Miriam Feldmann-Kaye
Senior Lecturer, Department of Jewish Philosophy, Bar Ilan University
Chief Academic Editor, St. Andrews' University Encyclopaedia of Jewish Theology.
Fellow, Polonsky Library, Van Leer Jerusalem Institute.
Post-doctoral Fellowships:
Lady Davis Fellowship Trust, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Dept. Comparative Religion
Post-doctoral Fellowship, Mexican Friends of Hebrew University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Post-doctoral Fellowship - Truman Research Institute, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Co-Founder and Project Director - Faith and Belief Forum Middle East
PhD University of Haifa, Jewish Thought
MA University of London
BA University of Cambridge (Gonville and Caius College) Theology - Faculty of Divinity
Chief Academic Editor, St. Andrews' University Encyclopaedia of Jewish Theology.
Fellow, Polonsky Library, Van Leer Jerusalem Institute.
Post-doctoral Fellowships:
Lady Davis Fellowship Trust, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Dept. Comparative Religion
Post-doctoral Fellowship, Mexican Friends of Hebrew University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Post-doctoral Fellowship - Truman Research Institute, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Co-Founder and Project Director - Faith and Belief Forum Middle East
PhD University of Haifa, Jewish Thought
MA University of London
BA University of Cambridge (Gonville and Caius College) Theology - Faculty of Divinity
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אופן הקריאה של כתבי הקודש מתואר לעיתים כ'תאו־פרקסיס' של היחסים הבין־דתיים. קריאת כתבי הקודש מאפשרת למאמינים בני דתות הספר: נוצרים, יהודים ומוסלמים להפנות את המוקד התיאולוגי שלהם לדיאלוג הבין־דתי – באופן תאורטי ומעשי כאחד. חלק מן המשתתפים במפגשי שיח כתבי הקודש עשויים לבחור להגדיר שיח זה רק כפרקטיקה, ואילו המכוננים והמובילים של שיח זה מעדיפים להציגו כתאולוגיה של יחסים 'בין־סובייקטים' עם בני דתות אחרות תוך הקפדה שלא לנקוט ביַחְסוּתָנוּת (רלטיביזם)…
In this episode J.J. and Dr. Miriam Feldmann-Kaye get into the nature of postmodernism and how it relates to Judaism. Also, meta-narratives and mega-narratives.
https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/religion-holidays/2023/09/what-judaism-can-and-cant-learn-from-postmodernism/
nature of existentialism after the dialogical turn. This analysis will focus on the particular case study
of the biblical character of Abraham as a case in point. Philosophical treatments thereof allow for
a consideration of different but connected approaches through the study and re-readings of the
character of Abraham, which begin with Kierkegaard’s well-known rendition of the sacrifice of
Isaac. This study will focus on interpretations since Kierkegaard, with attention to the continental
philosophical trend. The four thinkers I bring, all offered critiques, and even rejections of, a purely
existential position. These positions are well-known in the field. However, Existentialism is never
actually overcome despite these four critiques of Kierkegaard’s model of Abraham. I will demonstrate
this through an analysis of the case of interpretations of the biblical figure of Abraham, showing the
ways in which Kierkegaard remains present in dialogical philosophy and even deconstructionism.
For Franz Rosenzweig, his stance is relational and thus is fascinated yet ambivalent towards the
readiness of Abraham to sacrifice; Emmanuel Levinas admires Kierkegaard’s emphasis on the
subject/ivity (Proper Names and Difficult Freedom); Jacques Derrida admires Abraham’s passion
(Gift of Death and Abraham as Other); and for Jean-Luc Marion, Abraham’s sacrifice does not present
a relinquishing of self, but rather, the phenomenological act symbolises returning a Gift.
