Jeff Bloom: Some Guy Wrote a Book about Jewish Theology [Rationality 1/4]

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Jeff Bloom about the assumptions that Orthodox Judaism makes about ideology, and how we ground our faith even if we don’t have irrefutable evidence.

Jeff is some guy who is a lot more than just some guy. Jeff unpacks Leo Strauss’s defense of Orthodoxy and explains how our personal life stories dictate how we see the world.

- Why have we designed a system in which we don’t rummage around assumptions?
- How do we read the Bible in an Orthodox lens?
- Is Orthodoxy merely a warm infrastructure or is it a rationally grounded approach to life?

Tune in to hear a conversation about intellectual authenticity and the axioms of belief.

Interview begins at 14:25

Jeffrey Bloom is a graduate of the University of Chicago. After college, he studied in a number of Orthodox yeshivot in Israel and now lives with his wife and family in New Jersey. He works as an analyst at a hedge fund and is the co-editor of Strauss, Spinoza & Sinai: Orthodox Judaism and Modern Questions of Faith. To get an entry point into Jeff’s thinking, read his thoughtful introduction to the book, and once you are there, check out Jeremy Kagan’s thought-provoking article on the history of rational thinking as well as the crucial conclusion to the work, accessible here.

References:
18Forty - Samuel Lebens: The Line Between Rationality and Mysticism
18Forty - Zohar Atkins: Between Philosophy and Torah
18Forty - Simi Peters: Building New Faith Foundations
18Forty - Shmuel Phillips: Reclaiming Judaism
18Forty - Anxiety and Rationality: A Personal Anonymous Account
Strauss, Spinoza & Sinai: Orthodox Judaism and Modern Questions of Faith edited by Jeffery Bloom, Alec Goldstein & Gil Student
Judaism Straight Up by Moshe Koppel
“Children of Skeptics” by Thomas Merrill
Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver: Honoring the Work of Leon R. Kass edited by Yuval Levin, Thomas W. Merrill and Adam Schulman
18Forty - Agnes Callard: A Philosophy of Change
“An Argument for Businessmen” by Shalom Carmy
Permission to Believe: Four Rational Approaches to God's Existence by Lawrence Kelemen
Permission to Receive by Lawrence Kelemen
Reason To Believe: Rational Explanations of Orthodox Jewish Faith by Chaim Jachter
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John le Carré
Ani Maamin: Biblical Criticism, Historical Truth, and the Thirteen Principles of Faith by Joshua Berman
The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis by Leon Kass
Founding God's Nation: Reading Exodus by Leon Kass
The Revelation at Sinai: What Does “Torah from Heaven” Mean? by Gil Student and Yoram Hazony
Jewish Self: Recovering Spirituality in the Modern World by Jeremy Kagan
The Choice to Be: A Jewish Path to Self and Spirituality by Jeremy Kagan
The Intellect and the Exodus: Authentic Emuna for a Complex Age by Jeremy Kagan
“The Nature and Pursuit of Truth in Different Cultural Context” by Jeremy Kagan
The book of Daniel

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