 Difficult
Freedom : Essays on Judaism by
Emmanuel Levinas, Sean Hand (Translator)
Emmanuel Levinas takes Jewish thought to new levels,
adding very new, yet very ancient ways of thinking into his works. He
has several highly recognized works in the philosophy world- "Time
and the Other", amd "Existence and Existents", but his
works that build directly off of Jewish thought (such as this one) are
my favorites. He manages to cut through the shell of everything and shed
a beautiful yet heavy light on life.... I think it would be more fitting
to put a Levinas quotes from Difficult Freedom in this review, and let
you see for yourself.
"At the dawning of the new world, Judaism has the
consciousness to possess, through its permanence, a function in the
general economy of Being. No one can replace it. Someone has to exist in
the world who is as old as the world. For Judaism, the great migrations
of the people , the migrations among the people and the upheavals of
history have never presented a deadly threat. It always found what
remained to it. It has a painful experience of living on; its
performance accustomed it to judging history and refusing to accept the
verdict of a History that that proclaimed itself judge. Perhaps Jewish
thought in general consists today in holding on more firmly than ever to
this permanence and this eternity. Judaism has traversed history history
without taking up history's causes. It has the power to judge, alone
against all, the victory of visible and organized forces - if need be in
order to reject them. Its head may be held high or its head may be down,
but it is always stiff-necked. This temerity and this patience, which
are as long as eternity itself, will perhaps be more necessary to
humanity tomorrow or the day after tomorrow than they were yesterday or
the day before." Difficult Freedom, p.166
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