Israel Today brings you an exclusive interview with one of the Jewish world’s most profound thinkers to shed light on these and other existential questions here in Part 1 of a two-part series.

Shmuel Trigano’s new book, The Jewish State: Beyond Normality, was just the excuse I needed to talk with this brilliant man. Born in Algeria in 1948, Trigano lived most of his life in France and though he returned to Israel only in 2015 he had already founded the Dialogia Conference Center and gained a reputation as an outstanding intellectual who challenges Israel’s uncritical acceptance of post modernism. Reading Trigano is not easy, but the stubborn reader will be rewarded.

Israel Today: One of the hottest issues in Israel today is what has been dubbed the “judicial revolution” which began with the former president of Israel’s Supreme Court Aharon Barak. Can you explain what this revolution means?

Trigano: To begin with, the impetus given to Israel Supreme Court by Judge Barak resembles a legal coup. Sheltering behind human...