Sexual thoughts and mind control: the linguistics of Rambam and George Orwell

The chapters of Judaism Reclaimed which relates to parashat Vayigash explore Rambam’s strong legal and theological statements regarding sexual thoughts.

In both Mishneh Torah and Commentary on the Mishnah, Rambam requires that a man avoid all unnecessary interactions with women to whom he is not related. While these laws governing modesty and interactions between the genders are sometimes regarded as being intended solely to prevent actual immoral acts, Rambam, in both Moreh Nevuchim and Commentary to the Mishnah, emphasizes the importance of avoiding interactions which may arouse sexual thoughts. Moreh Nevuchim quotes in this context the Talmudic teaching that “thoughts of sin are more serious than the sin itself”. Why should this be?

Judaism Reclaimed addresses this question in the context of Rambam’s understanding that humanity’s “ultimate perfection” lies in transcending the subjective outlook dictated by our imagination and personal, selfish desires in order to relate to God and the world on the basis of “Divine truths”. The emphasis of Rambam’s ethical teachings is that by keeping one’s character traits in balance and under control, a person can minimise the distorting effect of any subjective or imaginative input when attempting to reach a rational understanding.

The category of subjective imaginative thoughts most likely to prevent a person from achieving this goal of an intellectual connection to God is that of sexual desire. It is a widely held belief, frequently utilized by marketing strategists, that a man’s imagination is immediately captured by and preoccupied with sexual thoughts. Advertising campaigns often attempt to exploit this neurological process by displaying a sexually suggestive image. The emotional faculties will instantly be activated by such an image, becoming unduly influential at the expense of the conscious rational element of the brain. The person’s mind will thus be subliminally drawn toward the message of the advertisement before the rational decision-making function of the cortex has become fully operative.

The gravity with which Rambam regards immoral thoughts may also hold the key to his much-derided and little-understood position that Hebrew is known as Lashon Hakodesh (the language of holiness) because no specific words describe sexual organs and the activities which they perform. Crucially, Rambam makes his claim regarding the significance of Lashon Hakodesh at the end of a long chapter dealing with the Torah’s attitude toward sexual thoughts and the dangers that they pose to a person trying to become more than “an animal in human form”.

In a theory associated with the linguist and anthropologist Franz Boas, language is understood to reflect the public thought and consciousness of the community in which it developed. Comparing the frequency of certain terms used by the Inuit of northern Canada with their English counterparts, Boas noted that, for example, “water” is expressed in numerous distinct terms in the English language including “water, lake, river, brook, and rain,” but only in variations of a single form by the Inuit. In contrast to this, Inuit languages contain multiple different roots for words describing various forms of the single English term “snow”.

Lashon Hakodesh’s unique status as the language of the Torah means that it reflects less the practical realities and attitudes of the Jewish community, and more the values and guidance of its Lawgiver. This is manifested in the fact that sexual organs and their activities, which weigh so heavily on the common thought-processes of the untrained human mind, do not merit even a single dedicated term in God’s holy language. As Rambam puts it:

Speech is among the properties of mankind granted by God through which he is distinguished from the animal kingdom…our language is termed “Lashon Hakodesh”…since this “Lashon Hakodesh” contains absolutely no term for the sexual organs, neither of males nor females, and not for the actual reproductive act…the intention with this is that these matters are improper to mention…

This connection between the functions of speech and thought permits the suggestion of an even more profound understanding of Rambam’s explanation of Lashon Hakodesh on the basis that language can influence and shape the thought processes of those who speak it. Accordingly, Rambam’s explanation reflects an approach to linguistics and human psychology which recognizes the possibility that a person’s thought patterns and ways of expression may be affected by his vocabulary, and more generally his language.

By limiting references to sexual activity and organs to euphemism, Lashon Hakodesh becomes a powerful weapon in the armoury of the Jew who is attempting to make his mind “holy”, by limiting the sexual thoughts and imagination which inhibit his intellect from perceiving God and His truths. Such an explanation for the significance of the Hebrew language is consistent with Rambam’s general view that the Torah’s greatness and holiness lie in its ability to relate to and elevate flawed human beings, rather than in mystical powers represented by the power or combinations of its letters.

Rambam’s explanation of the interplay between language and thought categories resonates with the later creation of “Newspeak” in George Orwell’s novel 1984. While the basic linguistic hypothesis underpinning Rambam’s understanding of Lashon Hakodesh and George Orwell’s Newspeak is similar, the ultimate aim of these two theories could not represent a greater contrast. In Orwell’s dystopian depiction, language is a tool of a totalitarian regime seeking to entrench its power by imposing a restrictive form of English in order to limit categories and capabilities of independent thought. For Rambam, however, the constraints of Lashon Hakodesh are intended to free the pure, rational intellect from the shackles of its imagination and emotive distortions, thereby enabling it to scale the heights of its true potential and achieve a Divine perspective and connection.

Rambam’s explanation of Lashon Hakodesh is taken to another level in the teachings of R Yosef Faur (Golden Doves With Silver Dots). Based upon these teachings his son, R Avraham Faur, argues that the Hebrew language forms and trains the mind subconsciously to think in divine terms ((https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5aG-PhDVEY&ab_channel=ToratAndalus– from 16:25). Golden Doves is a work which emphasises the importance of reading the Torah and Rabbinic texts through a traditional Israelite mindset rather than a Western perspective. It argues that a person’s thought processes and how one therefore will interpret a Scriptural or Rabbinic statement is inescapably tied to one’s language. And that this obstacle must be recognised and surmounted if the Torah’s true wisdom is to be accessed and truly comprehended.

First posted on Facebook 27 December 2020, here.