Knotted thread, middle game: an envoi

Abstract

The epilogue weaves a conceit into a set of final reflections about Jewish Studies in its counterlived aspect as un fil renoué, a motif from Emmanuel Levinas’s late philosophy. It also returns to a formulation from one of his earlier essays we have briefly touched upon by reconsidering the question of affiliative belonging. A brief reflection on Bruce Robbins’s notions of secular vocation and professional identity segues to a final section, the most conventionally manifesto-like portion of the book. We return full circle to Sacvan Bercovitch, whose Emersonian reflections on the “alternative possibilities” discoverable in chess’s middle game, alongside those of Stanley Cavell, offer a final heuristic for JS.