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6 JACOB AGUS ' IDEOLOG Y O F AMERICAN JUDAISM : AMERICAN JEW S O R JEWISH AMERICANS ? Milton R. Konvitz WRITING ABOU T TH E WORK o f David Neumark, Jacob Agus said that although Neumark s contributions to the study of Jewis h philosophy are invaluable, he neve r became a n independent philosopher. 1 On e ca n say of Agus himself that his contributions to the study of Jewis h philosophy are invaluable and that he became an independent philosopher. Very few scholar s were as deeply immersed i n the study and interpretation o f Jewish philosophy, fro m Phil o t o Fran z Rosenzweig an d Martin Buber , as was Jacob Agus, but at the same time he kept his own counsel, nurtured his own thoughts , and , being a pragmatist, brough t hi s own philosoph y to bear on th e problems that agitate American Jewry. He wa s always the scholar and teacher; he initiated no movement an d did not seek to mak e disciples, an d o n som e importan t issue s he courageousl y too k a radical, unpopular stand . Bu t hi s thought s o n practica l question s alway s ha d a philosophic base; they were not spontaneous, emotional reactions but the results of deep soul-searching , dee p study , deep thought . T o understan d and appreciate his views on American Jewry—his ideology of American Judaism—it is essential to place these views against the background of his philosophic thought, where they have their roots. "All the decisions that we make out of the depths of our being," Agus wrote, "involve some reference to a philosophy of life, a grasp of the ultimate."2 Agus identifie d himsel f a s belonging t o th e rationalis t schoo l o f Jewish thought, a t the head of which stands the great Maimonides. He believe d 130 i 3 i Agus} Ideology of American Judaism not onl y tha t Go d reveale d Himsel f i n th e Tora h bu t tha t H e reveal s Himself continuously "throug h the twin lights of conscience and intelligence ," that the written document s o f revelation nee d t o be interprete d by th e min d an d conscience , tha t th e min d an d conscienc e mak e th e written wor d a living word, an d that th e primacy o f this concept o f the living word (no t necessaril y th e writte n word ) i s the "centra l insigh t o f Judaism." 3 But Agus was no absolutist . We may have, he wrote, a glimpse o f the absolute, bu t h e quickl y adde d tha t "w e ca n neve r posses s th e abso lute ." 4 And s o it is that th e rationalis t mus t t o a degree find accommo dation fo r othe r approaches , includin g th e romanti c vie w o f Judaism (such as that of Yehudah Halevi) , the mysti c approach o f the Kabballah , and th e legalisti c approach . Agu s like d t o quot e th e sayin g o f the sage s that ther e ar e fifty gate s o f wisdom.5 Th e rationa l min d i s only on e o f the gates . Furthermore, an y line of thought o r argumen t mus t take int o account th e fac t tha t i t i s no t fre e fro m tensions , fo r th e principl e o f polarity i s ever operative . Thu s ethnocentris m i s countered b y human ism ; particularism is countered by universalism; emphasis on nationalis m triggers a n emphasi s o n religion ; traditio n a t time s mus t giv e wa y t o creation.6 Agus too k th e principl e o f polarit y fro m th e philosophe r Morri s Raphael Cohen . Thi s principle, Agus wrote, as formulated b y Cohen , state s that "opposites , suc h a s immediacy an d mediation, unit y an d plurality , th e fixed an d th e flux, substanc e an d function, idea l and real, actual and possible . . ." all enter into the pattern...

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