Q&A: The Benefit of Studying Faith
The Benefit of Studying Faith
Question
Hello Rabbi Michi,
The Rabbi said that he doesn’t see value in studying faith from the Hebrew Bible and history, for example (like whether to be Zionist or anti-Zionist based on the Holocaust, which can be interpreted in either direction).
I wanted to ask about certain issues that, in my view, can’t be answered except from those sources.
A. Should we descend to the enemy’s level or maintain moral ethics in war regardless of what the enemy does? From the Torah, statements seem to emerge quite clearly in favor of descending to the enemy’s level: “With the pure You show Yourself pure, and with the crooked You show Yourself twisted,” and “Whoever becomes merciful to the cruel will in the end become cruel to the merciful.” These statements seem to decide the question quite clearly.
B. What is man’s purpose in the world? (For example, fulfillment of commandments as an individual—as in the Haredi view—or the indwelling of the Divine Presence upon the people and prophecy—one can find practical ramifications for this.)
C. Regarding the form of government: should monarchical rule be restored in some way, or should we remain democratic, for example? There are many prophecies about the return of a king from the house of David, which seemingly decide that such a function is required (assuming the prophecies are not only a description of what will happen, but also guidance about what we should aspire to).
Does the Rabbi disagree that the Torah decides these questions? And if not, then from where are we supposed to decide them?
Answer
A. They really do not decide it. The law of the beautiful captive woman also permits relations with a non-Jewish woman, and the Sages say that this is only a concession to the evil inclination. So why not say that descending to the enemy’s level is also just a concession to the evil inclination? And if we have progressed and no longer need that, then we should not do it. And again I tell you: try convincing those who think otherwise. Good luck.
B. I don’t know.
C. I tend to think that the best system is determined by common sense. A democratic monarchy is also a monarchy. Monarchy = rule.
Your basic mistake is that you are asking me how one can decide, when your proposal doesn’t provide a better answer. I say that common sense decides, and if there are disagreements then at most one can argue about them. Either you persuade or you don’t. And you are proposing a method that is supposed to decide it: deriving it from the Torah. But there you will succeed even less in deciding, because the gates of interpretation have not been closed, and everyone reads their own values into their interpretation. Even in Jewish law every detail is full of disputes.