Q&A: Simple Faith
Simple Faith
Question
Hello Rabbi, it is accepted from the Raavad and several other medieval authorities (Rishonim) that one should not investigate matters of faith. I understand that this statement has no real force. My question is: if we set aside the practical question of whether it is worthwhile to educate a generation of fundamentalist believers, and also set aside the question of whether there is a commandment to believe and to investigate (as seems to be the view of Maimonides), since that is disputed—still, is there value in believing on a rational basis as opposed to believing from emotion? Of course, for me it would be foolish to believe from emotion, but do I have reason to educate other people toward rational faith because emotional faith is like other gods? Or is there no reason besides the practical one, unless there is such a commandment? What is your view?
Answer
There is no such thing as belief from emotion. Emotion is not a tool for claims of fact. There is intuitive belief, however (intuition is an intellectual tool). Someone who has intuitive belief is a believer in the finest sense. There is no obligation to investigate. There is value in grounding your beliefs—not only about the Holy One, blessed be He, but in general. To be a rational and critical person.
Discussion on Answer
I explained, and I will repeat it again. There is value in rational and critical conduct. The value is not only as a means of reaching the right conclusions, but a value in itself.
Sorry, maybe I did not explain my question well. What is that value? How do you know there is such a value? Why do you think there is such a value?
It is hard to explain values. You could also ask what the value is in being educated, in not murdering, in honoring parents. Our moral intuition identifies values, and when you have a sense that something has value, that is its signal.
One can explain it this way: thinking and criticism are what distinguish the human being, and therefore using them is our fullest realization as human beings. Unlike a sheep, which can spend its whole life doing only good, but that is merely because it is its nature. Therefore that has no value. Value exists only in what we do out of thought and choice.
Nice, thank you very much
If I think in a rational and critical way and reach a certain conclusion, is there a reason to educate another person to think? Why? I am confident in what I think (of course not with absolute certainty…), so what is wrong, from my perspective, with acting that way?
Thinking is something that simply happens, and that is good, because it is the tool that tells us how it is right to live. But if I have the theoretical possibility of telling someone how to live in the way I think is correct, wouldn’t that be right?
And again, the question is not from the student’s side but from the teacher’s side: what is the value, for the teacher, in having his student think, if he can simply tell him what is correct?
(In my opinion, that is the reason many of our early rabbis said not to investigate matters of faith. They understood that this statement would not help a thinking person, but for those who do not think, it is good.)