Abstract

Fackenheim's use of Midrash resonates with a Hegelian prism through which one approaches philosophy, religion and history. The anti-Judaism that is found in Hegel is largely due to his unfamiliarity with Jewish sources. His main contention is that Judaism is no longer historically relevant because Jews have lost their sovereign state and that Judaism is no longer a true philosophy or religion, since revelation is a one time event, which cannot be carried to the present or the future. The undialectical nature of Judaism is, to Hegel, the reason why Judaism is surpassed by Christianity. Fackenheim juxtaposes Hegel's framework with Midrash to show that, indeed, a vital Judaism has appeared on the historical scene the second time. To Fackenheim, the Holocaust and the State of Israel are major watersheds in the history of Judaism, with the Holocaust having revelatory significance. Judaism's historical rootedness is paralleled by the importance Hegel attributed to history in his own analytical framework.