Yes, I know, it is way beyond presumptive for me to think that I might know who you should be reading or what you should be thinking about. It is also way too late for me to indulge in a first person essay in which I, the hero of the essay, find enlightment in this or that seemingly banal object of thought which actually is REALLY IMPORTANT. So instead, I am just going to tell you what to read, what writers and thinkers you might not have come across and as a result the conversation in many Jewish precincts suffers from a certain intellectual paucity and poverty of vision, and then you will, of course do as you please.
First off, Zachary Braiterman, who has recently started writing/publishing at his own blog Jewish Philosophy Place. Start with this one or this one, and then read his latest which is a beat down with Leon Wieseltier over the New American Haggadah.
Next you should read Martin Kavka. One of the smartest thinkers around today. Period. He doesn’t have a regular blog home but publishes here and there. He also writes, you know, books and stuff.
I have linked to a number of articles by Shaul Magid, and will again here—the latest appears in Sh’ma with his inimitable take on the now forgotten crisis of Bet Shemesh.