Kol Hamevaser Contents

Volume I, Issue 7

April 14, 2008 Staff Emunah

Managing Editors Alex Ozar 3 Faith, Dogma, and Solomon Schechter Mattan Erder Sefi Lerner 4 An Exploration of Rambam’s Conception of Gilah Kletenik Imitatio Dei David Lasher Noah Greenfield 5 An Interview with Dr. Michael Wyschogrod

Batya Herzberg 7 A Still Small Voice Associate Editor Yosef Lindell 8 Ethics and Truth: Samuel David Luzzatto’s Critique Sefi Lerner of Maimonides

Staff Writers Shira Schwartz 11 Postmodern Faith Chava Chaitovsky Ari Lamm 12 Preview: An Interview with Rabbi Dr. Norman Noah Cheses Lamm Ben Greenfield Ben Greenfield 12 Does God Communicate With Us Through the Lan- Tikva Hecht guage of History? Alex Ozar Shayna Hoenig 13 Maimonides’ Approach to Understanding the Book Ayol Samuels of Job Shira Schwartz Ayol Samuels 14 Beyond Commandments

Erit Sterling 16 Tsamah Nafshi Interviewer Ari Lamm Rabbi Elie Weissman 17 And the Body Your Handiwork Ester Stiefel 17 I Believe with Complete Faith: An Exploration of Copy Editors Turning Faith into Action Shaul Seidler-Feller 18 What is God? Yishai Seidman

Art and Layout Editor Avi Feld About Kol Hamevaser Kol Hamevaser is a student publication supported by

Kol Hamevaser is a magazine of Jewish thought dedicated to spark- The Commentator. Views expressed in Kol ing the discussion of Jewish issues on the Yeshiva University campus. Hamevaser are those of the writers exclusively. It will serve as a forum for the introduction and development of new ideas. The major contributors to Kol Hamevaser will be the un- dergraduate population, along with regular input from RIETS Roshei Yeshiva, YU Professors, educators from Yeshivot and Semi- naries in Israel, and outside experts. In addition to the regular edi- tions, Kol Hamevaser will be sponsoring in-depth special issues, speakers, discussion groups, shabbatonim, and regular web activity. We hope to facilitate the religious and intellectual growth of Yeshiva University and the larger Jewish community.

2 Volume 1, Issue 7 Emunah Faith, Dogma, and Solomon Schechter

BY ALEX OZAR sitional content. sense of the word; it is ecstatic and percep- particular expression of the Jew’s broad and So far we have shown only that there is tional.”iv grand outlook on the nature of God and the Our goal in this essay is to develop an un- more to the Jewish faith than propositional In what may be a related phenomenon, it world. Thus, even the purely propositional derstanding of Jewishi faith, and, subsequently, content alone, but propositional content there seems that the propositional content of Jewish content of the Jewish belief in the Messiah, is to explore the ramifications of that understand- clearly is. However, it seems there are a num- faith itself is qualitatively distinct from that of a very different sort than that of ’my shoes ing on the role and function of dogma within ber of qualities which distinguish Jewish be- of standard beliefs. The proposition that my are brown.’Though both involve definite, con- the Jewish religious experience. It should be lief in its traditional doctrines, such as the shoes are brown has one clear, definite mean- crete propositions, the former contains an en- stressed here at the outset that the question is coming of the Messiah, from standard belief in ing. However, consider the Jewish belief in the tire philosophy as well, which is certainly the not whether or not dogma has a role at all in a proposition, such as the belief that my shoes Messiah; to what precisely does it refer? Who primary component, and from which any par- Judaism – as Orthodox Jews we proudly affirm are brown. First, there is a difference in terms is the Messiah? What does he look like? ticular proposition cannot be disentangled. and hold dear a number of dogmas, and the of the manner in which the proposition is be- When will he come? What will he do? What Further, and here begins our discussion of simple fact of our believing them is surely suf- lieved; specifically, which of the believer’s fac- will the world be like after his arrival? There particular dogma, one wonders whether Jewish ficient justification – but rather precisely what ulties are involved. If I ponder the question of are no definitive answers to these questions. Messianic belief, or Jewish beliefs in general, role it plays. Let us begin then with a simple whether or not my shoes are brown, the ra- Clearly, the content of the belief in the Mes- really require formulation as clearly delineated question: what comprises Jewish faith? tional, cognitive faculty of my mind will im- siah is a much more complex matter than that propositions. Maybe, as we saw specifically Surely the most basic component of Jew- mediately respond with the answer that they of ‘my shoes are brown,’ as it stands for a host in the case of Messianic belief, any article of ish faith is belief in certain propositions, such faith can be sufficiently abstracted so as to re- as ’there exists a God’ and ’His will was re- veal its underlying philosophy, allowing it to vealed in the Torah’. However, it seems that shine free of the dross of gritty particulars. there must be much more to Jewish faith than Does it really matter precisely how the Torah any list of ’ani ma’amin’s. Could we at all ac- was authored, so far as we retain the funda- cept that the faith of our forefathers, sages, and mental conviction that it truly expresses the saints could be reduced to cognitive assent to word of God? Does it matter whether we be- theological propositions? When Avraham lieve in God as the Aristotelian Unmoved raised the knife to slaughter his son, was he Mover or as a person, or whether we conceive driven solely by the cold intellectual recogni- of God as an being or as an idea, so long as we tion of God’s existence? When so many Jew- have faith that there is some ultimate Entity? ish martyrs died with the shema on their lips, Perhaps we should drop our more specific, was there no more to their proclamation than “fundamentalist” theological claims in favor of the cognitive apprehension of God’s unity? more broad, grand, and essential philosophical Can a list of doctrines possibly serve as the ex- commitments (hereafter referred to as “ab- clusive foundation of the Jew’s heritage of four stracted faith claims”). millennia of fiery dedication? People are not The argument here is really two-pronged. machines, and Jewish faith is not a matter of First, as we discussed earlier, the primary com- intellectual mechanism. ponent of Jewish faith seems to be the funda- The faith of Avraham and his progeny is a mental, non-propositional commitments and passionate, zealous, and powerful commitment are, in fact, brown. It is a simple, mechanical of possibilities but not any one in particular. loyalty involved, rather than mere cognitive as- to, loyalty towards, and love for the Almighty. process of my intellect, an uneventful exercise Now, one may initially be tempted to say that sent to theological propositions. As such, “Faith is not so much assent to an idea as con- with little to no experiential impact; my per- the whole of this distinction is that whereas dogma other than the most basic convictions sent to God.”ii Jewish faith is not merely assent sonality is hardly engaged. Now, consider ’my shoes are brown’ is clear and specific, may just be so much unnecessary baggage. to the idea of God, but is rather a commitment Martin Buber’s description of religious faith: Messianic belief is simply vague and unde- Second, even accepting the value of proposi- to God the person and consent to His will. “My rationality, my rational power of thought, fined, a mere generality. However, this does tional faith claims in general , abstracted faith When Avraham sealed a covenant with God he is merely a part, a particular function of my na- not nearly do justice to the nature of Messianic claims do seem to capture the essence and any was committing himself to eternal loyalty to ture; when however I ‘believe,’… my entire belief. significance of particular ones, overshadow Him and His word, regardless of what it might being is engaged, the totality of my nature en- Jewish Messianic belief’s non-specificity them in terms of importance, and ultimately entail for the future. So when he was com- ters the process, indeed this becomes possible is due not to some lack or deficiency in its make them seem petty and sterile. Excessive manded to sacrifice his son before God, he re- only because the relationship of faith is a rela- content or character; on the contrary, it is pre- focus on the fine points of dogma may serve to mained steadfast in his commitment, not tionship of my entire being.”iii Jewish belief is cisely because it is so grand and comprehen- distract us from the loftier, more essential ideas faltering in the face of the greatest trial. The unique because it is holistic, being performed sive, encompassing a spiritual worldview of they represent. Jewish people, following in their forefather’s by the entirety of one’s being. From his most such profound depth, that it cannot be re- Here is one real-life example of this kind stead, reaffirmed as a nation their absolute, un- basic primal emotions to his most sophisticated stricted to gritty particulars, as they would of of argument: “The dogma of revelation in re- conditional loyalty to God at Sinai when they intellectual faculties, the totality of the Jew is necessity prove crude and grossly insufficient. gard to the Pentateuch consists of two parts: proclaimed “na’aseh ve-nishma” – that they engaged in the act of faith. When the Jew is When a Jew asserts his belief in the Messiah, the divine inspiration and the Mosaic author- were prepared to dedicate their lives to God asked whether or not he believes in the Torah’s he is proclaiming his faith in the essential ship. The first part refers to a mystery, the sec- and His commands, whatever it might involve. divine origin or in God’s unity, his proposi- goodness of God and His creations, such that ond to a historic fact…Philosophy of religion So we should hardly be surprised that through- tional response, comes not from the intellect regardless of the incessant evils history has must deal with the first part. Its concern is not out the many tests of history, and to this day alone, but from the whole of his being. As heretofore delivered, and despite the apparent whether the Pentateuch was written down in its still, the Jewish people has remained faithfully Rav Soloveitchik put it: “Knowledge of God futility of man and his society’s quests for per- entirety during the forty years of Israel’s so- committed , willing even to sacrifice its chil- is not just abstract in nature. It is dynamic, pas- fection, there must come a day when justice, journ in the desert, but rather to understand the dren. Clearly, the faith of the Jews involves sionate, experiential, all-powerful, and all-re- kindness, and righteousness will reignv. The meaning and the validity of the claim that the much that cannot be reduced entirely to propo- deeming. It is not knowledge in the ordinary conviction that this day must come is just one will of God reached the understanding of man,

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and that the Pentateuch is a mirror of God’s sitional commitment and loyalty that proposi- reaching man…The essence of our faith in the tional dogmas are not still vital and essential “Let me know Your ways, sanctity of the Bible is that its words contain components of Jewish faith. For one, if we do that which God wants us to know and to fulfill. demand that Jews commit their hearts, energy, How these words were written down is not the and even lives to Judaism, would it not be that I may know You:” fundamental problemvi.” strange to make no demands of their minds? There are a number of responses to this Would it be natural to be Jewish in heart and argument. To begin, from a purely pragmatic body, but not in intellect? Reservation from An Exploration of perspective, it is doubtful whether a dogma- commitment to Jewish dogma clearly betrays a less faith could be adequately maintained. In- lacking in overall Jewish commitment. One deed, there have been many Jews of great who lives a full, productive Jewish life but Rambam’s Conception of stature who despite their rejection of certain whose actions do not correlate with beliefs in dogmas remained passionately committed to God, His revelation, and the Jewish teleologi- the Jewish faith, religion, and people, but can cal vision is in danger of living a farce, as a sort Imitatio Dei we realistically expect this of the masses of or- of decapitated, skeletal zombie. When severed dinary Jews? People require fixed and con- from our beliefs, our actions loose their mean- crete propositions to latch on to; abstract ing. To quote Schechter one final time, “We BY SEFI LERNER beyond this. According to him, not only is the philosophical ideas can’t provide believers usually urge that in Judaism religion means imitation of God’s actions a consequence of with the existential security all people crave. ‘life’ but we forget that a life without guiding Sometime in high school I was first intro- having achieved the intellectual perfection that Solomon Schechter, commenting on the so- principles and thoughts is a life not worth duced to the concept of imitatio dei. The idea allows one to know God, but the pursuit of called “historical school” of Jewish theology livingix.” seemed like a nice one – man has some sort of such intellectual perfection is itself an act of and revelation, writes: “How long the position obligation or moral mandate to emulate God. imitatio dei, as an analysis of the first two of this school will prove tenable is another The particulars, however, were amorphous. chapters of The Guide demonstrates. question…we may hope that even its theology, Alex Ozar is a staff writer for Kol What is the purpose of imitating God? How is In the first two chapters, Rambam ad- it accomplished? The well-known Gemara in dresses the creation of man “in the image of as far as it goes, will ”do” for us, though I nei- Hamevaser Shabbat (133a) applies imitatio dei to character God.”iii In I:1, imago dei is discussed with the ther hope nor believe that it will do for those traits: “Just as He is compassionate and merci- specific intent of reconciling the use of the who come after usvii.” On a more fundamental level, is it really true that particular dogmas are more sterile or petty than abstracted faith claims? For many, believing in literal Mosaic authorship of the Torah provides vibrancy and life to the reli- i It should be noted that many of the things to gious experience that would be glaringly ab- be said about Jewish faith will apply equally to sent in an abstracted belief, for two reasons. religious faith in general. However, this will First, the fact that the believer is uniting with not be true in all cases, and so I retain the word the historical body of the Jewish people, from “Jewish” throughout for the sake of clarity and Sinai to the present, in affirming the traditional convenience. belief in Torah mi-Sinai, is in itself edifying ii Heschel, Man is Not Alone, 166. and gives the truth of the proposition reality iii Martin Buber, Two Types of Faith, 8. Harper and meaningfulness. Second, abstract faith and Row Publishers, 1961. claims often become sterile platitudes them- iv Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Abraham’s Journey, selves, devoid of meaning and significance. Ktav, 2007. More pointedly, lofty philosophies can lead to v For a fascinating explication of these ideas utopias, but no less to totalitarianism and geno- and their centrality to the definition of Judaism cide, and we haven’t seen many utopias. It is from its inception, as well as a demonstration precisely with the gritty, concrete particulars of how the Genesis story is an expression of of dogma that our faith achieves enduring real- them, see Nachum Sarna, Understanding Gen- ity, security, and meaningfulness. esis, Shocken Press. In Schechter’s words: “Being brought up vi Heschel, God in Search of Man, 258, Jewish ful, you too should be compassionate and mer- terms “image” (tselem) and “likeness” (demut) in the old Low Synagogue, where, with all at- Publication Society of America, 1955. ciful.” While the Gemara offers insight into with the notion of God’s incorporeality. How the realization of imitatio dei, the scope of its can man be created in the image of God if He tachment to tradition, the Bible was looked vii Solomon Schechter, Studies In Judaism, application seems somewhat limited. Ram- has no likeness? Rambam argues that whereas upon as the crown and the climax of Ju- page xx, The Macmillian Company, London, bam, however, threads references to imitatio the term “form” (to’ar) is applied to physical daism…in unguarded moments makes me 1905. dei throughout The Guide of the Perplexed, bodies, the terms “image” and “likeness” are viii rebel against this new rival of revelation in the Ibid. concluding that it is man’s ultimate goal. applied only to the concepts that designate the ix shape of history. At times this now fashionable Ibid. In the final chapter of The Guide, Ram- true substance of a being.iv Rambam therefore exaltation of Tradition at the expense of Scrip- bam describes his conception of the highest explains that man’s creation in the “image” and ture even impresses me as a sort of religious level of human perfection: “the acquisition of “likeness” of God refers to man’s elevated in- bimetallism in which bold speculators in theol- rational virtues”i such that one gains an intel- tellectual apprehension being similar to that of ogy try to keep up the market value of an infe- lectual understanding of what is true. This in- God. By rejecting the corporeality of God, rior currency by denouncing loudly the bright tellectual understanding leads to apprehension Rambam allows for a close link between man’s shining gold which, they would have us be- of God and “assimilation to His actions.”ii creation imago dei and his ability to achieve lieve, is less fitted to circulate in the vulgar use Hence, according to Rambam, imitatio dei is imitatio dei; both suggest a non-physical sim- of daily life than the small cash of historical in- the result of reaching the human ideal. Man, in ilarity between man and God. Inherent in the terpretation.viii” his perfect state, emulates God’s actions. very creation of man in “the image of God” is However, a careful reading of Rambam reveals his assimilation to God through superior intel- It in no way follows from the fact that that his understanding of imitatio dei extends lectual apprehension.v In short, imitatio dei Jewish faith consists primarily of non-propo-

