Q&A: Faith
Faith
Question
Maimonides wrote in the Book of Commandments:
The first commandment is the command that we were commanded to believe in divinity, namely, that we should believe that there exists a Cause and Reason, who is the agent of all that exists.
And this is what He, exalted be He, said: "I am the Lord your God" (Exodus 20:2 and Deuteronomy 5:6).
1. What is "faith"?
2. Does faith contradict reason, as people quote: "Where knowledge ends, faith begins"?
3. How can one command faith? After all, in order to accept the commandment one must already believe beforehand that there is a commander, meaning the command itself is a logical paradox.
4. Have you discussed these topics at length elsewhere, and could you refer me there?
5. By the way, do you know the source of the saying I mentioned, "Where knowledge ends, faith begins"?
Thank you very much!
Answer
Is that all? I take it you expect a response the length of a book.
I’ll answer briefly:
Faith is ordinary knowledge in every respect.
It of course does not contradict reason; on the contrary. Lack of faith contradicts reason. In fact, faith is both a result of using reason and a condition for reason.
You can’t command faith. What Maimonides means in positive commandment 1 requires further clarification, and many have already noted this.
In the introduction to the first book in the trilogy, and also in Be-Emet Ve-lo Yatziv and Shtei Agalot.
It’s a folk saying, a foolish one of course. I know it in a slightly different version: where philosophy ends, Kabbalah begins. And in that version it’s even true.
Discussion on Answer
One more thing, what do you mean: "In that version it’s even true"?
Aharon,
In the trilogy, in the first conversation, there is a discussion of concepts. What is faith? Intellect? Emotion? Start there.
Rabbi Yitzhak Ze’ev Soloveitchik should be interpreted as meaning that where logic ends, faith begins, and then the statement makes a bit of sense (and even then, faith does not contradict logic, just isn’t based on logical proof). Otherwise, it’s just empty talk.
As for Michi’s interpretation of the sentence "where philosophy ends"—see what he wrote in the past on the Be-Emet Kach forum in the thread about acceptance of the Ramak’s Kabbalah; the remarks were also brought in his article "What Is Ḥalut?" note 19.
By the way, Nachmanides actually writes explicitly that faith is knowledge. One cannot believe without knowing. And from here there is a contradiction to the unity of opposites. Except that contradiction doesn’t really bother the unity of opposites, as is well known…
Aharon, in the introduction I dealt with the nature of faith, not with Maimonides’ words.
Thank you.
Where exactly in the introduction to the trilogy do you deal with the above Maimonides? In a quick search I didn’t find it.
As for the quote, it appears in Avi Ezri in the name of Rabbi Yitzhak Ze’ev Soloveitchik, in the name of Rabbi Chaim of Brisk ("The obligation of faith begins from the point where human intellect comes to an end" – Laws of Repentance 5:5). The quote you mentioned was written in the name of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov ("Where the wisdom of philosophy ends, there begins the wisdom of truth, which is the wisdom of Kabbalah" – Sichot HaRan 224).
I asked you about the quote because I’ve seen many people cite it in the name of Nachmanides, but as much as I searched, I didn’t find that he wrote anything like that.