THEOLOGY WITH FISSURES: CONTRADICTIONS IN RABBI JOSEPH B. SOLOVEITCHIK'S THEOLOGICAL WRITINGS

Abstract

Joseph B. Soloveitchik's theological essays are characterized by contradictions: contradictions between essays, contradictions within essays, and contradictions between Soloveitchik's stated ideas and his personal practice. This essay will offer a categorization and a taxonomy of different kinds of contradictions, providing at least one example of each. It will also offer a similar taxonomy of ways of solving or explaining those contradictions, again offering examples of each. In addition, it will add another to the list of approaches to the contradictions, suggesting that we be careful not to impose upon Soloveitchik ideas, motivations, or pedagogic intentions that he does not himself state. This suggested approach does not attempt to solve or explain the contradiction, but rather to contextualize it within the themes of Soloveitchik's writings. This approach argues that the internal logic of Soloveitchik's thinking pushes him in contradictory directions. We can look for strands of internally consistent thinking that run up against other strands of internally consistent thinking. We can try to separate out various threads in his thinking, identifying the themes that push in one direction and the themes that push in another.