Keywords: modern philosophy; religious existentialism; continental philosophical theology; Franz
Rosenzweig; Emmanuel Levinas; Jacques Derrida; Jean-Luc Marion
Miriam Feldmann Kaye
This paper will set forth the principles of postmodern philosophy and the ways in which they both stimulate and problematise new philosophical discourse in Jewish thought today. The paper will examine one particular case in point – that of philosophical understandings of sacred texts. Hermeneutical responses to phenomenology of the early twentieth century – according to Emmanuel Lévinas – will be employed to analyse the role of sacred texts. Postmodern theory, in particular the deconstructionist approach of Jacques Derrida, was accompanied by his proposal of dissemination. Dissemination, will be viewed as a tool by which the approaches of Lévinas might be conceived of as offering new approaches to revelation according to Jewish tradition. This is manifested in original interpretations of the role of liturgy, and prayer, as fulfilling the notion of the “life of the text”. Ultimately, entertaining the Derridean shift from mimesis to poesis, makes new demands on the Jewish idea of revelation to define itself anew. Questions will be posed as to, how far the Derridean theory of dissemination should or can be entertained in Jewish theology. And if this approach is amalgamated in certain ways, then what does this new approach to revelation mean for Jewish consciousness and thinking today
Prof Susanna Heschel
Prof Moshe Halbertal
Prof Hanoch ben Pazi
Prof Haviva Pedaya
Dr Shai Held
Dr Miriam Feldmann Kaye
Dr Dror Bondi
a Jewish theological perspective. It seeks to provide an original analysis of his project
“anatheism,” considering the prominence of Jewish texts in the development of the
concept of anatheism. Rooted in deconstructionist and Continental philosophical discourses, Jewish hermeneutics also plays a central role in anatheism. This discursive
intersection has received scarce scholarly attention to date. Biblical and other texts
which he interprets, include the rabbinic exegesis of Rashi and of modern Jewish
hermeneutical philosophy notably of Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, and Emmanuel
Levinas. I analyse elements of Kearney’s interpretation primarily of the “Burning Bush”
biblical narrative as a test case for anatheistic reading of Jewish texts as they appear in
one particular text “I Am Who May Be” in The God Who May Be: A Hermeneutics of Religion (2001). Kearney’s textual reading of the Burning Bush offers an unusual example
of a Christian engagement with Jewish interpretations of the biblical parable as well
as of Levinas, Derrida, and others. Kearney’s effort highlights an approach of a mutual
search for ways of interpreting texts not “of” the other, but “with” the other, in a mutual
engagement of post-metaphysical theology. More broadly, this examination offers an
important contribution to the developing field of post-metaphysical theology in the
Jewish and Christian traditions, ultimately posing questions as to how and whether
elements of Jewish scriptural interpretative techniques might or can imbue contemporary Christian post-metaphysical theologies. Conversely, the question can be asked as
to what a Jewish version of anatheism might look like. This examination presents a test
case for possibilities of reading and learning from discourses across different religions.
modern philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, and the late modern Jewish
philosopher Joseph D. Soloveitchik. The conceptual backdrop is broader
than this specific comparison through its enriching contextualisation of
Jewish written or imagined responses to contemporaneous philosophical
movements. In particular, the book offers insights into conceptual trends
of post-Enlightenment Western philosophical theology, notably between
individualism and the collective; theism and atheism; iconoclasm and
obedience.
Phenomenological, Hermeneutical and Existentialist Approaches to the idea of Revelation in Sacred texts
אוניברסיטת בן גוריון סמינר מחלקתי
Research Seminary, Ben Gurion University of the Negev
"A Jewish Theological Reading of ''Anatheism'' according to Richard Kearney: The Burning Bush as a Test Case" [Hebrew]
אופן הקריאה של כתבי הקודש מתואר לעיתים כ'תאו־פרקסיס' של היחסים הבין־דתיים. קריאת כתבי הקודש מאפשרת למאמינים בני דתות הספר: נוצרים, יהודים ומוסלמים להפנות את המוקד התיאולוגי שלהם לדיאלוג הבין־דתי – באופן תאורטי ומעשי כאחד. חלק מן המשתתפים במפגשי שיח כתבי הקודש עשויים לבחור להגדיר שיח זה רק כפרקטיקה, ואילו המכוננים והמובילים של שיח זה מעדיפים להציגו כתאולוגיה של יחסים 'בין־סובייקטים' עם בני דתות אחרות תוך הקפדה שלא לנקוט ביַחְסוּתָנוּת (רלטיביזם)…
In this episode J.J. and Dr. Miriam Feldmann-Kaye get into the nature of postmodernism and how it relates to Judaism. Also, meta-narratives and mega-narratives.
https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/religion-holidays/2023/09/what-judaism-can-and-cant-learn-from-postmodernism/
nature of existentialism after the dialogical turn. This analysis will focus on the particular case study
of the biblical character of Abraham as a case in point. Philosophical treatments thereof allow for
a consideration of different but connected approaches through the study and re-readings of the
character of Abraham, which begin with Kierkegaard’s well-known rendition of the sacrifice of
Isaac. This study will focus on interpretations since Kierkegaard, with attention to the continental
philosophical trend. The four thinkers I bring, all offered critiques, and even rejections of, a purely
existential position. These positions are well-known in the field. However, Existentialism is never
actually overcome despite these four critiques of Kierkegaard’s model of Abraham. I will demonstrate
this through an analysis of the case of interpretations of the biblical figure of Abraham, showing the
ways in which Kierkegaard remains present in dialogical philosophy and even deconstructionism.
