To Broaden the Way: A Confucian-Jewish Dialogue

To Broaden the Way suggests that the texts of both the Jewish and Confucian tradition talk in riddles of a special kind: riddles, which are introduced - and answered - by religious forms of life. Using a "dialogue of riddles," Galia Patt-Shamir presents a comparative perspective of Confucianism and Judaism regarding the relatedness between contradictory expressions in texts and living conflicts. The Confucian riddle is characterized here as a mystery to be deciphered by self-reflection, under the assumptions of a harmonious community, and a unity of being. The Jewish riddle is characterized as a test to be responded to, under the assumption of a disharmonious community, and a necessary rapture in reality. This book expands the dialogue between traditions, and offers both a method and an implication of the question, "what is religion about?"