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The Rabbi’s Worldview

שו”תCategory: philosophyThe Rabbi’s Worldview
asked 5 years ago

In light of two of the last threads..
I would be happy if you would elaborate on this in an orderly manner. If I understood correctly, the Rabbi understands that A. There is no divine intervention today. B. There is no necessity for redemption. C. There is no necessity for reward and punishment (and if I understand correctly, for life after death as well). D. As a derivative of this or regardless, the Rabbi believes that the reason for observing the commandments is because it is a value to observe the Creator’s will and we observe it as a value. E. There is a rational reason to observe values.

  1. It seems puzzling to me that God, who was involved in the lives of the generation of the Exodus down to the smallest level of resolution (even though the revelations were to individuals, He speaks in them about every detail) where they would eat, where they would sleep, etc., suddenly decided to stop interfering in His world, and although I agree that not every leaf that falls and every person who misses a bus is divine providence… but to say that even things related to the entire Jewish people, the Holocaust, the establishment of the state, and now the coronavirus, all of this is happening without Him even noticing?
  2. God gave the Torah and commandments because… Messiah is irrelevant… Reward and punishment do not belong… For values? It is also not reasonable, since He commands to punish the transgressors of his word from death in the temple to cutting off and death at the hands of heaven. If it is only a value, why punish? Besides, in my opinion, here is a tendency shown. If He has an interest in punishing (and I hope that the Rabbi agrees that cutting off and so on is also relevant today), this shows divine intervention in human life.
  3. In the question discussed here, whether the commandments are values, why should they be observed, the rabbi answered that it is altruism and that the rabbi understands that it is something basic in humans that some feel. The question is whether it is a superficial emotion, and then it can be said that those who feel it will observe the Torah and the daily commandments, or is there some rational insight here that can be proven logically? Especially since the opposing side, which claims that altruism is due to an interest in avoiding unpleasant feelings (perhaps I am wrong in calling it altruism..), offers a logical explanation (and I personally also believe in it).
  4. The Rabbi wrote regarding altruism (on column 120):

[3] I would like to emphasize that the term altruism here does not describe a moral attitude but rather a description of how humans act. It is not a norm but a factual description of how humans act. The altruist believes that sometimes humans act out of value and without reward or self-interest.
 
This means that there is behavior that occurs because of a value, and let’s assume that this is true, how does it apply to religious obligations where I must fulfill them even if it doesn’t come to me spontaneously like in altruism, and I also don’t have the strength or will, or I see any value in the mitzvah. But the rabbi is saying that there really is no reason to keep mitzvahs that I don’t feel value in or that I don’t feel like doing right now, because the rabbi is only presenting an explanation here of why sometimes people will keep them because of a value, but not as a reason that would give permanent and global validity and oblige me to keep them.
PS: What is the Rabbi’s view regarding the reliability of texts from the prophets?


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0 Answers
מיכי Staff answered 5 years ago
A. I have no indication that there is involvement. I cannot categorically rule it out. There may be sporadic involvement. I don’t know. B. I don’t know about the redemption (because I don’t know if there is a tradition about it from Sinai). C. As above. E. There is no reason (rational or not) to uphold values. By their very being values, there is an obligation to uphold them. The reason for this is not something outside of them.  
  1. I didn’t say he didn’t notice. I said he didn’t seem to be involved. Passive supervision exists. Things have been discussed here in great detail many times. I don’t feed on a priori theories, but rather on what I see from observing the world.
  2. What does “only a value” mean? And what do you think is there there? Why do you think there are deaths in the Bible? The prohibition of murder (legal-moral) is also only a value. Do you think it is wrong to punish it? You are again mixing up active and passive supervision. If you want to get a picture of my perception, you are welcome to read my book No Man Has Dominion Over the Spirit. Everything is addressed there (and here in several places as well).
  3. Apply what you wrote about morality. Whatever you answer there, I will answer about religious values. By the way, interest does not constitute an explanation for anything. It is an explanation for behavior, not morality. This is explained in my first book, The Fourth Conversation, 3rd Edition.
  4. Nothing is obligatory because it comes spontaneously. Neither morality nor religion. It is obligatory because I understand that it is obligatory. “I came spontaneously” is an instinct and not a sense of duty (=categorical command). See my reference in the previous section.
I’m not sure I understood the NIV. It’s clear that they are reliable, since they were accepted as prophecy (perhaps with the exception of various later additions). The big question is what they say, not whether they are reliable. The interpretations are so flexible that it’s difficult to draw any conclusion from the words of the prophets.

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עדן replied 5 years ago

And can you explain why you understand that this value is binding just because it is a value??

מיכי Staff replied 5 years ago

No. Anyone who doesn't understand that doesn't understand what value is. It's like explaining why I think a triangle has three sides.

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