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follows naturally and automatically from cre- lowing creation. The nature of this intellectual intimately acquainted with God through the ation imago dei. perfection is described identically in both study of His word and His world. It is not only However, this relationship between imita- chapters. In I:2, Rambam explains that man, when I act compassionately towards my fellow tio dei and man’s creation imago dei can only before the sin, “in the virtue of intellect knew human being, a value Rambam himself stresses An be said of man immediately after creation, be- ‘truth’ from ‘falsehood.’” Likewise, in III:54, at the end of III:54, that I am engaging in imi- fore the sin. The key to understanding the at- he describes the highest perfection as attain- tatio dei, I am striving to emulate God through Interview with tainment of perfection following the sin as ment of “true opinions concerning the divine my intellectual study as well. Every pursuit of described in III:54, and thereby imitatio dei, things.” It follows that man, created in the knowledge and understanding of God narrows lies in a consideration of the second chapter of “image of God” with superior intellectual ap- the gap between Him and me as I aim to fulfill Dr. Michael The Guide. In I:2, Rambam relates to man’s prehension, was in a state of highest perfection. my potential as a being created imago dei. condition both before the sin and afterwards. Furthermore, in his warning against he “who Rambam points to Moshe Rabbeinu as the He introduces the chapter by telling of a chal- neglect[s his] own soul so that its whiteness quintessential example of a human seeking to Wyschogrod lenge raised to him by a wise man. The wise has turned into blackness through the corporeal know God and understand His actions.xi Like man questioned how it is conceivable that man, faculties having gained dominion over it,”ix Moshe, through my learning I am beseeching whom he asserts was created “devoid of intel- Rambam makes evident that submission to God: “Let me know Your ways, that I may BY NOAH GREENFIELD lect,” was punished for eating forbidden fruit physical pleasure stands in the way of achiev- know You.”xii by gaining the “capacity to distinguish between ing perfection. The sin of Adam is described in Do you believe God has a body? In your good and evil.”vi This punishment seems to be precisely the same way. In I:2, Rambam writes essay, “Incarnation and God’s Indwelling in a reward! Rambam begins his response by re- that Adam was “inclined towards his desires of Sefi Lerner is Associate Editor of Kol Israel,” you write, “There must also be a phys- futing the assumption of the challenger: “For the imagination and the pleasures of his corpo- Hamevaser ical aspect to God’s being.” It sounds like you the intellect that God made overflow unto man, real senses.” The very fault that lowered Adam do. and that is the latter’s ultimate perfection, was from the state of highest perfection remains an that which Adam had been provided with be- obstacle in regaining that perfection. No. I never say that. What I say is that fore he disobeyed. It was because of this that it Hence, regarding the condition prior to i Maimonides, Moses. The Guide of the Per- God dwells in the people Israel as God dwelt in was said of him that he was created in the the sin, the following can be said: creation plexed. Trans. Shlomo Pines. (Chicago, 1963) the Temple, in the Beit Hamikdash. Now, the image of God and in His likeness.”vii Man in imago dei endowed man with superior intellec- III:54,(pg. 635) stones of the Beit Hamikdash were not God. his initial state was created with superior intel- tual apprehension which is a manifestation of ii Maimonides, Guide, III:54 (pg. 638) That would be quite unacceptable to say. On lect. Rambam supports this contention by cit- imitatio dei and an achievement of the highest iii Genesis 1:27 the other hand, the stones of the building in ing the verse regarding creation imago dei. level of perfection. The sin, however, lowered iv Maimonides, Guide I:1 (pg. 22) which He dwelt were holy and are holy and Since God has no body, man’s creation in the man from the state of perfection in which he v It should be noted that at the end of 1:1, Ram- that is why the Kotel is holy, because they are “image of God” can only mean that he was en- knew objective truth to a state where he makes bam appears to retract his interpretation of the stones related to the building in which God dowed with an intellectual faculty similar to subjective judgments based on his senses. The similarity between man’s intellect and God’s, dwelt. In the same way I think there is a divine that of God. This argument is mostly a reiter- purpose of man following the sin is to return claiming that in truth they are not similar and presence in the people Israel. In other words, ation, albeit more explicit, of what was already to his ideal condition prior to the sin. Rambam only appear to be so. In the very next sentence, chas v’shalom, I don’t say that God has a body, stated in I:1. believes that this can only be done by remov- however, he again speaks of the “divine intel- but I do say that God dwells in certain places, Rambam continues his response to the ing the impediments created by the sin. In lect conjoined with man.” This tension is cap- in particular in the Beit Hamikdash. challenge by explaining Adam’s punishment. III:9, he explains that “matter is a strong veil tured by H. Kreisel in Maimonides’ Political In this explanation, he elaborates on the con- preventing the apprehension of that which is Thought (Albany, 1999): “Despite the un- So, what is physical about that dwelling? dition of Adam following the sin by contrasting separate from matter as it truly is.” This relates bridgeable chasm between God’s intellect and it to his state before the sin. Before sinning, to the sin of Adam – once man became in- the human intellect, it is the intellect which Once you say that God dwells in a partic- Adam was in a state of intellectual perfection volved in the physical world, his ability to ap- provides the point of resemblance and ‘con- ular space, you are moving into the physical such that he understood the difference between prehend that which is not physical was tact’” (pg. 131). Nevertheless, man’s endeavor realm, because, according to Descartes, matter “truth” (emet) and “falsehood” (sheker). diminished. Following the sin, man needs to to perfect his intellect may itself be considered is above all extension, meaning it occupies “Truth” and “falsehood” are terms applied to work to obtain the highest perfection, intellec- an act of imitatio dei, though he can never ac- space. If God were totally the opposite of mat- the concepts one understands through pure in- tual apprehension of God and emulation of tually reach the level of the Divine. ter, you couldn’t say that He dwells in space. tellect. After sinning, however, Adam no Him, which are both manifestations of imitatio vi Maimonides, Guide, I:2 (pg. 23) So, God’s or the Shekhina’s indwelling in the longer operated with the terms “truth” and dei. Only then will he remove the “veil” sepa- vii Maimonides, Guide, I:2 (pg. 24) Temple, and in the people of Israel, gives God “falsehood”; rather, he became involved in rating him from God. Only then will he return viii Maimonides, Guide, I:2 (pg. 25) a certain relationship to matter. designating things as “good” (tov) or “evil” to his original, perfect state of creation imago ix Maimonides, Guide, III:54 (pg. 635) The most important thing to understand is (r’a.) “Good” and “evil” are applied to ac- dei. x Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot Teshu- that those who are horrified by the mention of cepted beliefs, not objective facts. The sin, in- In Hilkhot Teshuvah, Rambam makes it vah 6:5 God and matter in the same sentence are the dicative of man’s submission to “his desires of eminently clear that study and an understand- xi Maimonides, Guide, III:54 Gnostics. But this is not the biblical view, the imagination and the pleasures of his corpo- ing of God and His ways is the pathway to re- xii Exodus 33:13 which is that God created matter and saw it real senses,”viii lowered Adam from his original pentance: “What did David mean when he was good. If it was good, then there is a tie be- state of perfect intellectual apprehension. He said, “Good and upright is the Lord - therefore tween matter and God. Not that, chas v’shalom, descended from being one who comprehends He instructs sinners in the way, He directs the God is identical with matter, but it then is objective truth to being a judge of subjective humble in justice, and He shows the meek His wrong to say that matter is the antithesis of beliefs. Rambam cites the verse in Genesis way”? This is referring to the Prophets who God because God created matter and says it is (3:5) when describing man following the sin: were sent to publicize the ways of God and to good. Good is God. Anything that is good in “And ye shall be like Elohim, knowing good make the people return by repentance. Further- some sense ties us to God. The good is what and evil.” As Rambam explains in the opening more, people have been given the power to connects the human and the divine. That is the paragraph of I:2, the term Elohim, being equiv- learn and understand.”x Perhaps Rambam is way I would prefer to say it. But not that God ocal, is used in this verse to refer to human alluding here to the quest for the highest per- is simply a material object. “rulers”. Hence, following the sin, Adam no fection. After all, achievement of imitatio dei longer emulated God, but rather a human is the ultimate act of repentance from the first What are the mechanics? How can God judge. sin of man. Moreover, the goal of intellectual be in something but not consist of any matter? Rambam’s description of Adam before the pursuit, as presented here, is to learn God’s sin is strikingly similar to his description of the ways, an essential component of emulation. That is how it is. God is certainly not a highest level of perfection in III:54. Indeed, Hence, in light of Rambam, imitatio dei material object. The key issue is, do you take the phrase “ultimate perfection” is used in I:2 took on new meaning in my life. It is the force the the non-materiality of God and exaggerate to describe the state of Adam immediately fol- behind my ongoing struggle to become more

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it to the extent that God and matter are antithe- God of the Bible [and] it is not the God with books about what heaven is like. He describes ses? If you do that, you are a Gnostic. But if Rambam might respond by saying that a whom a human being can have a relationship. it in the greatest detail, the number of rooms, you don’t do that, if you say, God is not mate- blanket literalism is not the way to go. But once and where the staircase is, where the window rial, but at the same time, God is not the an- you start allegorizing certain parts, why are What does it mean to have a relationship shades are, what goes on and... I don’t know tithesis of matter either, that means that the you not allowed to extend allegorization or es- with God? whether what he writes is true or false, but I creation is not something bad. otericism to the rest of scripture? am fairly sure that God doesn’t want us to deal It means prayer. When you pray to God, with these issues. That’s His business. Let that Do you have an answer to Socrates’ ques- Well, I think that is a very difficult ques- you have a relationship with God. When you be a pleasant surprise after a hundred twenty tion, ‘Is something good because God likes it tion to answer and I don’t know that I can an- ask God to heal your child who, God forbid, is years. While we are in this world, our job is not or does He like it because it is good’? swer it with a formula. But Rambam very often ill, you have a relationship with God. You beg to sit and speculate about the next world, but refers to the principle that ‘dibra Torah kilshon him for mercy, and you hope and pray that he our job is to do mitzvos and maasim tovim. It is very interesting that the Rabbis never bnei Adam‘ (‘the Torah speaks in the language will listen and grant your request. Now, from a What happens in the next world as result of our raised this question. Could it be they never of humans’). This enables him to say, ‘Well, purely philosophical point of view this is all mitzvos and maasim tovim will take care of it- thought of it? I think that’s impossible. They the Torah just uses that expression, but it fairly absurd, namely, that you can influence self. That’s God’s job. must have thought of it and then why [didn’t shouldn’t be taken literally.’ But he almost God by your prayer. Doesn’t God know every- they ask it]? I don’t know the answer. My ten- never, maybe even never, refers to the talmudic thing before you start praying? You are going What is your justification for following dency is to say that the good is good because principle ‘ain mikra yotzei midei pshuto‘ to tell him something new? But apparently, Rabbinic Judaism, as opposed to Karaism or God commands it. God is not bound by a good (‘scripture never dispenses with its plain mean- God is influenced by your prayer. He wants to Christian forms of Judaism? coming from some other source. Of course, the ing’), that whatever you find in a verse, the hear you pray, He wants to hear you ask Him to akeida is the key issue here. God’s command is heal your child. Sometimes he Firstly, I was born into Rabbinic Judaism, good and must be obeyed and God’s command actually does it. Sometimes which is not a small factor. Secondly, Rabbinic is higher than ethics. God is not the slave of not, and we don’t know why Judaism sounds to me like a very sound sup- anything, including ethics. He is the master of He does or why He doesn’t. plementation to scripture, and it is clear that it. A systematic philosopher the Bible needs supplementation. I think the would say, “Well, if some- Rabbis respected scripture more than we do. You are not a Maimonidean thinker. If you times God answers prayer and When the Rabbis needed to prove something, were to go back in time and have a meeting sometimes God doesn’t, I they quoted a verse of scripture. I respectfully with Rambam or if you were to meet a contem- want to know when does He disagree with people who say, “Wyschogrod’s porary Maimonidean, what arguments would and when doesn’t He. I want theology is a biblicism and is therefore not au- you use to try to persuade him theologically? the criteria.” I don’t blame thentic Judaism because it ignores Rabbinic Ju- him. I would like to know, daism.” My answer to that is Rabbinic Judaism I have the deepest respect for Mai- too. But we are not given turns to the Bible for its justification, which is monides. I do not overlook the magnitude of these criteria. We are in a re- exactly what I do. his contribution. But, I think in some matters lationship with God to whom Rabbinic Judaism does not present itself he is too much influenced by Greek philoso- we can pray to and beg and as a substitute for the Bible. Rabbinic Judaism phy. then He will sometimes an- does not say, “Don’t read the Bible, just read What is the key difference between me swer and sometimes He will us.” When Rabbinic Judaism insisted on the and Maimonides? I think it is the relationship say ‘yes’ and sometimes He reading of the Bible in the synagogue three to scripture. Maimonides feels that he has ab- will say ‘no.’ I don’t think we days a week, they read biblical texts, not rab- solute authority to interpret scripture as neces- will ever end up with a for- binic texts. So I think I am in harmony with the sary given his philosophical worldview. If and mula which will tell us when Bible’s ultimate respect for scripture. If in con- when it contradicts his views, scripture has to He forgives and when He temporary yeshivas this is not the case, then yield. An example: Rambam rejects the view doesn’t. the contemporary yeshivas have a problem and of the eternity of matter because he feels it is not I. Contemporary yeshivas do not empha- philosophically not established that matter is It sound like you believe size scripture to the extent that they should. eternal. But then he adds that if philosophers basic pshat meaning should never be over- in hashgacha protis (individual providence)? Rambam says that we should spend one third were to prove the eternity of matter, he would looked or destroyed or dispensed with. of our time on Mikra, one third on Mishna and have no difficulty in reconciling that with I am very reluctant to wave aside the If you mean by hashgacha protis that God one third on Talmud. Now, which yeshiva does scripture (Guide II, 25). Now, if you can rein- pshat meaning of the verse. Therefore, if the relates to the details of my life, the answer is, that? Not too many. terpret scripture to make it compatible with the verse says that God was sorry that He created ‘Of course.’ God is aware that I exist, which eternity of matter, then you can reinterpret man, I think, all things being equal, that should the Aristotelian god is not. The Aristotelian You argue that to make halakha au- scripture to make it compatible with anything be taken seriously. Now, was He sorry in the Unmoved Mover is not aware that tonomous is “to put God into retirement.” at all. That kind of authority over scripture I same sense as we are sorry? Maybe not en- Wyschogrod exists. The God of Israel is aware am very skeptical about. tirely, but at least partly in the same sense, oth- that Wyschogrod exists. He is aware of the The fundamental point is that I cannot ac- I think scripture should have authority erwise we do not know what ‘sorry’ means. good things we do and the bad things we do cept the view that God simply handed over the over us, not we over scripture. If scripture is Rambam says that terms applied to man and and, when we speak to Him in prayer, He lis- Torah to human beings and said to them, “In- not embarrassed to attribute aspects to God God have no common meaning at all (Guide I, tens to us. We are not talking to the wall. terpret it any way you wish and whichever way that Aristotle would not attribute, then I go 56). So when I say a man is angry and God is you interpret it will be fine with Me.” Even with scripture. There is a, shall we say, an in- angry, the word ‘angry’ has no common mean- Do you believe in an olam haba? Why logically that’s not possible, because if that is sufficient respect for scripture in some aspects ing in those two instances. The problem is then isn’t it mentioned in the Bible? the case, then the rabbis can never be wrong, of the thought of Maimonides. One gets the that I don’t know what the word ‘angry’ means by definition. If they got up one morning and feeling that from Rambam’s point of it, it when applied to God. After all, we only know Well, there are indications in the Bible said, “Chazer (swine) is a big mitzva,” then would have been much better if the Torah had what angry means from observing how human that the dead have not simply disappeared. But, does the Ribono shel olam says, “Yes, chazer been written in the format of Aristotle’s Meta- beings act and feel. I have always thought that the fact that the is a big mitzva because the rabbis said so”? physics and all the biblical stories he can do Rashi also doesn’t seem to be bothered as Bible doesn’t talk much about olam haba is at God remains God. He does not retire to without. But they are there, so he has to live much as Rambam by anthropomorphisms. least in part because God is saying that this is Florida and hand over his divinity to human with them. Rashi deals with these anthropomorphisms not for people in this life to know. I don’t think beings. “Al tivtechu b’nedivim, b’ben adam If Rambam were here, maybe he would with great equanimity. it is good for people in this life to sit and spec- sh’ain lo teshua” (“Don’t trust in princes, in a show me that I am wrong. This is eminently If you push the Maimonidean line to its ulate what the next world is like. mortal who cannot grant salvation”). You must possible, if not probable. But, I must see things logical conclusion, you end up with a God [Emanuel] Swedenborg was a Christian never put your absolute trust in human beings. as I see them now. about whom we can say nothing. That’s not the theologian who wrote the most incredible Absolute trust is worthy only towards Hashem.

