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The
Jewish Religious Experience from Halakhah, Aggadah and Kabbalah: Two Series
of Lectures by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, based on the notes of Rabbis
Robert Blau and Yaakov Homnick
Based on Rabbi Soloveitchik’s course taught at the Bernard Revel Graduate
School in 1946–1947, these lectures present a sustained argument for the
preeminence of Halakhah within Jewish tradition. Nonetheless, Halakhah
itself “was re-worked first by Aggadah and then by Kabbalah,” and this
totality of Halakhah, Aggadah and Kabbalah shapes the Jewish religious
experience. Halakhah “atomizes and breaks everything down into simple
elements.” When it reverses the process and “begins to make a structural
whole… it enters into the realm of Aggadah.” Kabbalah, too, is integral to
the Jewish religious experience. “The kabbalistic perspective rests on
Halakhah” and “Halakhah never took exception to Kabbalah.” The greatness of
the Jewish religious experience is its integration of Halakhah, Aggadah and
Kabbalah. “No other religion has such a triad.”
Jointly published by Hakirah and
Tradition. Available from
Amazon. |