© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ��4 | doi �0.��63/�477 �85X- � �34� �55 Journal of Jewish Thought & Philosophy �� (�0 �4) �64-�89 brill.com/jjtp Paradigmatic Thinking and Holocaust Theology Barbara Krawcowicz Indiana University, Bloomington, IN bkrawcow@indiana.edu Abstract Using the example of the wartime writings of Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Ehrenreich (Transylvania, 1863–1944), the author examines how traditionally oriented thinkers approached the problems posed by the Nazi persecutions of the Jews during World War II. The author argues that the notion of paradigmatic thinking is helpful in describ- ing ultra-Orthodox responses to the Holocaust as it aptly captures the fundamental premise behind the interpretive perspective that enabled these thinkers to uphold the traditional understanding of theodicy and the covenantal relationship between God and Israel. Keywords Holocaust theology – theodicy – Shlomo Zalman Ehrenreich – paradigmatic thinking . . . Maʿasei avot siman le-banim Midrash Tanḥuma, Lekh Lekha ∵ “The future history of Israel is written in Scripture, and what happened in the beginning is what is going to happen at the end of time.”1 In this sentence Jacob 1 Jacob Neusner, “Paradigmatic versus Historical Thinking: The Case of Rabbinic Judaism,” History and Theory 36 (1997): 368.