The Foundations of Faith

Hello Rabbi.
Sorry if I didn't explain myself well enough.
The purpose of this post is not to ask a question, but to present the things that underlie my religious belief in order to receive comments and additions to it, because right now I feel that they are not strong enough. I presented the 3 things that in my opinion make me a religious person, and these are belief in God, circumstantial-historical proof of the truth of Judaism, and personal interests such as a sense of value and family life. The latter two have shortcomings, since the above proof is only circumstantial, and since sometimes I have desires and feelings that contradict Halacha (which actually undermines the third foundation). Therefore, I would be happy to receive comments, corrections, and additions in order to receive stronger foundations for my belief.

Regarding direct questions:
1. What should make a simple person believe in Halacha and the Torah? As I see it, there needs to be basic intellectual proof for this, since all humans see themselves as intellectual beings, and yet there are humans with greater and lesser intellectual abilities, and God does not come in trouble with His creations. This is related to what I have written so far, what should actually be the basis of every person's faith?

2. I have heard many times that in Genesis the ethical, moral creation of the world is described, and it is full of secrets (the "Act of Genesis"), and therefore there is no contradiction between the Torah's description and the scientific description regarding the creation of the world, and that in general there should be no contradiction between Torah and science because these are different fields. My question is – Why is this ethical-moral creation of the world different from the physical creation of the world? After all, the ’ He is omnipotent, and He could just as easily have created the world exactly as described in the act of Genesis, and there was a correspondence between the physical reality and the moral-ethical reality. Moreover, I have heard this idea from various rabbis, who say that there is some connection, deep down, between Torah and science, because God created both, and as the Maimonides quoted in the Epistles from Rabbi Meir who said in a baraita, “Look at His actions, and from that you will know the One who spoke and the world was.” If so, why should there be a difference between the moral-ethical creation of the world and the physical one?

3. Who said that our orientation regarding the Godhead is correct? Where do the Maimonides, the Ramachal, and others know how to say that He is complete in the utmost perfection, that He is not complex, and that there is nothing besides Him? I don't have access to my library right now, but a while ago I studied the first chapter of Derech Ha'Ha, which talks about the Almighty, and I thought everything was good and beautiful, but where do we get the proof that this is true? I know the method that holds that we really have no knowledge of the divine and that we can only describe it with descriptions that are positive on our part, so that we ourselves will acquire the good qualities as a result, but according to the little I know right now, what is the intellectual motivation to say that there are 2 (or more) divine beings who created and govern the world? What is the problem with thinking that these beings who created the world have their own God? Maybe precisely because we know nothing about the divine, we attribute incorrect things to it? It may sound ridiculous and idolatrous, but I couldn't give myself good answers to this...

These are the questions that bother me the most right now. Thanks for the answer.

Hello.
In general, I wrote what I had to say in the fifth notebook. See there.
1. Regarding the proofs, see the first four notebooks.
2. Creation was done to bring about a world defined according to certain laws that God thought would bring it to its goals. It is not necessarily possible to do this in the way that you would call a creation “moral.” There is no reason to assume that both things can be done in the same way. If there is a logical contradiction between them, then God cannot deviate from it (just as He cannot make a round triangle).
3. Indeed, there is no guarantee that what different thinkers write is true. I have a fairly limited trust in everything they write (these are their opinions and nothing more). This will be detailed in my trilogy.

Regarding 2, my intention was to ask why reality was not created physically as described in Genesis? I am assuming that He is omnipotent and could have created the world in this way, and I do not see a logical contradiction to such a creation of the world, after all, the creation of the world created the laws by which we live and logic itself. Sorry if you answered exactly that and I did not understand. In any case, I would love to know; How do you see the story of creation in Genesis?

3- If so, do you not advocate the principles of the Maimonides' faith? Is there not a conflict here with the world of halakhah (perhaps even the sages and not just the current rabbinic, I am not knowledgeable enough), who might call a person who does not accept certainty on this subject a heretic and a host of similar epithets?

Thank you, Rabbi.

On the 24th of Tevet (the death anniversary of the Maimonides) 5777

To Michael, Shalom Rav,

Regarding the tenets of Maimonides' faith, there is consensus from wall to wall in Rabbinic Judaism. Even the great Rabbi Bar-Heluga did not reach him in the essence of these tenets. Recently, a book by Rabbi Shlomo Aviner was published in which he interprets the words of the 'Teacher of the Confused', and you can contact the Rabbi by email or SMS and he will happily respond. A book called 'Invitation to the Teacher of the Confused' by Rabbi Yochai Makbili was also recently published. For the reader, even after more than fifty years, Dr. Aharon Barrett's book, ‘Our Generation Facing the Questions of Eternity’ – is highly recommended.

