Q&A: Religious Goals, Really?
Religious Goals, Really?
Question
Hello Dr. Michi,
Perhaps it’s possible to interpret those “religious” commandments in the Torah that have no social or moral purpose at all as contingent commandments, shaped by the social-cultural/theological reality that was prevalent in ancient times? In my humble opinion, that is exactly what Maimonides explains in the Guide regarding sacrifices…. And after all, the words of the prophets also seem to indicate that matters of offerings and sacrifice are marginal matters, and logic also seems to require this—what does the Holy One, blessed be He, need with my sacrifice, or alternatively with the straps of the tefillin on my head???
Maybe the real goal (and not just the infrastructure) is the establishment of an exemplary society that will be a light unto the nations, showing that abstract (and mature) faith leads everything?
Thank you
Answer
In the first book of the trilogy, I explained why, in my view, the establishment of an exemplary society and moral commandments cannot be the goal of the whole enterprise. One does not create a society so that it will be an exemplary society. Don’t create one, and there will be no need for an exemplary society. Therefore it is more plausible that an exemplary society is a means of achieving religious goals.
In Jewish law there is a rule that it is not altered and does not change. Maimonides also accepts this rule, and his reasons in the Guide, with all due respect, are really not convincing (and not only in this area). There are quite a few commandments for which I see no contingent need at all. Therefore, this suggestion does not stand the test of plausibility, nor the test of Jewish law.