A Jewish Philosophy of Man

A Lecture Series by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik

Lecture 5: The Dialectical Approach to the Individual and the Community

Delivered January 15, 1959

Summary by Mark Smilowitz: The two Creation accounts reflect not a split in the text but a split in Man. Judaism has a dialectical view of Man, accepting mutually exclusive positions. Man was created alone as a unique and solitary being, but he was also created in a relationship with the Thou, in a communal existence. Man craves both, opposite modes of existence, oscillating like a pendulum between surging towards relationships with others and withdrawing into oneself. Judaism, unlike Catholicism, allows divorce, because only the kerygmatic side of Man can commit to another person, not the numinous side. We are limited in our ability to connect with other personalities due to the numinous aspect of Man. For numinous Man, the question “who am I” is unanswerable, since the I is an eternal mystery beyond rationalization, like a tune I can feel but that cannot be sung. Judaism insists that the worth of the individual is to be judged not by kerygmatic contributions to the community, but by the very fact that the person exists. The dignity of Man comes from the image of God which is found in numinous, not kerygmatic, Man. Judaism revolutionized social philosophy with this idea, upsetting the Classical view of Man. A series of halakhic laws demonstrates Judaism’s “doctrine of idealization of anonymity,” meaning, the chosen-ness of the unknown, forlorn individual. One such law states that if a band of heathens demands the surrender of one person, or else the whole city will be destroyed, we do not turn over the one person, even if that person is a criminal. Another example of such a law is the obligation on whoever finds it to bury an anonymous dead body, even if the High Priest would consequently have to cancel the Yom Kippur atonement service. The uniqueness of each person is the foundation of Judaic ethics. However, the dialectical approach says that although we treat others according to their intrinsic, numinous worth, I myself must not rely on my intrinsic worth but am obligated to contribute to the community. Discussions prompted by audience questions include Holocaust decisions to save only a part of the community by handing over another part, Judaism’s attitudes towards war, towards parochialism vs. universalism, towards body and soul, and towards religion and ethics.

00:01:15          Dialectical interpretation of the Creation story in Genesis

00:23:25          Inability of institutions like marriage to commit one’s numinous side

00:51:16          Judging the worth of the personality not by kerygma but by numinous existence

01:03:44          Halakhah prohibiting the handing over of one person to save the city

01:07:54          Questions from audience and responses about war and Holocaust situations

01:18:55          Halakhah of finding an anonymous corpse

01:29:45          Questions from audience and responses about radical individualism and other topics

For Further Study: The Rav’s illustration of philosophical ideas through specific halakhic laws can be found throughout his philosophical literature. See “For Further Study” on Lecture 2. Note that the Rav here associates the “image of God” in Genesis with numinous Man (00:49:00), whereas in “The Lonely Man of Faith” the “image of God” refers to the creative side of Man, associated in that essay with Man’s kerygma.

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