Q&A: Regarding the Rabbi’s Outlook
Regarding the Rabbi’s Outlook
Question
With God's help. Hello Rabbi Michael,
I watched the conference for the launch of the trilogy, and I think I didn’t hear a response from you to what Rabbi Yehuda Altushler, the head of the kollel, said in his suggestion that instead of just negating and negating, you should present an alternative—what do you actually propose, some kind of positive path.
Rabbi, I think that the Rabbi has emptied Judaism of all religious content (perhaps the Rabbi doesn’t see himself as religious?). So what is left for you: you have no interaction with the Holy One, blessed be He; you don’t pray to Him beyond the three prayers instituted by the Sages; you also don’t believe that we came down to this world in order to be tested, to see whether we withstand the trials that the Holy One, blessed be He, sent us, as Mesillat Yesharim says, and that this is also not the purpose of the free choice we have (for testing and trial). And that we are subject to fate and there is no message in the suffering people go through in the world. And that there is no reward and punishment and no individual providence, and I don’t know if there is a World to Come, and that you also reject religious experiences.
So what is the difference between you and Leibowitz? Aside from observing commandments, there is no religious dimension left in your way of life. Maybe the Rabbi missed something here, and not everything is supposed to pass the test of strict reason, perhaps. You know, there are also mystical things in religion; maybe here one needs a bit of simplicity, faith in the Sages, and humility?
Answer
Hello,
This question has already come up here as well, and I’ve also addressed it in my books. Maybe later I’ll devote a column to it, since it keeps recurring.
For now I’ll just say that you take it as obvious that Judaism is supposed to fill our lives and encompass them, and I’m really not sure about that. It may very well be that what is required of us is to be human beings, and the Jewish level is only a partial and specific addition.
Beyond that, even if I were to accept your assumption, if in fact I do not think there are additional dimensions in Judaism, I don’t think that inventing something untrue (faith in the Sages, simplicity, mysticism) and implanting it into Judaism (even if you base this on a demand for humility) just to provide feelings of what I think ought to be there gives any solution to the problem. Contrary to what is common today, meaning is not something a person is supposed to invent for himself, but something that exists. Inventing meaning does not give meaning. Finding meaning does. See column 159 on this.
Therefore, you need to examine my arguments and form a position regarding them—whether they are correct or not. What you would like to be here, or what feelings this creates in you, are not relevant questions to the clarification itself. At most, after you form a position, deal with the feelings (or, in blunter wording: take a pill).
By the way, I do not reject religious feelings. I simply don’t have any. Whoever does—good for them. I just don’t see them as important or necessary, nor do I tend to see them as a tool for recognizing reality (atheists also have religious feelings. That’s how we’re built). This is different from spiritual intuitions, which can be a tool for recognizing reality, though here too it is very important to be careful and examine them thoroughly (because they are very similar to religious emotion. And don’t ask me for a criterion. I don’t have one. Not everything is strict reason, as you put it).
Discussion on Answer
Today I posted a response column (352): https://mikyab.net/posts/70022
Who said there is a difference between Rabbi Michi and Leibowitz?