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Abraham: The First Jew
The story of Abraham, the first Jew, portrayed as two lives lived by one person, paralleling the contradictions in Judaism throughout its history
In this new biography of Abraham, Judaism’s foundational figure, Anthony Julius offers an account of the origins of a fundamental struggle within Judaism between skepticism and faith, critique and affirmation, thinking for oneself and thinking under the direction of another. Julius describes Abraham’s life as two separate lives, and as a version of the collective life of the Jewish people.
Abraham’s first life is an early adulthood of questioning the polytheism of his home city of Ur Kasdim until its ruler, Nimrod, condemns him to death and he is rescued, he believes, by a miracle. In his second life, Abraham’s focus is no longer on critique but rather on conversion and on his leadership over his growing household, until God’s command that he sacrifice his son Isaac. This test, the Akedah (or “Binding”), ends with another miracle, as he believes, but as Julius argues, it is also a catastrophe for Abraham. The Akedah represents for him an unsurpassed horizon—and in Jewish life thereafter. This book focuses on Abraham as leader of the first Jewish project, Judaism, and the unresolvable, insurmountable crisis that the Akedah represents—both in his leadership and in Judaism itself.
In this new biography of Abraham, Judaism’s foundational figure, Anthony Julius offers an account of the origins of a fundamental struggle within Judaism between skepticism and faith, critique and affirmation, thinking for oneself and thinking under the direction of another. Julius describes Abraham’s life as two separate lives, and as a version of the collective life of the Jewish people.
Abraham’s first life is an early adulthood of questioning the polytheism of his home city of Ur Kasdim until its ruler, Nimrod, condemns him to death and he is rescued, he believes, by a miracle. In his second life, Abraham’s focus is no longer on critique but rather on conversion and on his leadership over his growing household, until God’s command that he sacrifice his son Isaac. This test, the Akedah (or “Binding”), ends with another miracle, as he believes, but as Julius argues, it is also a catastrophe for Abraham. The Akedah represents for him an unsurpassed horizon—and in Jewish life thereafter. This book focuses on Abraham as leader of the first Jewish project, Judaism, and the unresolvable, insurmountable crisis that the Akedah represents—both in his leadership and in Judaism itself.
392 pages, Hardcover
Published February 11, 2025
About the author
Anthony Julius
21 books6 followersAnthony Julius (born 1956) is a prominent British lawyer and academic, best known for his actions on behalf of Diana, Princess of Wales and Deborah Lipstadt. He is a senior consultant for the London law firm Mishcon de Reya.
Julius is known for his opposition to new antisemitism, the alleged expression of antisemitic prejudice couched in terms of criticism of Israel, and gives frequent talks on the subject all over the world to raise awareness. He is a founding member of both Engage and the Euston Manifesto.
He is a son of a successful London textile merchant, educated at the City of London School. His father died young of a brain tumour. Julius studied English literature at Jesus College, Cambridge graduating in 1977 with a first class degree and completed a Ph.D. in English literature at University College London under the novelist and academic Dan Jacobson. He joined Mishcon de Reya, a Bloomsbury law firm in 1981 becoming a partner in 1984. Currently he is a senior consultant to that firm.
He married in 1979 and had four children with his first wife (Max, Laura, Chloë and Theo). In 1999, following his divorce, he married journalist Dina Rabinovitch who died in 2007. They have one son together (Elon). He remarried in July 2009.
Julius is known for his opposition to new antisemitism, the alleged expression of antisemitic prejudice couched in terms of criticism of Israel, and gives frequent talks on the subject all over the world to raise awareness. He is a founding member of both Engage and the Euston Manifesto.
He is a son of a successful London textile merchant, educated at the City of London School. His father died young of a brain tumour. Julius studied English literature at Jesus College, Cambridge graduating in 1977 with a first class degree and completed a Ph.D. in English literature at University College London under the novelist and academic Dan Jacobson. He joined Mishcon de Reya, a Bloomsbury law firm in 1981 becoming a partner in 1984. Currently he is a senior consultant to that firm.
He married in 1979 and had four children with his first wife (Max, Laura, Chloë and Theo). In 1999, following his divorce, he married journalist Dina Rabinovitch who died in 2007. They have one son together (Elon). He remarried in July 2009.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 19, 2026
Sometimes you really have to give it to authors who are tasked with an almost impossible job: how do you write a biography of a historical (and for some, fictional) figure who may not have existed outside of only several chapters of a very, very old book? With so little dialog to make use of, with scant verses dedicated to what he did, but in spite of all that, his impact being so world-shattering? Once upon the time, Jewish sages more or less improvised. They read between the lines and developed a plethora of midrash not just about Abraham smashing up his dad’s idol shop, but most anything in Scripture that seems to be telling more in between those lines. Jump to the modern day and Anthony Julius, our writer with a very diverse and distinguished background may have taken a page from their book and expanded it well beyond passing down the words of one rabbi to another. You see: Julius used Kant to learn more about Abraham.
