Love and Terror in the God Encounter: The Theological Legacy of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Volume 1The intellectual legacy of one of the twentieth century's greatest religious thinkers--explained by a leading theologian of our day. "It is only through experiencing the contradictions in human existence, through being overwhelmed by the divine presence, through the finite human being feeling terror-stricken by the infinite majesty of God that one can develop an authentic religious personality." Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik (1903-1993) profoundly influenced modern Orthodox Judaism in the United States--and Judaism as a whole--by opening up a discourse between the tradition of Torah study and Western philosophical thought. The future of both religious Zionism in Israel and of Orthodoxy in America hangs to a great extent on how we interpret his intellectual legacy. Dr. David Hartman's penetrating analysis of Rabbi Soloveitchik's work reveals a Judaism committed to intellectual courage, integrity and openness. A renowned theologian and philosopher, Hartman meticulously explores the subtlety and complexity of Rabbi Soloveitchik's theological thought, exposing a surprising intersection of halakhic tradition and modern Western theology--a confrontation that deepens and expands our spiritual understanding. Hartman's provocative interpretation bears witness to the legitimacy of remaining loyal to the Judaic tradition without sacrificing one's intellectual freedom and honesty. |
From inside the book
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... passion . Halakhic man yearns to understand Torah for its own sake , Torah li - shemah . A yeshivah student studies halakhah simply because it is an extension of God's word . Swimming in the intellectual sea of Talmud is a worthy ...
... passion from the life of ritual and wor- ship . Endless arguments over ritual or ethics , as defining the essence of religious life , are totally alien to R. Soloveitchik's ha- lakhic man . Homo religiosus , who is primarily concerned ...
... passion nurtured by the experiential dimensions of standing in the presence of God . Neither for Maimonides nor for ... passion . For R. Soloveitchik , the universal existential features of the human condition - the terror felt by any ...
Contents
INTRODUCTION | 1 |
THE HALAKHIC HERO | 23 |
THE RELIGIOUS PASSION OF HALAKHIC | 63 |
Copyright | |
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