Does mystical experience belong exclusively to the individual self? Or does it primarily involve a collective dimension? Starting from the reflections of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Simone Weil, I will show a third, impersonal way, which lies beyond the tension between solipsism and community.

The seminar examines loneliness in biblical theology - from Genesis to Job to Soloveitchik - focusing on halakhic loneliness during the Shoah through Rav Oshry's Kovno Ghetto Responsa. It explores how Jewish law confronts unprecedented rupture, and what ethical possibilities emerge from radical theological solitude.

In Philo, solitude facilitates the sage's interior search and is described as personal experience. However, isolation doesn't automatically accelerate perfection: one can withdraw only when ready, having already achieved good self-control. Philo addresses this with references to his own lived experience.