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So, with the deepest respect for the interpreters an absolute authority, you have to do whatever of the Torah, the rabbis of the Talmud and con- he says. If he is not an absolute authority, then temporary rabbis, I combine that with a knowl- we are in good shape. Then it means you have edge that all human beings by their nature can to listen to him very carefully, you have to err. To deny that is idolatry. It is to make think about it, then you have to decide based human beings into God. Human beings are on your knowledge of Torah. You cannot sim- “A Still Small Voice” never God. ply write it off and leave it to another person. Because you are responsible for your actions, So, how do you practice halakha? not another person. BY BATYA HERZBERG which the calf is built, is none other than the narrative of Eliyahu on Har ha-Carmel). And Well, I am a Modern Orthodox Jew, who You will probably find that the attitudes In contemplating biblical examples of to some degree, the quality of their utterance is certainly not perfect. I think very few of us towards women in the Bible are different than public affirmations of emunah (commonly on Har ha-Carmel surpassed that of Har Sinai. are. But, basically, I try to follow the halakha contemporary societies. Are you a feminist? translated as belief), the first that comes to While on Har Sinai, “kaffa aleihem Har ke- Do you see a tension there? mind is the exclamation of the nation after the gigit,v“ and virtually forced them, on pain of showdown on Har ha-Carmel. Indeed, there death, to accept His law, here Eliyahu provided I am not a female, I am male. But cer- was little else that the nation could say after the prerogative to the nation: “im Hashem ha- tainly a document that was written two thou- witnessing the obvious preference of the God Elokim lekhu aharav ve-im ha-Baal lekhu sand years ago cannot in all detail correspond of Eliyahu over the deity Baal than “Hashem aharav,“ if Hashem is the God, go after him, to our sensibilities today. hu ha-Elokim.” Not once but twice. And this and if the Ba’al, go after it. The choice was in pronouncement is the one that we, until this their hands exclusively, and they chose well.vi But, before, when we were talking about very day, use as the closing of our prayers on Yet, they veered. The nation’s declaration of the Bible, you stressed a preference for literal- the most venerated day of the year. We, after emunah, bona fide as it was, was not substan- ism in words and also in themes. Within the standing from dawn till nightfall are like the tiated by any action on their part. Their emu- Bible itself, the attitudes toward women are not nation and its prophets on that renowned nah, though genuine, existed in a vacuum, it particularly positive. Why now prefer modern mountain. After experiencing the sheer emo- was emunah of a moment, a fleeting burst of sensibilities that are different than the Bible tional and physical exhaustion of pouring our inspiration that fizzled by the next perek. So over those of the Bible themselves? hearts and souls out in prayer, after beseeching how much was it worth? God to reveal his countenance to us, can man- Contrast this picture to that in the time of Well, life is a combination of scripture age little else but “Hashem hu ha-Elokim,” a Yoshiyahu, king of Yehuda. In his time too rev- and the ideas of the current world in which we most raw and blatant affirmation of belief. elation came – this time in the form of a Torah live. I am not advocating that we ignore the Tosafot,i in fact, discusses the connection be- scroll found in the Beit Ha-Mikdash. Although world in which we live and just look at scrip- tween the cry of the nation then and its cry this revelation was less dramatic than the for- ture. [Karl] Barth used the expression, ‘We now, and proves from the fact that the nation mer, and although the nation did not cry out study the world with the Bible in one hand and repeated the phrase, that we too may repeat it words that pierced the heavens as they pros- the newspaper in the other.’ You have to read without fear that we are asserting a plurality of trated themselves on the ground but simply both. deities. Rather, the repeated phrase serves to “va-yaamdu kol ha-am be-vrit”vii it is immedi- My theology is not a biblicism that is strengthen and emphasize the emunah that the ately apparent that this declaration of emunah blind to everything else in the world. I think people felt in their hearts at that moment;iione far surpassed that of those who stood on Har the bible opens up our eyes to many things that we strive to mimic on Yom Kippur. Not ha-Carmel. For indeed, following the reading as it is practiced in Orthodox Judaism. I have going on in the world, including the ahavas only did the nation publicly affirm their unwa- of the Torah, drastic religious action was taken; written an article on conscience (“Judaism and Hashem of women. If they do it l’sheim vering emunah, they went so far as to reject a covenant was formed, the land was purged of Conscience”) which really says one thing and shomayim and with love and with respect for other forms of worship as valid. iii Additionally, idolatry, and Pesah was celebrated unlike any that is, in the final analysis, no human being the tradition, then I am for doing as much as as if this exclamation was insufficient, the na- other observed since the time of the Shoftim. should hand over full authority to another we can within the boundaries of halakha to ac- tion also fell on their faces, an action that con- (It must be noted that Eliyahu too killed the human being. In the final analysis, you are re- commodate them. If that makes me a feminist, notes “genuine and spontaneous awe and fear neviei ha-Baal, but the actions of repentance sponsible for what you do. After a hundred I guess I am. of God,iv“ not simply empty words that are seemed to have stopped there). Similarly, Sefer twenty years, when you go to heaven, if contrived or forced. Nehemiahviii describes the reaction to another Hashem looks at your record and says, “Well, Thank you very much. We may then proceed to ask: must emu- reading of the Torah. The tears were only a har- why did you do this and this on Monday after- nah be accompanied by good deed to be con- binger of the reformations to come. Following noon?” And you say, “Well, Rabbi So-and-so Thank you. sidered valid emunah? Almost immediately the reading, the nation engaged in observance told me to do it,” this is not an absolute de- after the Har ha-Carmel confrontation, Eliyahu of holidays, acts of penance, formation of a fense. Because Hashem says to you, “Divrei is sent death threats by the evil queen Izevel. lasting covenant, and service toward the Beit ha-rav v’divrei hatalmid, divrei mi shomin?” While, we would have expected the nation, that ha-Mikdash. (“The words of the teacher and the words of Dr. Michael Wyschogrod currently had so very recently witnessed revelation via It should not be thought that the display the pupil: to whose words do you adhere?”). teaches Philosophy at YC. He has been hailed Eliyahu, to come to his aid and defend him of emunah on Har ha-Carmel was artificial. In- I’ll give you a concrete example. I have as “the most interesting and astute Jewish the- against the ruthless monarch, we see that deed, if it was, would we use it as part of our often asked Lubavitch Jews, “Suppose the ologian writing today” and the “Judah HaLevi Eliyahu is forced to flee alone to the desert. most sacred liturgy? Rather, it was a sincere Rebbe, while he was in good shape, had writ- of contemporary American Orthodoxy.” He is While perhaps the drama on the mountain outpouring of genuine emunah, one worthy of ten a letter three weeks before Pesach, and the author of “The Body of Faith” and “Abra- should have ushered in a golden age of belief exemplifying. It was a fulfillment of what the said: “These are the messianic times. There is ham’s Promise”, among many other books and in God and tranquility, the subsequent perakim Rambam calls “yesod ha-yesodot ve-amud ha- a concept of Torah shel moshiach. I decree that articles. He will be retiring at the end of the paint quite a different picture. How the recent hokhmot”ix – the knowledge of the existence this Pesach, after you eat the Hille sandwich, year. euphoria that Eliyahu felt as he stood tri- and involvement of God in the world. As R’ you eat a slice of bread with a piece of pork umphantly on the mountain must have dissi- Aharon Lichtenstein asserts, “This mitzvah and butter on it.” Would you have done it?” pated to nothingness in a matter of moments. [emunah] has a purely cognitive aspect, which I get various [answers]. The most com- Noah Greenfield is a student in the How this disappointment must have paralleled asks of a Jew to recognize certain metaphysical mon answer [is]: “That’s impossible, the BA/MA Program at YC and BRGS and at that of Moshe Rabbeinu whose nation, after or historical facts.” The nation in the time of Rebbe could never write such a thing.” But I RIETS. they too expressed their incontrovertible belief Eliyahu serves as a sterling example of such really am very curious, what would these in one God, resorted to building and worship- cognition. The manifestation of this belief, Lubavitchers have done had the Rebbe written ping a golden calf (a reasonable comparison, however, was sorely lacking. “Beyond the con- such a command? In other words, was the for the haftarah of Ki Tisa, the parashah in ceptual concept,” continues R’ Lichtenstein, Rebbe to them an absolute authority? If he is

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“this mitzvah also has experiential facets,x“ God. Rather, they are, as the Maharal explains, ones that the nation failed to implement after the everyday worship, the adherence to the Ethics and Truth: the great revelation. mitzvot “kalah ke-va-hamurah.” This is qual- It is of particular note that the biblical ex- ified by the conclusion of that midrash – Rav amples of genuine emunah coupled with gen- Ploni arose and stated, “halakha ke-ben-Pazi,” Samuel David Luzzatto’s uine action were not escorted by great fanfare the law is as ben-Pazi states it. or by overt miraculous occurrences. The reli- And He said: ‘Go forth, and stand upon gious changes were installed after less major the mount before the Lord.’ And, behold, the Critique of Maimonides religious experiences. This brings to mind Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind Rashi’s comment about God’s instructions to rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the BY YOSEF LINDELL prime importance and teaches [one] to down- Moshe to climb the mountain alone to receive rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in play the importance of the heart is widespread Although by the close of the 14th century among men and scholars, and it causes ... the Maimonides’ position as a traditional authority diminution of pity, compassion, love, and kind- had been established beyond any shadow of a ness.”iv It is difficult to overstate the role doubt, the Aristotelian philosophy and ration- played by ethics in Shadal’s worldview. In alism to which he subscribed slowly began to Yesodei Ha-Torah, Shadal formulates an entire be eclipsed by pervasive trends toward mysti- philosophy of Judaism that charges its adher- cism. It was only with the advent of the En- ents with the preservation and dissemination of lightenment in the 18th and 19th centuries that a morals and ethical values above all else. new type of rationalist was born, one who wor- It is in this vein that Luzzatto expands his shipped the God of Reason and championed polemic against Maimonidean philosophy and man’s ability to unlock the secrets of the natu- the introduction of Aristotelian concepts into ral universe through the power of his own in- Judaism. For Maimonides, the intellectual ap- tellect. Jewish thinkers, inspired by this new prehension of God was the highest goal that ideology, resurrected Maimonides, the philoso- man could achieve. Shadal wonders where in pher and rationalist who had advocated the pri- his skewed hierarchy of values Maimonides macy of the intellect and had so courageously places ethical conduct. Furthermore, in sought to connect Judaism with the general Shadal’s eyes, Maimonides’ assertion that a culture of his day. human being can only reach perfection by hav- Into this revived rationalist milieu stepped ing the proper beliefs and conceptions about the second tablets: “ha-rishonot, al yedei she- the wind; and after the wind an earthquake; but R. Samuel David Luzzatto, widely known by the nature of God diminishes the importance hayu be-tshuot ve-kolot u-kehillah, shalta ba- the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after his acronym Shadal. A traditional Jew of deep of morality and ethics.v hen ayin raah. Ein lekha yafeh min hatsniut“ – the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in religious conviction, Luzzatto vigorously op- Luzzatto also criticizes Maimonides for “the first tablets, because they were given with the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. posed complete reliance on rationalism, rea- what he sees as an intolerant approach to both fanfare, and great sounds, and in a throng, were son, and the human intellect. Not content to Jews and non-Jews who do not harbor the affected by the evil eye. There is nothing better parley only with the scholars of his own day, proper beliefs. According to Maimonides, who than modesty.”xi In other words, events of great Batya Herzberg is a sophomore in SCW Luzzatto took on Maimonides himself. In one bases all reward and achievement of purpose fanfare do not necessarily parallel actions of majoring in Biochemistry and Judaic Studies of his letters, reprinted in Mehkerei Ha-Ya- on the attainment of a correct conception of great purport. Similarly, Tehillimxii asserts, hadut, Shadal attacks the Rambam with an God, one who does not have such beliefs is, in “va-yamru al yam be-yam suf” – some days acerbity possibly unmatched by that of any tra- Shadal’s words, “not human, and we are not after God shone His countenance upon the ditional Jew of the modern era. Blaming the commanded to love him.” Shadal sees this as Jews to remove them from bondage, when “ra- i Brachot 34a Rambam for introducing Aristotelianism into one of the great detriments that Maimonidean atah shifha ba-yam ma shelo raah Yehezkel ii Radak, Metzudat David - Melachim 1 18:39 Jewish thought, Shadal, almost like a modern- philosophy has brought to the Jews. Not only ben-Buzi,” (a maidservant by the sea saw iii Malbim - Melachim 1 18:39 day Kuzari, sought to defend the time-honored does this violate his sacrosanct principles of things that Yehezkel, the great prophet, did not iv R’ Elchanan Samet, The Eliyahu Narratvies precepts of Judaism from the foreign inroads ethics, but it is untraditional as well: “From it see in his vision of the merkavah) the nation (shiur 40), VBM of Yeshivat Har Etzion of Greek philosophy. the hatred of other religions and heretics came wondered if there weren’t enough graves in v Masechet Avodah Zara 2b Yet Shadal was no obscurantist. Despite into our religion, something that we did not in- Egypt. Also, immediately after the Torah re- vi Mikdash Melech – Sefer Melachim. Yigal his attack on rationalism, he was an important herit at all from our ancestors.” To the con- counts the victory song that the nation sang in Ariel. Midreshet HaGolan 1994. scholar of the Wissenschaft des Judentums cir- trary, he writes, “It is not part of the faith of triumph and pride as they made their way vii Melachim 2 23:3 cle and corresponded regularly with the likes Israel to believe that God will punish the na- across the miraculously dry seabed after kriyat viii Nechemia 8-10 of Zunz, Geiger, and Frankel. Shadal’s pen- tions for their beliefs and for the service of yam suf, it describes the complaint of the na- ix Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah 1:1 chant for critical study is well known, and, their false gods, rather for theft and all that is tion about the lack of water and later about the x By His Light, p144 being well read in many secular disciplines, he between man and man. And all the words of lack of meat. xi Tanchuma 31 quoted freely from many non-Jewish biblical the prophets bear witness to this.”vi Perhaps this is the very point which ben- xii 106:7 scholars and philosophers. This being the case, In a similar vein, Shadal criticizes the Pazi, in the midrash cited by the Maharalxiii xiii Maharal. Netivot Olam. Netiv Ahavat Shadal’s rejection of what he termed “Atti- Rambam for his alleged denial of the literal wished to make when he asserted that them Ha’Rei’a 1 cism”, the exercise of the intellect and the pur- sense of the eschatological doctrine of bodily most important passuk in the Torah is not suit of the rational, was not only incongruous resurrection. According to Luzzatto, Mai- “shema yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem with the trends of his own age but also with his monides believed that resurrection was only ehad” nor is it “ve-ahavta le-reiakha ka- own high regard for secular culture. for the soul and not for the body. This very mokha.” Rather, it is the all inclusive pasuk, Noah Rosenbloom explains that Shadal’s issue evoked controversy during the Ram- the one that most succinctly addresses the distrust of rationalism was not a repudiation of bam’s lifetime. R. Meir HaLevi Abulafia of Torah point of view, “et ha-keves ha-ehad ta- the intellectual culture that surrounded him, but Provence accused the Rambam of denying aseh ba-boker ve-et ha-keves ha-sheni ta-aseh rather a rejection of its values.ii According to physical resurrection, and the Rambam re- ben ha-arbayim.” Indeed, the emunah is criti- Shadal, the cultivation of the intellect to the ex- sponded in his Ma’amar Tehiyat Ha-Metim by cal and without it the religious act is severely clusion of all else led to a precipitous decline in denying the charges against him. However, lacking. However, the moments that define the ethics and morality and a return to a near-God- Shadal does not think that the Rambam was Jew’s life are not the ones when he experiences less Hellenistic age.iii In his critique of Spinoza completely sincere in this regard. Further- revelation and miracles, when he can proclaim in a letter in Mehkerei Ha-Yahadut, Shadal em- more, he argues, even if the Rambam did take in a state of great euphoria and excitement that phasizes this point: “This philosophical spec- resurrection literally, he still misunderstood its he has come to recognize the one and only ulation that makes the intellectual faculty of nature. Luzzatto says that according to Mai-

