Re: What Jewish brains are good for

moshes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
Don Levey <Don_SCJM@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
moshes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
Don Levey <Don_SCJM@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

I haven't read the book, so I don't know the approach he uses or how it
is a "Torah" approach. Reform Jews, by and large, are probably NOT
following such an approach on purpose, and so may (also) alter the
practice of the law itself should that seem more appropriate to them.
And _that_ is the whole problem. O _accepts_ the law "as is". It
then seeks meaning, and more meaning and still more meaning. And it
knows that it is not finished. But there is much "brain" work
involved searching for those meanings. You can't leave your brains
at the synagogue door. What it does _not_ continence is _altering_
any Law or any facet of the Law, based on those derived meanings.
No matter how "meaningful" they seem to be. We don't second-guess
the Law.
I understand - and that's what I mean about presupposing the
conclusion. The conclusion, in this case, is the law itself and
its practice.

Just the opposite, the law itself and its practice is the _basis_
to find the many layers of meaning G-d put there. Not that we should
fool ourselves that we "understand" the reason, but that we should
use the many meanings we find to improve ourselves.

At that point, why need any additional meaning?

That question is only valid if you call the Law the "conclusion".
If you take the Law as the basis for Serving G-d, then the more
meaning you find, the more meaningful your Service can be. But you
must always remember, that the bottom line "why" of doing the
commandments, is simply "because G-d said so". Perhaps that's what
you meant by your question?

Yes, that's exactly it. Were I to fully accept the origin of the laws
as directly Divine, what other reason could I possibly have for obeying
that would in any way compare?

From my perspective, you either promulgate a law because you want the
end-result behaviour, or because you want the process of transformation
that happens when the law is obeyed in a certain way. That is, if the
"why" matters a whit, then it would need to be because of the internal
transformation that happens when the person obeys the law by gaining a
certain meaning of that law. But that breaks down if that meaning (and
thus the transformation) isn't clearly set forth first. "Be kind to the
stranger *because* *you* *were* *strangers* *in* *Egypt*" would be an
example - law, AND reason. In contrast, finding possible meanings for 8
days of Chanukah, while a useful and interesting exercise, doesn't bring
about a *specific* internal change that would presumably be desired by Gd.

So we're left with "but there is *a* change", and that seems haphazard
to me at best.

To (some of) those Jews who don't accept the law as-is, the search
for that central meaning is necessary because it can determine
whether the law is obeyed or not.

Ouch. Second-guessing G-d!!??

Well, I would guess that from your perspective that would be a yes.
From (many of) our perspectives, however, if the laws didn't come
directly from Gd, then we're second-guessing those who were (or believed
to be) inspired by Gd, those who wrote the laws, interpreted them, and
so on. It is, again, our fundamental divide.

--
Don Levey, Framingam MA If knowledge is power,
(email address in header works) and power corrupts, then...
NOTE: Don't send mail to to salearn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
GnuPG public key: http://www.the-leveys.us:6080/keys/don-dsakey.asc

.

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