OK, not just Kant, but that is kind of the crux of “Abraham: The First Jew”. This is the biography you’d probably not even see Koren Publishers release in their Maggid Studies in Tanakh series (https://korenpub.com/collections/magg... is referenced positively in the Preface and is a series I’m pretty fond of with some reservations). For starters, this is by and perhaps for the Jew who may not fully be onboard with “of course the Bible is totally all true. Sure interpretations vary but there absolutely was an Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and we have their stories!” It’s find to be skeptic; this is even noted early on: “I hope to illuminate the constitutive struggle within Jewish life between skepticism and faith, critique and affirmation, thinking for oneself and thinking under the direction of another.” (eBook, pp. xv-xvi). Thus, we get a look at what Abraham *may* have been, how he made those choices (the book’s meat and potatoes), and what the spreading of his tale meant not just for Jews, but for most everyone. From ‘one-godism’ to ‘monotheism’, we’ve a lot to cover and covered well this book does!
This is also a book that takes those midrashes noted above and takes it one step further by expanding some to full-blown narratives. Thus, if you’re the person who wants a book about the historical Abraham or a study of Abraham based solely on the information from Genesis, this probably is not what you’re looking for. Case in point is the illuminating and lengthy exchange between Nimrod and Abraham that concludes the first part of the book in a chapter called “Abraham 1’s Crisis”. Julius takes both traditional sources and analyzes them through a modern lens—perhaps making use of his own legal background as well to turn something totally missing in the Bible and even in traditional commentary not given that much space into something deep, diverse, audacious, yet respectful:
Where this book really shines, I think, is less in the ‘retellings’ of Midrash mixed with some modern elements (noted above and in particular for “Abraham 1”, the ‘before the Oven Abraham’) and more in the Akedah, The Binding of Isaac. What nineteen succinct verses alludes to in the toll of emotional damage for not just Abraham, but Isaac, and of course Sarah too cannot be overlooked. Even someone like me who far and away is no Jewish Studies scholar but has read a decent amount of commentary on this issue went into this book not expecting too much in terms of innovative insights yet was blown away. Sarah, if anything, beyond even Isaac may be the most tragic figure in the entire ‘Abraham’ story for she is neglected almost from the get-go in spite of her critical role. There are no perfect people in the Bible and that is one of its triumphs. Yes, within Jewish traditional thought we see attempts to harmonize horrific actions (see the unfortunate whitewashing that is ‘Bathsheba not technically committing adultery with David because she allegedly receive a get from Uriah’, ugh...), but this defeats the purpose, a purpose Julius poignantly points out in his modern commentary on Abraham: he was no angel and even God presents us with almost unresolvable conflictions:
And there’s more. And yes, a review that is long in the tooth is long for a reason: there’s a lot to unpack, a lot to recommend, but before that, a little discovery: this is a book about Abraham (obviously). This is a book not just about *the* Abraham, but his dualistic nature: “Abraham 1”, as I noted above, and “Abraham 2” (or the Abraham man of rational thought and later, Abraham the man of faith). It’s also about Jews all over the world and across history. But if there’s one unusual figure from our own history that seems to get an almost unusual amount of attention, it’s someone I hold dear, my own Jewish ‘guardian angel’ of sorts: Solomon Maimon (https://kobushi.substack.com/p/the-au...
). Mentioned a number of times, within our history there may be no better example of someone attempting to be both Abrahams and perhaps utterly failing at both. I say this with no disrespect towards Maimon; he was human as we all are, as the Patriarchs are as well. Rabbinical harmonization, covered in the book’s Coda can only go so far when applied to the real world. We mess up and when our Patriarchs mess up, that’s where they shine brightest. Whitewashing never needed.
Jewish Lives via Yale University Press is in some ways a strange series. You have books on Mel Brooks, the “Disobedient Jew” released alongside books like “Abraham: The First Jew”. What unites them besides both figures being Jewish is the expert touch each is given while avoiding volumes that may be too unwieldy in page length. I’ve so far read a few from this series and have yet to be let down. I do now wonder how this compares to “Abraham: The Story of a Journey” by Jonathan Grossman (https://korenpub.com/products/abraham...) published only a few years earlier as even though Julius describes himself as “a Jew of a certain intellectual formation” (page xvi), you can tell in this monograph he gives priority to the characters presented in the story and does not make any attempt to gauge whether or not they were real. Almost as an afterthought, I do hope one of these days, sooner than later, to read Grossman’s book to see how it compares. Until then, for any who may be staring at both of these books deciding on which to read, as both series (Koren and Yale) have excellent track records, you can’t really go wrong with either.
