Exile and Return in Jewish Teaching and Tradition

This essay turns to the Hebrew language to fathom Jewish thinking about exile and return. Arguing that exile is itself part of the Jewish journey to redemption, this chapter addresses the relation between exile and revelation; the condition of the soul in exile; the desolation of exile; and the isolation of exile. Thus, the chapter establishes that Jewish thinking about any spiritual journey is different from the thinking that characterizes Western speculative thought; it also demonstrates that for Jewish thought, exile is a metaphysical condition. Thus, the Jewish journey out of exile becomes a metaphysical journey.