A modest proposal: towards a religious politics of epistemic humility

The gravest challenge to orthodox Judaism is not that of coexisting peacefully with communities whose forms of life it considers religiously objectionable but that of taking responsibility for the management of such peaceful coexistence. Government is required not merely to turn a blind eye to the conduct of such communities but to take active responsibility for their security, well-being and capacity to flourish according to their custom and conviction. This sort of active enabling is forbidden by Jewish Law as it now stands. Is the Jewish legal tradition capable in principle of grounding a genuinely liberal yet non-relativistic pluralism? This paper explores a way of answering this crucial question in the affirmative.