israel relationship. Central to the thesis is that Judah’s perceived inferiority to Israel played a crucial role in its quest to appropriate Israel’s legacy and identity. Adopting a functionalist lens, Judah’s rewriting of Israel’s ancestral past is examined. The Abraham and Jacob traditions are framed as competing "identity narratives," critical discursive tools to construct the past. The study unveils how the southern Abraham tradition fundamentally reoriented the Jacob tradition, North Israel’s standalone identity narrative. This exploration is set against the broader canvas of ongoing efforts to redefine and embody "Israel," with Judah positioned as a significant actor, but neither the beginning nor the end of this identity discourse.