God, Man and Nietzsche: A Startling Dialogue between Judaism and Modern Philosophers by Zev Golan

Rabbi Gil Student writes:

In a recent book, God, Man and Nietzsche, Zev Golan sets out to examine some of the specific approaches of Existentialists and both compare and contrast them with traditional Jewish texts. In chapters with titles such as "The Eternal Occurrence: A Dialogue between Nietzsche and Kabbalah" and "The Gates of Eden: God and Evil, Man and Evil: A Dialogue between Schelling Luria and Maimonides", Golan extracts corresponding concepts and approaches in Existentialism and Judaism, showing where they are similar and different, and where Existentialists may have gone on a different path had they been more familiar with Jewish texts. In the process, Golan builds his own Existentialist description of Judaism, utilizing Kabbalah in particular.

It is this last aspect that leaves me a little concerned. I am insufficiently qualified to evaluate how accurately Golan represents Kabbalah and much of Jewish philosophy. Most of his readings are deep and one wonders whether this depth is on the entire literature or merely on a single passage, thus perhaps being a misrepresentation of the general thrust due to an over-reliance on a single passage. I simply don’t know. One generally relies on the scholarship of an author but in this case I am unfamiliar with the author’s qualifications.