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Being Jewish / Reading Heidegger: An Ontological Encounter.

Article Excerpt
Scult, Allen (2004). Being Jewish / Reading Heidegger: An Ontological Encounter. NY: Fordham University Press, ISBN 0-8232-2311-6, xxvii + 158 pp., $35.00 (cloth).

The slash in the title of this book is meant to express not separation but, instead, curiously, a kinship almost amounting to identity. That is to say, the main thesis is that there exists an intrinsic affinity between being Jewish--presented here as a way of life centered around a close, continual reading and interpreting of the Old Testament--and Heidegger's philosophical practice--understood in a similar way as a close reading and interpreting of the classic texts of philosophy, especially the works of Aristotle. Accordingly, Scult tries to show that being Jewish can be nurtured by studying Heidegger.

Certainly Heidegger reads philosophical texts closely and with the utmost respect, and that is no doubt analogous to the way the Jews approach the Bible. But is there really such a kinship as Scult maintains? Can Heidegger really be compared to a rabbinic sage? Is anything gained in our understanding of either Heidegger's philosophy or the Jewish way of life by drawing out the similarities as Scult sees them? I have severe reservations.

In the first place, why does Scult single out Heidegger? Do not all philosophers worthy of the name read texts with care and respect? Heidegger has indeed read the Greeks very closely, but every philosopher who has interpreted the ancients has done the same, has shown respect for every nuance of every Greek word. In fact, Heidegger in many circles has a reputation for violence in his interpretations. There can be little doubt that the ancients had for him so-called wax noses: bendable noses allowing...

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