© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2018 | doi:10.1163/1477285X-12341234 Journal of Jewish Thought & Philosophy 26 (2018) 254–277 brill.com/jjtp Being-towards-Eternity: R. Isaac Hutner’s Adaptation of a Heideggerian Notion Daniel Herskowitz University of Oxford Daniel.herskowitz@wolfson.ox.ac.uk Alon Shalev Hebrew University shalevalon@gmail.com Abstract In his writings, Rabbi Isaac Hutner integrated various insights from secular philoso- phy and particularly from existentialist thought. Concerns regarding temporality, authenticity, and death permeate his thought. This article deals with what we call “being-towards-eternity,” a modification of Martin Heidegger’s “being-towards-death,” through which Hutner seeks to reconcile genuine anxiety in the face of finitude with an unwavering belief in resurrection and life after death. Hutner’s appropriation and adaptation of this Heideggerian notion demonstrates how he adopted secular ideas while cautiously remaining within the boundaries of traditional Jewish concerns and vocabulary. Keywords death – Martin Heidegger – Isaac Hutner – Jewish existentialism – Jewish Orthodox theology – resurrection I Rabbi Isaac (Yitzchak) Hutner (1906–1980) was among the most notable Lithuanian-Orthodox leaders and thinkers of his era. His thought is preserved in a multivolume body of work that began as periodic discourses (ma’amarim) Downloaded from Brill.com12/12/2021 02:46:29PM via free access