Emil Fackenheim is one of the country's most distinguished philosophers, and "to mention his name, " said Eugene B. Borowitz, "is to conjure up visions of Kierkegaard, Elie Wiesel, Martin Buber, and Franz Rosenzweig." In this highly readable volume, he presents both an introduction to Judaism and an analysis of its essence in light of the Holocaust and the creation of the state of Israel. He begins with the religious situation of the contemporary...