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monides resurrection was “only for the right- ethical imperative. In his opinion, the lack of The Rambam, who believed in both the arly pursuits and his deeply entrenched faith. eous and wise, and not for the evildoers and clarity in ibn Ezra’s hints and riddles perverted absolute truth of the Torah and the immutabil- Wissenschaft was a legitimate and helpful tool those who stray.”vii Later, Shadal goes further the truth. He writes: ity of certain principles of Aristotelian meta- that granted a person a greater appreciation of and accuses the Rambam both of basing his I was habituated by my upright mother physics, saw the need to harmonize these two the world and a better understanding of the doctrine of resurrection on the Aristotelian and father to hate tricks (tahbulot) and cunning truths by reinterpreting or allegorizing pas- past, but it could not substitute for the religious adoration of the intellect and of claiming that language (leshon arumim) and that which I sages in the Bible which in their literal sense truths of Judaism nor help one attain them. “not [even] for the righteous is there an eternity find praiseworthy in the words of R. Yehudah contradicted philosophical principles. In per- Maimonides believed that the tools of the to the soul, but only for the intellectuals.”viii HaLevi, who revealed his opinion on the haps a rather extreme formulation of this idea, philosophers allowed a person to apprehend Medieval opponents of the Rambam were ap- straight path and with clear language, is despi- the Rambam asserted that if Plato’s view re- God and understand His ways. Thus, the study parently unconcerned with this latter aspect of cable to me in the words of Ibn Ezra, who garding the eternity of matter was proven true, of philosophy was perhaps the greatest reli- Maimonides’ doctrine of resurrection. But to speaks in a concealed fashion. ... And when I then the Bible would have to be reinterpreted gious imperative. Luzzatto fundamentally dis- Luzzatto, the exclusion of the common man gird my tools of war in favor of one or against to fit with this conception. Indeed, the Ram- agreed. Religion, for him, was the realm of from one of Judaism’s greatest rewards was one from the early ones, is my intention to hurt bam asserts that it would not be particularly ethical conduct, and only the performance of patently unethical and unjustifiably glorified or help people that have already died? My in- difficult to do so.xvii This notion of two truths good deeds brought one closer to God. As per intellectual attainment. Moreover, Shadal tention is only to help the people of my gener- that must be reconciled was accepted to vary- Kant, metaphysical speculation was a futile lived in an age of universalism spurred by the ation and for coming generations, to glorify ing degrees by almost all of the medieval pursuit, for the rich world of spirituality could Enlightenment. Thinkers such as Lessing and and exalt the paths of uprightness, integrity, the philosophers in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim not be measured by the tools of the empiricists. Mendelssohn believed that people of any belief love of truth, modesty, and humility, and to circles, and only extreme literalists or rational- could partake in society, for all religions had a denigrate and abominate the ways of crooked- ists attempted to deny it. In the 14th century, core of truth. The exclusion of the common ness, cunning (ormah), deceit, and haughti- the Franciscan William of Ockham was the man from resurrection belied those Enlighten- ness.xiii first to argue that this synthesis proposed by Yosef Lindell graduated YC in 2007 with ment sensibilities. Shadal also saw this obscurity and insin- thinkers like Maimonides and Thomas Aquinas a BA in History and is now pursuing an MA in Shadal also objects to the Rambam’s in- cerity exemplified by Ibn Ezra as one of the was faulty. Human reason could never com- Jewish History at BRGS. troduction of principles of faith into Judaism. drawbacks inherent in rationalist philosophy. prehend metaphysics, and, therefore, belief in “The second detriment is the matter of the prin- In his critique of Spinoza he wrote: “And it God must be accepted on faith alone. Only ob- ciples that he set up to be the foundations of [philosophy] causes ... trickery (ha-tahbulah) servable phenomena, the realm of the natural our belief ... the prophets, Tannaim, Amoraim, and cunningness (ha-ormah).”xiv sciences, could be put to empirical tests. With This article is a shortened version of a term and Geonim never set boundaries on matters of Within his critique of Ibn Ezra, Shadal ob- reason thus sundered from faith, both fields paper submitted for Dr. David Berger’s class belief ... rather they would judge every person jects to the rationalist penchant for allegorizing could develop without impinging upon each on the Maimonidean Controversies. according to his actions.”ix Once again, this the Bible. In a sense, this is an old argument – other. Thus, mysticism, a new metaphysics di- ii Samuel David Luzzatto, The Foundations of criticism is not a medieval one, but rather one medievals had denounced the allegory of the vorced from nature, flourished in the late me- the Torah in Noah H. Rosenbloom, Luzzatto’s that arises from Shadal’s stress on ethics and rationalists as well. The Maimonidean contro- dieval Europe, and the groundwork for the Ethico-Psychological Interpretation of Ju- his adherence to the mentality of his time. versy of 1304 centered around those who al- Scientific Revolution, the realm of the empiri- daism (New York: Yeshiva University Dept. of Maimonides’ formulation of the Thirteen Prin- legedly sought to deny the literal meaning of cal, had been laid.xviii Special Publications, 1965), 150. ciples of Faith, argues Shadal, created the po- some biblical narratives and perhaps even of Shadal, following in the footsteps of Ock- iii Ibid., Rosenbloom, pp. 31-34. tential for a class of heretics that could be the commandments. But unlike his medieval ham and the thinkers of the Enlightenment, be- iv Samuel David Luzzatto, Mehkerei Ha-Ya- excluded from the Jewish community despite predecessors, Luzzatto does not attack allegory lieved that it was unnecessary to reconcile the hadut (Warsaw: Defus “ha-Tsefirah”, 1912 or their virtuous conduct, *which would be both because of the slippery slope leading to the re- truths of philosophy and science with those of 1913), 198. a perversion of ethics and the tenets of an in- jection of Divine authority. Rather, because it the Bible and religion. The realm of science v Ibid., pp. 165-66. clusive society based on universal beliefs*. It rejects the literal meaning of the biblical narra- taught man about the natural world and the vi Ibid. is worth noting that in rejecting the principles tive, allegory is an affront to the enterprise of realm of religion taught man how to behave. vii Ibid., p. 166. of faith, Shadal parallels Moses Mendelssohn peshat study, the attempt to uncover the sim- Although both disciplines were important, and viii Ibid., p. 168. who held that matters of belief were never leg- plest and perhaps original meaning of the text. equally true, they were also completely unre- ix Ibid. islated and blamed Maimonides for the “Jew- Shadal writes: “Little by little, those who lated. Therefore, Shadal criticizes the Ram- x See Moses Mendelssohn, Jerusalem vol. 3, ish Catechism”.x sought the original intent of the text (peshat) bam for his attempt to synthesize the worlds of trans. M. Samuel (Bristol, England: Thoemmes Shadal’s distaste for rationalism went fur- increased in Israel ... [but] the philosophers Ibn philosophy and religion by reinterpreting bib- Press, 2002), 106-08. ther than his attacks on the Rambam. In an- Ezra, Rambam, and their students returned and lical texts. He writes: xi Mehkerei Ha-Yahadut, p. 193. other letter in Mehkerei Ha-Yahadut, Luzzatto submerged the Torah in the depths of allegory Moreover, I am repelled by Maimonides xii Ibid., p. 194. has equally critical words for the medieval bib- and riddle ... and perverted the verses and re- because he confused and wanted to blend Re- xiii Ibid., p. 197. lical commentator R. Abraham ibn Ezra. One moved them from their literal intent entirely.”xv ligion with Philosophy. ... The impossible and xiv Ibid., p. 201. would have thought that since Shadal was a As a man of truth and ethics, Shadal could not inscrutable God of Philosophy is not and can- xv Ibid., p. 193. biblical scholar who always sought the original stomach allegory, for he believed it obscured not be the God of Religion. It was only the xvi Samuel David Luzzatto, The Book of Gene- meaning of the text, he would have had great the true meaning of the Bible. puerile and pedantic efforts of the so-called sis: A Commentary by SHaDaL trans. Daniel praise and respect for the medieval pashtan. According to Shadal, the allegory of the philosophers of the Middle Ages who sought A. Klein (Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, But, to the contrary, Luzzatto saw Ibn Ezra as rationalists was problematic for another funda- to conciliate the Bible with the tenets of their 1998), 1. a philosopher in the spirit of Aristotle who mental reason. By reinterpreting biblical texts philosophies.xix xvii See Moses Maimonides, Guide of the Per- muddled the clarity of the biblical text with his to accord with metaphysical truths, the ratio- In Luzzatto’s opinion, the rationalists plexed trans. Shlomo Pines (Chicago: Chicago hints, subtleties, and occasionally heretical nalists sought to impose reason on the realm of were inappropriately attempting to bridge dis- UP, 1963), 327-29 (2:25). leanings. “Who can not be amazed by Rashi,” faith. In Luzzatto’s opinion, these two realms tinct worlds by obscuring the plain meaning of xviii C. Warren Hollister, Medieval Europe: A he writes, “for even though he did not study were completely separate and irreconcilable. the text through their allegories. Short History 7th edition (New York: McGraw- philosophy, he acquired clear and unadulter- Indeed, because they each affirmed separate True to the principles advanced here, Hill, 1994), 352. ated wisdom ... and Ibn Ezra, who learned all truths, there was no need to search for a way to Shadal did not see any value in metaphysical xix Qtd. in Morris B. Margolies, Samuel David the disciplines, did not write one thing in order bridge them. At the outset of his commentary speculation. Influenced by Kant’s Critique of Luzzatto: His Life and Work (New York: Ktav, or in clear language.”xi Although Shadal ad- to Genesis, he writes: “The wise understand Pure Reason, Luzzatto claimed that one could 1979), 75. From Samuel David Luzzatto, mits that Ibn Ezra sometimes came up with that the intent of the Torah is not to teach the not rationally prove God’s existence, but must Epistolario (Padua, 1890) [August 20, 1845, more plausible interpretations of Biblical natural sciences, but that the Torah was given accept it on faith. He also believed that Reve- to A.F. Lebrecht], 464-65. verses than Rashi did, that was only because only to direct humankind on the path of right- lation could neither be proven nor contravened xx See Rosenbloom, pp. 40-50. he had more sources available at his disposal.xii eousness and justice[.] ... Therefore it is not by reason. The realms of reason and faith re- Yet Shadal’s critique of Ibn Ezra goes be- proper for the Torah scholar to force the Scrip- mained separate for him.xx yond his dislike of the principles of Aris- tures from their literal meaning to make them Because of this compartmentalization, totelian metaphysics. Shadal saw truth as an conform with the natural sciences.”xvi Shadal saw no contradiction between his schol-

Volume 1, Issue 7 9 Kol Hamevaser

Kol Hamevaser’s Israel Issue!!!

Kol Hamevaser will be presenting a special issue in honor of the State of Israel’s 60th birthday.

Possible topics include:

Zionism Orthodoxy and the State Contemporary Israeli Politics Israel-Diaspora Relations Personal Reflections and Experiences with Israel Hilkhot Eretz Yisrael The Land of Israel in Jewish Thought Israeli History Aliyah

Subbmissions on any other related topics are welcome! In addition, Kol Hamevaser will continue accepting articles on all topics of interest to Jewish thought, to be published in a separate section of each issue. As always, we will also be accepting responses to our earlier issues, including Torah U-Madda, Derekh Ha-Limmud and A Nation Unto It- self? Submissions should be between 1000-1500 words.

The deadline for contributions is Tuesday, April 29th. If you are interested in writing, or have any questions, comments, or concerns please e-mail us at [email protected]

We cannot guarantee that all contributions will be ac- cepted, but we look forward to hearing from you.

