Rabbi Yitzchak Hutner's Theology of Meaning

"The World Was Created for Me" Studies in Musar Series, Volume 2

Series: 

Author:
Alon Shalev
Rabbi Yitzchak Hutner's Theology of Meaning explores the profound, enigmatic, and novel thought of Rabbi Yitzchak Hutner, combining innovative analysis with rigorous textual and historical research. Through a reconstruction of his intellectual biography and the conceptual framework underlying his ideas, this volume generates a hermeneutical key to decipher his writings, revealing their focal points and systematic coherence, and positioning him as a post-existentialist theologian bridging Jewish tradition, modern philosophy, and existential inquiry. The methodology presented offers a valuable model for analyzing complex intellectual systems, making it essential reading for scholars of philosophy, theology, and intellectual history.
Copyright Year:
2025
E-Book (PDF)
Availability:
Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-73414-2
Publication:
19 May 2025
Hardback
Availability:
Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-51350-1
Publication:
22 May 2025
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Alon Shalev, Ph.D., is a research fellow and faculty member at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. His main interests are philosophy and theology of meaning in\of life and political philosophy.
Contents
Acknowledgments

Introduction

1 Rabbi Hutner – the Early Years
 1.1 Youth 1906–1928
 1.2 Years of Wandering: 1928–1934

2 Rabbi Hutner – the Later Years
 2.1 First Steps on American Soil – 1934–1938
 2.2 The Rosh Yeshiva – 1938–1964
 2.3 The Final Years of Wandering: 1964–1980
 2.4 Concluding Biographical Remarks

3 Pachad Yitzchak – Historical-Bibliographical Analysis
 3.1 On Authoring
 3.2 On Esoteric Writing
 3.3 On Publication

4 The Intellectual Infrastructure of Pachad Yitzchak
 4.1 Teleology I: Anthropocentrism
 4.2 Teleology II: Theocentrism
 4.3 Dualism
 4.4 Eschatology
 4.5 Intellectual Infrastructure in Sum: Existence and Significance as the Foundations of Rabbi Hutner’s Thought

5 Existence, Significance, and Singularity – the Core of Pachad Yitzchak
 5.1 Authenticity and Meaning
 5.2 Yeḥidut: Hutnerian Authenticity
 5.3 Ḥashivut: Hutnerian Meaning
 5.4 A Theologian Searching for Meaning, with Existentialist Tendencies

6 Torah and Secular Knowledge in Rabbi Hutner’s Thought
 6.1 Distinct Domains: Torah and Science
 6.2 “Prevention of Supremacy”: Secular Studies

7 Post-existentialist Theology
 7.1 Being-towards-Death
 7.2 Rabbi Hutner and Futural Projection
 7.3 Perpetuality, Eternity, and Truth
 7.4 Being-towards-Eternity

8 Rabbi Hutner and His Sources
 8.1 Musar
 8.2 Hasidism
 8.3 Kabbalah
 8.4 Hutnerian Religious Naturalism
 8.5 Rabbi Hutner the Exegete

9 Conclusion – Rabbi Yitzchak Hutner’s Thought and Legacy
Bibliography
Index
This book will interest academic institutes, libraries, and specialists in modern Jewish thought, history, musar, and esotericism, as well as post-graduate students and the English-speaking Orthodox Jewish community.
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Publisher:
Brill
Language:
English
Pages:
x, 300 pp.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004734142

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