Formulation of the Claim
In Arkoun’s view, Judaism is tied to exile, return, and the promised land as keys to preserving its heritage and renewing its presence.
Explanation
Judaism is not presented here as a fixed tradition, but as a historical tradition that has been able to preserve itself through the experience of exile and the horizon of return associated with it. In the comparison Arkoun makes, this gives it a greater capacity to reproduce the meaning of its heritage within historical transformations.
Also highlighted in this claim is the presence of the promised land not as an abstract theological idea, but as one of the elements sustaining collective memory. Judaism’s relationship to modernity is therefore defined, in Arkoun’s view, by a particular capacity to carry tradition forward without a complete break from the conditions of history.
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This atom belongs to the comparisons Arkoun draws between the monotheistic religions in their relationship to history and modernity. It serves a distinguishing function within the book, because it shows how the patterns of preserving and rebuilding tradition differ from one religion to another, without separating this difference from the questions of humanism and historical critique.
Limits of the Claim
This atom should not be taken as a comprehensive judgment on Judaism in all its manifestations, nor turned into a single explanation of its relationship to modernity. It points to one axis of comparison as formulated by Arkoun, not to a full account of all dimensions of the Jewish tradition.