The shifting sands of philosophical certainty

 Shmuli Phillips is with Alec Goldstein and Gil Student.

Many Shabbat tables yesterday are likely to have been entertained by enthusiastic youngsters eagerly regaling us with accounts of how a three-year-old Avram discovered proto-Judaism by means of an intellectual exploration of ultimate theological truths. Armed with his newfound religious certainty, these popular Midrashim continue, Avram proceeded to vanquish the pagan dictator Nimrod in theological debate before being cast into a furnace by the enraged tyrant – and surviving – all this before our parasha has even begun.

While many in today’s Jewish world profess a similar certainty as to the existence of proofs in favour of their religious dispositions, a major theme of Strauss, Spinoza & Sinai: Orthodox Judaism and Modern Questions of Faith is the recognition that prevailing philosophical wisdom considers that such matters can neither be proven nor disproven. In a thoughtful chapter that I was reading over Shabbat, Rabbi Gil Student draws heavily upon the writings of Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Kalischer, a 19th century Prussian rabbi.

Rabbi Kalischer emphasises the importance of a Judaism which is built upon both intellectual inquiry and traditional faith in order to produce an enduring and meaningful engagement with Judaism in the modern world. Devoid of sufficient rational grounding and understanding of Judaism, the bearer of simple faith is likely to be unprepared for any serious challenges that come his or her way. In addition, an intellectual relationship with Judaism, he argues, leads to a stronger and more refined lifestyle and set of priorities: “Someone who views the world with scrutiny will avoid the vanities and foolishnesses of life, the pitfalls of pride and jealousy, the meaningless trivialities that occupy so much time and resources”.

Even more forcefully, however, Rabbi Kalischer insists that rational exploration alone cannot provide a firm enough grounding for a religious life. Modern critiques of long-respected philosophical positions have shown us the limitations of man’s knowledge – the lack of information that we have about the world – which force us to rely upon our personal questionable interpretations of reality. Our only reliable source, concludes, R’ Student, is revelation and tradition.

Examples are offered of Descartes, Kant and Hegel – towering historical figures in philosophy whose theories are now obsolete. “All the great theories have failed, all the great geniuses have been superseded time and again by new geniuses. What certainty lies with today’s geniuses over last century’s and next century’s?”

Significantly, this argument about the “shifting sands” of philosophy is not wielded against the entire philosophic endeavour itself. Instead it is a warning against a tendency among thinkers of any particular era to be overconfident in the fruits of their own rational deliberations. “No argument, no approach can yield conclusive results. The history of philosophy demonstrates that amply”.

The conclusion drawn from this is that intellectual inquiry should be used as a tool to enhance revealed truths which have been faithfully transmitted through the generations:

“We must pursue wisdom, but with the caveat that its conclusions are all tentative. Faith guides us; wisdom deepens the faith. When the two conflict, we view today’s wisdom as tentative, temporary, a step towards an ultimate wisdom that walks lockstep with faith”.

A somewhat similar Midrashic teaching relating to Avram’s early intellectual odyssey forms the basis of the opening chapter of Judaism Reclaimed. Bereishit Rabbah (39:8) explores the comparison of the Jewish nation with a dove. There we are taught that while all other birds rest on a rock or tree when they tire, when a dove is tired, it pushes itself with one of its wings, and flies with the other.

Based on this, Rabbi Shalom Mordechai Schwadron explains that each wing represents a different way that we connect with God. The first, which we may call the philosophical approach, emerges from our own intellectual endeavours to comprehend and connect with the awesomeness of God, while the second - which is a more emotional and spiritual connection - is stimulated by religious and spiritual moments that God sends our way to uplift and inspire us. As I summarise there:

“by developing these complementary aspects of religious endeavour, a person who runs into difficulty with one approach can fall back and rely upon the other (just like when either wing is “tired”, the dove can “fly” with the other). Both intellectual and spiritual-experiential approaches are thus of crucial relevance in every individual’s religious quest, even thought the extent to which each of these two approaches is drawn upon will necessarily vary from person to person” (see more here)

The midrashic accounts of young Avram, it would seem, highlight not only the importance but also the limitations of independent rational inquiry.

First posted to Facebook 6 November 2022, here.

