This article explores the meaning of the notion of ‘creation’ in
the Jewish tradition of the 20th century – both in regard to God as creator
and the human being as creature. With reference to Franz Rosenzweig,
Margarete Susman and Hans Jonas, the first part of the article
focuses on the question of whether God, after Auschwitz, can still be
understood as an omnipotent and righteous creator of the All, while the
second part investigates the human condition as described by Hannah
Arendt and Emmanuel Levinas: what does it mean to be created as or in
the image of God? In particular, creaturely freedom and responsibility,
natality and creativity are highlighted and discussed in the context of
post-Holocaust theology.