10 Volume 1, Issue 7 Emunah Postmodern Faith

BY SHIRA SCHWARTZ as Creationism and Intelligent Design, that insufficient fodder for the postmodern multi- abandoned the notion long ago that history can have been posed in evolution’s place, make layered human being, thereby muting science’s be didactic. But can we transcend the dyspho- Epistemology, the study of how we come distinguishing between different fields and victorious holler. The postmodern perspective ria of postmodernism to question if it is all to know things, is an exploration of intellectual methodologies a current concern. Particularly, acknowledges the limits and distortions of truly worthwhile without that telos? Can we agency. What sources and methods provide in America, a country formed out of recogni- modernism, similarly to the way Pragmatism assert historical agency and demand meaning sound knowledge? What sort of idea-genera- tion for the need to divide between religious pushed for a model that would exceed the ex- in a world governed by postmodern, profes- tors can we place our faith in? The Enlighten- and secular spheres, the question of what sci- tremes and generalities that the Enlightenment sionalized ideology? ment taught us to trust in reason, Romanticism ence is has taken on legal significance, as and Romanticism/Transcendentalism offered. The question of utmost importance: is in nature and sentiment, while Pragmatism schools grapple with defining what is not only Postmodernism is interested in separating dis- any single element or sphere indeed more po- pushed us towards empiricism and method. appropriate, but legal to teach in a science ciplines in order to explore the very claim that tent and central than the rest? Formalization Modernism built on Pragmatism, looking back classroom. any single approach possesses epistemological of social studies into social sciences hoped to at Enlightenment science and forward to phys- Comte’s appraisal of scientific knowledge superiority. It embraces chaos, argues against establish a way of knowing these things for ical mastery of that science, namely, technol- is pitched at raising science above other “ways constructed order, and questions the very sig- certain. But has it really gotten us any farther? ogy; creation for creation’s sake, just because of knowing,” creating an epistemological hier- nificance of epistemology. This deconstructed The academic dialogue is full of scholars we could, as humans, shape the world. Post- archy. It promotes an unwavering faith in em- view of reality, arguably, rips away human fighting for their historical field to outshine the modernism looks at the stuff of that creativity, pirical knowledge that has been destroyed in agency, or at the very least, reframes it as one rest. Specialization of a drastic magnitude has the malleable chaos behind it, and forces us to emerged, as Morton White would say, “tooth- embrace the unformed. The postmodern ma- brush” histories. Despite our ability to write trix poses a new challenge for epistemology, these histories, we must ask ourselves why one that will either destroy its function entirely they matter, if unabashed immersion in the flu- or reinvent it with new rigor and verve. Post- idity is the goal, or if perhaps, as living people, modernism opens up a shapeless world, one it behooves us to form from our awareness of where identity and structure are open-ended it, “more perfect” models, that can bring hu- questions. In this formless, non-committal re- manity to greater levels of nobility—to assign ality, the issue of “faith,” in anything or anyone geometric parameters to the malleable topol- seems myopic. It appears to offer no ideolog- ogy of our postmodern existence. ical infrastructure, but the episteme of disbe- Perhaps the postmodern revelation is that lief. we matter as much as anything else, that hu- Logical Positivism, rooted in the Enlight- manness is just as reliable as reason, nature or enment, produced an unwavering faith in logic method. Perhaps a dense matrix of infinite and science that eventually overflowed onto agents has branded locality legitimate, has the social realms in emergent social sciences. taught us not to get lost in the chaos, but to Auguste Comte, the French positivist and fa- many ways by both modern and postmodern of many historical actors. confidently embrace our own block within it, ther of sociology, offers an outline emblematic studies of science. Thomas Kuhn’s The Struc- The inevitable professionalization of now only more aware of, and kinder to, the of the positivist conviction, an intellectual tra- ture of Scientific Revolutions, reduces science knowledge generated specialization, and with neighboring communities around us. Perhaps jectory that serves as a model for the evolution to a series of conceptual paradigm shifts. that, to a degree, postmodernism. Formalized specialized, local studies of the way female of all branches of knowledge. The first stage, These shifts proceed like religious conver- education and academia made knowledge, and high school students in New York City re- theology, claims unproven, a priori divine sions, as our understanding of the data devel- the dialogue around it, accessible, thereby sponded to McCarthyism in the 1950’s, have knowledge as its base; the second, meta- ops and older theories are replaced by newer widening that dialogue to encompass endless brought us back to believe in the authenticity physics, argues for essential universal values theories, not necessarily “truer,” but that an- data and infinite ways with which to handle it. of our own reality, in its relevance and episte- and human rights; the third, positive knowl- swer the current set of questions more cohe- History as a field stands as a concrete example mological faithfulness. Perhaps, just perhaps, edge, maintains empirical, verifiable knowl- sively and attractively. Still, Kuhn at least of the postmodern effect. It has come to ac- we have come full circle to learn that thorough edge that has the capacity to predict. Scientific recognizes a consistently developing, agreed knowledge multiple elements and layers that self-awareness is as valid as scholarship, and or positive knowledge is both verifiable and upon picture of what science is at any given affect the shape of history. Historical analysis with that, have found sufficient evidence to reasons from known to unknown phenomena. time; tangible paradigms that emerge from the depicts these layers—time, matter, people, confidently assert faith in ourselves. Comte sees the latter as the most accurate sort complex fluidity of data. His work reflects a ideas, events, environment—as competitors for As postmodern people, we come to the in- of knowledge, while the prior forms remain modern attitude, a human, subjective construc- agency in the power-struggle of history. And tellectual stage with a vast inheritance of epis- necessary precursors that allow for knowledge tion of reality, but a belief in the potency of that History has opened up to include these spheres temological approaches. We inherently trust to become scientific and thus fully developed, construction—that it actually takes shape. of historical inquiry: social, economic, cul- in these intellectual traditions: reason, nature, proven. Peter Gallison’s work analyzes science’s ma- tural, intellectual, political, environmental. method, creativity, and employ them all in dif- The urge to differentiate between science terial culture, attempting to reveal not only Specialization within those spheres was not far ferent life situations. Yet, the human desire for and other branches of knowledge originates fluid data, but fluid agency—the multiple ac- behind. No longer is it a question of new-age objectivity and structure, pinned against the from the positivist worldview and mission, but tors involved in scientific development. It em- Intellectual History vs. classic Political His- postmodern thrust, in its nascence and breadth, is by no means a dead urge in the postmodern phasizes an array of hosts—material, tory, but of History of Science vs. History of cause us to distrust all aspects of this inheri- era. The historical climate that bred this ten- environmental, theoretical, human—and pres- Philosophy, or even more particular, History of tance as fervently, or perhaps as un-fervently, dency may no longer exist in quite the same ents a complexity that resists concretization. Physics vs. History of Biology. The intense as we trust them. If we could penetrate that un- manner; resultant Nazism coupled with the In this way, Gallison’s work is a postmodern methodological specialization provides thor- certainty, we may find ourselves in the prox- contextual analysis of scientific development conception of science, inter-source density that ough knowledge of narrow quarters. But has it imity of a source, broad enough and bold that History of Science has successfully under- transcends human direction and creativity. enhanced our ability to “know history”? The enough to converge and redeem the totality of taken, deter us from adopting a reductionist ap- Currently, differentiating between science complex, specialized framework is the result existence, in proximity with God himself. preciation of positive, scientific, “objective” and other branches of knowledge is not, like in of a complex, specialized human being, devel- knowledge. But recurrent conflicts between Comte’s era, about branding science the epis- oping resources with intense speed and theology and science, particularly regarding temological “panacea”; the technological ad- progress. But with all the knowledge, can we Shira Schwartz is a staff writer for Kol evolution, and anti-evolution arguments, such vances of modernism have been proven better govern ourselves? Perhaps we have Hamevaser

Volume 1, Issue 7 11 Kol Hamevaser Preview: Does God Communicate An Interview with With Us Through the Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm Language of History?

BY ARI LAMM dant mercies.” Then the prayer illustrates the BY BEN GREENFIELD HaRav, our first response (after pain, pity, principle as follows: somekh nofelim ve-rofe compassion, and commiseration) should have Editors’ Note: The following is a preview of a holim u-mattir asurim u-mekayem emunato I think that most Orthodox Jews believe been: “The Yeshiva, and the movement and po- larger interview with Rosh HaYeshiva of li’yesheney ‘afar, “You support the fallen, heal so. To their minds, a spiritually robust individ- litical policies which it represents, must be RIETS and Chancellor of Yeshiva University the sick, set free the captives, and keep Your ual discerns Divine messages in every major doing something wrong.” HaRav Norman Lamm, shlit”a, on the topic of faith to them that sleep in the dust.” Note the event of his life. In terms of the public scene, Clearly, however, no such reaction took “Emunah.” The full interview will be avail- progression from lesser evil to greater evil, the religiously “in-tune” affirm that no bomb- form. In place of questioning their values, Re- able for the upcoming issue of Kol Hamevaser. ing, battle, peace treaty, stock boom, or bust is ligious Zionist leaders affirmed them; the at- due to mere coincidence. Rather, each signif- tack did not weaken their resolve, but What are Jews required to believe with re- icant news report conveys a lesson from God emboldened it. Broken and tearful, an emo- gard to Tehiyyat ha-Metim? and – as is so fondly attributed to the Persian tional Rav Yaakov Shapira included in his eu- According to the Rambam, tehiyyat ha- Jews of Megillat Esther – the righteous can logy that “the Land of Israel, which these eight metim is one of Judaism’s thirteen dogmas, read Shem Hashem into stories that otherwise [victims] loved so much and were so devoted such that if one does not accept this dogma, he lack it. to - we have to stop playing with it! We have is deprived of Olam ha-Ba, the World-to- Paradoxically, this faith goes hand-in- to stop dividing it!” He continued, “Please Come. Of all the thirteen ani ma’amins of the hand with the belief that no one can actually pray for us, and for the yeshiva, that it should Rambam, this is probably the most difficult to interpret God’s telltale messages. In fact, most continue to grow and have influence . . . we grasp and accept. It seems to defy all reason consider it abhorrently rude to do so. Few en- pray for the blind eyes to open.” Of course, and all reasonableness. It is analogous to un- deavors in Jewish thought are so universally the Rosh Yeshiva is not the only leader who scrambling an egg; nature goes in one direction despised as ascribing reasons to the Holo- viewed the Mercaz HaRav massacre as inspira- only, and it boggles the mind to suggest that it caust: Who are you to blame the Zionists, anti- tion to further its own ideals. At last week’s can backtrack. Zionists, or kind-of-Zionists for a murder so memorial service, Rav Mordechai Eliyahu, the We should therefore wonder: why did the vast and vicious?* What tools allow you to former Sephardic Chief Rabbi, opined that “the Men of the Great Assembly, the Sages of the spin such damning insights? Even if much of State should erect another town, another Mishnah, and all following who formulated our irritation is due to hearing such rebuke yeshiva, and another settlement for every Jew our traditional dogmatology, insist upon in- from outsiders (it is significantly less risqué to killed.” cluding Resurrection of the Dead as part of the namely: people who are nofelim—fallen, fail- fault one’s own group), what makes an in- I do not disagree with their statements; faith of Judaism? Why did our ancestors, the ures; those who are holim, sick; prisoners who sider’s words any more accurate? Ultimately, like most Jews, I did not interpret the Mercaz Pharisees, insist upon it in the face of the oppo- are assurim—incarcerated or enslaved; and, fi- meaningful understanding of God’s history les- HaRav attack as a critical evaluation of Reli- sition by the various sectarians? nally, the greatest evil of all: the yesheney ‘afar sons is deemed simply impossible. gious Zionism. However, I did construe it as a I profess that I always felt uneasy about it “them that sleep in the dust”—the dead. And Nonetheless, we do it all the time and intellectually, even while it was a source of hence the praise to the Almighty from lower to nothing better illustrates our incapacity for in- great comfort to me personally. I had no higher to highest illustration of His ethical per- terpreting world events than our actual at- choice but to accept it on the authority of the sonality. tempts to do so. To demonstrate this point, Sages of the Halakha. I reasoned that if a per- The payer, therefore, is an elaboration on consider three situations. Flipping through a son is a real believer – a ma’amin be-emunah the moral character of the Ribbono Shel Olam: history of the Holocaust, you read about an oft- shelemah – then he must judge each item not He not only supports the fallen, not only heals overlooked tragedy. In the spring of 1943, an on its own merits alone, but also in the context the sick, not only liberates the imprisoned, but SS-run military academy blew a gas line, caus- of all the principles of Judaism that were elab- also will someday neutralize the worst evil of ing several dozen students to incinerate in their orated and emphasized by our Torah and our all, namely, death itself, by being a mehayye sleep. The timing, victims, and severity of the tradition. I accepted tehiyyat ha-metim solely metim. accident appear to us as more than coinciden- on faith. Thereby, the Rav managed to transform tal. Although only a gut feeling, the message The above thoughts occurred to me in the tehiyyat ha-metim from a non-rational dogma is clear in your mind: God visited His wrath damning blow to the enterprise of reading Di- past. But at one point all that changed. The to a paean of praise for divine goodness, moral- upon a group that deserved punishment. While vine messages into world events. The most doubts that agitated — even tormented and at ity and ethics—an infusion of meaningfulness perhaps pitying any unnecessary loss of life, straightforward interpretation – that Religious the same time comforted me, but especially for which I shall always be grateful... you also hope that a thinking, introspective Zionism needs to conduct serious soul-search- puzzled me — were resolved when as a young German turned inward at that point and de- ing – is also the least popular. This reality graduate student in Revel I attended a series of clared: “We must be doing something wrong.” highlights the inconsistent and baseless meth- lectures on the Thirteen Principles of Mai- Ari Lamm is the interviewer for Kol Similarly, imagine if today’s JPost detailed a ods we use when interpreting history. After all, monides by none other than the Rav (I do not Hamevaser deadly epidemic running through the class- most events can be interpreted in dozens of know if those lectures have ever been pub- rooms of a Hamas-run madrassa. Once again, mutually exclusive manners, but our particular lished, but if they have not—they ought to be). you might pity the innocent, but at the same explanations are generally motivated by noth- What the Rav said is this: the concept of time one feels that such an obvious symbol of ing more than preconceived (and usually self- the Resurrection of the Dead is obviously of terror and anti-Semitism needs to be informed righteous) notions; we find ourselves sucked great importance to the whole structure of Jew- of its great moral errors. Lastly, consider last into a whirlpool where new events confirm ish belief because it was incorporated in our month’s attack on Mercaz HaRav. If one mes- only that which we previously believed. daily prayers, namely, the Amidah: We say, sage could be seen in the massacre, presum- Thus, our faith in a communicative God mekhalkel hayyim be-hesed, mehayye metim ably the most reasonable would be one of swirls down the drain. If the equivocal lan- be-rahamim rabbim, “He sustains the living in Divine rebuke and censure. Considering the guage of Divine transmission is sufficiently loving-kindness, resurrecting the dead in abun- obvious symbolism of Yeshivat Mercaz ductile to both justify and invalidate any given

