Rav Leibowitz
We are now ready to suggest an approach to understanding the value of Torah study and mitzvah observance. To begin we must remember that we suggested earlier that man’s greatest faculty is his sophisticated mind that man can apply consciously and utilize to consider not only the practical but also the abstract. Man’s elevated mind provides him with the ability to acquire wisdom and through that clarify the truths of reality. We noted that the ultimate goal of acquiring wisdom is to acquire the ultimate truth, which is attainment of the correct perception of reality. Or as the Rambam put man’s goal: “To form in his mind the truth of reality to the best of his ability and to understand all that he can possibly grasp.” At that time we questioned what field of study would yield the greatest wisdom and hence lead to the clearest perception of reality?
We are now ready to suggest an approach to understanding the value of Torah study and mitzvah observance. To begin we must remember that we suggested earlier that man’s greatest faculty is his sophisticated mind that man can apply consciously and utilize to consider not only the practical but also the abstract. Man’s elevated mind provides him with the ability to acquire wisdom and through that clarify the truths of reality. We noted that the ultimate goal of acquiring wisdom is to acquire the ultimate truth, which is attainment of the correct perception of reality. Or as the Rambam put man’s goal: “To form in his mind the truth of reality to the best of his ability and to understand all that he can possibly grasp.” At that time we questioned what field of study would yield the greatest wisdom and hence lead to the clearest perception of reality?
The answer is Torah study.
Hashem gave man the Torah so that man could study it with his elevated mind
and through that better understand himself and the world around him. Torah teaches man truth and defines for him
how to live a life that reflects these truths. For this reason, the Tanna,
Ben Bog Bog encouraged his students (Avos 5:22) to expend all their
energy studying Torah, “Turn it over and over, for all is in it.” Study Torah as deeply as possible, for all truths
are found in Torah.
Human-Conceived Truths of the World
This does not mean to say that Torah study is the only path
to uncovering truths in the world.
Hashem created man with intellectual abilities, and man’s raw intellect can
be used to arrive at many truths. When
man’s mind is free of foreign influences, it is able to lead man to many
truths.
This point is made by Rav Sa’adiah Gaon in the introduction
to his magnum opus on Jewish thought, Emunos ve-Deos. After praising Hashem for blessing man with a
mind and the power of intellect, Rav Sa’adiah identifies three intellectual
forces that are found within man’s mind that lead man to truths,
It is appropriate to mention that which leads man to truths and correct perceptions, for they are the sources for all information and the wellsprings of all knowledge… There are three such things that lead man to knowledge: The first is observation and sense perception (ידיעת הנראה), the second is intellectual intuition and rational insight (ידיעת השכל), and the third is inferential and logical reasoning (דבר שההכרח מחייב אותו)... (Rav Sa’adiah Gaon, Emunos ve-Deos, Introduction)
Man was blessed by God with a mind that empowers him to
arrive at truths on his own. Often this
is achieved through contemplation on nature.
Studying the natural world or other creations of God is an avenue that
will lead man to some of the truths of reality.
By utilizing his ability to observe the world around him and draw
logical inference, man can arrive at an understanding of nature and achieve a
perception of truth via-a-vis the physical world around him. A student of biology will learn through his
study of biology truths about the human body and its processes, and a student
of geology will gain through his study a perception of the structural elements
of earth. Hence, science and nature are
certainly most fitting fields of study, for they will lead man to a true
perception of the physical reality.
Acquiring this perception is a uniquely human endeavor and therefore
assists man in assuming his elevated level in creation.
Beyond the actual truths of the natural world, Chazal teach
us that even certain moral and emotional truths can be learned from studying
nature. Chazal state (Eruvin 100b), “We can
learn modest from the cats, chastity from the doves, proper behavior from the
chicken, and respect for other’s property from the ants.”
In addition to studying nature, man can also use his
intuition and rational insight to arrive at certain self-evident truths. We find an illustration of this in the
Torah’s report of Moshe’s harsh criticism of the Jewish soldiers who returned
from their war against Midian without killing all of the Midianites (Bamidbar,
Chapter 31). R. Yeshaya Horowitz
(Shel”a, d. 1630) asks (Matos, Derech Chaim Tochachos, s.v.
ויקצף) how Moshe could be
so critical if he never explicitly commanded the soldiers who to kill and who to
spare. The Shel”a answers that they should have used their logic and arrived at
the correct conclusion on their own. They did not need a direct commandment, if
their own logic would have arrived at the same conclusion.
This approach of the Shel”a to the events
with Midian was first stated in the Sefer Chasidim (#153)
We find in the Torah that anyone who is able to understand [a commandment], even if it is not actually commanded, is deserving of punishment for not realizing it on his own, as we find, “And Moshe was critical of the soldiers…” (Bamidbar 31:14)… Why didn’t they answer him, “You never commanded us!”… It must be that Moshe knew that they were wise and learned enough to apply a logical (lit. an a fortiori) argument…
According to the Sefer Chasidim and the Shel”a,
a person is held accountable for sins or other non-desirable behavior if logic
dictates that such an action should not be committed. In the same vein, we find that Bilaam
accepted blame upon himself when he hit his faithful donkey by stating, “I
sinned, because I did not realize.”
