Neither Object Nor Abyss: Relational Theology from Hasidism to the Twelve Steps to the Bedside

Jewish theology contains an ongoing tension between viewing God as a personal 'Thou' and mystical experiences that dissolve the self into an infinite. This essay argues that Hasidism, particularly its existential and devotional streams, redirects mystical depth toward relational responsibility rather than self-loss. Drawing on scholarship in Jewish mysticism and Hasidic studies, it extends these insights into clinical ethics and addiction recovery, proposing that the I–Thou relation is an ethical discipline of presence. In therapy, this involves practices like tzimtzum (contraction), sacred not-knowing, and refusing premature explanations to preserve the patient's irreducibility.

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Abstract

Jewish theology sustains a persistent tension between two spiritual grammars: personal encounter with God as an addressable "Thou," and mystical union in which the self is attenuated or absorbed into an impersonal infinite. This essay argues that while rational Orthodoxy protects divine personalism through transcendence and restraint, and Kabbalah often radicalizes transcendence into theosophical or absorptive mysticism, Hasidism—particularly in its existential and devotional streams—reorients mystical depth toward relational responsibility rather than dissolution. Drawing on classical scholarship in Jewish mysticism and Hasidic studies, and extending these insights into the domains of clinical ethics and addiction recovery, the essay proposes that the I–Thou relation constitutes not merely a theology of prayer but an ethical discipline of presence. In therapeutic contexts, this discipline manifests as tzimtzum, sacred not-knowing, and the refusal of premature explanation—practices that preserve the irreducibility of the patient as subject. The twelve-step recovery tradition is examined as a parallel spiritual trajectory in which the "Higher Power" evolves from an external, interventionist deity toward an internalized source of wisdom and moral orientation. The I–Thou relation is thus reframed as a foundational ethic for relational medicine and transformative recovery, capable of sustaining meaning, responsibility, and human dignity under conditions of suffering and uncertainty.