Appendix: R. Soloveitchik’s Distinction Between “Thematic Halakhah” and “Topical Halakhah”

R. Soloveitchik himself explicated and elaborated upon this sharp, nuanced distinction, encouraging both the philosophical pursuit and the practical response, each in their right place. He notes that any attempt to “explore therapeutic and redemptive qualities of the religious act” must be preceded by an initial examination of “the philosophy of suffering.”((R. Soloveitchik, Out of the Whirlwind (ed. Shatz, Wolowelsky, Ziegler), p. 91))

Therefore, prior to exploring the remedial redemptive potential of our Judaic religious act, we must spell out in articulate, precise terms the Judaic doctrine of suffering and define clearly our attitude vis-à-vis an unfriendly world replete with disorder and disharmony... The practical and functional motifs are undergirded by the theoretical ones...

Hence, our immediate attention must be focused upon halakhic theodicy... As an equivalent for theodicy, we must focus on the halakhic metaphysic of evil or suffering...

R. Soloveitchik continues to distinguish between two frames of reference with which the Halakhah always operates: the topical Halakhah and the thematic Halakhah.

[W]e would say that the topical frame of reference of the positive Halakhah is confined to the world of whose existence we are assured by our sense experience and which is bounded by time and space. The topical frame of reference is this physical universe... the universe of becoming and disappearing, of life and death. By contrast, the frame of reference of the thematic Halakhah, of halakhic axiology, of the halakhic universe of values, is not limited merely to this world, but envelops Being in its majestic totality as a whole... The frame of reference of the thematic Halakhah is not only a this-worldly one, but is transcendental as well. The topical Halakhah or halakhic gesture thus fashions its interpretive axiological methods in the mold of finiteness and sensibility. It displays extreme modesty and sobriety in its approach to Being. The thematic gesture, however, is by far more bold and possessed by the spirit of adventure. It exceeds the boundaries of our own ontological awareness, which is imprisoned within a scientifically explainable universe, and attempts to relate itself to parts unknown, to link up the orders of things and events with the transcendental order of the ultimate. The thematic Halakhah opened up the closed frame of topical reference and accommodated infinity itself.