Description
Is Judaism mainly a religion of laws and statutes imposed on the Jews at Sinai? Or can we find in it a significant dimension that focuses on the spiritual life and existential grapplings of the individual?
This book, written from a phenomenological viewpoint, is based on a distinction between the apparent exterior-social aspects of religion and the inner-spiritual focus of private life. It studies certain discernible processes and attributes common to numerous religions notwithstanding their profound dissimilarities.
Six dimensions in particular are discussed with respect to a variety of religions and explained at length in light of Jewish sources from biblical times to Baal Shem Tov Hasidism.

These six dimensions bring to light the diversity of interior religious life in Judaism against a background of exterior-social elements reflected first and foremost in the halakhic literature. The discussions also point to the early days of Hasidism as a period of regeneration in the inner religious life of Judaism.

The final chapter presents a philosophical discussion of the essential questions raised in the book, and espouses an existentialist position that recognizes man’s desire to move beyond the subjective as a central element of human spirituality.