Q&A: On Commitment to the Torah
On Commitment to the Torah
Question
Hello Rabbi.
The Rabbi argues that the Torah is a fact that one “observes,” and that observing it is not neutral in the way that observing other facts is; rather, the observation is “colored.” If so, I don’t understand how only some of the people who observe the Torah come to accept commitment to it, while others do not. After all, this would seem to be something objective!
Thank you very much.
Answer
Yisrael, hello.
Scientific observation too is observation of a fact, and as long as you have not learned how to observe, you will not be able to do it. Religious education helps develop the religious capacity (the ability to observe these facts). Someone who has not undergone it will have difficulty doing so. It is possible that there are people who do not have this capacity at all, in which case no education will help them (like those who lack mathematical ability, where no education will help them in that either). But from my perspective, that is a kind of blindness or disability, as is found in other areas.
Beyond that, because this observation is not as unambiguous as seeing with the eyes, there is an element of judgment involved here. A person has to decide whether what he sees is indeed that or not. And judgment itself is influenced by environment and other factors (inclinations).