For Franz Rosenzweig, his stance is relational and thus is fascinated yet ambivalent towards the
readiness of Abraham to sacrifice; Emmanuel Levinas admires Kierkegaard’s emphasis on the
subject/ivity (Proper Names and Difficult Freedom); Jacques Derrida admires Abraham’s passion
(Gift of Death and Abraham as Other); and for Jean-Luc Marion, Abraham’s sacrifice does not present
a relinquishing of self, but rather, the phenomenological act symbolises returning a Gift.
Keywords: modern philosophy; religious existentialism; continental philosophical theology; Franz
Rosenzweig; Emmanuel Levinas; Jacques Derrida; Jean-Luc Marion
Miriam Feldmann Kaye
This paper will set forth the principles of postmodern philosophy and the ways in which they both stimulate and problematise new philosophical discourse in Jewish thought today. The paper will examine one particular case in point – that of philosophical understandings of sacred texts. Hermeneutical responses to phenomenology of the early twentieth century – according to Emmanuel Lévinas – will be employed to analyse the role of sacred texts. Postmodern theory, in particular the deconstructionist approach of Jacques Derrida, was accompanied by his proposal of dissemination. Dissemination, will be viewed as a tool by which the approaches of Lévinas might be conceived of as offering new approaches to revelation according to Jewish tradition. This is manifested in original interpretations of the role of liturgy, and prayer, as fulfilling the notion of the “life of the text”. Ultimately, entertaining the Derridean shift from mimesis to poesis, makes new demands on the Jewish idea of revelation to define itself anew. Questions will be posed as to, how far the Derridean theory of dissemination should or can be entertained in Jewish theology. And if this approach is amalgamated in certain ways, then what does this new approach to revelation mean for Jewish consciousness and thinking today
Prof Susanna Heschel
Prof Moshe Halbertal
Prof Hanoch ben Pazi
Prof Haviva Pedaya
Dr Shai Held
Dr Miriam Feldmann Kaye
Dr Dror Bondi
a Jewish theological perspective. It seeks to provide an original analysis of his project
“anatheism,” considering the prominence of Jewish texts in the development of the
concept of anatheism. Rooted in deconstructionist and Continental philosophical discourses, Jewish hermeneutics also plays a central role in anatheism. This discursive
intersection has received scarce scholarly attention to date. Biblical and other texts
which he interprets, include the rabbinic exegesis of Rashi and of modern Jewish
hermeneutical philosophy notably of Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, and Emmanuel
Levinas. I analyse elements of Kearney’s interpretation primarily of the “Burning Bush”
biblical narrative as a test case for anatheistic reading of Jewish texts as they appear in
one particular text “I Am Who May Be” in The God Who May Be: A Hermeneutics of Religion (2001). Kearney’s textual reading of the Burning Bush offers an unusual example
of a Christian engagement with Jewish interpretations of the biblical parable as well
as of Levinas, Derrida, and others. Kearney’s effort highlights an approach of a mutual
search for ways of interpreting texts not “of” the other, but “with” the other, in a mutual
engagement of post-metaphysical theology. More broadly, this examination offers an
important contribution to the developing field of post-metaphysical theology in the
Jewish and Christian traditions, ultimately posing questions as to how and whether
elements of Jewish scriptural interpretative techniques might or can imbue contemporary Christian post-metaphysical theologies. Conversely, the question can be asked as
to what a Jewish version of anatheism might look like. This examination presents a test
case for possibilities of reading and learning from discourses across different religions.
modern philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, and the late modern Jewish
philosopher Joseph D. Soloveitchik. The conceptual backdrop is broader
than this specific comparison through its enriching contextualisation of
Jewish written or imagined responses to contemporaneous philosophical
movements. In particular, the book offers insights into conceptual trends
of post-Enlightenment Western philosophical theology, notably between
individualism and the collective; theism and atheism; iconoclasm and
obedience.