Jewish Sages throughout the ages have drawn on this
principle to explain the culpability of various people in history who were
never explicitly commanded to refrain from sinful behavior. For example,
Rabbenu Bechaye (Bereshis 18:20) explains that for this reason the
people of Sedom were deserving of punished for not helping one another. He states that even though there was not yet
any commandment to give charity or help another, such behavior is something the
human mind should figure out on its own.[1]
An earlier explicit formulation of this principle was
expressed by R. Nissim Gaon of Kairouan (d. 11th century), in the
introduction to his Sefer Mafteach Man'ulei Ha-Talmud. He writes,
All commandments that are products of logic and intuition, are already incumbent upon all – from the very day man was created on earth by God [i.e. before the giving of the Torah]. [These commandments] are [binding] upon him, his children, and for all generations.
Man’s raw intellect can teach a person wisdom and clarify
for him truths. He can conceive of moral
truths and arrive at emotional insights.
The proper appreciation and regulation of kindness, modesty, compassion,
empathy, and shame are some of the truths that man can arrive at through his
mind. In turn, man will then be
empowered to make life-decisions that lead him to live an ethical, moral, and
emotionally sensitive life. For this
reason, all of mankind – Jew and gentile – by dint of their being human, are
obligated to live an elevated life that is defined by the above mentioned
wisdom. It is not surprising therefore
that we find many people, divorced from any direct Torah influence, that live
lives of morality, ethics, and emotional sensitivity.[2]
However, not all truths are self-evident and attainable through
pure intellect, nor are they all perceivable through the study of nature. While man can perceive on his own some of
the truths of the physical world, and even some emotional and moral truths,
many truths, especially the most elevated ones, are not attainable with the
human mind operating on its own.
Moreover, even those truths that are theoretically attainable
through the human mind alone, are not readily acquirable on a practical level. Indeed, there are great challenges that must
be overcome if man is to arrive at truths on his own. Many of the self-evident truths are only
arrived at by man, if his mind is unfettered by other influences. Personal agendas, carnal desires, foreign
philosophies are but a few of the influences that are able to corrupt a person’s
reasoning. Shelomo states in Koheles,
“God created man straight, but they sought their own machinations” (Koheles
7:22). Even the most self-evident truths
cannot be properly attained unless one’s mind is free of these other influences.
An additional problem is that when these truths are arrived
at without Torah, man lacks direction of how to implement them in his
life. While he may be able to acquire a
perception of truth, it is not always forthcoming how these truths can be
translated into practice and implemented in a way that will lead a person to
living an elevated life informed by the wisdom he has learned.
Rav Shimshon Refael Hirsch notes the ability to learn truths
from nature, but also records its shortcomings,
The realization that there must be a God could come to anyone who thoughtfully contemplates nature, and the heavens in particular… [But] the heavens and the world about us cannot answer the question of what man should do with his freedom of will and action. By merely looking at the heavens and the earth, man will never discover the Divine Law, which sets a purpose for his being in this world. Whatever answer he would derive from this kind of study would only enmesh him in hopeless confusion. (Commentary on Tehillim 19)
In summary, we note that the human mind operating on its own
is not enough. This is because it is
limited in three ways. (1) It is only
able to arrive at certain truths, (2) and even those truths can only
successfully be attained if man is impervious to the many outside influences
that can easily pervert his perception.
Lastly, (3) these truths have the potential to remain only as knowledge,
and never translate into practice or become part of man’s actual life. Therefore, we must conclude that the mind
alone is not to serve as the lone source of truth. Man must study Torah, as it alone can
overcome these three shortcomings. (1) Torah is not limited, and contains within
it all necessary truths. Moreover, (2) it
is objective and absolute, and therefore transcends outside influences. Lastly, (3) Torah concretizes its wisdom and
provides specific instruction for how to implement and live the wisdom of the
Torah.
[1] It’s interesting to note the different formulation of R. Naftali Zvi Yehudah
Berlin (Netziv, d. 1893) in his letter of approbation for the Chafetz Chaim’s Ahavas
Chesed. He states the Sodomites’ behavior
went against basic human decency that should have been part of their natural human
identity. The same, he says, is why
Kayin was able to be punished, even though there was no direct commandment not
to kill.
[2] It goes without saying that much of the world today is heavily influenced by
the ethics and wisdom of Torah.
Certainly most of the “Western world” is founded on so called “Judeo-Christian”
ethics. See the beginning of the
Ramban’s Toras HaShem Temimah where he notes that influence Torah has
had on the world at large, and how the most uncivilized and most unprincipled
cultures are those that were never influenced by Torah.
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