"His eloquence, intellectual depth, and moral clarity offer balm to a generation wrestling with rupture and disillusionment. Yet his writings do far more than comfort. They confront the questions that others often fear to face: the tension between democracy and religion, the dialogue between science and faith, the place of Judaism within the wider world, and the complexities of identity in an age of fragmentation and alienation.Perhaps his greatest gift was his ability to kindle in us a profound Jewish pridewhile at the same time reminding us of the moral responsibility that pride demands: to be deeply, courageously human, rooted in the ethical and spiritual vision of biblical Judaism.Reflecting on his vast and far-reaching oeuvre, one could not hope to capture its scope in a single essay. Yet one idea has continued to echo through my mind over these past two years: his oft-quoted distinction between optimism and hope."