God, Man And History

Eliezer Berkovits, Shalem Institute, 1959/2004

This short book is a recent acquisition, and is understood to be Berkovits’ magnum opus in the field of Jewish philosophy. A profound thinker not shy of controversy, Berkovits wrote some 19 books. He was an articulate and persuasive author, who is identified with the Modern Orthodox camp and best known for his work ‘Faith after the Holocaust.’ The republication of this book (and I believe that more of Berkovits’ works are to be reissued) is an opportunity to rediscover a truly profound and unusually thinker – a great scholar, as well as modern theologian. In this work, Berkovits takes on the nature of the human encounter with the Divine, and in an attempt to merge philosophy with theology, discusses revelation, the nature of the Divine, eschatology and the function of the State of Israel for Jews and Judaism. The parts that I liked best were his re-examination of the Rambam’s rationalistic view of the Mitzvah system and the analysis of the purpose of Halachah, which I found to be masterful. The book is quite hard going, but well worth it. I intend to read it again quite soon, and it is likely that I will quote it in sermons!

God, Man And History