Thursday, June 14, 2012

Wissenschaft des Judentums

Despite having recently done poorly on a Jewish History final, I know that the term, "Science of Judaism," is not one that would please any Orthodox person. However, the way I plan to use it is not meant in the same sense that it was used in the nineteenth century Jewish Enlightenment.


I used to think that as long as something in Judaism doesn't blatantly contradict science, the two can be reconciled. As long as providence didn't contradict natural law, everything was cool. I was upset when I read a letter written by Albert Einstein in a blog post by Rabbi Natan Slifkin. In it, a young girl asks Albert Einstein if scientists pray. His response:
Dear Phyllis, I will attempt to reply to your question as simply as I can. Here is my answer: Scientists believe that every occurrence, including the affairs of human beings, is due to the laws of nature. Therefore a scientist cannot be inclined to believe that the course of events can be influenced by prayer, that is, by a supernaturally manifested wish.
However, we must concede that our actual knowledge of these forces is imperfect, so that in the end the belief in the existence of a final, ultimate spirit rests on a kind of faith. Such belief remains widespread even with the current achievements in science. But also, everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that some spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe, one that is vastly superior to that of man. In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort, which is surely quite different from the religiosity of someone more naive.
With cordial greetings,
your A. Einstein 

While the actual point of prayer is not simply to beseech God, nonetheless only a true apikores (which despite all of my friends jokes, I'm not B"H) can deny hashgacha pratis and divine intervention entirely. I have seen it and felt it myself in my own life. (Although later in life I may convince myself that I was suffering from a form of lack of emunas chachmei hatevah, as described in the link in the update to my Emunas Chachamim patch.)

Rabbi Slifkin directs you to his book, The Challenge of Creation, which I read four years ago but have subsequently lost and therefore cannot refer to. 


If everything in the world follows natural order, even if it is God who set up those natural laws and still actively runs it, how can there be such a thing as divine intervention? Of course, scientists nowadays cannot explain all the finest details of every single thing out there, but there is substantial evidence that if they were given enough information and technology, they could predict anything and everything. Kinda scary, but true.


The first answer I thought of was this: 
 I happen to be a very big fan of the infinity of man's possibilities. All the fantastical stuff mentioned in my previous patch will be available to us through advanced technology. We will reach the edge of our solar system and beyond. We will develop fully mass-produced humanoid robots. However, in my opinion, we will never fully understand the human brain. We technically could be able to predict every other occurrence in nature, but human nature and the human brain are so unpredictable that even if we were to understand how every network of electronic information in our brain is processed we could not foresee a man's action. The theory I've been developing is that God's hand will mainly come into play through the minds of men. The classic hidden miracle story of Tanach is of course the story of Purim. That miracle was all based on human decision. There are many other examples I could give, but I am nowhere near knowledgeable enough. I will continue to think this through and develop this possibility.


This however, is not theologically sound. Rather, I would like to believe that Judaism itself is a science. Hence the title. It can be studied and observed(, or at least it would be if it didn't involve the afterlife). It is not much unlike miracology that i mentioned in a previous patch. However, this is not necessarily directly related because like any other subject of science, it cannot contradict the other ones. Biology, physics and earth science compliment each other. The same is true with the Science of Judaism. It flows along with all the other ones, and doing mitzvos and being close to God can affect our lives and this world. I'm no physicist, but I've spent 16 years studying Wissenschaft des Judentums, so I'm going to keep praying.

Secular Novels

One of the reasons I prefer Patchionalism is not only because it is more scientifically reasonable, but also because the yeshivist view of the ancient world is not theologically acceptable. To yeshivists, the Biblical and even Talmudic times were full of unicorns, mermaids, dragons, giants, dwarfs, magic and other cool stuff like that. Our ancestors, being on extremely high levels of kedusha could incinerate people by looking at them, light fields ablaze by staring at them, create worlds, bring people back to life, and other really epic stuff.

But lets ignore nerdy scientists for now. There are other nerdy problems with this. This description for the world kind of reminds me of  the Lord of The Rings, Eragon, Pendragon, Harry Potter, and sparkly vampires.

I remember from elementary school that once one of my Rebbeim told us that he was telling the class a story, and a kid piped up, " So what? Pokemon can do that to." Of course this Rebbi was trying to bring out the evil of pikachu and his group of friends (I wasn't about to go ahead and argue with him about really Team Rocket are the evil yetzer harah right then and there, but its probably what I was thinking).Anyways, now I've come to ponder. Is that an inherent evil in the reading of fantasies, or is it a flaw in our lack of perception of reality? Who is at fault? Rabbi Reuven Schmeltzer or Bilbo Baggins?

Of course, any good yeshivist will tell you that all these mystical fantasies weren't created by minds of people like J.R.R. Tolkien, but rather they had been common myths that he simply did some minor research on in order to throw them into the Shire and the rest of Middle Earth. These myths, if anything, prove the validity of the existence of such creatures. Whispers and rumors of there whereabouts are passed on through the generations.

I still don't like the vision of Moshe Rabbeinu being Gandalf.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

I DO Have Emunas Chachamim

Chachmei Hatevah, that is.
This past tuesday, I left class at 5:58, walked outside to my school's miniature backyard, waited until 6:04 pm., and stared. I didn't see Venus. I stared at the sun for approximately 5 minutes before giving up on seeing a little black dot. And yet, I had, "faith," that the Transit of Venus took place. As with all my other questions I ever have about physics, I always tell myself that my science teacher probably has an answer. And if not him, I'm sure there is a scientist out there who could answer my basic question. If I think of some sort of flaw in science, I assume that the scientist who made the discovery or theory would've thought of my simple question, and is therefore insignificant and in no way challenging to science.