Regarding the story of creation in relation to the accepted views in science, it is worth reading the book by physicist Prof. Nathan Aviezer, ‘Genesis of Creation’. If in past generations, science believed that the world was ancient, today scientists also believe that the world is renewed, as Judaism insisted on claiming for thousands of years.

The lawfulness of nature, as a thousand witnesses testify, indicates that there is ‘one leader for the capital’ who governs his world with the same laws, which are true from the smallest particle to the most gigantic galaxy.

Regarding your question, why did God create His world in an incomplete way so that it could be built in a developmental way, ‘and could it not be created in one article’? – Perhaps God is limiting His revelation, in order to give us a kind of ‘personal example’ that challenges us to be ‘participants in the acts of Genesis’, to develop and perfect the world so that we do not get eaten ‘by the way’. See Professor’ Benjamin Gross' book, ‘An Imperfect World –Towards Responsible Freedom’, which develops this direction according to the teachings of the Maharal of Prague.

With best wishes, S.C. Levinger

Regarding women's singing, mixed society, etc.’ – The problems you are subjected to in the army prepare you for what you will have to deal with throughout your life, at university and in the workplace. It is worth studying carefully Rabbi Elyakim Allinson's book, ‘The Woman and the Mitzvot– Book Two: And Modesty in the Path’, which will help you understand and cope. And the rule, I think, is to maintain a coquettish, respectful and honorable attitude, and to preserve the expressions of affection for ’your friend and your covenant wife’ with whom you will gain the help of ’ a faithful house in Israel that will continue the glorious chain of generations.

Hello Michael.
Regarding 2, I understood your point, and I will explain more about what I answered.
I have already written here regarding the question of evil in the world, and the answer there will help to understand the answer to your question. Human evil is the result of human choice, but natural evil (tsunamis, epidemics) is the work of God, and this raises the question of His goodness. My argument is that natural evil is a side effect of the laws of nature, and since God wanted His world to be governed by fixed natural laws, and He also wanted these natural laws (because they are the ones that create the world He wanted. For example, life would not have been created if the laws of nature were different even a little), then it may not have been possible to create a world without natural evil. Changing the laws of nature to prevent evil would also change the world from what God wanted it to be. In other words, even the Almighty cannot overcome the laws of logic (but only the laws of physics). This could also be the answer to why the world was not created physically as described in Genesis (assuming that this is the moral creation but not the physical manner of creation). These are two different sets of laws, and God had to choose one of them.
People balk at the statement that God cannot do something. But it should be understood that not being able to deviate from the laws of logic is not a lack of ability. Every ability is the ability to do everything that is possible and conceivable. But what contradicts logic (like a round triangle) is simply nonsense. It is not that God cannot do it, but that there is nothing to do.

I have no position regarding the principles of faith, neither those of Maimonides nor others. But I do have a position regarding the fact that no one has the authority to determine principles of faith. Nor is the agreement of all the sages of Israel throughout all generations irrelevant, since principles of faith deal with facts. Is God watching or not? Will the Messiah come or not? Do we have free choice or not? These are all questions of fact. If God gave us any fact, I would accept it, but I have no indication that the principles of faith have been passed down in tradition. Therefore, I do not know if they are correct.
It is important to understand that authority has no meaning regarding factual claims. In halacha there can be authority, since I can be ordered to act in a certain way even if in my opinion it is not correct (to maintain the framework, or because I may be wrong, etc.). But it is impossible to order someone to think something that he thinks is not correct. If in my opinion it is not correct, then I do not think it, and no command will be of any use. At most, I can recite these claims without believing them, but that of course has no value. If they convince me, then of course I will accept it, but then it is not about submission to authority. Therefore, in my opinion, there is no authority in matters of fact. There is authority only in halacha.
I really do not care what they call me. Even if all the sages of Israel declare me a heretic, good for them. I am of course willing to consider any argument, and certainly an argument from a wise person, but I am not impressed by nicknames and labels. This is not the way to formulate positions, and as mentioned, it is also not possible. Even if I adopt a certain thesis only because holding to the opposite is heresy - then I have not really adopted it (except in language and outwardly). At most, you can try to convince me. This is the only way to change my position. Such a change will only occur if strong arguments are presented in favor of a certain position, or if it is shown to me that it is a tradition from Sinai.

