Shatz (philosophy, Yeshiva University) has collected and edited several of his essays, published between 1990 and 2004. His underlying theme is the connection of Jewish philosophy and ethics to events and ideas of the gentile world. He commences with the earliest source, the book of Genesis reflecting on the moral dilemmas posed in the beginning. He then discusses the most influential of the medieval thinkers, Maimonides, before moving to twentieth century philosophers and Halakhic scholars, R. Abraham Isaac Kook and R. Joseph B. Soloveichik. The views of these two men recur in later essays on religion and science as well as ethics and law. The concept of ethics is uppermost in Shatz's struggle to comprehend a melding of metaphysics and secular studies. His essay on 9/11 shows the personal effort of the philosopher to find meaning in the inexplicable. An index of biblical and rabbinic sources as well as one by subject will be useful to scholars pondering many of the same questions. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)