12 Volume 1, Issue 7 Emunah

position, no voice can clearly be discerned. In effect, historical events can only address ut- Maimonides’ Approach to terly one-sided questions, where alternative ex- planations stand as obviously untenable. Thus, if we actually wish to hear God’s word in the Understanding the Book of Job ten o’clock news, we must limit it to tame, in- disputable lessons: learn more Torah, perform BY SHAYNA HOENIG Maimonides, the philosophy of Elihu accord- less of sin, no one can be completely exoner- more hessed, and desist from general bad ing to Maimonides elucidates the purpose of ated from suffering of some sort; thus, no suf- stuff. Yet these lessons impart nothing that we Historical placement, linguistic difficul- the entire book of Job.vii fering is unjustified. do not already know and – as in the case of ties, and ambiguous authorship are only a few The first approach that Maimonides lists The third philosophy delineated by Mai- Mercaz HaRav – are probably incorrect inter- of the issues that arise and complicate the study is the Aristotelian approach which is conveyed monides is elicited through Job’s second pretations: if Hashem sought to broadcast mes- of the book of Job. Scholars such as Marvin H. through Job’s words. This ideology espouses friend, Bildad. Bildad explains that Job is suf- sages of Torah and hessed, a yeshiva was a Pope and Robert Eisen have devoted much that there is no providence. Job explains that fering now so that his reward is increased later truly terrible target for Him to choose as the penmanship to these and other questions akin his suffering proves this point, as he says “the on in the world to come. He explains to Job: site of an act of terror. to them, regarding the study of Job. Perhaps righteous man and the wicked are regarded as “if thou are pure and upright, surely now He Aware that interpreting God’s messages is though, one of the most fundamental issues re- equal by Him, may He be exalted, because of will awake for thee, and make the habitation of a thoroughly impossible exercise (or, at best, garding the book of Job is the question of its His contempt for the human species and aban- thy righteousness prosperous. And though thy practically fruitless), believing that such mes- overall message and purpose. donment of it.”viii Furthermore, Job iterates that beginning was small, yet thy end should sages even exist becomes unreasonable. In his critical study of Job, The Book of “it is all one therefore I say: He destroyeth the greatly increase.”xiii Bildad thus explains that Would God communicate in an utterly ambigu- Job in Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Robert innocent and the wicked…He will mock at the though the righteous may suffer in this world, ous language? If He does, should we care? We Eisen endeavors to analyze the book of Job calamity of the guiltless.”ix Job essentially be- their afflictions are only temporarily and they can believe that God both controls and guides from a philosophical vantage point, a method lieves that man is abandoned following his will be duly rewarded in the world to come. historical events, but let us cease to pretend that was first “established by Saadia Gaon [man’s] creation, as Job remarks: “Hast Thou The converse is true as well regarding the that His omnipotent command of (Iraq, tenth century), refined by Maimonides not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like wicked; they may prosper in this world but history implies a revelatory communiqué (Egypt, twelfth century) and modified further through history. by later authors in Provence, Spain and Italy until the early Renaissance.”i Eisen examines the approaches of Saadia, Maimonides, Ben Greenfield is a staff writer for Kol Samuel ibn Tibbon (with brief discussions of Hamevaser the “Tibbonide” interpreters Immanuel of Rome, Elijah ben Eliezer ha-Yerushalmi and Isaac Arundi), Zerahiah Hen, Gersonides and Simon ben Zemah Duran (chapters 2-7)ii in ef- forts to understand Job philosophically. Of par- *For an excellent example of intelligent and ticular interest is the philosophical sincere Jews making absolutely disturbing understanding of Maimonides, whose com- statements, see mentary on Job is printed in Maimonides’ http://www.vosizneias.com/2007/04/jeruslam- Guide of the Perplexed.iii israel-rabbis-blame-for.html, where an Israeli Maimonides begins his commentary in Gadol be-Torah attempts to interpret the Holo- chapter 22 with the establishment that “the story of Job…is a parable intended to set forth cheese?”x Implicitly, according to the Aris- they will receive divine retribution and suffer caust while American readers self-righteously the opinions of people concerning provi- totelian approach, there is no logical under- accordingly in the world to come. Bildad thus nod their heads. Of course, Rabbi Ovadia dence.”iv According to Maimonides, the book standing that can explain why the righteous reconciles the issue of why the righteous suffer Yosef, a former Sephardic Chief Rabbi, has be- of Job aims to establish a “foundation for the suffer because suffering is simply an arbitrary by deferring the ramifications of it to the after come particularly associated with statements belief.”v The way that this is conveyed is matter, since there is no providence. God’s jus- world. Therefore, implicitly, since man cannot of this kind. One fairly well-known example through the dialogues that take place between tice thus needs no cogitation if it seems to be view the circumstances that are found in the of this occurred in the aftermath of Hurricane Job, his three friends, and a fourth visitor contradicted since, according to Job’s philoso- world to come, he [man] should abstain from Katrina, when he noted that “there was a named Elihu. Based on these dialogues, Mai- phy, divine retribution is not exercised in a cal- questioning providence altogether. Instead, tsunami and there are terrible natural disasters, monides divides the book of Job into different culated fashion in the first place. man should express complete faith in God that because there isn’t enough Torah study. . . philosophical approaches, attributing to each The second philosophy is conveyed though things may seem unfair in this world, Black people reside there [in New Orleans]. conversant a different philosophy. The purpose through the first of Job’s friends, Eliphaz. Elip- in the world to come there is an absolute Blacks will study the Torah? [God said] let’s of these dialogues is “to make known each haz professes that everything that befell Job preservation of an appropriate system of re- bring a tsunami and drown them . . . Hundreds one’s opinion concerning this story: namely was what he deserved, as he says “for he had ward and punishment for the righteous and the of thousands remained homeless. Tens of thou- that the greatest and heaviest misfortunes be- committed sins because of which he served wicked respectively. xi sands have been killed. All of this because they fall the most perfect individual, who was the these misfortunes.” According to Eliphaz’s The fourth philosophy presented by Mai- most unblemished of them in righteousness.” approach, what Maimonides calls the approach monides is one that is championed by Zophar, have no God . . . Bush was behind the [expul- Essentially, Maimonides believes that the pur- of Scripture, suffering and reward is allotted in Job’s third friend. Zophar, representative of sion of] Gush Katif, he encouraged Sharon to pose of the book of Job is to examine various a fair manner; man gets what he deserves. Elip- Ashariyya’s school of thought according to expel Gush Katif . . . We had 15,000 people ex- responses to the long debated existential ques- haz tries to convince Job of this as he rhetori- Maimonides, does not aim to resolve observed pelled here [in Israel], and there [in America] tion regarding theodicy—specifically, why the cally questions, “is not thy wickedness great? breaches in providence. The approach of 150,000 [were expelled]. It was God’s retribu- righteous suffer. And are not thine iniquities without end?”xii He Zophar is to abstain from questioning the will tion . . . God does not short-change anyone.” The opinions that are purported in the thus chooses to understand Job’s suffering as of God altogether because “we are incapable It should be noted that the exact context and book of Job according to Maimonides are as just and appropriate since Job is clearly iniqui- of penetrating the secrets of His wisdom, nature of Rabbi Yosef’s words are subject to follows: the opinion of Aristotle is attributed tous. According to Elihpaz’s philosophy, there which necessitates His doing what He wills debate. to Job, the opinion of “our Law” is attributed to is no need to reconcile the issue of seemingly without there being another reason.” Zophar Eliphaz, the doctrine of Mutazila is credited to arbitrary providence because there is no con- remarks to Job “Canst thou find out the deep Bildad, and the opinion of Ashariyya is as- flict in the first place. Eliphaz strives to pre- things of God? Canst thou attain unto the pur- cribed to Zophar. The fifth and final opinion is serve a just outlook regarding theodicy by pose of the Almighty… But an empty man will that of Elihu who is considered by Job and his explaining that the suffering of the righteous is get understanding, when a wild ass’s colt is [Job’s] three friends as superior;vi though no not unwarranted since affliction occurs propor- born a man.”xiv Essentially, according to specific philosophy is attributed to him by tionate to one’s sins. Since no one is truly guilt- Zophar, man will never be able to understand

Volume 1, Issue 7 13 Kol Hamevaser

the workings of God and thus the only appro- that there is no understanding to be found. Re- to relate to providence and in so doing will ul- priate response to suffering is to “set thy heart garding Elihu’s words, Eisen concludes that timately generate within man a greater love for aright, and stretch out thy hands toward Him— “teaching Job the limits of human knowledge God. ”xv to react with complete and unfaltering faith. concerning providence is, in fact, the point of Beyond Zophar’s approach necessitates that man es- the book.”xxiv Maimonides also concludes his chew what he [man] may see as inconsisten- commentary with the statement that the philos- Shayna Hoenig is a senior in SCW, ma- Commandments cies in God’s providence because he cannot ophy elicited by Elihu, “the establishing of this joring in Jewish Studies and English possibly understand God’s ways. Man should foundation for the belief and the drawing at- not reflect on these questions at all and should tention to the inference to be drawn from nat- BY AYOL SAMUELS instead turn his heart towards God in an act of ural matters, so that you should not fall into i Cohen, Mordechai Z. Review of: Robert complete faith. As mentioned above, the ques- error and seek to affirm in your imagination Eisen. The Book of Job in Medieval Jewish We tend to think that adherence to mitsvot tion regarding the existence of providence is that His knowledge is like our knowledge” is Philosophy. 2004 fulfills God’s will, while the performance of eschewed. “the object of the Book of Job as a whole.”xxv ii Cohen, Mordechai Z. Review of: Robert aveirot accomplishes the opposite. However, Elihu, the final conversant, at first seems Maimonides’ recapitulating statements about Eisen. The Book of Job in Medieval Jewish there are certain instances in which the roles to be restating the prior assertions made by the philosophy of Elihu reveal Maimonides’ in- Philosophy. 2004 are switched. R. Nahman bar Yitshak explains Job’s three friends. However, Maimonides ex- terpretation of the book of Job’s overall pur- iii Maimonides, Moses. The Guide of the Per- that a sin done for the sake of God (l-shma) is plains that what Elihu comes to add did not pose: to teach the appropriate approach plexed III: 22 & 23 greater than a commandment performed not occur to Job’s friends, and that his additions towards understanding providence. iv Maimonides, Moses, The Guide of the Per- for His sake (shelo –l-shma). i What follows are in fact the entire purpose the book of Job. It is interesting to note variant approaches plexed, Trans., Pines, Shlomo [Chicago, 1963]. from this statement is that there is a value sys- Elihu, the youngest of the five, begins by lam- towards the analysis of the book of Job. For ex- 486 tem beyond normative halakha. When this basting Job for his ignorance and proceeds ample, in contrast to Maimonides, who divides v Maimonides, Moses, The Guide of the Per- value system is out of sync with the halakhic thereafter to criticize Job’s friends for the “se- the book of Job into five parts, each part repre- plexed, Trans., Pines, Shlomo [Chicago, one, R. Nahman Bar Yitshak tells us, the for- nile drivel”xvi they professed about providence. sentative of a different philosophic world view, 1963].. 497 mer triumphs. The element that Elihu comes to add, accord- Marvin Pope also divides the book of Job, but vi Maimonides, Moses, The Guide of the Per- ing to Maimonides, regards the intercession of into four parts. However his divisions are plexed, Trans., Pines, Shlomo [Chicago, 1963]. angels. According to Maimonides, Elihu says based on plot and not on philosophy. Pope ex- 494 that “it is an attested and well-known thing that plains Job as a compilation of topical sections vii Maimonides, Moses, The Guide of the Per- when a man is ill to the point of death…if an including: (1) “The Dialogue”- Job’s conver- plexed, Trans., Pines, Shlomo [Chicago, 1963]. angel intercedes for him—regardless of what sations with his three friends, (2) “The Elihu 497 angel—his intercession is accepted and he is Speeches”- Elihu the bystander’s insights, (3) viii Maimonides, Moses, The Guide of the Per- raised from his fall,”xvii as is told in the book “The Theophany”- revelation of God to Job, plexed, Trans., Pines, Shlomo [Chicago, 1963]. of Job “If there be for him an angel, an inter- and (4) “The Epilogue”- conclusion of the 491 cessor, and so on.”xviii What exactly this angel story and fates of Job and his friends. Pope uti- ix Job 9:22-23 represents is not clear. According to Robert lizes this form to assert his conclusion that x Job 10:10 Eisen, Maimonides feels that the angel “repre- “The Book of Job…can hardly be regarded as xi Maimonides, Moses, The Guide of the Per- sents a natural force or cause that comes to the a consistent and unified composition by a sin- plexed, Trans., Pines, Shlomo [Chicago, 1963]. aid of an individual in grave danger.”xix These gle author.”xxvi Because, according to Pope Job 493 natural forces are, however, limited and cannot is divided based on plot, it lacks a cohesive xii Job 22:5 always intercede. This is the explanation of quality. xiii Job 8: 6-7 Elihu’s words, “Lo, all these things doth God For Maimonides on the other hand, the xiv Job 11: 7, 12 work, twice, yea thrice, with a man.”xx Because story line is of ancillary importance as he indi- xv Job 11: 13 these forces will not always succeed, the im- cates at the conclusion of his philosophical xvi Maimonides, Moses, The Guide of the Per- plication is that eventually, pernicious forces analysis of Job: “I have summed up all its plexed, Trans., Pines, Shlomo [Chicago, will overpower them. [Job’s] notions, nothing being left aside except 1963].494 Upon Elihu’s conclusion, God intercedes such matters as figure there because of the xvii Maimonides, Moses, The Guide of the Per- and speaks to Job and in doing so, according arrangement of the discourse and the continu- plexed, Trans., Pines, Shlomo [Chicago, 1963]. to Eisen, He offers support for Elihu’s words. ation of the parables.”xxvii For Maimonides, the 495 To be sure, the concept of aveira l-shma God’s message according to Eisen is that book of Job is essentially a statement of differ- xviii Job 32:23 does not simply refer to the performance of a “everything learned from Elihu is ultimately ent philosophies about the nature of provi- xix Eisen, Robert. The Book of Job in Medieval smaller transgression in order to prevent a all that one can know about providence. There dence; the surrounding plot details are nothing Jewish History. 57 larger one from transpiring or in order to pro- are natural processes that are either beneficial more than surrounding plot details. Because xx Job 33:29 tect the halakhic system. After all, R. Nahman or harmful and the description of these philosophical approaches to providence are xxi Eisen, Robert. The Book of Job in Medieval Bar Yitshak’s proof text comes from the story processes is the limit of what human beings presented and discussed consistently through- Jewish History. 63 of Yael and Sisra. This story recounts that can fathom about how God governs the out the book of Job, Maimonides preserves xxii Maimonides, Moses, The Guide of the Per- Yael, a married woman, had relations with world.”xxi Maimonides also explains Elihu in unity in the book of Job. plexed, Trans., Pines, Shlomo [Chicago, 1963]. Sisra, the general of the enemy army in order to this way, saying that Elihu’s point is to explain According to Maimonides, the book of 496 kill him, win the war, and thus save her nation. to Job that man’s intellect is incapable of ap- Job presents a survey of philosophical attitudes xxiii Job 34:21-22 Because the Bible praises Yael, R. Nahman prehending how “natural things that exist in the towards understanding providence, both cor- xxiv Eisen, Robert. The Book of Job in Medieval Bar Yitshak sees this case as a paradigm for world of generation and corruption are pro- rect and incorrect. Only upon the study of the Jewish History. 65 aveira l-shma. Yael’s purpose in transgressing duced in time and of conceiving how the exis- philosophies which Maimonides feels are in- xxv Maimonides, Moses, The Guide of the Per- what was, according to the Talmud, a serious tence of the natural force within them has correct can one recognize the true validity of plexed, Trans., Pines, Shlomo [Chicago, 1963]. commandment, was clearly not to preserve the originated them.”xxii He further exhorts Job to the fifth approach, that of Elihu. Upon that 497 halakhic system; rather, her goal came from a understand that God’s ways do not resemble recognition, Maimonides concludes: “if man xxvi Pope, Marvin H., The Anchor Bible: Job. value greater than the system itself. Thus, the man’s ways; nevertheless, though man cannot knows this, every misfortune will be borne Garden City, 1965. xxviii value of the aveira l-shma, for R. Nahman Bar understand God’s ways, Elihu urges Job that lightly by him. And misfortune will not add to xxvii Maimonides, Moses, The Guide of the Per- Yitshak is not that it ensures future perform- “His eyes are upon the ways of man, and He his bouts regarding the deity and whether he plexed, Trans., Pines, Shlomo [Chicago, 1963]. ance of commandments, but that it expresses seeth all his goings. There is no darkness, nor does not know and whether He exercises prov- 497 certain values that lie outside of the formal shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity idence or manifests neglect, but will, on the xxviii Maimonides, Moses, The Guide of the Per- commandments. may hide themselves.”xxiii Elihu is essentially contrary, add to his love.”xxviii Hence, Mai- plexed, Trans., Pines, Shlomo [Chicago, 1963]. This same concept of sinning for a higher instructing Job to realize that man cannot un- monides believes that studying the book of Job 497 purpose is expressed in Maimonides’ introduc- derstand God’s ways, but that does not mean will generate a greater understanding of how

