Question

It seems to me that you have said quite a bit about intuition, among other things in the context of explaining the decline of the generations. What do you think of the Malbim’s words at the beginning of Proverbs, where he explains that the basic first principles in every field of knowledge are received in the Torah through fear of God? Would this fit with what you said about the superiority of earlier generations, because of the fear of Heaven they had, as we find that they were self-sacrificing and the like? (Though what is the source for the Malbim’s claim? And in general it doesn’t seem like the kind of argument you would connect with…)
And these are the Malbim’s words —
“People of understanding and wise-hearted men will grasp them and find their interpretation through the parables of this book… ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.’ Every wisdom has a starting point through which that wisdom becomes known, namely its foundations. Thus geometry builds its foundations on sense perception and first intelligibles; natural science is founded on observation and experiment. But the wisdom of the Torah and the wisdom of character traits, which in this book are referred to simply as ‘wisdom,’ their beginnings cannot be known through rational demonstration, as explained above. Rather, it is received from God, who prepared it and also examined it. Therefore it is impossible to attain true knowledge of it, clear knowledge, except through discipline and fear of the Lord. As stated in verse 1, through the power of fear implanted in the soul to fear God, a person fears transgressing His will and prepares his heart to keep the statutes of wisdom given by God, and they become established in his heart as trustworthy and true matters. In this way he comes to know them, because through his faith in God, the Lawgiver of the statutes of wisdom, they are to him like something attained through the senses or through first intelligibles. But this is only for one who believes in God and in His commandments and does not doubt. The fools, however—for the definition of a fool is one who doubts and does not believe—cast doubts both on wisdom and on the fear of the Lord, which is the discipline that is the beginning and foundation of knowledge of wisdom; they disdain both wisdom and discipline. And this is the meaning of, ‘fools…’”