Open Secret: Postmessianic Messianism and the Mystical Revision of Menaḥem Mendel Schneerson

Revelation thus cannot be viewed as “a pure expression of God’s will,” but rather “as an expression of God’s will filtered through the mindset and mores of its intended audience.”

Halakhah as a system is how the Torah continues to integrate contemporary perspectives, converses with science, and heeds the voice of conscience.

the diversity of the garb is essential. Otherwise, universalism is merely the polite face of smothering conformity, the gracious imposition of power. Not so the revelation offered here: universal and particular come together. Verbal and nonverbal mingle in every moment. God’s presence is prehended by observing (and imitating) God’s ways. Yet those

holiness can only be shared and encountered when it is embodied in social and communal structures. The key question is not “What does the Torah say?” but rather “What does God tell us through the Torah?”