Le judaïsme, ou comment s’en débarrasser

Summary

Drawing in my own way on all the lessons of Daniel Boyarin’s  Judaism , I take a critical look back at my own personal, scientific and institutional career, analyzing a number of key moments along the way: my conversion to Judaism at the age of 20, my entry into the world of research at 30, my appointment at the Section des sciences religieuses of the École pratique des hautes Études at 40. I explain how I became convinced of the need to “get rid” of Judaism as a concept, as the designation of a field or object of study, and how intellectually fruitful it could be to break free from the straitjacket the word represents. Of course, the fact that it seems necessary to get rid of it does not mean that it is easy, or even completely possible, to do so, given the history of the discipline itself and that of the academic institutions in which it has developed and continues to develop.