I wonder if German Jewish philosophy makes more sense in Tel Aviv than in the United States. It’s more integrated into the place, historically, culturally, and architecturally. In America, one day we might be able to avoid them. I’m not sure this is possible in Israel. On a walk down King George in Tel Aviv I stumbled across M. Pollak Antiquariate. They run two shops. One is more high end than the other. I enjoyed the shock of instant recognition. It’s also nice to see them in their first addition, their original apparition, to observe them under or behind the glass.
Absolutely! In Israeli reading and intellectual life, Nietzsche, Kafka, Kierkegaard, Cohen, Spinoza, Buber are quite close to the surface, in my experience — much closer than in any part of the US I’ve known.
nice, language, “close to the surface.” thanks, Ed