For the religious and halakhic social coping of a religious soldier in an office unit, see the book "The Frontline in the Home Front: A Collection of Articles for a Soldier in the Home Front of Israeli Society," published by the "Beit El Library" (the book's articles can be viewed via the Rambish website).

To help with the questions of faith, Dov Indig's book "Letters to Talia" will also be helpful, in which there is correspondence between Dov and a young woman from a secular kibbutz, in which he thoroughly answered her piercing questions about Judaism. Dov was killed in the Yom Kippur War, and his letters were published by his friend Dr. Hagai Ben-Artzi.

With best wishes, S.C. Levinger

In the 21st of Tevet 77

The Maimonides, as usual, builds his system on the solid foundation of the written and transmitted sources of the Torah. He gathered all the halakhic and religious material scattered in the sources, decided between conflicting systems according to the rules of jurisprudence in the Talmud and according to his own judgment, and presented to the student the ‘Mishnah HaTorah’ arranged by topic.

On the principles of faith, the Maimonides says (in his commentary on the Mishnah in the Mishnah, Berakhot): ‘It is more precious to me to explain one thing of them, more than all that we have learned’. And he explained them by way of a statement in the &#8217Sefer Hamada’ and in his introductions to the Mishnah, to the chapters of the Fathers, and to the chapter of Chalc in Tractate Sanhedrin.

But Maimonides was not satisfied with this, and explained and established the foundations of faith with evidence, both from the Scriptures and the words of the sages, and with philosophical evidence and arguments, in his book ‘Instructor of the Perplexed’, in which he uses the philosophical methods of the Greek sages whose thought was considered the pinnacle of science of his time. He uses the method developed by the philosophers, but reaches conclusions opposite to them. While the ’God of the philosophers’ does not intervene in the world of which he is the cause – Maimonides’God created his world, guides his creatures through his Torah, prophets, and sages, and personally oversees human beings, and will bring his world to its complete correction in the future redemption.

The foundations of faith formulated by Maimonides are explained in the Bible:
The Torah begins with the statement that He created the world. And throughout the Torah it is explained that He leads the capital, whether in a hidden way as in the days of the patriarchs, or in a visible way, as in the Exodus from Egypt. His uniqueness as the Creator and the negation of His corporeality are explained in the prohibition against worshipping other gods and making an image and likeness of the Creator, as explained in the Ten Commandments and in many places in the Torah.

The Creator's providence ‘whose eyes are open to all the ways of men, to give to each one according to his ways and the fruits of his deeds’ (Jeremiah 33:19), explained in the Torah: ‘The stone is blameless, for all its ways are justice’, and it is derived from the fact that it is unreasonable for the Creator of the world, in his wisdom, to allow people to behave like fools, as it is written: ‘He who planted the ear, will he not hear? He who created the eye, will he not see? He who afflicts the nations, will he not correct? He who teaches man knowledge’ (Psalms 16).

The revelation of the Lord to give the Torah to His people through Moses is described in the Torah. At Mount Sinai, where sixty thousand Jews heard the word of the Lord, so that they would believe in the prophecy of Moses forever. The eternity of the Torah is explained in the Torah's command: not to add to or subtract from the Torah of Moses. Even Balaam learns that ’There is no God that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should be comforted’, and Samuel clarifies ‘And even the Eternal One of Israel will not lie or comfort, for He is not a man that He should be comforted’.

It is the Torah that announces that the people of Israel will be punished in exile, but even in their exile there will be ‘Neither will they be destroyed nor will they be redeemed, to break My covenant with them’, and at the end of the exile, God will redeem His people and return them to their land, either by awakening the people to repentance (as described in Parashat Nitzavim), or for the sake of the name of God that He has made known to the nations (as described in Parashat HaAzinu and in the prophecy of Ezekiel, chapters 3-30). Redemption will come through a ‘Hatar from the line of Jesse’ He will gather the outcasts of Israel, build the Temple, and lead the entire world to walk in the light of the Lord, as explained in the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.

The survival of the soul is explained in Abigail's words to David: ‘And the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God…’ (1 Samuel 25:29). Regarding the resurrection of the dead, the angel foretold to Daniel: ‘And many from the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt; and those who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and the many who are righteous as the stars forever and ever’ (Daniel 12:2).

It is not for nothing that Maimonides instructed the students of his work, the Mishnah Torah, to precede him with reading the Bible, which is the foundation of the beliefs, values, and commandments, which are explained and detailed in the Oral Torah summarized in his work.

With greetings, S.C. Levinger