Phenomenological, Hermeneutical and Existentialist Approaches to the idea of Revelation in Sacred texts
אוניברסיטת בן גוריון סמינר מחלקתי
Research Seminary, Ben Gurion University of the Negev
"A Jewish Theological Reading of ''Anatheism'' according to Richard Kearney: The Burning Bush as a Test Case" [Hebrew]
'Sources:
How to Avoid Speaking: Denials, (based on a lecture first delivered in Jerusalem, 1986) published in Psyche: Inventions of the Other, Volume II, Eds Kamuf, P. & Rottenberg, E., Stanford [Stanford University Press] 2008;
Derrida, J., Guvrin, M. & Shapiro, D, Guf Tefila (Heb), Tel Aviv [Mofet/Kav Adom Kaheh/Kibbutz HaMeuhad] 2013.
She’erit HaEmunah: Derashot Postmoderniot LeMoadei Yisrael, eds Y Mevorach & E Abramovitz, Resling 2014.
'לתת בים דרך''
2017
אירוע לכבוד עשר שנים מפטירתו של הרב שג''ר
ישיבת שיח יצחק
Prof Menachem Lorberbaum ''Theology after Realism''
Prof Sylvia Barack Fishman ''Asking the Right Questions“
Panel:
Prof. Hanoch ben Pazi
Dr Ronit Irshai
Dr Tova Ganzel
Prof Tamar Elor
Dr Chana Friedman
Closing remarks: Prof Tamar Ross
הנחייה: ד“ר מרים פלדמן-קיי
◆ פרופ‘ מנחם לורברבוים: ”תיאולוגיה מעבר לריאליזם“
◆ פרופ‘ סילביה ברק פישמן:
◆ אתנחתא מוזיקלית
◆ ”הפמיניזם הדתי – כיוונים ומחשבות לעתיד“
פאנל בהנחיית: פרופ‘ חנוך בן-פזי
בהשתתפות: פרופ‘ תמר אלאור · ד“ר חנה פרידמן
ד“ר טובה גנזל · ד“ר רונית עיר-שי
◆ אתנחתא מוזיקלית
◆ דברי סיכום: פרופ‘ תמר רוס
Wednesday 26th June 2019
Dr Miriam Feldman Kaye, R. Dr Michael Harris, Dr Tamra Wright
Chair: Dr Harris Bor
Jewish philosophy and theology have always developed in dialogue with western philosophy. Join us for a lively discussion with three scholars about their recent books and their different perspectives on the evolving relationship between Jewish thought and the western philosophical tradition(s). The conversation will cover modernity, postmodernism, ethics, the existentialist quest for meaning, and much, much more.
Navigating Between Insider and Outsider Approaches to Religious Truth Claims
Hanoch Ben Pazi
The Influence of Jewish - Christian Dialogue on Jewish Thought of Theodicy
Cass Fisher
Remembering the Future of Jewish Theology
"Bar-Ilan Forum for Study of Religions"
Prof. Shlomy Mualem – Prof. Hanoch Ben Pazi
Bar-Ilan University – University of Göttingen
Israeli-German Workshop on
“Religions and Healing” in the face of Corona (COVID-19)
Bar Ilan Campus
Nov. 21 - 23, 2022
“Religions and Healing” in the face of Corona (COVID-19)
Hermeneutical challenges to religious perspectives on illness and human well-being
The Global Corona-Context
The Corona plague has confronted all of humanity with common challenges with natural
disaster, anxiety, social isolation, as well as imminent religious and spiritual questions. During
the past two years one could already decipher how religious individuals, groups, thinkers and
leaders started to react to these communal and spiritual challenges. At the same time, one
can already begin to identify several theological, spiritual, psychological and social
implications of these confrontations of our times.
Hermeneutical Challenge to the ’Religious Field’
Religious traditions often embody specific ideas – and ideals – about the interpretation of
illnesses and pandemics (karmic effects, negative rewards for human misbehavior and sinful
action, God’s wrath etc.) and the preservation of well-being and healing (e.g. spiritual
strengthening of resilience; practices of ‘natural’, medical and/or ‘spiritual’ healing; as well as
prayer, ritual and ‘magic’ activities). – The current global pandemic has led all spiritual
traditions to re-evaluate their traditional stock of narratives and practices around illness and
healing and to confront them with the new pandemic situation, which in itself poses a radical
hermeneutical imperative – a quest to be interpreted, to be attributed with meaning: ➔ Why
is it there, and how can it be interpreted and understood (religiously) and how is it to be
confronted – spiritually, as well as in action (Theodicy, Ethics)? – Will it suffice to re-enact
traditional paths of interpretation or does the current pandemic situation demand a new reevaluation?
favour of the notion of Time – which he termed the “cathedral of time”.
