What is it about?
This chapter shows that the positive view of doubt found in the nineteenth-century Hasidic school of Izbicha-Radzin was echoed in the mystical circle founded by Rabbi Abraham I. Kook (as well as influencing other twentieth century Jewish thinkers). The chapter also briefly addresses world literature as a source for the phenomenology of doubt.
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Why is it important?
The two parts of the chapter contain two innovations: Demonstrating that for all of its uniqueness, Izbicha-Radzin had some resonance in later periods, and showing that the growing field of study of scepticism can be enriched by viewing world literature as a source for the phenomenology of doubt.
Perspectives
I have been studying the Hasidic thought that some of my ancestors adhered to, that of the Izbciha-Radzin dynasty, for more than three decades. I beleive that its rich religious psychology, specially in the espousal of doubt, has much to contribute to today's world, in which religion is often associated with dogmatism. At the same time, the cautions regarding doubt found in the thought of the school are valuable in the age of manufactured doubt.
Jonathan Garb
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
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This page is a summary of: Concluding Investigations, February 2024, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1163/9789004694231_009.
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