If analytical philosophy—or rationalism—seems scary to you, remember that one can be a scout, not a soldier, and look at the world from without, with the hopes of entering even further within later. In this popular work, Galef urges us to utilize the viewpoint of the scout, over the soldier. Whereas the soldier attacks or defends a viewpoint, the scout surveys, assesses, and investigates, all to have as clear an understanding as possible. Put differently, one need not be a resident to be a guest. Think of the great words of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, who thought the words “a stranger and a resident you have been among them” might reflect a similar truth, albeit in somewhat different circumstances. We can choose where we want to live, but that does not mean that we can’t visit or see other locales. Galef urges us to think of thought with more openness, flexibility, and creativity, and to see what happens.

What are the fundamental principles of Judaism? Perhaps one could say that debate about this thorny question has itself been one of the fundamental principles of Judaism, given the millennia of back-and-forth on the what, why, and hows of whether one can emphasize any articles of faith, doctrine, or practice over any other. In this work, philosopher and rabbi Samuel Lebens takes on the question with the toolkit of analytic philosophy, using the three principles of Rabbi Yosef Albo as a starting point. Lebens explores the most fundamental questions of Jewish faith, such as the creation of the world, God’s imagination, Moshiach, and a whole lot more. If exploring these questions from an analytical perspective seems like too much for you, you might appreciate Shmuel Phillips’ Judaism Reclaimed: Philosophy and Theology in the Torah. Phillips has spent decades learning Torah and thinking about many of the same questions, and wrote this book to think through the same issues, through a more traditional idiom. Highly readable, and well-sourced, Phillips looks at the philosophy of Torah, addressing questions from the tradition in a researched and comprehensive manner.