Q&A: On Intuition and a Way to Assess Reality
On Intuition and a Way to Assess Reality
Question
Hello, honorable Rabbi.
A general question came to mind, maybe a bit strange.
It is well known and established that Jewish law has its rulings and its books. Likewise, its decisors and Torah scholars who deal with it are there, among other things, so that a person can know where he stands in terms of his observance of the commandments and his religious conduct. I once heard Rabbi Uri Sherki say that one of the most frustrating things, in his view, in some other religions is that according to them a person can never know whether he is righteous, wicked, intermediate, and so on, whereas in Judaism a person can know his status.
In any case, it is certainly also obvious that community leaders exist in order to guide the ordinary person who is not capable in these matters.
And here the following question comes up for me:
A person who is not capable in these matters finds himself in a situation where he has no possibility of getting a direct answer, because it is a very rare and very strange situation, even borderline (for example: a Jew who is married with a family and children, observant of Torah and commandments, and only afterward it is discovered such-and-such; and his current community is conservative and will probably not want him if he reveals the truth—must he hide his identity and undergo conversion in secret, even though then he will no longer be able to honestly examine his religious progress with his rabbi? A woman who underwent sexual abuse, and as a result cannot develop healthy sexual attraction anymore and cannot consult any authority figure out of fear because she was harmed by a senior figure—is she permitted to violate forbidden sexual prohibitions in order to develop healthy sexual attraction again, and so on? People with an anxiety disorder, or a severe physical illness, for whom clarifying correct views and ideas is presumably difficult, and so on)—how is such a person supposed to act, in general, when both the analytical tools and the intuitive tools are completely “broken” for him, and no one in his immediate surroundings wants to help him? In the religious context, of course, regarding proper conduct and observance of the commandments.
Answer
A bit strange? That's the understatement of the year. The sentences here are broken up and everything is confused. If you want to ask a question, formulate it properly. Preferably make it concrete (rather than: what is a person whose tools are all broken supposed to do?).
Discussion on Answer
What should a person do who has nothing he can do? That's an oxymoron.
If you can't turn to anyone, then decide for yourself. You have to decide what seems preferable to you—despite that, to turn to someone, or to decide on your own.
Hello Rabbi.
I assume there are 3 main ways to assess correct views and correct behavior in the religious context:
Intuition—a gut feeling that points to the correct conclusion.
Reason—the ability to read the religious and halakhic literature, analyze halakhic arguments and rulings, and infer what the correct act is.
Seeking help from a rabbi, a Torah scholar, a person who is himself expert in the writings, and receiving information from him.
The first two tools are relevant only to a person who is capable in these matters, at least regarding very serious dilemmas.
And the third option is possible only for a person who has someone to turn to.
What should a person do who has neither these nor those?
In borderline cases that are not common in the halakhic literature?
After all, Jewish law is universal and addresses everyone.
The examples I gave are meant to illustrate borderline cases:
A person who is mentally coerced with regard to observing commandments.
A person whose mind is disturbed.
Or a person who has no community in which he can observe commandments.
The third example occurred to me because I was reminded of the law of a convert who converted among the gentiles—what is he to do?
And of a child captured among the gentiles who was assumed to be Jewish or non-Jewish, and the opposite was discovered.
And of the law that a person is not judged at his time of distress, when his mind and soul are disturbed.
To what extent is he exempt in the judgment of Heaven and, halakhically, as a person?
Because on the one hand, Maimonides for example writes that neither among Israel nor among the nations are a deaf-mute, a minor, and an incompetent person punished.
But in other places, even in his writings, there is no clear treatment of what exactly counts as an incompetent person.