Rabbi Israel Ben Eliezer (The Besht) and his optimistic Judaism thrived in an era stooped in un-enthusiastic-ality and depression in light of many a failed messiahs.
I've come to the realization that everything is a hora'as sha'ah. Rabbinic leaders deal with the issues that are presented to them. There is no more objectively true pat[c]h to God. Every generation adopts one of the shivim panim l'Torah.
How then, is one to discern the truth? The Truth is to serve God. One serves God the way his rabbinic leaders feel that they are supposed to given the circumstances their generation is in. Maybe Rabbeinu Avraham ben Ha-Rambam when he was right when he said that Chazal only told of supernatural Messianic wonders and of the pleasures of Olam Habah in order to entice the weak-minded and lustful. Maybe the critics of patchionalism are right, and we should be condemned for our lack of faith and belief only in that which we can perceive and understand.
But in a day and age where all forms of rabbinate exist, and we are able to create any society which we please, whether be it one which appreciates the beauty of science, or one that isolates its members from coming into contact with any distant piece of modernity that might expose them to blasphemy, how is one to choose? Is it simply dependent upon which society one is born into? How can one claim the other to be foolish? How can one claim the other to be heretical?
Everything is a Hora'as Sha'ah. Nothing is true. Just Kidding.
How then, is one to discern the truth? The Truth is to serve God. One serves God the way his rabbinic leaders feel that they are supposed to given the circumstances their generation is in. Maybe Rabbeinu Avraham ben Ha-Rambam when he was right when he said that Chazal only told of supernatural Messianic wonders and of the pleasures of Olam Habah in order to entice the weak-minded and lustful. Maybe the critics of patchionalism are right, and we should be condemned for our lack of faith and belief only in that which we can perceive and understand.
But in a day and age where all forms of rabbinate exist, and we are able to create any society which we please, whether be it one which appreciates the beauty of science, or one that isolates its members from coming into contact with any distant piece of modernity that might expose them to blasphemy, how is one to choose? Is it simply dependent upon which society one is born into? How can one claim the other to be foolish? How can one claim the other to be heretical?
Everything is a Hora'as Sha'ah. Nothing is true. Just Kidding.
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