The Views of Rabbi Moses Feinstein, Rabbi Abraham Joshua ...

his…identity as a singular ‗I.‘‖ 162
He relates to others as objects, rather than subjects.
The third level is redemptive man, who ―forgoes his…impulse to dominate and thereby
achieves human relationships with others as equals.‖ 163 The second section consists of
thirteen pages in which Soloveitchik delineates the responsibilities of Jews to humankind
and outlines the way in which pious Jews should relate to members of other religious
communities. The philosophical argument he puts forth concerns ―the nature and limits
of human communication.‖ 164
Indeed, Soloveitchik basically asserts, as alluded to
earlier, ―that each faith community is unique and therefore any attempt to equate them is
‗absurdity.‘‖ 165
There are a number of features of ―Confrontation,‖ however, that are somewhat
conspicuous for their use in the writing of a prominent rabbinic authority. It is not
composed in Hebrew, which is ―the traditional language of Jewish legal discourse,‖ 166
does not relate a clear legal ruling, and it does not provide citations from the writings of,
among others, ―Maimonides [or] Menahem ha-Meiri‖ 167 regarding Christianity, despite
the fact that such rabbinic personalities ―had much to say regarding Christianity.‖ 168
Furthermore, Soloveitchik‘s conception of Adam I and Adam II appears to closely
parallel references in ―Paul‘s Epistles‖ 169 as well as the ―modern Christian theology‖ 170
of, for example, Karl Barth, a prominent Protestant theologian. This conception of Adam
162 Korn 307-308
163 Korn 308
164 Korn 293
165 Korn 294
166 Kimelman 8
167 Kimelman 8
168 Korn 292
169 Kimelman 8
170 Kimelman 8
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