A Judaism of intellectual achievement or experiential relationship with God?

Some of the most enjoyable and memorable parashah stories of my early school years told of the young Avram discovering God, challenging pagan authority, smashing idols and being thrown into a fiery furnace by King Nimrod -- but being saved by miraculous intervention. Imagine my shock and disappointment when I grew up to discover that these thrilling episodes did not actually feature in the Chumash. Why would such a narrative, seemingly so central to the Jewish People's formation and purpose, not be included in the Torah? 

Judaism Reclaimed examines two approaches to this question. The first cites Rabbi Ari Kahn’s excellent Explorations [an early inspiration in my Torah studies, more recently expanded and re-released], which adopts the approach of R Yehudah HaLevi in his Kuzari.

The Kuzari explains that, while Avram had successfully speculated about the world around him in order to find God, his primary achievement lay in his willingness to set aside this rational reasoning in favour of obedience to God’s revealed (and sometimes inexplicable) commands.

The significance of Avram’s choice of obedience over reason is twofold. First, rational speculation can never achieve the certainty imparted by a genuine Divine revelation. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, revelation replaces the cold, abstract, conceptual “God of Aristotle” with the a more meaningful, experience-based relationship with the God of the Torah (Judaism Reclaimed suggests how Rambam might have responded to these arguments).

On this basis we can understand why the Torah would choose to start its account of Avram with a revealed command, leaving Avraham’s prior intellectual accomplishments to be recounted by Midrashim.

The question is far more troubling however when viewed from the perspective of Rambam. If theological speculation and comprehension of divine matters are to be regarded as the ultimate goal of the Torah, how can one explain the Torah’s exclusion of the important achievements of Avram’s early years?

[Rambam clearly considers these Midrashic accounts to be conveying accurate historical information, based on his presentation of them at the start of Hilchot Avodah Zarah and Moreh Nevuchim. A later chapter investigates the different theological approaches to interpreting various forms of Aggadah and Midrash].

In attempting to propose an answer to this difficulty, Judaism Reclaimed argues that Rambam understood the Torah to contain a two-tier system. While the Torah’s ultimate goal is unquestionably intellectual excellence and the connection to God that this creates, Rambam recognises that such a pursuit, when taken by itself, is of practical relevance only to those endowed with exceptional intelligence and adequate resources. Concerning the vast majority of people, he writes:

“if we never in any way acquired an opinion through following traditional authority…this would lead to most people dying without having known whether there is a deity for the world … much less whether a proposition should be affirmed with regard to Him …” [Moreh 1:34]

The Torah’s role, according to Rambam, is therefore to guide the vast majority of people – not just the elite upper echelons – on their journey from religious-intellectual error and immaturity towards a more correct grasp of divine matters. This is strikingly consistent with Rambam’s approach to anthropomorphism and with the reasons he offers for mitzvot – all of which are intended to make Judaism a religion of the many, not the few as Judaism Reclaimed explores in further chapters.

Ultimately Judaism Reclaimed recognises that the Torah requires humans to develop a relationship with God based on both their intellectual dimension and their spiritual-experiential faculties. This point is made in the introduction to the book (viewable here) which cites an interpretation of Bereishit Rabbah made by Rabbi Mordechai Schwadron.

Rav Schwadron begins by quoting the Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 39:8) which explores a comparison of Israel with a dove. There we are taught that while all other birds rest on a rock or tree when they tire, when a dove is tired, it pushes itself with one of its wings, and flies with the other.

Based on this, Rav Schwadron explains that each wing represents a different way that we connect with God. The first, which we may call the philosophical approach, emerges from our own intellectual endeavours to comprehend and connect with the awesomeness of God, while the second - which is a more emotional and spiritual connection - is stimulated by religious and spiritual moments that God sends our way to uplift and inspire us.

By developing these complementary aspects of religious endeavor, a person who runs into difficulty with one approach can fall back and rely upon the other (just like when either wing is “tired”, the dove can “fly” with the other). Both intellectual and spiritual-experiential approaches are thus of crucial relevance in every individual’s religious quest, even though the extent to which each of these two approaches is drawn upon will necessarily vary from person to person.

First posted on Facebook 23 October 2023, here.