2 5 0 The Jewish Library perplexed intellect. They are to prevent the uninitiated from falling into error, from groping in the dark, from adopting ideas which are irreconcilable with Biblical teaching. But they are not meant to render thinking unnecessary or improper, or to separate reason from faith. And some of the principles formulated by an authority like Maimonides are refused validity by au­ thorities like Nachmanides, Gersonides or Joseph Albo. Others are explained in different ways by different thinkers. No exponent of Judaism is deprived of the right to give his own interpretation even to universally accepted doctrines. In the realm of action, or of conduct, no such lib­ erties are given. Conformity to a code, to the Code, is essential. Whatever degree of adaptability or flexibility may be inherent in the laws and rules of the Shulchan Aruch, the principles which guide the de­ velopment are fixed, the lines are laid down authorita­ tively, and authority rules. Conduct is controlled in every detail, and no amount of independent thinking can justify a transgression of the Law. It ought to be readily admitted that this freedom of interpretation in matters of doctrine is apt to render the spiritual basis of Judaism all the more secure and all the more permanent. It is just because the Jew is not expected to suppress his reasoning powers that he is able to uphold his ancestral faith in all its purity, and to give it the character of positive teaching which transcends even faith. It is just because the Jew has never agreed to say “credo quia absurdum” that his “creed” can appeal to him as the highest achievement of the intellect and as partaking of the nature of knowledge. His God can always be and always has.