"Fisher's Contemplative Nation , a title that alludes to the influence of Philo on the author, uses the hermeneutics of Hans-George Gadamer and Paul Ricoeur in combination with Pierre Hadot's formulation of the character of ancient philosophy and William Alston's epistemic analysis of Christian religious experience to construct a model for "Jewish Theological Practice." Fisher exemplifies the usefulness of his model by applying it first to an example of ancient rabbinic philosophy and then to an example of modern Jewish philosophy. The ancient text is the Mekhilta, which Fisher reads primarily through the interpretations of Max Kadushin and Judah Goldin; the modern text is Franz Rosenzweig's Star of Redemption, which Fisher reads primarily with reference to the interpretations of Leora Batnitzky and Peter Gordon. The result is an exciting dialogue between diverse texts, scholarly disciplines, and lines of interpretation, out of which emerges a strong argument for the claim that Jewish thought is theological and deeply rooted in a rationalist commitment to communal practice and lived religious experience. This book is a must for all serious scholars of hermeneutics, the philosophy of religion, rabbinics, and modern Jewish philosophy."--Norbert Samuelson, Arizona State University.