This paper will focus on the central philosophical influence on Heschel’s notion of eternity. Indeed, Heschel’s philosophy of Shabbat could be aligned with one of the central ideas of the ‘phenomenological’ school of philosophy of modern times: “Time consciousness”. Such a discussion can enrich our understanding of Heschel’s portrayal of ‘time’ in his paradigmatic and temporal conceptualisation of Shabbat.
This paper will propose that Heschel’s thought on Shabbat finds greatest
affinity with one particular phenomenologist, that of Edmund Husserl. Husserl was a German philosopher of Jewish origin, some of whose works were edited by and influential upon Emmanuel Levinas. Husserlian philosophy describes the “Internal Time-Consciousness” in the context of “transcendental” experience. In this sense, the Shabbat idea according to Heschel can be significantly enhanced through offering new insights through this phenomenological approach.
"דתות הודו בהגותו של הרב שג''ר: תיאולוגיה יהודית של נירוונה ונאורות"
כנס "הרב שג"ר – הגות ומחשבה לעת הזאת"
ט' באדר תש"פ / 5 במרץ 2020
אוניברסיטת בר אילן, רמת גן
הרב שמעון גרשון רוזנברג – המוכר בכינויו הרב שג"ר – (1949 – 2007), מן ההוגים הבולטים של המחשבה היהודית במאה העשרים. מן הצד הסוציולוגי, מצוי היה ברב שג"ר במרכז ובשוליים של חוגי הציונות הדתית, אך דומה שמבחינה הגותית ורעיונית חשיבותו חורגת הרבה מעבר לחוגים אלה. הרב שג"ר החל את דרכו כרב ומחנך ב"ישיבת הכותל", והיה לשותף מרכזי בכמה מבתי המדרש שביקשו לפרוץ דרך ייחודית במחשבה הדתית: "מעלה.- המרכז לציונות דתית", "ישיבת שפע – מקור חיים", "ישיבת שיח יצחק", ו"בית מורשה". הוא היה לאישיות ולמורה דרך לצעירים רבים, תוך כדי שהוא כותב שיח הגותי ודתי המתמודד עם אתגרי המודרניות, הפוסטמודרניות, והשיח הפוליטי והמוסרי של העת הזאת. בחמש עשרה השנים האחרונות, זוכים כתביו לצאת לאור תוך כדי עריכה וסידור של הועד להוצאת כתביו. משנתו הולכת ומוצאת את מקומה בקרב לומדים ולומדות רבים, וזוכה גם למחקר אקדמי וחוץ אקדמי בהקשרים פילוסופיים, תיאולוגיים, היסטוריים ופוליטיים.
הכנס המתוכנן להתקיים בבר אילן, מבקש לתת במה לשיח המחקרי ההולך ומתפתח סביב הגותו של הרב שג"ר. הכנס מכוון לאפשר מבט על המחקר הקיים, להצביע על כיווני מחקר עתידיים, ולהרחיב את ההתעניינות ואת ההקשרים שבו ראוי לטעת את משנתו.
בין הכיוונים המוצעים לכנס: מקומו בהגות היהודית המודרנית ; תפיסתו ההרמנויטית ומעמדו כפרשן ; החשיבה הפוליטית של הרב שג"ר ; משנתו החינוכית ; יחסו של הרב שג"ר לפוסטמודרניזם ; הרב שג"ר בתוך שיח עם אסכולות פילוסופיות שונות.
אנו מזמינים חוקרים ותלמידי מחקר מתקדמים להגיש את הצעותיהם להשתתפות בכנס.
המועד האחרון למשלוח הצעות הוא ה 15 בינואר. תשובות יינתנו ב 1 בפברואר 2020.
את ההצעות יש לשלוח לפי הכתובת הבאה BIU.JewishPhilosophy.conference@gmail.com ________________________________________
"Revealing and Concealing in Jewish, Islamic and Muslim Classic Sacred Texts"
"שארית האמונה ישראל למועדי פוסטמודרניות דרשות יהודית וזהות תרבות"
של הרב שג''ר
Van Leer Institute, 17-20/2/2019, Jerusalem
הרב שג"ר מאזכר את תיאוריית המטאפורה של ריצ'רד רורטי, פילוסוף אנגלו-אמריקאי (עמ' 79). רורטי מפרק את מושג האמת, וטוען כי היא בעצם מטאפורה, כלומר, הבניה אנושית באמצעותה אנו מסבירים את העולם. היא "מפילה את תמונת האנושיות", כלשונו. אף כי הרב שג"ר מאזכר תפיסה זו, ברור כי לשיטתו, כפי שרואים בכתיבתו אודות החסידות, למטאפורה כוח החורג מעבר לזה שרורטי מקנה לה: היכולת ליצור עולמות קוסמיים. את החלל הפנוי מחוללים ומאכלסים באמצעות המטאפורה.
