A Peripheral Field. Meditations on the Status of Jewish Philosophy

Abstract

Using biblical text and rabbinic commentary on the law of “gleanings” (Lev 23:22) as example and metaphor, this essay locates the taxonomic place of Jewish philosophy on the margins of Jewish existence, arguing that the marginal, while not central, remains “as it ought to be.” It indicates boundaries and limits, but also demarcates transitions and intersections between particular and universal. Like the law of gleanings, which obliges the agriculturist to be mindful of those in need and limits landownership and possession, Jewish philosophy directs attention of an otherwise introverted community toward an outside that is to benefit from, as well as benefits, Jewish life. Traditionally skeptical, but in its modern version constructive and apologetic, Jewish philosophy fosters Jewish mindfulness of its own correlativity and intersectionality with a world beyond the boundaries of the covenant. In one direction, Jewish philosophy, while marginal in comparison with religiously constitutive fields such as biblical commentary and legal studies, thus remains anchored within, but also anchors, the law and its meanings. In the other direction, Jewish philosophy articulates the values of Jewish spirituality–from inside the Jewish experience–in universally accessible terms. Something similar may be said of the philosophies embedded in other religious traditions.