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Omri Boehm

Omri Boehm
Native name
עמרי בהם
Born1979
Gilon, Israel
OccupationAuthor, professor
GenreNon-fiction
SubjectPhilosophy, religion, politics

Omri Boehm (Hebrew: עמרי בהם; born 1979) is an Israeli philosopher and associate professor of philosophy at the New School for Social Research.[1][2] He is known for his interpretation of the Binding of Isaac (Genesis 22), work on Kant, and writing on Israel and Zionism.[3][4][5]

Life and career

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Boehm grew up in the Galilee.[6] He studied at the Adi Lautman Interdisciplinary Programme for Outstanding Students at Tel Aviv University and earned his PhD at Yale University.[7] He did a post-doc at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in 2010.[8] He is associate professor of philosophy at the New School for Social Research based in New York City.

Boehm’s first book, The Binding of Isaac: a Religious Model of Disobedience, argues (contending that the verse in which God tells Abraham not to kill Isaac is a later addition) that Abraham disobeyed God's command to sacrifice his son Isaac, and disobedience rather than obedience is the corner of Jewish faith.[9] His second book, Kant's Critique of Spinoza, argues that the Critique of Pure Reason needs to be read as an answer to Spinoza’s Ethics. His next book, Haifa Republic: A Democratic Future for Israel, develops a model for bi-national Zionism. His writings have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Haaretz, and Die Zeit, among others.[10][11]

In 2024, Boehm received the Leipzig Book Award for European Understanding for his publication Radical Universalism.[12][13]

A planned speech by Boehm on April 6, 2025,[14] at an event commemorating the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp was postponed after the Israeli embassy in Germany put pressure on the promoters. The head of the Buchenwald memorial, Jens-Christian Wagner, said that he and Boehm agreed to postpone the speech in favor of the Holocaust survivors present that day and not because of pressure placed on him or the memorial.[15] But on public radio Wagner said that it had felt very bad "to actually be pressured into denying a Holocaust survivor’s grandson the floor".[16] The Israeli embassy wrote on social media that Boehm would dilute the memory of the Holocaust and that he had compared the Holocaust to the Nakba.[17] In an interview with Austrian public broadcaster ORF five months earlier, Boehm had called such allegations "fake facts".[18] Boehm’s speech was subsequently published in the Süddeutsche Zeitung[19] and in English in Haaretz.[20] In its first press statement on April 1, the Buchenwald memorial's organization clarified that Boehm "is an important international bridge builder" and that the postponement had been necessary to avoid disturbing the commemoration with a "debate from outside".[21]

Books

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  • The Binding of Isaac: a Religious Model of Disobedience. Continuum, 2007; paperback, Bloomsbury, 2014.[22]
  • Kant’s Critique of Spinoza. Oxford University Press, 2014.[23]
  • Haifa Republic: A Democratic Future for Israel. New York Review Books, 2021.[24]
  • Radikaler Universalismus: Jenseits von Identität. Berlin: Propyläen, 2023. English edition: Radical Universalism.[25][26]
  • Der bestirnte Himmel über mir: Ein Gespräch über Kant (A Conversation about Kant, with Daniel Kehlmann). Berlin: Propyläen, 2024.[27]
  • Die Realität der Ideale. Berlin: Propyläen, 2024. English edition: The Reality of Ideals.[28]

References

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  1. ^ "Omri Boehm". newschool.edu. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  2. ^ "Die Idee einer jüdischen Demokratie sei ein Widerspruch in sich, sagt Omri Boehm. Und plädiert für eine binationale Republik". taz.de. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  3. ^ The binding of Isaac : a religious model of disobedience. OCLC 741691429.
  4. ^ "Kant's Critique of Spinoza". philpapers.org. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  5. ^ "Did Israel Just Stop Trying to Be a Democracy?". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  6. ^ "Omri Boehm on Avi Shavit's Promised Land". bu.edu. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  7. ^ Hutter, Axel; Rasmussen, Anders Moe (April 2014). Kierkegaard im Kontext des deutschen Idealismus. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110252798. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  8. ^ "Prof. Omri Boehm". philosophie.uni-muenchen.de. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  9. ^ "Table of contents for The binding of Isaac: a religious model of disobedience / Omri Boehm". catdir.loc.gov. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  10. ^ "Liberal Zionism in the Age of Trump". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  11. ^ "How Israelis could agree to share a state with Palestinians". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  12. ^ "Omri Boehm erhält Leipziger Buchpreis zur Europäischen Verständigung 2024". Leipziger Buchmesse (in German). Retrieved 2025-08-16.
  13. ^ "A radical humanist: Israeli philosopher Omri Boehm – DW – 03/21/2024". dw.com. Retrieved 2025-08-16.
  14. ^ Jayrôme (2025-04-07). "PR: Omri Boehm's Speech at the Buchenwald Memorial: Disinvitationitis Strikes Again". Retrieved 2025-08-16.
  15. ^ "Buchenwald-Gedenken: Absage an Omri Boehm". www.3sat.de (in German). 2025-04-04. Retrieved 2025-04-08.
  16. ^ "Dispute with Israeli government overshadows Buchenwald camp liberation anniversary". Politico. 2025-04-04. Retrieved 2025-08-12.
  17. ^ "Dieser Mann ist ein Ärgernis (für viele)". zeit.de (in German). Retrieved 2025-04-08.
  18. ^ "ORF Sound" [Omri Boehm: Between friends and enemies.]. sound.orf.at (in German). 2024-08-12. 06:00. Retrieved 2025-08-12.
  19. ^ "Befreiung des KZs Buchenwald: Die Rede, die Omri Boehm nicht halten durfte". Süddeutsche.de (in German). 2025-04-06. Retrieved 2025-04-17.
  20. ^ Boehm, Omri. "The Israeli embassy canceled my speech at Buchenwald. This is what I wanted to say | Opinion". Haaretz.com. Archived from the original on 2025-04-10. Retrieved 2025-04-17.
  21. ^ Mittelbau-Dora, Stiftung Gedenkstätten Buchenwald und. "News: Statement". Buchenwald Memorial. Retrieved 2025-08-16.
  22. ^ "Omri Boehm | The New School for Social Research". www.newschool.edu. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
  23. ^ "Kant's Critique of Spinoza". global.oup.com. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
  24. ^ "Haifa Republic: A Democratic Future for Israel". New York Review Books. 2021-08-17. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
  25. ^ Radikaler Universalismus - Taschenbuch (in German).
  26. ^ "Radical Universalism". New York Review Books. 2025-11-18. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
  27. ^ Der bestirnte Himmel über mir - Hardcover (in German).
  28. ^ Die Realität der Ideale - Hardcover (in German).