OK, not just Kant, but that is kind of the crux of “Abraham: The First Jew”. This is the biography you’d probably not even see Koren Publishers release in their Maggid Studies in Tanakh series (https://korenpub.com/collections/magg... is referenced positively in the Preface and is a series I’m pretty fond of with some reservations). For starters, this is by and perhaps for the Jew who may not fully be onboard with “of course the Bible is totally all true. Sure interpretations vary but there absolutely was an Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and we have their stories!” It’s find to be skeptic; this is even noted early on: “I hope to illuminate the constitutive struggle within Jewish life between skepticism and faith, critique and affirmation, thinking for oneself and thinking under the direction of another.” (eBook, pp. xv-xvi). Thus, we get a look at what Abraham *may* have been, how he made those choices (the book’s meat and potatoes), and what the spreading of his tale meant not just for Jews, but for most everyone. From ‘one-godism’ to ‘monotheism’, we’ve a lot to cover and covered well this book does!
This is also a book that takes those midrashes noted above and takes it one step further by expanding some to full-blown narratives. Thus, if you’re the person who wants a book about the historical Abraham or a study of Abraham based solely on the information from Genesis, this probably is not what you’re looking for. Case in point is the illuminating and lengthy exchange between Nimrod and Abraham that concludes the first part of the book in a chapter called “Abraham 1’s Crisis”. Julius takes both traditional sources and analyzes them through a modern lens—perhaps making use of his own legal background as well to turn something totally missing in the Bible and even in traditional commentary not given that much space into something deep, diverse, audacious, yet respectful:
“[So says Abraham:] And on the subject of defeat, let us not forget your absurd ambition to challenge the heavens! As if your imagined gods had an address! Such stupid literal-mindedness! You are jealous of my success. I have depopulated the heavens with my mind—not with footling bricks and arrows.” (page 73)
Where this book really shines, I think, is less in the ‘retellings’ of Midrash mixed with some modern elements (noted above and in particular for “Abraham 1”, the ‘before the Oven Abraham’) and more in the Akedah, The Binding of Isaac. What nineteen succinct verses alludes to in the toll of emotional damage for not just Abraham, but Isaac, and of course Sarah too cannot be overlooked. Even someone like me who far and away is no Jewish Studies scholar but has read a decent amount of commentary on this issue went into this book not expecting too much in terms of innovative insights yet was blown away. Sarah, if anything, beyond even Isaac may be the most tragic figure in the entire ‘Abraham’ story for she is neglected almost from the get-go in spite of her critical role. There are no perfect people in the Bible and that is one of its triumphs. Yes, within Jewish traditional thought we see attempts to harmonize horrific actions (see the unfortunate whitewashing that is ‘Bathsheba not technically committing adultery with David because she allegedly receive a get from Uriah’, ugh...), but this defeats the purpose, a purpose Julius poignantly points out in his modern commentary on Abraham: he was no angel and even God presents us with almost unresolvable conflictions:
“Abraham teaches Isaac an unforgettable lesson: ‘My love is a thing to be surrendered in the face of a fear. I love you, but I fear God more.’” (page 151)
And there’s more. And yes, a review that is long in the tooth is long for a reason: there’s a lot to unpack, a lot to recommend, but before that, a little discovery: this is a book about Abraham (obviously). This is a book not just about *the* Abraham, but his dualistic nature: “Abraham 1”, as I noted above, and “Abraham 2” (or the Abraham man of rational thought and later, Abraham the man of faith). It’s also about Jews all over the world and across history. But if there’s one unusual figure from our own history that seems to get an almost unusual amount of attention, it’s someone I hold dear, my own Jewish ‘guardian angel’ of sorts: Solomon Maimon (https://kobushi.substack.com/p/the-au...
). Mentioned a number of times, within our history there may be no better example of someone attempting to be both Abrahams and perhaps utterly failing at both. I say this with no disrespect towards Maimon; he was human as we all are, as the Patriarchs are as well. Rabbinical harmonization, covered in the book’s Coda can only go so far when applied to the real world. We mess up and when our Patriarchs mess up, that’s where they shine brightest. Whitewashing never needed.
Jewish Lives via Yale University Press is in some ways a strange series. You have books on Mel Brooks, the “Disobedient Jew” released alongside books like “Abraham: The First Jew”. What unites them besides both figures being Jewish is the expert touch each is given while avoiding volumes that may be too unwieldy in page length. I’ve so far read a few from this series and have yet to be let down. I do now wonder how this compares to “Abraham: The Story of a Journey” by Jonathan Grossman (https://korenpub.com/products/abraham...) published only a few years earlier as even though Julius describes himself as “a Jew of a certain intellectual formation” (page xvi), you can tell in this monograph he gives priority to the characters presented in the story and does not make any attempt to gauge whether or not they were real. Almost as an afterthought, I do hope one of these days, sooner than later, to read Grossman’s book to see how it compares. Until then, for any who may be staring at both of these books deciding on which to read, as both series (Koren and Yale) have excellent track records, you can’t really go wrong with either.
December 31, 2025
Truly fascinating and thought provoking
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews