Rambam, Greeks and Chanukah: ideological battle or philosophical synthesis?

Earlier this week we explored the interplay between “Yafet” – representing the artistic and cultural faculties of humanity – and the religious dimension symbolised by “Shem”. We did so primarily through the perspective of Rabbi S. R. Hirsch who taught that the arts and aesthetics hold substantial positive value for humanity, but only when influenced by and “dwelling within” the tents of Shem.

This post will attempt to examine the dynamics of the ideological clash between Maccabees and Hellenists from the perspective of Rambam. This is of particular interest since Rambam – one of Judaism’s primary sources concerning philosophy and theology – is remarkably silent when it comes to the ideological battles of the Chanukah era. Even though such ideological divergences are emphasised in prior Rabbinic sources. Additionally, it is evident throughout his writings that Rambam possessed a healthy respect for many aspects of Greek philosophy, albeit as we will discuss, from an earlier era. What did he see as being the key differences between Greek thought and Judaism? And could any of these ideological tensions have been at play in the Chanukah story?

While it is true that Rambam enthusiastically embraced many aspects of Greek philosophy and science which represented in his day (and for many centuries after), the main framework and template for understanding the world, he does make some crucial qualifications.

At the conclusion of Rambam’s explanation of the concept of miracles as having been built into nature at the world’s creation, he presents a simple summary of his fundamental agreement and disagreement with Aristotle. Rambam explains that, with regard to the functioning of the physical world according to its natural order, he broadly follows the Aristotelian structure of fixed, immutable and eternal rules of nature – that God instituted the rules of nature and doesn’t plan to breach them. In fact, the wisdom contained within the functioning of the universe bears testimony to God’s supreme wisdom. Nevertheless, the same section of Moreh Nevuchim also firmly rejects Aristotle’s understanding of the world as having existed eternally in the past, with God merely ensuring its existence.

Aristotelian theory, as presented by Rambam, held that God cannot be said to have created the universe at any one specific point in time, but rather constantly and eternally causes the world to exist. According to Aristotle’s understanding therefore, God is not free to in any way influence the physical world which emanated from Him.

Rambam states strongly that such an Aristotelian understanding would render the Torah meaningless since it would relegate God to some kind of technical cause, unable to exercise (or grant) free will, perform miracles and all other aspects of providential interaction with the world. For this reason, Rambam emphasises creation in time as “the basis for the Torah”; if Aristotle were correct on this point, writes Rambam “the entire Torah would become void”. The reason for this becomes more apparent when we explore Rambam’s understanding of miracles.

Rambam addresses the concept of miracles in two of his works – both of which emphasise how all miraculous occurrences were built into the natural order at the time of creation – based on God’s knowledge of the future. In Moreh Nevuchim, Rambam cites a midrashic teaching to support his understanding that “When God created this existence and established all of its nature, He placed within the physical world that all miracles too would occur.”

Then in his commentary to Avot, he states further that the ten miraculous phenomena – such as Moshe’s staff and the mouth of the earth that swallowed Korach – were said to have been formed already during the days of creation because:

The Sages did not believe in the constant renewal of God’s will, but at the beginning of Creation [God] put the nature of things into the world, both the way in which things should act regularly—this is “nature”—or the abnormal manner in which they should act rarely—this is a “miracle.”

For Aristotle however, who opposed the very notion of creation in time by a freely-acting God, there is no scope within the rigid rules of nature for any miracles, providence or revelation. For this reason, Rambam considers that such an Aristotelian system renders the entire Torah void.

How might this relate back to Chanukah?

It must be borne in mind that Greek philosophical thought of the Hellenic Chanukah era had evolved somewhat from the Classical era of Aristotle. Nevertheless, and without wanting to get too involved, there were strong trends of similarity in the way that major Hellenist philosophical groups such as the Epicureans understood God as no longer involved in any meaningful way in the functioning of His Creation. Aristotle’s thought too remained highly influential right the way through to, and beyond, Rambam’s era.

As we explained in the previous Chanukah post, within the worldview of R Hirsch, Noach’s prophecy implies that the ideology of Yafet (of which the Greeks are a primary element) is not to be viewed as an entirely negative contribution to humanity – but rather as containing positive potential when correctly harnessed to the Torah’s teachings – ie when it “dwells in the tents of Shem”.

Similarly, we can suggest within Rambam’s worldview, that the Greek-Aristotelian conception of steady and unbreakable natural laws emanating from a single source is to be embraced. As Rambam writes, reflecting upon the beauty and wisdom inherent in the universe can lead one to fear and love of God and appreciation of His wisdom.

Rambam believed that Aristotle’s methodology for analysing the world was extremely beneficial, and could lead to recognition and knowledge of the Single God of the Torah. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks wrote how monotheism and the Torah’s description of God creating the world:

“made science possible. No longer was the universe seen as unpredictable. It was the work of a single, rational, creative will.”

Others have noted how science has particularly flourished in societies based on monotheistic belief. Only if one perceives the world as an organic whole designed by a single Creator, can one analyse and develop meaningful theories as to how it all functions together.

But this acceptance and approval of Yafet’s systematic understanding of the natural order is only proper when placed in the correct context of creation in time – an acceptance of God’s creation of the universe with all of the accompanying implications for providence and miracles. If this is correct, then for Rambam too the ideological conflict between the Jews and the Greeks was not a total rejection of Greek thought, but rather represented an attempt to reposition the beneficial aspects of Yafet firmly within the tent of Shem as the verse advises. So that, as Rambam demands, appreciation of the structure, wisdom and beauty of the universe can lead to the further comprehension of the Creator who freely designed it.

Perhaps this can explain the strong emphasis we find in Rambam’s Laws of Chanukah on publicising miracles. Particular attention is paid by Rambam at the start of his discussion of Hilchot Chanuka to the miraculous aspects both of the deliverance from the Greeks and its connection to the miracle of the oil. At the conclusion of these laws Rambam teaches that the mitzvah of the Chanukah light holds particular importance as it makes God’s miracles known.

According to the ideas highlighted in this post, it is the capacity of God to have introduced miracles into the natural order which represented the crucial distinction, for Rambam, between Jewish and Greek ideologies. For Rambam therefore, so-called “Greek” truths and appreciation of the wisdom and beauty inherent in the world can and must lead us towards understanding, appreciation and love of its Creator.

Devoid of Shem’s guidance this wisdom loses its deeper meaning and utility. Rather than leading to a warm appreciation of and relationship with the Creator, scientific and philosophical wisdom outside the tent of Shem becomes cold, detached speculation and knowledge. In such a system of thought, God can be relegated to an eternal but irrelevant and limited cog in the eternal wheel of existence – rather than the Source of the wisdom - who freely created and interacts with the world.

First posted to Facebook 16 December 2020, here.

Maimonidean miracles: providence and the Twilight Zone

As we approach Shabbat Bereishit, the first week of the parashah cycle, Maimonideans among us would be well served to celebrate the preceding twilight – a watershed moment in Rambam’s theological calendar. A Mishnah in the 5th chapter of Avot lists ten things which were created on the eve of the first Shabbat such as the ‘mouth of the earth that swallowed Korach’ and ‘Moshe’s staff’. Rambam, like Rabbi Yehuda Halevi before him, detected within this teaching a strong traditional support for his religious philosophy:

They (the sages) did not believe in the constant renewal of God’s will, but at the beginning of creation (God) put the nature of things into the world, both the way in which things should act regularly – this is ‘nature’ – or the abnormal manner in which they should act rarely – this is a ‘miracle’. All is equal.

As Judaism Reclaimed discusses at length, the popular religious notion of a miracle – in which God is understood to alter the rules of nature – presents a challenge to Rambam’s way of comprehending the universe. In Moreh Nevuchim (2:28) Rambam sets out his theory of the laws of nature. Quoting from a passage of Tehillim which relates God’s creation of the world, Rambam highlights the verse “And He set them up to eternity…He issued a decree, which will not change” (148:6).

The consistency of the natural order is not due to any lacking on the part of God, but because “a matter which changes, changes only because of an inherent lacking”. In contrast to this, God’s “work is perfect” (Devarim 32:4) – His absolute knowledge means that He does not need to keep fiddling with and adjusting His creation. Any subsequent requirement for adapting of the rules of nature can be foreseen by Him and placed within (or alongside) the natural order.

In the subsequent chapter of the Moreh, Rambam further elaborates upon his understanding of how biblical miracles can fit within this model:

For when God created this existence and established all of its nature, He placed within their natures that all miracles too would arise at the times of the … It states: “R’ Yonatan said “God made conditions with the sea that it should split before the Israelites…R’ Yirmiyah son of Elazar said: “Not only with the sea did God make conditions, rather with all that He created in in the six days of creation… I commanded that the sea split, and that the furnace should not injure Chananya, Mishael and Azariah, and that the lions should not damage Daniel, and that the fish should vomit out Yonah.” [Bereishit Rabbah 85]. From here one can draw an analogy to all the other [miracles].

These pre-conditions which God made with all aspects of the creation facilitate the miraculous phenomena which occur throughout the Torah. By depicting them as having been created “bein hashemashot” – in the twilight zone between the week of creation and Shabbat, the sages may have been implying that these exceptional miracles are set aside from the regular predictable natural rules, but still belong within the broader creation process.

From Miracles to Providence

Rambam’s standard approach to providence focuses on an individual, who has developed his or her relationship with God, thereby being the recipient of flashes of divinely-assisted insights and intuition. This approach thereby avoids any interference with God’s natural order. Does Rambam’s theory of miracles present an additional dimension through which his understanding of Providence can assessed?

As David Hartman has noted, once it has been proposed that God built miracles into the natural world from its origin, it makes no difference, from a strictly logical perspective, whether one admits to one or a thousand such miracles. This allows us to speculate more broadly as to which of the many manifestations of providence which appear in the Torah can be explained in this manner.

One possible example of ongoing miraculous providence, that Rambam appears to actively endorse, is the national covenant of blessings and curses in which God promises the Jewish people rewards and punishment such as abundance or scarcity of rainfall. The level of rainfall and other such promises which feature in the Torah are not easily explained through Rambam’s standard providential theory of intellectual inspiration or intuition. Perhaps we can suggest therefore that they too are contained within this category of ‘miracles built into nature’ at Creation. Such a suggestion can draw support from the closing stages of Rambam’s Iggeret Techiyat Hameitim where he writes: “…we believe that the blessings which come from obedience [to God] and the maledictions from disobedience, for this nation, become a sign and a wonder”.

Can this theory be stretched even further? The discussion thus far has focused primarily on miracles on a national scale – the providential relationship based upon God’s covenant with the Jewish people. There is an indication from the closing chapters of Moreh Nevuchim that this concept of inbuilt miracles, based on God’s infinite and timeless knowledge, can also apply to the manipulation of the laws of nature on behalf of exceptional individuals. Commenting on Tehillim (91:7-8), Rambam describes the righteous person who has developed a connection with God:

If you happen to pass through a battlefield of drawn swords, you will go on your way with thousands being killed at your left hand and myriads at your right hand, no harm will be inflicted upon you … as it says: “A thousand will fall from your side, ten thousand at your right, but (the evil) will not befall you”…This person’s great providential protection is “Because he has set his exclusive love upon me, therefore I shall rescue him, for he knows My Name.” We have already explained that ‘knowing God’s name’ refers to perceiving Him. The Psalm is therefore saying: that this individual is protected because he perceives and passionately loves Me.

The sort of divine assistance being described in this passage, which depicts a person being rescued from a raging battlefield, is not easily attributed to Rambam’s standard approach to providence of heightened intellectual awareness and inspired knowledge. Might it be taken to imply that, in certain situations, God may have built miracles into Creation in order to “manipulate” laws of nature even on behalf of individuals.

