An Epitaph for German Judaism: From Halle to Jerusalem

(University of Wisconsin), by Emil Fackenheim

Jul. 30, 2008

midnight

German Jews were a small butsignificant minority, contributing greatly to their country’s culture untilthey were murdered or driven to exile by Hitler. Emil Fackenheim escapedshortly before the outbreak of World War II and became a philosophy professorat the University of Toronto and a rabbi serving the local Jewishcommunity before emigrating to Israelin his final years. Epitaph is thelast manuscript Fackenheim composed before his death in 2003, a compact memoirinteresting not only for his life but his lifetime of reflection on the largerquestions that eluded many 20th century philosophers. For Fackenheim, moralitywas not relative and evil was never an abstraction. He stared into the face ofit and barely held on to his life.