(Adin Steinsaltz)
I decided to re-publish the end of the last post as a separate post.
I had a discussion [on Thursday] in the car. I said that one can learn a lot about life from Yiddishkeit. Not only explicitly. One learns and learns, and then the logic of what he is learning, the relationship between the concepts, can be applied to everyday situations, decisions, problems. I can see it in Chassidus; I am sure it is certainly the case with nigleh as well.
I got in response: you can get the same from Biology. And Physics. And Math. And literature. From learning how to play balalaika. I answered: sure. But what I am talking about is Jewish chochma. It’s appropriate for us as a source of advice in life. Not that we should ignore other sources. Probably.
But the point is: “If they tell you that other nations have wisdom, believe them. If they tell you the nations have Torah, don’t believe them.” There is a difference between wisdom and instruction of what one’s life is all about. And by the way, voz is chochma? Chochmas ha’Torah. A non-Jew (or a secular Jew; or a presumably frum Jew using secular sources) can write a book analyzing some sugya in Talmud. And everything that he will write will be true. But it won’t be Torah. It will not be Hashem’s Will of how you should live your life.
More about the last point (what learning Torah really means) here.
6 comments:
It's a long-held view that there is chochma in the proverbial "out there", the Rambam clearly thought so no less!
Well, the question is what to do with it. Alter Rebbe clearly states why it was OK for Rambam to dabble in chochmas chitzoinius. Can each of us who does the same say that he/she is doing it for the same purpose as Rambam? Or, more importantly, that he is able to do that? I can say all day long that I study Molecular Biology for the purpose of Torah and Eibeshter, but can I really see Eibeshter in it, or am I just lying to myself?
One can learn the sciences and philosophies of one has questions that are not satisfied by a "because the Torah says so", if I am not mistaken...
Although I'm aware that we must always attempt to live every moment for the RSO, there are diverse means of achieving it.
If you have questions about Torah, why do you think you will get answers from sciences and philosophies?
If you have questions about the world, sure, sciences are the place to look for the answers (from the world’s perspective — from Torah’s perspective on the world, you have to look in Torah, obviously), but I guess the question first is: how does asking questions about the world fit into your avoidas Hashem? I am not saying it doesn’t, but that’s the question that needs to be asked. (Also, I am not saying I personally am on that level.)
Actually, that’s another thing. Torah (Chakirah, Chassidus) has in it a point of view of how the world works. Now, this point of view is very different from that in science (as one famous Chabad Rabbi says, you will always find the two disagreeing). So, should a Jew really learn science? One part of me screams: “A Jew should not be an ignoramus, in any area.” But maybe that’s my yetzer ha’rah. Another part screams: “You were sent into this world to elevate it. Chochmas chitzoinius is such a part of the world.” But maybe that’s my yetzer ha’rah wearing a kapoteh.
Anyway. What’s RSO?
Does R' Even-Yisroel smoke a pipe?
RSO is the Riboinoi shel oilem.
I think if you can learn chochmas chitzoinius and still remain frum that's a kiddush hashem in itself. So many friends of mine have taken off their yarmulkes just because they learned a modicum of physics. To show that there isn't a stira, even if you don't have a "perfect resolution" between the two is a huge accomplishment in its own. We don't have to have all the answers.
Well, the same goes for going into a night club. There is an inherent problem with chochmas chitzoinius, which I can't seem to resolve (more importantly, I don't know how people like Rav Solovetichik resolved it).
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