In my previous post, the issue was just posited and formulated. WE NEED TO REDISCOVER THE BIG PICTURE OF JUDAISM.
Here is my first attempt to point out a few very important sources, and hopefully to develop a sense of contemporary understanding, which will be AUTHENTIC at the same time-in the spirit of the Torah and our Oral tradition.
Sources
1). Mitzvot as a SYSTEM
a) We have an amazing attempt in the Talmud (Makkot 24a) to view all the huge body of the mitzvot as a UNIFIED SYSTEM, with an UNDELYING PRINCIPLE, stated in the Prophets- "Righteous shall live by his Faith". Of course, this needs to be understood- WHAT IS FAITH (EMUNAH)?
But as we say, "She'elat Khakham Khetzi Tshuva"- good (wise) question is already half-an-answer- and beginning of a research!
b) Famous statement of Rabbi Akiva- "love your neighbour as yourself is a GREAT PRINCIPLE of the Torah"-seems to point in a similar direction- since we are presented with a Mitzva, and not just an "idea"-
Love is presented as an underlying principle of the Law
2). Core principals as META-Ideas of the Torah
Maybe less famous but certainly not less important- statement of Ben Azzai, who apparently is arguing with the previously-mentioned R. Akiva, suggesting even more important CORE PRINCIPLE- based on a quotation from the Torah- "This is the Book of the Geneology of Adam- on the day that G-d created Man, he made him in the likeness of G-d"
Here we encounter a totaly new idea- ALL of the Torah is seen as the Book of Geneology of Man- i.e-
Torah (as the Law, the system of mitzvot) is there to SERVE this Man, where mitzvot are TOOLS and INSTRUMENTS for Adam to FULFILL HIS POTENTIAL, based on his G-dliness- in other words (contrary to the opinion of many)- Mitzvot are Means to accomplish the End- REALISATION of G-DLIKE NATURE OF MAN AND HUMANITY!
And here we approach another very important point- Judaism as the WORLD RELIGION
has to be more than system of Mitzvot given specifically to the Jews- it has to have it's UNIVERSAL MISSION STATEMENT
And if I'm not mistaken, following the reading of this Ben Azzai, it clearly gives us one-
REALISE YOUR G-dlike Potential as Adam- person, nation and humanity!
To be continued
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As to the nature of these 3 things mentioned above as CORE PRINCIPLES, it seems, the relationship between them is as follows-
ReplyDeleteBen Azzai formulated META-Idea- Mission Statement of Judaism- that's possibly his disagreement with R. Akiva, as he is looking for the most UNIVERSAL and all-encompassing one- and as the source is from Adam, it's clearly referring to ALL of the humanity and posits Judaism as a World Religion.
Next comes Rabbi akiva, and says his famous Klal ba Torah- Rule of the Torah- Unifying Rule of the Law- specifically referring to the Law- and that is Judaism for the Jews.
Finally, Sages are looking for the practical "binding force" that will make the forest out of the trees- All of the Mitzvot require Faith as it's UNDERLYING MOTIVATION-
and therefore, one requires Faith to approach the Torah. (I think, R. Akiva was more focused on the Mission Statement, and in that sense his statement is lying in a different plane altogether)
Hi, Reuven!
ReplyDeleteI think, there is no such a thing as a big picture of Judaism. There are different EMUNOT VE_DEOT (Faiths and Opinions) about One G-d, His Presence and Providence, the world and the man, and their cross-relations. All these are combined in different proportions, opening new horizons in Torah - but nothing else (and nothing else matters...)Ben Azzai is talking about intellectual self-complication, Rabbi Akiva - about social humanistic relations, and Prophet Havakkuk is speaking about inner mystic dimension of human beings existences. And they are totally abstract ideas! That create three (!) different Judaisms!
So, Judaism - it's about potential, that very from person to person. Let everyone be himself (or herself), on one condition - the existence of everyone should be based somehow on the teachings of Torah, of her means and goals and texts and commandments - in any possible consistent mix of contents!
My dear Anonymous friend!
ReplyDeleteI will agree with you, that most naturally, judaism is a civilisation- it's almost impossible to reduce all of it to some simple statements...And yet we see our Sages found it important, to point out to us it's most important, CORE ideals and principles. It's certainly part of a human nature to have quest for intellectual clarity. And i DO think, that our task is to make these ideas more than just "totally abstract"! as far as 3 different Judaisms-please take a look at my comment here, which i think is trying to deal with specifically this issue- what's the relationship between all three.
I am convinced- we urgently need to REDISCOVER the most practical meaning of these core principles. Re Emunot ve Deot- I don't think it's the right comparison, as we are not dealing with specific ASPECTS of theology or philosophy.
I've specifically chosen Chazal (and not 13 principles of Faith of Rambam, for instance) precisely for that reason.