From your school, and from Leibovitz and his school
Hello Rabbi Michael.
1. Rabbi Michael, how did you claim in one of your articles that on the subject of beliefs and opinions in Judaism there is no absolute statement and there is no Maimonides, etc., statements that cannot be refuted, and even if they were, we would live by them even though we know that it is a mistake. (If I am wrong in presenting your position, I would be happy to be corrected.) Nevertheless, there are a number of things in Judaism in the area of beliefs that there were no great Jews in Jewish thought who disagreed on, such as Torah from heaven, the reality of God, etc., so how does this fit with your position?
2. How does Leibowitz deal with the position that God hears prayer? After all, we also pray about it and it is part of the text. I also don’t know of a great Jewish thinker like Maimonides, etc., who claimed that God does not really hear prayer and that this is not a “pharmacy.”
3. Regardless of the previous question. How did Leibowitz say that there is no holiness in the Tabernacle, etc., when it is explicitly stated in the verses that God dwells there?
I would be happy if you would tell me your opinion on the following things that Rabbi Charlo wrote in one of the responsa on Leibowitz:
4. Prof. Leibowitz’s position in the area of ’pure lishma’ is incorrect for two main reasons. First, the entire Torah and even the words of Chazal are full of references to the pleasure of the mitzvot, to studying their merits (and it is difficult to understand how he sees himself as a Rabbinical scholar at all), and so on. Chazal instructed not to keep the mitzvot in order to receive a reward, but the main point of their content is not the positive consequences “for our good all the days.” A second reason is due to the fact that he himself did not solve the problem he presented with regard to ‘lishma’: after all, according to his theory, a person keeps the mitzvot only because of the will of God, but the very fact that a person wants to do the things that are in the will of God and he does what he wants to do already constitutes ‘not lishma’ according to Prof. Leibowitz’s own teaching. This paradox teaches that we must redefine ‘not lishma’. Years ago, Rabbi Lichtenstein raised a similar question in the field of marriage: Does a person have to fall in love with the ugliest, meanest, and stupidest girl in order for his love to be love for her sake? This question constitutes a model for redefining the concept of her sake and for the sake of Prof. Leibowitz’s idea as a single constitutive factor. Of course, the very foundation that Judaism has dimensions of bonding is true, and even I, the little one, have written quite a bit about it. However, totality is not true.
5. Leibowitz’s position in the field of history contradicts the entire Bible. Unlike the previous position, which is the basis for debate, this is an illegitimate position.
6. Regarding the principles of these areas – there is room for discussion, and even the Rabbi addressed this question in his article on the Principles. However, Prof. Leibowitz blurred the question of whether this is a ‘principle’ and whether it is true. Regarding the correctness of belief in the coming of the Messiah, I have no choice but to turn again to the Rambam.
Thanks in advance!
Hello.
The things you brought up here have been discussed exhaustively here on the site. I suggest you search here. I’ll answer briefly.
1. Your presentation of my position is too laconic and therefore I cannot correct or confirm. But the fact that no one was a part of it is not really important to my argument. If my conclusion is X even if everyone does not agree with it yet, that is what I think. Therefore, you have the option of convincing me or not. My definition as an Epicurus will not change this, nor will a statement that Judaism says otherwise. As long as this is my conclusion, then as far as I am concerned, Judaism does not say otherwise. By the way, even on issues where there is agreement, it is not always true agreement, since concepts are subject to different interpretations.
2. See previous section.
3. He interprets the concept of holiness differently. This is not holiness in the abstract (in objective reality).
4. In the introduction to Egli Tal, he wrote similar things about studying Torah. That although the motivation should be for its own sake, it does not mean that one should not enjoy and rejoice in studying. I am not engaged in the interpretation of the Leibowitz or Maimonides methods, and certainly not in the coherence between them. That is not really interesting to me.
5. I wrote here that there was probably a change in God’s policy and His involvement in history. See for example here: https://mikyab.net/%D7%9B%D7%AA%D7%91%D7%99%D7%9D/%D7%9E%D7%90%D7%9E%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%9D/%D7%97%D7%99%D7%A4%D7%95%D7%A9-%D7%90%D7%97%D7%A8-%D7%90%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%94%D7%99%D7%9D-%D7%91%D7%A2%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%9D/
You can find countless discussions about this here on the site. As for the legitimacy of any position, see my words above. There is no such thing as an illegitimate position.
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