This discussion leaves us with several questions:

1. Modern scientific theories of Quantum mechanics understand there to be inbuilt randomness within certain aspects of atomic behaviour. Does this modern scientific knowledge make it easier to accept (or perhaps develop) Rambam’s theory of inbuilt yet undetected providence within the laws of nature?

2. If it is indeed correct to apply Rambam’s theory of miracles more broadly so as to include possibilities of individual providence, would this necessarily be limited to exceptional people (who Rambam is describing in that passage) or could regular people also be beneficiaries of some degree of miraculous input?

3. Some scholars interpret Rambam’s comments concerning the worthy individual being rescued from a raging battlefield to mean that the person will no longer be concerned about his fate, rather than miraculously rescued. While this may be easier to reconcile with other statements of Rambam elsewhere, is this really a satisfactory reading of his words?

First posted on Facebook 30 September 2021, here.

The role of miracles: Maimonidean minimalists and mystical maximalists

The post a few days ago on the extent to which the Ten Plagues in Egypt could and should be understood as having occurred through natural means generated an extensive and fascinating debate. One of the main issues which arose is the question of motivation: why would a religious person, who seeks to perceive and relate to God, seek to minimise His miraculous interactions with the physical world?

Judaism Reclaimed’s chapter on parashat Beshalach focuses firmly on the desirability of miracles, contrasting the theological approaches of Rambam and others to the phenomenon of miracles and the rules of nature. An interesting introduction to this topic relates to a passage of Rambam in the final chapter of Shemoneh Perakim, where he cites and rejects a certain philosophy which was popular among Islamic theologians (mutakallim) of his era:

“For I have heard them say that [God’s] Will in every matter is always repeated at each moment – and this is not our belief. Rather the Will during the six days of Creation was that all things would continue according to their nature…and for this reason the sages were required to say regarding all miraculous exceptions to nature which have been and which will occur in the future, that the Will for all of them was during these six days of Creation.”

It also significant that even Sa’adiah Gaon, whose theological approach tended to be close to the mutakallim, rejected their theories of continuous creation. Nevertheless, more recent trends in Jewish thought have popularised this approach. Ba’al Shem Tov and the Tanya on the Chassidic side, and Beit Halevi from the mitnagdim, all powerfully promote the notion that God is perpetually creating the world at every moment. A crucial repercussion of this difference of opinion is how these two groups view the laws of nature.

Rambam explains that a person's ultimate purpose is to develop the intellect in order to comprehend divine truths to the best of one’s ability, and thereby achieve a place in the World to Come. While dramatic miracles can create feelings of awe and wonder, these impressions are limited to the senses and emotion and do not represent an intellectual comprehension and understanding of God and His ways. Rambam teaches that this is to be achieved through quiet contemplation of God's works — His Torah and Creation — in order to recognise the wisdom lying behind them. For Rambam therefore, every miraculous abrogation of the perceived Godly order actually challenges the very bedrock of ‘knowing God’ – his first and most fundamental commandment in Mishneh Torah. Miracles by definition cannot be understood by people, and are therefore only useful for providing temporary inspiration rather than genuine understanding of the divine.

The alternate approach of perpetual creation, which views what we perceive as cause and effect based on the rules of nature to be an elaborate illusion results in a very different understanding, summarised by Ramban in his commentary at the end of parashat Bo:

“A person has no portion in the Torah of Moshe until he believes that all matters and occurrences are totally miraculous and that there is no nature or way of the world contained within them.”

While for Rambam, therefore, the Torah’s miracles were performed only out of particular necessity at very specific times, the mystical approach seeks to maximise the role and significance of miracles. Judaism Reclaimed proceeds to show how this basic theological split between the two camps influences their approach to several other areas of Jewish thought.

For example, the utopian messianic era of Rambam consists of the removal of all barriers to quiet contemplation and understanding of God’s wisdom. These barriers removed, biblical assurances that “your sons and daughters will prophesy” and “the world will be filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the ocean bed”, can be fulfilled. Meanwhile, the messianic era of Ramban and the mystics is one in which, on account of our worthiness, God’s miraculous wonders will no longer need to be concealed behind rules of nature leading to a supernatural and miraculous future era.

First posted on Facebook 9 January 2022, here.

Shabbat Hagadol and marking miracles

It was only a day later that I truly understood the extent of the danger that we had faced. In the small hours of Sunday morning last week, even as our walls shook from the loud explosions and sirens sent us scampering downstairs to the building bomb shelter in Central Jerusalem, I headed down unalarmed and in good humour. It was only when I subsequently realised the size and quantity of the missiles and explosives, and heard senior military analysts comment on the implausibility of the 99% missile defence success rates, that I realised we had been on the receiving end of significant divine assistance.

Over the last week I read and heard some discussion as to whether this miraculous event should be marked by some form of public Birkat HaGomel – or expression of gratitude to God. Several potential objections could be raised. First, this did not appear to be an open miracle – from what I understood from military experts it was highly improbable but not what we would label an “open miracle”. Secondly, unlike the splitting of the sea or the Chanukah victory over the Greeks the threat of future greater assaults remains. And thirdly, it feels incredibly out of touch to be celebrating a miraculous national rescue at a time when so many of our brothers and sisters remain stuck in horrific captivity and so many families are mourning their loved ones.

It occurred to me that Shabbat HaGadol might represent an appropriate precedent for a national response to this kind of situation. According to our tradition, Shabbat HaGadol marks the day upon which the Israelites took lambs back to their houses in preparation for the Pesach offering – a courageous and dangerous course of action in view of the Egyptians having deified the sheep. While we are told that no Israelite was harmed by the Egyptians as a result, this does not necessarily imply an open miracle – however implausible this result might have been. Furthermore, Shabbat HaGadol represented only the start of the Exodus – Pharaoh and the Egyptian army still posed an enormous threat to the Israelites at this stage. Perhaps this is why it is marked on the Jewish calendar in such a low-key manner. Ultimately subsumed within the Pesach celebration of the complete Exodus from Egyptian servitude.

It can be questioned, however, whether the hidden nature of a miracle really diminishes its importance and effect.

A crucial chapter of Judaism Reclaimed examines this fascinating subject in the context of the Torah’s account of the Israelites’ miraculous desert existence. While R’ Yehudah HaLevi and Ramban regard the suspension of nature witnessed by the desert generation as a bedrock upon which the authenticity of the Torah is built, it nevertheless constituted a departure from the more subtle way in which God normally runs the world. This modus operandi is often explained by the proposition that the function of human free will would be severely undermined, if people were to be constantly surrounded by open and irrefutable evidence of God’s supremacy and will. 

Within the worldview of Rambam there is a further, more profound reason for God to limit the occurrence of open miracles. Rambam asserts that a person’s ultimate purpose is to develop the intellect in order to comprehend God’s ways and wisdom to the best of his or her ability and thereby achieve Olam Haba. While dramatic miracles can generate feelings of awe and wonder, these impressions are limited to the senses and emotion and do not represent an intellectual comprehension of God and His ways. The highest level to which a person can aspire is avodah me’ahavah—serving God through love. Rambam teaches that this is to be achieved through quiet contemplation of God’s works—His Torah and Creation—in order to recognize the wisdom lying behind them. 

For Rambam, every miraculous abrogation of the perceived Godly order actually challenges the very basis of “knowing God”—the first and most important commandment. Miracles by definition cannot be understood by people and are therefore useful only for providing temporary inspiration rather than genuine understanding of the Divine. This may be why God tells Eliyahu that He is not to be found in the great noise, wind, or fire, but rather in the “thin voice” of quiet contemplation and understanding. 

With Pesach fast approaching, we greatly anticipate and longingly pray for the completion of our redemption and the swift return of all our people to their families. 

Wishing all members of this group and our entire nation a Chag Kasher veSameach – an inspiring and peaceful Pesach.

First posted on Facebook 21 April 2024, here.