ודווקא למעשה, ברבים מכתביו מתעניין הרב שג"ר רבות בכתיבתו של פול ריקר, ספרים אחדים שלו אף החזיק בביתו. ריקר היה פילוסוף צרפתי בן המאה העשרים המוכר אך מעט בקרב מעגליו של הרב שג"ר. למה שראש ישיבה, המשוקע בעולמה של תורה, יתעניין בדמות כזו? לא בלתי סביר כי העניין טמון בכך שפול ריקר כתב את תיאוריית המטאפורה המודרנית. דרכו הרב שג''ר מביע את עמדתו: מטאפורה היא כלי רוחני רב עוצמה, המשמש ליצירת מציאויות בהן אנו מאמינים. עבור הרב שג"ר תיאוריה זו קיימת כבר בחסידות.
philosophical challenges that postmodernity poses to the Jewish tradition and charts a course for
the future of Jewish theology in a postmodern age. Her account of postmodernism focuses on the
“cultural-linguistic turn” exemplified by thinkers like Wittgenstein and Derrida, whose work
calls into question modernist pretensions to determine universal or objective truths that transcend
the particularities of distinct communities. Although Feldmann Kaye does not claim to embrace
postmodernism wholesale, she is convinced that, rightly understood, it helps to carve out space
for religious communities, including Judaism, to develop their own distinct theological ideas and
religious practices in their own cultural-linguistic idiom, without succumbing to the sort of
relativism that would weaken religious commitment or reduce it to a merely personal choice.
What is apparent in this discussion typifies religious approaches towards cutting-edge theology. In a positive sense, it also exemplifies engagement with these ideas. The particular focus here is on my book, and an analysis of the theologies of Rav Shagar (Rabbi Shimon Gershon Rosenberg) and Professor Tamar Ross, but it is about a far broader picture of engagement with postmodern thinking, drawing on the wealth of writings of other Jewish thinkers. It is about the ability of Jewish thinking to cope with, or amalgamate, ideas from contemporary philosophy.
All her discussion points to Feldmann Kaye’s own “visionary theology” bursting out between the lines of the book never articulated, even with my coaxing for this interview. She has sympathy for the post-secular 21st century ideas of Richard Kearney’s anantheism and Jean Luc Marion’s saturated event. She wants to open up to a theology “which does not rely on an ultimate and singular truth, but posits instead that the notion of a multiplicity of truths.” For Feldmann-Kaye “The implications are twofold: firstly, since faith does not lend itself to scientific verification, it becomes difficult to justify a preference for one’s own world view or way of life. Second, if such truths are perceived as culturally particular social constructs, their prime function is limited to defining communal boundaries.” I heard part of it at the World Congress of Jewish Studies in 2017. I hope to hear more.
The book focuses on three specific themes in their thought, (1) Cultural Particularism, (2) Language, and (3) Revelation.
In 1979, Lyotard published The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, a work acknowledging that the era of modernism and existentialism had ended. In its place, Lyotard offered skepticism about universalizing theories and a rejection of universals and metanarratives. Feldmann Kaye relies heavily on this seminal work to define the philosophic climate of our era.
וַיִּסְעוּ מֵרְפִידִים, וַיָּבֹאוּ מִדְבַּר סִינַי, וַיַּחֲנוּ, בַּמִּדְבָּר; וַיִּחַן-שָׁם יִשְׂרָאֵל, נֶגֶד הָהָר
Setting out from Refidim they had arrived at the Sinai desert, encamping in the wilderness, and there Israel camped, facing the mountain, while Moshe went up to God. [1]
(Exod. 19:2)
The Torah is set to be given at an unknown site, in an encampment of no-man’s land, and surrounded by the wilderness. This setting amidst desert-wandering is appropriate for the giving of Torah and the people themselves, as strangers here, are worthy of receiving it. The parashah’s opening attests to this with a reminder that the name given to Moses’s son, Gershom, was an expression of the experience of being a stranger in a strange land: