Is there a need to reconcile faith and belief?

Hi,

"Faith with which the mind does not agree arouses anger and cruelty [within one's self], because the human being's higher aspect, the mind, becomes frustrated with it. However, in higher faith – although it is quite concealed – Gd's ways are marvelous, and there is such great beauty in them that the anger caused by overpowering the mind is immediately cancelled, converted into great sweetness and pure light…"

(Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook, Arpilei Tohar)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

One view on Philosophy

Hi,

"The essential goal and completeness is in serving Gd in total simplicity, without any wisdoms at all. For there are investigators who say that the essential goal [of existence], and Olam haBa, are in knowing a thing's nature, such as knowing a star – its essence, and why it occupies its location… And they waste their days in this world on this subject, investigating and grasping ideas which are, to them, the goal. This is Olam haBa, in their view; in this world they are clothed in a body and so they do not experience such great pleasure from their investigations, but in Olam haBa, when they are freed of the body, then they will experience great pleasure from it. 

"Within their poor understanding, the essential achievement of the goal is via their investigations and external wisdoms. But in truth, for us, the essential achievement of the goal is only via belief and practical mitzvot, serving Gd according to the Torah in simplicity… Know that it is not as they think, Gd forbid, for then very few people – intellecual elites, philosophers - could achieve the goal! What should those of lesser value, who lack this intellect, do?... This is the meaning of, 'At the end of the matter, all has been heard. Revere Gd, and guard His mitzvot, for this is the entirety of a person.'

"In truth, investigation, Gd forbid, and learning the books of wisdoms, Gd forbid, is strongly prohibited. Only an extremely great tzadik can introduce himself to this study of the seven wisdoms, for who enters these wisdoms, Gd forbid, could fall there…"

(In the name of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, Likutei Moharan Tinyana, Torah 19)

Have a good day,

Mordechai

Why start with "I took you out of Egypt"? Part 1

Hi,

"Rabbi Yehudah haLevi, who rests in honour, asked me why it mentioned, 'I am HaShem your Gd who took you out of the land of Egypt,' and not, 'I made the heavens and the earth, and I made you'?

"I responded: Know that different levels of people have different beliefs in their heart, in their belief in the honoured Gd. Many believe in that which they hear, when their masters tell them so; higher than them are those who saw it recorded in the Torah that Gd gave to Moshe. And should a heretic come to challenge that there is no Gd, they would put their hands to their mouths, not knowing what to answer… But because of the sign that Gd performed in Egypt, Moshe declared, 'You have been shown, to know,' for all saw this, sages and non-sages, great and small. Moshe added in this vein at the Gathering at Sinai when they heard the voice of Gd…"

שאלני ר' יהודה הלוי מנוחתו כבוד, למה הזכיר אנכי ד' אלקיך אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים, ולא אמר שעשיתי שמים וארץ ואני עשיתיך. וזאת היתה תשובתי אליו.

דע, כי אין מעלות בני אדם שוות באמונתם בלבם, שהם מאמינים בשם הנכבד. כי הרבים מאמינים להשמעות אזנים שיאמר להם אדוניהם ככה. ולמעלה מהם, שראו זה כתוב בדברי התורה שנתן ד' למשה. ואם יבוא אפיקורס לערער, כי אין אלקים, ישימו ידם לפיהם, כי לא ידעו להשיב... והנה בעבור האות שעשה ד' במצרים, אמר משה אתה הראת לדעת (דברים ד, לה). שהכל ראו זה, חכמים ושאינן חכמים, גדולים וקטנים. גם הוסיף עוד בדבר מעמד הר סיני ששמעו קול ד'... 

(Ibn Ezra to Shemot 20:1 [extended commentary])

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The mitzvah of belief in Gd

Hi,

 According to the Sefer haChinuch, mitzvah #25 is the start of the Aseret haDibrot, “I am Gd, your Lord, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves.”

The Sefer haChinuch follows the view of Rambam (Sefer haMitzvot, Aseh 1) that this mitzvah includes belief in a single Gd who created all that exists, by whose Will all exists, and who is eternal. The mitzvah is also to believe that this same Gd brought us out of Egypt and gave us the Torah. This is the foundation of Jewish belief and practice; the fact that there is an omnipotent Gd, and that He is involved with our world, is what establishes the validity of the rest of Torah.

In contrast, Baal Halachot Gedolot and Ramban, apparently based on a midrash (Mechilta d'R' Yishmael, Yitro: BaChodesh 6), argue that this Divine declaration sets the stage for all other mitzvot, but is not a mitzvah unto itself.

Have a great day,
Mordechai

48 Ways: #24a - Trust in our Sages

Hi,

Pirkei Avot 6:5 teaches that Torah is acquired in 48 ways, which it lists for us. The twenty-fourth of the 48 is emunas chachamim, which may refer to trust in our sages.

I expect to apply a different definition tomorrow, but this explanation means that one who would succeed in Torah study must have a basic trust in our sages to lead us honestly. If we are worried that our sages might be mis-leading us, we will read their texts with one eye on the door, so to speak, without the ability to immerse ourselves in them.

Of course, one might counter that a healthy skepticism can help provide an objective read and alert the student to potential errors - but this mishnah is not approaching Torah with that perspective. The goal of this mishnah is for the student to accomplish mastery, and this mishnah contends that true mastery requires that one buy into the system wholeheartedly.

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Faith in the Sages

Hi,

"A student is required to believe that no personal interest whatsoever could influence a sage to warp justice.

"The ambition of the sage is to purify himself, and dirtying himself with any guilt would pain him more than any wound. How could he damage himself, warping justice, for profit or flattery?