However, any logical flaw I find in Torah, Jewish thought, or philosophy, immediately sends me down a whole winding trail of questions and attempted answers. I end up doubting fundamental bases, or creating new ones. Of course I have certain mental barriers which I've created which prevent me from going completely heretical, but nonetheless I sometimes come close. Where's my Emunas Chachamim now?

UPDATE: Apparently, not too many people have as high of a madreiga of emunas chachmei hatevah as I do. see here. I guess some people could use some strong mussar and chizuk in their emunah. :)

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Shmiras Einayim for a City Teen



                     בְּהִתְעַטֵּף עָלַי, רוּחִי וְאַתָּה, יָדַעְתָּ נְתִיבָתִי
בְּאֹרַח-זוּ אֲהַלֵּך טָמְנוּ פַח לִי

I take the subway at least four times a week, and I live in New York City. To do what they preach at my moderately ultra orthodox high school is physically impossible. I do not believe that God would therefore require every Jewish family to evacuate the island for the summer. To quote the LORD, "we are called on by God to live in the world, not escape from it." Therefore it goes without saying that God does not expect me to have such a level of shmiras einayim. What then, does God expect from me?


Rabbi Eliyahu Fink, commenting on article written by Avital Chizhik, said that," Real modesty is to shift the focus from the external to the internal. The obsession with modesty has turned it into the very opposite of modesty. Of course, I realized that the same is true not only when it comes to the way girls dress and the way they view themselves, but in the way guys view women. Constant pounding about the strictness of shmiras einayim has not turned my thoughts pure, but in fact, it has poisoned them so deeply that a true antidote will be difficult to find. Oddly, the only time I actually have any real hirhurim (legit sex) is when I'm thinking about shmiras einayim itself, or the fact that learning the halachos of shmiras einayim has poisoned my mind, and a woman, however slightly non-tznius, passes by. In fact, I think it may happen even if the woman is completely tznius, due to the irony described by Rabbi Gil Student. He basically discusses that we learn from Rus to be modest, even if it means we will stand out as the modest one. Once again, this is not only true from the woman's perspective but the man's also. Tznius women stand out in the city, and they attract attention.


Now, I'm not saying that shmiras einayim should be ignored. The lack of tznius and shmiras negiah at the Israeli Day Parade today (or whatever they changed the name to was horrific. And of course its not like the guys there my age had the perfectly un-perverted mind either. The majority of decent looking girls walking around got noticed. Its just that my mind was also perverted by halacha. The difference? A 90 year old woman wearing a sleeveless shirt.


For the most part, I try to ignore thinking about these halachos, which in turn makes me have less actual hirhurim that are assur. But I understand that hot women are hot women, and that even if you don't have extreme hirhurim immediately when you see someone, its still assur to look at them for their beauty. However, not looking at anyone is impossible, so what is one supposed to do? I try not to look at girls who I find attractive, but of course the first glance of that determination usually has a longer lasting impact anyways. Is it better to look at someone less tznius but less attractive than someone who is more attractive although they happen to be more tznius? Black women tend to have larger breasts and therefore more cleavage showing. But I don't think I've ever seen a black woman that I actually think is pretty. Semi-hipsters tend to wear long flowery dresses, but I generally find them more attractive.
 So for now, I just try to win the battle of my thoughts, whether or not the hilchos tznius strategy is being applied on my side.




Saturday, June 2, 2012

Through the Looking Glass of the Ulam

http://www.freshinkforteens.com/articles/through-looking-glass-mechitza
First of all, kudos to Eden for continuing to go to teen minyan despite her bitter feelings.
Second of all:

An Israelite laments his invisibility in The Beis Hamikdash.


For me, the avodah everyday goes something like this: I get there promptly at the beginning of services; after the  superintendent (memuneh) wakes up the kohanim who are sleeping and watching guard in various rooms - around rooster-crow. They then proceed to pick a lottery to choose someone to take out the ashes from the previous day. My entering the ezras nashim (I'm a guy, but the area in the beis hamikdash where non-kohanim could go was called the ezras nashim) makes absolutely no difference - only kohanim are counted in the lottery. At this point I am completely alone on this side of the 15 steps, the partition that separates Israelites(, Levites,who stand on the steps,) and priests in the Beis Hamikdash.

The service continues, and as the time for the korban tamid approaches, someone takes the twigs/logs and arranges them on the mizbeach. Again a lottery is drawn. Once again, I am completely left out. If it is light enough outside, they proceed with the service. By the time they are ready to bring the korban, there are a number of Levites playing instruments on the steps, and a few Israelites alongside me. While we occasionally get to slaughter an animal here or there, Israelites are for the most part, ignored.

I could go on, but I think you get the picture. (For a full description of the daily avodah see meseches tamid)
Different Jews have different jobs.Everyone is supposed to have individualism, but yet not be jealous of anyone else.

Interestingly, the associate rabbi in my shul mentioned something relevant to this today (parshas nasso). He was discussing the theme of shalom, peace or harmony, in this weeks parsha. The story of the Sotah is rebuilding shalom bayis and the kohanim bless the people, " ...And May he [Hashem] turn peace towards you." He said that peace comes from everyone working together towards a united goal, while utilizing their unique individuality. Hence the division of jobs among the Levites, and the importance of the offerings of each tribe leader. To connect this theme to the nazir, he said that although we allow the nazir to temporarily attain the spiritual level of a kohen, ultimately he is frowned upon and must bring an atonement offering. We are to understand that we are supposed to unite in serving God to the best of our abilities, with each of us fulfilling a unique role.
 This is my first basic response (thanks to S.Z.L. for the inspiration).

(Update: sorry, I made a mistake about the structure of the azarah a little bit wrong. The steps are behind the azarah, however, the mizbeach, according to the mainstream opinion, blocked their view of anything beyond it.)