Prof. Yeshayahu Leibowitz was a fearless warrior, determined to smash every symbol and object bearing the dust of sanctity, because “only what is beyond reality is sacred.” He questioned everything, but he himself was an exclamation point, a solid rock, a man of answers. Leibowitz is a model for hundreds and thousands of people as they take a stand on questions of faith, values, morality, science, ideology, and politics. We may agree or disagree with him, argue with him or feel threatened by him, but we cannot deny the hypnotic power of the man and his teaching.
Yeshayahu Leibowitz: Between Conservatism and Radicalism—
Reflections on his Philosophy is the outcome of a symposium at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute marking the centennial of Leibowitz’s birth. The papers in the book, by scholars and thinkers in various disciplines, reflect Yeshayahu Leibowitz’s varied activity; they discuss such topics as religion and morality, obligation and freedom, thought and science, belief and action, protest and rebellion, and society and state. The book reflects the great interest Leibowitz continues to arouse to this day and also the intensity of argument that refuses to dissipate even after his voice has fallen silent.