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tion to his commentary on Mishnah Avot. He learning one halakha from another. The Rad- and chasing away the birds is a mitzvah. Per- with the system God gave us. If we say that quotes the sages’ statement that the biblical baz actually uses this method that Rav Kook forming the mitzvah in such a way, even if it is there is a purpose that we must ensure the ha- verse, “In all your ways know Himii” comes to sees as ideal in answering one of the halakhic technically a mitzvah, is clearly not in sync lakha accomplish, we also run a serious risk of include the performance of sin. The Rambam questions posed to him. He was asked whether with what, according to Nahmanides, is the ul- people claiming whimsically and without explains that, when performing this sin, one a Jew is required to allow the government au- timate purpose of the mitzvah. Thus, knowl- much thought that various mitsvot no longer must place as his goal “truth” (takhelit kelapei thority to cut off his limb so that they spare his edge of the goal of the mitzva can be essential apply. ha-emet) even though this action is “sinful friend’s life. The Radbaz begins with a typical for the correct performance of the mitzva. While these risks and misgivings are real, from a certain perspective.” Like R. Nachman halakhic discourse. He explains that, since one There are two possible ways to figure out the opposite extreme runs an equal, if not Bar Yitshak, the Rambam thinks that there are must lose a limb rather than desecrate the Sab- what the goals of these divine laws are. The greater, risk. If we only focus on the for- values beyond halakha that are included within bath and one must desecrate the Sabbath in first way is to look to our tradition. We can malisms of the halakhic system and ignore the the will of God and that sometimes trump for- order to save a life, it is possible that one must closely examine the parts of our tradition that values that it is based on, then we have no way mal mitsvot. For the Rambam, one of these sever a limb in order to save a life. However, speak to these overarching principles. This of ensuring the continuous connection of our values is “truth.” the Radbaz ends his response by proclaiming would require a serious study of Tanakh as system with the will of God. Having a system These meta-halakhic values do not just that the Torah states, “its ways are pleasant and well as the agadata we find in the Talmud. that has lost its connection with God’s desire represent a will of God separate from the will all of its paths are peaceful” (Mishlei 3:17) and Often, we have explicit statements by both is no better than having no system at all. Thus, reflected in the mitsvot. Rather, the mitsvot thus it is unfathomable that one would be com- God and his prophets which could point us in the dangers implicit in examining the goals of themselves are based upon these values. The manded to cut off a limb in order to save a life certain directions. Other times there is a more our mitsvot and using them to guide our prac- Talmud in Tractate Shabbat 31a expresses the so that must not be the law. v This line of rea- amorphous “general spirit of the Torah,” in the tice of halakha beseech us not to avoid the idea that there are values that underlay the issue altogether but to examine the issues with mitsvot in the well-known story of the man much care and depth. It is incumbent that we who asked to be converted while standing on study these theological and philosophical is- one leg. Hillel’s response to this man was, sues with as much rigor as we do the specifics “what you hate, do not unto others—this is the of halakha and the Talmudic discourse. Our whole Torah and the rest is commentary.” Hil- experts need not only be experts in halakha and lel is pointing out that there is a single value Talmud but in hashkafa as well. Let us talk that all the mitsvot are meant to express. Rav about what God truly asks of us with as much agrees that there is a purpose to all the mitsvot fervor as we talk of the laws of Shabbos. And, but, unlike Hillel, he thinks that the goal of all when we apply these values to the halakhic the mitsvot is to purify (le-tsaref) people.iii Rav system, we must acknowledge the inherent continues to explain that clearly God does not danger and set certain conditions to ensure that care at what exact point one is allowed to they are applied responsibly and wisely.vi Only slaughter an animal for His own sake. Nah- then will we reach a point where the other na- manides highlights Rav’s statement in his com- tions will see our practices and eclaim “Rak am mentary on Deuteronomy 22: 6-7. He says that hakham ve-navon ha-goy hag-adol ha-zeh.” Rav’s statement demonstrates that there is a (Devarim 4:6). purpose to the mitsvot and that that purpose is to benefit man, “to prevent him from harm or detrimental beliefs or bad character traits or to Ayol Samuels is a staff writer for Kol remember the miracles of the creator or to Hamevaser know God.” iv Maimonides echoes these sen- timents, giving his own similar list of the soci- etal and individual enhancements that are the goal of the mitsvot. He vehemently opposes i Horiyot 10b those who see the commandments as “divine ii Mishleh 3:6 will” that cannot be explained. Both Hillel and iii Bereishit Rabba 44 Rav and later, Maimonides and Nahmanides soning takes a value that the Radbaz thinks is words of Rav Kook. Beyond the philosophical iv Guide to the Perplexed III:31 emphasize that the mitsvot are not ends onto a goal of the halakhic system and forms the ha- and theological parts of the torah, we must also v Responsa Radbaz part III siman 627 themselves. Rather, they are meant to lead to lakha in such a way that it fits this value. study the specific laws themselves in order to vi The Neziv, for example, in discussing the the realization of greater values. It is for this Attuning oneself to the ultimate goals of infer their purpose. The other way to figure concept of aveira l-shma in his responsa (part reason that there are certain cases, according the halakha is not just useful for the posek who out the will of God is by using human intellect, II Siman 9), sets two prerequisites for an aveira to R. Nahman Bar Yitshak, in which a mitsvah is creating halakha. It is also necessary for our experiences in the world which God cre- l-shma to be enacted. The first is that he who must be transgressed because of a contradic- each individual’s optimal performance of the ated, and natural morality. God’s command, is performing the sin get no benefit from it, and tion between it and one of the ultimate pur- commandments. After all, if it is true that there “and you shall do what is righteous (hayashar) the second is that he measure very well what poses of halakha. are larger goals that mitsvot are meant to help and what is good in the eyes of God” (Devarim is gained and what is lost. Knowing which principles and values the us achieve, then how can we perform these 6:18) assumes that man knows what is good. mitsvot are meant to accomplish not only al- mitsvot correctly without understanding their The Radbaz, therefore, in the aforementioned lows us to see the rare individual cases in purposes? Let us take, for example, the com- response, says that the laws of our Torah must which the mitsvot and the values contradict mandment of sending away the mother bird agree with our reason and logic (sevara). It each other and act accordingly. This knowl- when taking eggs from a nest. Nahmanides ar- makes sense that God gave us the power to un- edge also gives us the tools to guide and check gues in his commentary on that verse that the derstand the laws of the Torah and His desires the halakhic system itself, to ensure that it al- purpose of that commandment is to encourage since He wants us to achieve them. ways meshes with the system of values. One mercifulness in humans and discourage cru- Of course, we must be very careful. The of the more extreme formulations of this idea elty. Working within Nahmanides’ reason, it values are often ambiguous and it is not always comes from the words of Rav Avraham Yitshak would appear that one who chases away the possible to determine exactly what their pa- Hacohen Kook. In his introduction to Ein Aya, bird simply because it is a mitzva but is not rameters are. We can only guess at the will of Rav Kook says that in an ideal time and place aware of the ultimate purpose, could not have God with the utmost humility. Allowing these where there is no danger to the halakhic sys- performed the mitzva in the optimal way since values to then affect halakha and the way we tem, the specifics of halakha (perat) would be it will probably be less effective in encouraging practice it is clearly uncomfortable. The clarity determined using the principle values (ha-ke- compassion. To go even further, I have had and, for some, the sanctity of the halakha is lost lalim ha-rashiim) which are the basis of the conversations with people who thought that once we say that there is a purpose beyond the Torah, instead of the formalistic method of even if one does not need the eggs, taking them laws themselves that must guide what we do

Volume 1, Issue 7 15 Kol Hamevaser Tsamah Nafshi

BY ERIT STERLING quest is not simply its cries, but his willingness compelling and immediate. pasuk. Both the heart and the flesh of man, the to take action, its demonstration of its full faith The Malbimviii explains that the thirst of a instinctual and responsive aspects of each per- The expression of emotional and existen- that Hashem will provide it with water. Like deer is the result of two separate causes. First, son, thirst for Hashem. tial estrangement from God and the world is the ayal, the person who cries out to Hashem the ayal is naturally thirsty. Additionally, the Through the exploration of two psukim in best expressed in some of the mizmorei through feelings of distance and frustration ayal is accustomed to eating poisonous roots one mizmor of Tehillim, many dimensions of tehillim. As the meshorer cries out for deliver- cannot expect to be answered without taking and needs to drink water in order to counteract man’s relationship to Hashem can be revealed. ance, repentance, inspiration, or simply ac- initiative, without being an active participant the effects of the poison. Like the natural thirst Like the ayal has a specific call that is unique knowledgement, the reverberations of his song in the answering of his or her own cry. If a peo- of the ayal, the Jew’s thirst for the living God only to its kind, each person has his or her own are heard throughout the generations. Hun- ple truly thirst for the attainment of a close re- is natural; it is embedded in his consciousness. way of connecting to Hashem, of expressing dreds, even thousands of years later, the same lationship with Hashem, they must prepare He thirsts for the living God upon whom both his or her deepest feelings, estrangement and emotions, the same elation or estrangement is themselves for this relationship by taking ac- physical and spiritual life are dependant. The longing. Still, as each of us calls out to Hashem felt by the descendents of the great composer. tive steps toward its attainment. natural thirst for Hashem arises out of a feeling on behalf of ourselves, in expression of our One particular tehillah that has found a special Many commentators take note of the use of necessity and dependence. Just as it is natu- personal emotions, it is important to bear in place in my heart is tehillah 42. I first encoun- of a strange word in the second pasuk of this ral to thirst for water because without it life mind that we are also calling out on behalf of tered the full text of this tehillah (though I had perek. The shoresh, root ayin reish gimmel, cannot be sustained, it is similarly natural to those who feel they cannot do so themselves. unwittingly known parts of it through popular which is generally translated as groan, is found thirst for Hashem. The desire to have a relationship with Hashem kumsitz songs) while doing a project in in only one other place in all of Tanakh. In Another dimension of thirst is present in must not come only from the guilt of human eleventh grade. Its words have continued to be sefer Yoel,v(1:20), it says “gam bahaimot sadeh a source of hope, comfort, and personal expres- ta’arog elekha ki yavshu afikei mayim” “the sion ever since that time. The powerful emo- beasts of the field cry out to you, for the tional imagery used in this tehillah expresses streams are dried-up.” In this context, the the multi-dimensional and complex emotions shoresh “arag” is used in connection to “ba- of the Jew in galut. haimot sadeh,” and not specifically to the ayal. Tehillah 42 begins with a simile in which This seems to conflict with the claim of Rashi the meshorer compares himself to a deer thirst- and other commentators who say that this word ing for water “ka-ayal ta’arog al afikei mayim is used specifically in reference to the cry of ken nafshi ta’arog elekha Elokim”i “as the deer an ayal, in the same way that the word sha’ag groans for flowing streams of water, so too my is used specifically in relation to a lion. The so- soul groans for You, God.” The Daat Mikra lution to this difficulty lies in Rashi’s explana- iiexplains that the ayal or deer, is unique be- tion, as enumerated previously. The ariga of cause, when it is thirsty, it lifts up its voice and the ayal is really the cry of all animals, insofar cries out to be near streams of flowing water. as the ayal cries out to Hashem on their behalf. Like the deer who cries out when it is far away When viewed in light of this explanation, the from water, so too the Jew, in his distant exile pasuk in Yoel fits in beautifully with this from the Beit Ha-mikdash cries out because he tehillah. Even the animals who cannot cry out wants to be able to see “pnei Elokim”. Rav for themselves, who turn to another as their Shimshon Raphael Hirsch iiiexplains that the representative, are viewed as if they them- deer in this mizmor hears the water flowing, selves were crying out to Hashem. Like the but is unable to reach it. Like the deer in the ayal, who cries out on behalf of other animals, people as it is in the ayal. Like the deer who fallibility. Rather, it must also come from a nat- absence of water, in the absence of the Beit Ha- people too are capable of davening as repre- eats poisonous roots, man sometimes does ural thirst for a genuine relationship with mikdash, the Jewish people sense Hashem. We sentatives of others. Even people who are un- things that are poisonous to his soul. Man is Hashem. Actions must be prefaced by sincerity know that He is near in reality, but we feel as able to daven on behalf of themselves can be fallible and often commits sins that he knows and desire to strive toward a true relationship. if he is far away. With the loss of the Beit ha- counted in the communal voice of klal yisrael. are detrimental to both body and soul. After Man must express both longing and praise for Makidash, revealed miracles and nevi’im, we After the comparison between the thirst of committing a sin, man suddenly has the urge Hashem with his whole being. “Libi u-besari tend to feel more distant from Hashem, even a deer for water and the thirst of the mishorer to connect to Hashem, to rebuild the lost con- yeranenu le-Kel hai.” though He is very near to us. for Hashem, the tehillah continues to describe nection that has resulted from sin. But the Rashi’s ivexplanation of this metaphor the exact nature of this thirst. “tsamah nafshi process of returning to Hashem has a pre- delves into the specific character of the ayal. le-Elokim le-Kel hai” – “my soul thirsts for scribed measure. As articulated by many Erit Sterling is a junior in SCW majoring According to Rashi, the ayal serves as a kind Elokim, for the living God.”vi Radakvii explains nevi’im, Hashem does not desire the empty rit- in Englsh of messenger for the other animals. When the that the extension of the thirst metaphor is not uals, the rote observance. Practice must be pre- other animals are thirsty, they call out to it, im- simply an extended literary tactic. Rather, there ceded by genuine desire, by the groans of thirst i Psalms 42:2 ploring that it lift his eyes up to marom on their is something about thirst specifically which for the living God, by the striving toward the ii Daat Mikra, Tehillim 42:2 (Amos Chacham) behalf. Upon their request, it digs a hole in portrays the longing for Hashem in a way that feeling of a close relationship to Hashem. This iiiRav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, Tehillim 42:2 which it inserts it horns and begins to move no other feeling does. Thirst is more desperate idea is further expressed in a Shabbat zemer iv Rashi, Tehillim 42:2 them around. As it looks up to Hashem, it si- and compelling than hunger because one can written by Ibn Ezraix. “Tsamah nafshi l’Elokim v Yoel 1:20 multaneously takes action, digging a hole to go two three days without food, but not with- le-Kel hai, libi u-besari yeranenu le-Kel hai” vi Tehillim 42:3 demonstrate it will and belief that He will pro- out water. When one is thirsty and he drinks – “my soul thirsts for E-lokim, for the living vii Radak, Tehillim 42:3 vide it with water. As it digs, Hashem is mera- water, “tashuv nafsho elav,” “his life will re- God, my heart and my flesh will sing to the liv- viii Malbim, Tehillim 42:2 hem on it and the deep brings water up to it. turn to him.” Though food is eventually neces- ing God.” Ibn Ezra infuses this idea of multi- ix From the Shabbat Zemer “tzamah nafshi” What compels Hashem to grant the ayal’s re- sary for survival, the need for water is more faceted longing into an extension of the second written by Ibn Ezra

