ABSTRACT
R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik held that Jewish thought had, for centuries, disregarded the actual foundations of life and the study of human existence. The chapter will trace the sources of several patterns that appeared in R. Soloveitchik's late thought, such as the study of concrete existence, the persistence of loneliness despite social involvement and integration, loneliness as singularity, and modes of repression. These patterns originated in Rollo May's existentialist thought and are clearly formulated as basic assumptions of existential therapy. Soloveitchik relied on these sources while incorporating halakhic and religious aspects into his discussions.