"Further, the trait of Truth is a core attribute of the sage's soul, and the root of its existence."

(R' Avraham Yeshayah Karelitz [Chazon Ish], Emunah uBitachon 3:30)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Faith and Intellect in the thought of Rav Kook

Hi,


"Human frailty causes a person who is gifted in intellectual analysis to have a weaker inclination toward faith, and a person who is whole in faith to reduce his intellectual insight and wisdom of the heart. But the goal of the straight path is that each strength not reduce the other, and not be reduced by the other, but rather that both be revealed in their full strength, as though it alone was in control.

"Faith must be as complete as if there was no possibility of analysis, and complementing this must be a force of intellect which is elevated and energized, as though there were no force of faith in the soul. "Man and animal (Tehillim 36)" – clever in intellect, and making themselves as [unthinking] beasts."

(Rav Avraham Yitzchak haKohen Kook, Orot Yisrael 1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The Fundamentals of Faith

Hi,

"Investigating the fundamentals of Judaism is dangerous. Even if religious viewpoints agree on general themes like the existence of Gd and the phenomenon of reward and punishment, they still differ on specific points…

"It is appropriate to say that…every Jew must believe that everything stated in the Torah is wholly true. Someone who denies a statement which is from the Torah, knowing that it is the Torah’s statement, is called a “Kofer.”…

"But someone who holds to Moses’s Torah and believes its fundamentals, and then is fooled in his examination when he approaches the Torah by examining the verses and using his own mental faculties, such that he says one of the fundamental principles is different…he is not a “Kofer.” He is included among the pious sages of the Jews, even though he errs in his examination. He sins accidentally, and he must atone for it."

(Rav Yosef Albo, Sefer ha'Ikkarim 1:1, 1:2)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The divergent paths of Torah and secular philosophy?

Hi,

Here's one to chew on:

"The wisdom of philosophy and the wisdom of Torah and its laws do not follow the same path. The wisdom of Torah is a tradition received by Moshe from Sinai, and the scholar will analyze it via the methods assigned for its analysis, comparing one matter and another. Even where this approach does not follow natural wisdom, we follow the tradition. Philosophical wisdom is natural, though, with great scholars who established natural arguments, and in their great wisdom they dug deeper and corrupted (Hosheia 9:9) and needed to deny the Torah of Moshe, for the Torah is entirely unnatural and revelatory.

"Regarding this it is stated, ‘You shall be pure with HaShem your Gd,’ meaning that even if something is outside of natural logic, you should not doubt the received tradition, but walk before Him in purity. Therefore, you should not bring proof from their words, to make a sign or argument or parable against the just laws of Gd.

"Regarding this the scholar said, ‘Those who enter it will not return,’ meaning that one who enters this area of wisdom will not be able to leave it and introduce his heart to the wisdom of Torah, for he will not be able to return from the natural wisdom to which he has become accustomed. His heart will be continually drawn after it, and he will not be able to establish himself in the wisdom of Torah, which is the path of life, for his heart will be perpetually drawn after natural wisdom. He will try to equate the two wisdoms, and bring proof from one to the other, and so he will warp justice for these are two opposites and rivals which cannot dwell in the same space."

(Responsa of Rosh 55:9)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Before Job One: Believe in Me

Hi,

Following up on yesterday's email:

"I have seen that the Baal Halachot did not count this mitzvah among the 613...

"It appears that the Baal Halachot believed that the 613 included only Divine decrees which He commanded us to perform or prohibited us from performing. Belief in Gd’s existence, of which He informed us with signs and miracles and Divine revelation before our eyes, is the essence and root from which the mitzvot are born, and it is not counted among them."

(Ramban's comments to Sefer haMitzvot Aseh 1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Job One: Believe in Me

Hi,

"The first mitzvah is that Gd commanded us to believe in Gd, meaning to believe that there is a Catalyst and Cause which creates all that exists, as the Torah says, ‘I am HaShem your Gd.’

"At the end of Tractate Makkot the sages said, '613 mitzvot were told to Moshe at Sinai. What is the verse for this? ‘Moshe commanded us Torah’' – Meaning, the number of ת-ו-ר-ה.

"The sages then challenged this, for ת-ו-ר-ה is 611, and their answer was that the Jews heard Anochi and Lo Yihyeh directly from Gd. It is clear from this that Anochi HaShem is one of the 613 mitzvot. This is the commandment to believe, as we have explained."

(Rambam, Sefer haMitzvot, Aseh 1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The First Mitzvah

Hi,

"The first mitzvah is a commandment to believe that the One who gave us the Torah on Mount Sinai, via our master Moshe, was HaShem our Gd who took us out of Egypt. Regarding this, it is stated when Gd gave us the Torah, 'I am HaShem, your Gd, who took you out of the land of Egypt.'"

(Sefer Mitzvot Gadol, Aseh 1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Faith, Heresy and Mistakes

Hi,

"Every Jew must believe that the contents of the Torah are entirely true; one who denies any of what is found in the Torah, knowing that this is the Torah's opinion, is called a kofer (denier)...

"However, one who holds on to the Torah of Moshe and believes its principles, and is fooled in his analysis when he comes to examine the Torah logically and through his understanding of the text, such that he misstates one of the Torah's principles, or his analysis misleads him to deny that principle altogether... or he thinks that a fundamental principle is not truly fundamental and he thinks it is like other non-essential ideas that appear in the Torah... such a person is not a kofer. He is in the category of Jewish sages and pious people, even if he is mistaken in his analysis. He sins accidentally, and must atone."

(R' Yosef Albo, Sefer haIkkarim I 2)

Have a great day,
Mordechai