Negative theology is the attempt to describe God by speaking in terms of what God is not. Historical affinities between Jewish modernity and negative theology indicate new directions for thematizing the modern Jewish experience. Questions such as, What are the limits of Jewish modernity in terms of negativity? Has this creative tradition exhausted itself? and How might Jewish thought go forward? anchor these original essays. Taken together they explore the roots and legacies of negative theology in Jewish thought, examine the viability and limits of theorizing the modern Jewish experience as negative theology, and offer a fresh perspective from which to approach Jewish intellectual history.

Contributions by: Agata Bielik-Robson, Idit Dobbs-Weinstein, Michael Fagenblat, Lenn E. Goodman, James Jacobson-Maisels, Martin Kavka, Samuel Lebens, Adam Lipszyc, David Novak, Sarah Pessin, Kenneth Seeskin, David Shatz, Sandra Valabregue-Perry, Tzahi Weiss, Elliot R. Wolfson, Shiva Wolosky