Q&A: Rational Thinking in Judaism
Rational Thinking in Judaism
Question
We see people who are God-fearing and deeply involved in the service of God. They study and are careful with every detail, major and minor, but everything comes from tradition, upbringing, inner feelings, and simple faith. In essence, he does not know how to explain in an intellectual way why he does what he does, why he believes in God, who says he is right, and so on.
And even if we assume that he does begin to ask questions and try to understand all this in depth, he will not really succeed in understanding everything, because it is beyond his level; but on the other hand, he may become very cooled off and decline spiritually.
What is the value of such service of God? That is, is there room for serving God—and in general, for everything connected to Judaism—on the basis of feelings, simple faith, and faith in tradition, without deeper inquiry and independent understanding?
Because in reality most people cannot understand everything, and it would take them years before they might perhaps reach the correct conclusions.
Answer
Each person arrives at his decisions in the way that seems right to him. There is absolutely no obligation for everyone to be philosophers. If a person has intuition and acts on it, that is perfectly fine.
Discussion on Answer
There is no answer to that. Each person is supposed to make his decisions in the way that seems right to him.
What does Judaism say? How can I know what the Holy One, blessed be He, wants from me in this matter?
As I understand it, that is what the Holy One, blessed be He, wants: that you make decisions in the way that seems best to you and act accordingly.
How great for me—I can decide however I feel like it, and the Holy One, blessed be He, trusts me.
I’ll tell you about myself, for example: I come with a very strong load of tradition, inner faith, and connection to Judaism, but alongside all that I know that I do not understand everything, and from time to time I have questions. But I know that the moment I start investigating and delving into it, the ground will open up beneath me and there will be no end to it—I could start doubting everything and never arrive at the truth.
What should I do?