16 Volume 1, Issue 7 Emunah I Believe with And the Body Complete Faith: Your Handiwork An Exploration of Turning Faith into Action BY RABBI ELIE WEISSMAN not yet agreed to. New words begin to flow from my mouth: “asher yatsar es ha-adam be- To “the Chinuch” who reminds me on this hakhma u-vara vo nikavim...“ I cannot prevent BY ESTER STIEFEL a conscious struggle, but unconsciously every painful, angst-ridden morning “ki aharei ha- their emergence; I will ignore them. My mouth time we sin, every time we waste precious peulot nimshakhim ha-livavot.” (For after the continues: “E-lokai neshama shenasata bi Do you believe that Mashiah is coming? learning time, or miss an opportunity to do a actions, the heart is pulled). {Mitzvah 16} tehora hi.” I wish to cry out “stop;” but the Maybe not today, or tomorrow, or even next mitzvah we demonstrate this lack of faith. For This morning I wake, and belong to words, having broken through the dam built by year, but will he come during your children’s instance, every time we speak a word of lashon Wordsworth and not Ramban. Not because my mind, flow ceaselessly, becoming louder lifetime, your grandchildren’s, your great- hara we are showing a lack of faith. We are one’s philosophy speaks to me more than the and louder as my feet walk me into the Beis grandchildren’s? demonstrating that we do not believe that God other’s, but because Midrash for minyan. Ten years ago my father was walking is watching our every move. We fail to show one was required to My lips, ignor- down the street in the beautiful, quiet our yirat shemayim when we fail to recognize put on tefillin each ing my protests and Jerusalem neighborhood of Rehaviah, when he that there are consequences to our actions. We morning, and the cries for freedom, saw a ‘for sale’ sign outside an apartment. fail to show ahavat Hashem when we do not other wasn’t. That plow forward in their Only interested in what the real estate market treat other human beings, who are created in manifold complex of praise of God. A re- was like in Israel, my father casually called the the image of God, (footnote Berasheit 1:27) tradition, with its lim- volt ensues. Body, real estate agent and asked to see the apart- with respect. We each struggle in these ways itless chambers and with its legions of ment. As soon as he began looking at the apart- trying to strengthen our faith; it is so easy to corridors, shaping my limbs and organs, de- ment, the owners began pushing him to buy it, slip, but how can we possibly overcome this life (and not William fies its master in but my father was unsure. Did he want the struggle? Wordsworth’s), and favor of its Maker. apartment? If he did buy it, what would he to To better understand what emunah means usually injecting it Antagonists and ene- do with it? How was he going to maintain it let us look at the first time the word emunah with meaning, now mies on all sides, my from America? Maybe he should just wait. appears in the Torah. In Parashat Be-shalahiii acts as a burden upon intractable mind is When my father expressed these concerns to a the word ‘emunah,’ ‘faith,’ appears in the de- me; it binds me. overwhelmed by the family friend, the friend turned to him and scription of the war against Amalek. During My mind, cling- sheer might of the posed the following question: “Do you really the battle with Amalek, when Moshe’s hands ing to the fantastical, magnificent and im- believe in the coming of Mashiah? Just imag- were raised Israel triumphed and when they rebellious illusions of posing tradition ine,” he continued, “thirty or forty years from fell down Israel began to lose. So “Aharon and the previous night, which fuels and cap- now Mashiah could be here and we will all Hur supported his arms…and his arms were conjures images of tures my body. My come up to Jerusalem to go to the Beit Ha-mik- emunah until the sun set.” Here, emunah freedom. I wake at arm, brandishing the dash for Pesah or Succot. At that time you will means steady and not the usual translation of ten without the guilt black mark of the have to turn to your grandchild and say, ‘see faith or belief. In this instance, ‘emunah,’ of “seder“ or King, and my head, that apartment, see that one over there, I almost means stability. Faith, then, is our stability. It is “zmanim.” I decide, at ten, where I wish to go, adorned with His crown, do His bidding, deny- bought that apartment, we almost would have what is supposed to help us triumph in our and just go. Today I walk slowly through the ing my mind’s objections, now drowned out by been a twenty minute walk from the Beit Ha- everyday lives, as the Jewish people triumphed park, perhaps sitting under a tree and reading a the rising voices of commitment. Contempla- mikdash.’” over Amalek. story with no particular message or meaning. I tive mind succumbs to a simplistic body, “The righteous man shall live by his Rabbi Nahman of Breslov in Likkutei Mo- spend the day following my whims as they trained to serve Him and invigorated by the faith.”i There is a longstanding question in haran teaches that when it says in Be-shalah peak. More importantly, my actions, good or multitudes of committed servants surrounding, Jewish tradition concerning faith: how do we that “his hands were emunah” it means that bad, retain no Divine ramifications. similarly lauding their Creator. fulfill this ‘thing’ called emunah? Merriam Moshe had such great faith that his faith per- This morning, I pull the covers back over Webster’s online dictionary defines faith as meated his whole body.iv This is analogous to my head, hoping that I will fall back to sleep The conflict ends in tranquility. “belief,” “trust,” and “loyalty to God.” It is when a person has such complete faith that the for only a few minutes, granting me the privi- I yield to my body, swaying rhythmically to firm belief and complete trust in something for faith encompasses one’s entire body. Faith is lege of arriving late to minyan, and hopefully the sweet sounds of subjugation. which there is no proof. We cannot see faith, not something that is just in our hearts and our sparing me the full service; my will is not His. touch it or smell it; we can only feel it, believe minds. Rather, it is something that has an im- Still, despite (and in spite of) my will, my it in our minds and in our hearts. As the Ram- pression on the entirety of the person; even in body carries me lazily from my bed, allowing Rabbi Elie Weissman holds a B.A. in Eng- bam, in the Guide of the Perplexed teaches: our limbs when we perform a physical action the words “modeh ani lifanecha“ to slip uncon- lish Lit from YC, a M.A. in Bible from Revel, “Know that faith is not a verbal utterance, but like Moses did, as he held up his arms. A per- sciously from my lips. My bare feet touching and Semikha from RIETS. He is the Rabbi of rather a matter that is represented in the soul.”ii son’s entire being and life should be imbued the cold bathroom floor wake me from my the Young Israel of Plainview, a member of the Real, unwavering faith is something very hard with faith; one’s whole life ought to be a re- trance and remind me of the day ahead. I am faculty of YUHSG, and a former associate ed- to have, even our forefathers, who saw great flection of that person’s faith. But the question unprepared to deal with an agonizing morning itor of Hamevaser miracles like the splitting of the sea and food remains: how can we imbue ourselves with this of learning, staring blankly at texts that don’t falling from the sky, struggled with this un- kind of faith? need the embarrassment of my half-thought se- touchable thing called faith. What does it mean When it comes to something as complex varas. to have faith? Or to be even more basic, what as faith, there are more questions than answers. My thoughts break; and I discover that I is faith? And ultimately what can we do to ex- Even when there is an answer, the question is am dressed and ready for minyan. My hands press our faith? normally more powerful than the answer such pour water over each other three times and my Like our forefathers, we all struggle with that the answer is not very satisfying. When lips recite a blessing that my conscience had our faith daily. Unfortunately, it is not always times are good and things seem to be going our

Volume 1, Issue 7 17 Kol Hamevaser

way, it should be easy to believe in God and How many times do we take the time to sit and see His hand in our daily lives. However, in think, what are we doing? Are my actions ex- good times, we become too comfortable and pressing my belief in God, and His Torah, and sin, thus showing a lack of faith even if we in a final redemption? In this age of technology WhatWhat isis God?God? think we feel it in our hearts. Every time we and capitalism, everything is instantaneous, sin we are ultimately saying to God, “I don’t competitive, and fast paced. We become so tied believe that You are everywhere watching and up with our busy, crazy lives that we seldom Editors note: In Spring 2007, as an assignment for Rabbi Shalom judging me always.” We are not taking our stop to think. Even if we spend the whole day Carmy's Belief and Religious Commitment course, YC students were faith and letting it permeate into our very learning Torah, do we regularly take the time to being, into our very actions. When times are ask why? I am not trying to question the notion asked to attempt a definition of God. The following are unedited selec- hard and we see bad things happening to good of faith; rather, I am trying to take a moment to tions from the students' responses. people it is even easier to lose faith and ques- recognize faith so we may reorient ourselves tion God’s actions or even doubt that there is a and act in ways that reflect what we actually God. So everyday of our lives, in good times believe. Student 1 and in bad, faith is elusive and mysterious; it It is impossible to know why things hap- leaves us with more questions than we can an- pen the way that they do. The daily picture of swer. Nevertheless, I would like to attempt to how the world works is unclear to us and the God in the Judaeo-Christian tradition refers to an omnipotent creator, ruler, explain how we can strengthen our faith just a only way we can keep going is by having faith and benefactor of the world. But perhaps more essentially, when we affirm our little, by translating it into action. that God guides us and that everything will be belief in God’s existence, we are expressing our most fundamental convictions God does not expect us to find a way to alright in the end. A way through which this about the nature of the world and the human experience. Our sense that there is physically show our faith on our own. Rather, faith can come is by acting on it, by being an ultimate purpose to our lives,and meaning to our actions; our fundamental moral convictions; the feeling that there is an underlying unity and order among all things; these and more are we express in proclaiming that God exists. Student 2

Defining God and Gods

The task of defining God will not lead to the same results one would produce when defining god. God, as far as I know, is minimally a monotheistic god (not in the sense, of course, that He believes in one god, though He probably has more than emuna peshuta on that subject) and can be further refined to refer to the Abra- hamic god and even to the Jewish god (though Judaism entertains enough com- peting theologies about god that it can be said to have many gods(!)). On the other hand, god can extend much further, to both pagan gods and to the frequently heard “President Joel is (a) god.” God (with a capital G) can be said to have certain com- He has given us guidelines and means with meticulous in following God’s commandments mon characteristics. Limited by unfamiliarity with non-Abrahamic monotheistic which we can express and strengthen our faith. and by knowing that we do not know the big religions, such as Sikhism, and even with the Abrahamic ones (especially Bahai), As a verse in Tehillim teaches “all of Your picture God has in store for us, individually I can only say with partial certainty that the Abrahamic god has some sort of mo- v (God’s) commandments are faith.” God gave and as a nation. nopoly on divinity. While a Christian trinitarian may posit that God is three and us the Torah and its commandments to help us After having his faith questioned, after he live a life of faith. However, as we have seen, took a moment to see the big picture, my father therefore divinity is not monopolized but shared, he would likely still agree that having faith and acting with faith are not that sat down the next day with the real-estate agent those three are also one and so ‘some sort’ of monopoly can still be agreed upon. simple and holding on to our faith can be ex- and signed the papers buying the apartment. But that unity cannot be extended to the idea of god. Pagan gods tend to have a ceptionally difficult. In our everyday lives From this whole experience I realized that in lot of competition and those declaring the divinity of President Joel have at times there is constant conflict between having faith order to be truthful to ourselves about the na- spoken similarly of Arnie Eisen. and the harsh reality of life. We might wake up ture of faith, we need to take a moment to rec- and truly believe that we have true sincere faith ognize our goals and, through that, translate What is god, then? I would like to posit a very minimalistic answer: A god is in God, but then we rush through morning our faith into action. an object of worship. Furthermore, a god is thought of having powers and/or in- prayers and forget to bless God for the food we fluences on both its worshipers and those who do not worship it (or who do not just ate; we tell a little white lie here and there, do it properly), whether directly or indirectly, whether sensed or not. Offering a or when we hear that someone was shot we au- Ester Stiefel is a sophomore in SCW ma- sacrifice to President Joel, for instance, can result in a building named after the tomatically think where is God? All of us are joring in Psychology and Jewish Studies worshiper. Similarly, an Abrahamic god holds the keys to the afterlife; but if a guilty of these thoughts and actions in one form or another because the reality of life con- worshiper fails to have faith in Jesus, hell awaits. This god does not necessarily stantly tests our faith. Human beings are not have a claim on ultimate truth or the highest quality of being, nor is it necessarily perfect, and even people who have the greatest ineffable or inconceivable. faith can come to feel abandoned by God in i Makkot 24a In what way is belief important to this very minimalistic god? Belief seems ii hard times. We are constantly challenged to Maimonides, Moses. Guide of the Perplexed to be but a precursor to worship, which can provide either benefits or repercus- overcome our fear of reality and bring our faith 1:50 to the forefront of our lives. iii Exodus 17:12 sions. If I believe President Joel is a god, I will continue to offer him my tuition, Our perspective of the world is foggy and iv Likkutei Moharan 1:91 lest I be smitten. If I don’t, I may be less inclined to do so. In some cases, as in it is hard for us to see God’s master plan. Our v Ps. 119:86 some forms of the Christian model, faith is part of the worship and is the key to faith is constantly tested whether it is through determining future smiting. Belief is important only insofar as it helps identity the hardships or through how we act daily. And object of worship and possibly the correct mode of worship. what are we doing about it? How many times do we actually stop and think about our faith?

18 Volume 1, Issue 7 Emunah

Student 3 Student 5

This entry includes a follow up question posed to the student by Rav Carmy and I feel like I am not up to this challenge of defining God. I have many per- the student’s answer. sonal thoughts, but for few of them do I have a clear, logical and definitive proof. I will not answer the question in terms of what I can prove. Throughout When thinking about God I have two fundamentally different reactions. The history, people have had many different pictures of what a god is. Philosophers first is that He is indefinable. That any attempt to define the “essence” of God is have debated the metaphysical questions: what is the nature and number of impossible and that any attempt to give an attributive definition does not get at that God. Today, far more focus on the psychological relationship of man to God. which makes God God. This, for the purposes of the assignment, will get us People relate to God as the one they look up to, the one who has more power nowhere. The second sense is that He is a machine with a heart. What I mean by than them. A god is one who doesn’t fail. There is no obstacle he cannot over- calling God a machine is that He is a being that is entirely consistent. Unfortu- come, no goal outside his reach. He is the one who is greater, who people can nately, this alone does not capture qualities that I believe must be present in a turn to in their time of need to solve their problems. Of course, once their ap- being for it to be God. Therefore, I add to this formulation a heart. Meaning that pointed gods fail, they become false gods; but the quest to find a real God is I add that the flavor of His consistency is that of, let us say, goodness. Unfortu- ever-present. nately, this begs the definition of goodness- which it is unclear to me how to ex- Yet once one enters into what makes God truly God, one leaves the easier press as part of God but not distinct from Him and also to retain God’s being the terra firma of relating to God and enters the above philosophical questions re- originator of all except to divorce it from God and therefore make Him a slave to garding God. I do not intend to foray into those well-charted waters of proving it (as opposed to a slave of his own consistency). Also, it lends arbitrariness to what God is; rather I will give my thoughts, my personal reflections – some- what it is that God is consistent about. I must also add to this the understanding what disorderly at that – on what God is. that God is not externally limited in his abilities to carry out his will. This defini- I personally attack the question here from two directions. Firstly, there is tion though is unclear and maybe not all encompassing. Also, it begins to express my religiously inspired vision of God as a perfect being (which draw upon my the form of that which was rejected at the get go. own psychological and metaphysical leanings). Not merely the most perfect, or perfect at many things, but an absolutely perfect, both in potency and morality. Are you saying that when we use an indefinable term we have no way of dis- To truly be God, in my view, he must be omniscient and omnipotent. The world agreeing about whether it’s being used correctly? If I say this is yellow and you is His cradle; He knows every inch of it and exercise power over all of its as- disagree, so we need a definition in order to disagree? pects. God’s perfection spreads to the moral domain as well; He acts for a rea- son, and acts with consideration of the beings he has created and will affect with No. We can disagree about the use of a term up to the point of departure of his further actions. His knowledge and power come into play in this arena as our common notion those things predicated on an indefinable term. This is assum- well; there is no question He cannot answer because of a lack of data, no goal ing of course that we can delineate properties of an indefinable term even if we He cannot achieve because of an inability to accomplish. God cannot pass the cannot define the term itself. To your example of yellow, I may not be able to de- buck when asked whether the Judge shall perform justice. And God must act to fine what yellow is, but it would seem that we could all agree that Big Bird is cov- instill that justice in the world he created. ered in yellow feathers. To that degree, we can have discussion on whether an I also, at times, attempt to think of God from a more scientific position – indefinable term is being used correctly. Again in terms of yellow, we could eval- not in attempting to prove his existence, but in considering the mechanics, so to uate the claim that my teeth are yellow on a given day by recourse to examples of speak. My vision of God is that He is ‘extra-universal.’ If God is omnipotent yellow not under dispute between us. (This could extend to a quality like virtue and omniscient, if he is to know the future, he must be outside time. For him to and generalize by recourse to linguistic evidence as demonstrating that most peo- be outside time, he would need to be outside space, in the way we experience it ple would agree about a certain feature…) (certainly Einstein’s general theory of relativity seems to confirm that notion). He is outside this universe. In a physical sense, God is not enclosed by the uni- verse; his power over the universe demands a certain separation from it. Student 4 That God is extra-universal means he may well relate to the physical ele- ment of the universe, but that he is not enclosed by it. There is some ‘other’ do- In some religions G-d is seen as one single, non-tangible eternal being, all- main, outside the universe that God inhabits. He doesn’t need to be outside the powerful and all-knowing, responsible for every single aspect of every part of cre- spatial dimension of the universe (being that I have already posited that he ation and the current workings of the world. In other religions, there are many doesn’t inhabit space, that requirement would be somewhat illogical). But he gods, each with distinct human characteristics such as love and pain and are even needs to outside it in some dimension. God may be immanent in the universe, susceptible to death, though usually only if they are killed by another god. Each but I think that God’s presence demands a place that is separate. I further feel one of these gods is in charge of a specific aspect of nature or some facet of run- that this relates to how God manages the universe – he does not orchestrate its ning the world. Regardless of what any individual religion or group may hold, the every move, but leaves it to the universe he ordered to march forward, interfer- one constant is that G-d is always referred to as some sort of superior being or be- ing with its working to perform hidden and revealed miracles, possibly through ings, responsible at least in some way for the world as we know it. quantum mechanics. If God is our independent of our universe, God may still be perfect, may still be greater than all, but leave open a door for our own de- velopment. His separation allows Him to instill justice and perfection within our world without stunting our own growth.

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