Ahad Ha'am and Rambam - Religion and Intellect - a review of Shilton Hasechel

I have read excerpts and references to Ahad Ha'am's article "Shilton Hasechel" which was written about 100 years ago in honor of the 700th anniversary of Rambam's death, but just yesterday found the whole article on line here http://benyehuda.org/ginzberg/Gnz_079.html (hat tip Jewish Skeptic).

Ahad Ha’am shows his exceptional talent as a writer and a clear thinker. The exposition of Rambam’s theological thought is concise and laid out in such a way that one idea leads to another almost without effort. However, he like many other scholars, misses Rambam’s most important idea which to him is the ultimate goal of a religious man – Imitato Dei. Rambam talks about it in several places in the Moreh and in the Yad but it is in the last chapter of the Moreh where he brings it out with full force. Rambam cannot contain his excitement and his religious fervor comes through his words. The purpose of all the Torah and Mitzvos is to help us find God and understand as much as one can about the results of his actions. That knowledge alone, although it brings a person great satisfaction and guarantees him Olam Haba, is not the end all of religion. The ultimate goal of religion is, once he has developed a true notion of God, to have man imitate God and partake in His creation; get involved productively with the world and its inhabitants. Anybody reading chapter 54 of the third part of the Moreh cannot escape the soaring spirit of Rambam as he writes it. In fact the last five chapters are a must read for any Jew who really wants to get a glimpse of what the real purpose and goal of Torah is. Achad Ha’am missed this completely and as we read on it becomes clear why.

In the next section he discusses the interaction of Rambam the philosopher with Rambam the religious man. Although generally accurate, Achad Ha’am emphasizes Rambam’s need to interpret Pessukim to conform to reality and his philosophy. I see it a little differently. The Torah is telling us how to interpret reality rather then the reverse. It is a lengthy issue that I posted about in the past and I will not attempt to deal with it here.

Ahad Ha’am then addresses the influence of Rambam on Judaism and general philosophy. It is a well presented summary.

Now Ahad Ha’am’s lack of religious feeling comes out. Having rejected religion he could not imagine that the great Rambam, the rational thinker, could see religion as the basis for all beliefs. The idea that Rambam included the belief in the coming of Moshiach as part of the basic tenets of Judaism, the Ikkarim, totally stumped him. Why would that be a goal? Isn’t the purely philosophic and rational exploration of reality and its relation to God the ultimate goal? What has Moshiach got to do with it? He therefore concludes that this proves that Rambam had a strong nationalistic instinct that he was not even aware of. A subconscious inbred sense for the need of a Jewish nation. That could very well be but certainly this is not Rambam’s thinking about Moshiach. Just like he missed the ultimate goal for religion, he missed Rambam’s understanding that Moshiach is no more than a state where mankind is so well developed and adjusted that people are free to engage without distraction in getting to know God and ultimately imitate their Creator. It is generally the case with scholars who try to read Rambam objectively without taking into account the strong underlying religious impetus that was the center of his persona.

With these caveats in mind the article is a worthwhile read and has not lost any of its relevance in the 100 years that passed since its first publication. Ahad Ha’am called the article “Shilton Hasechel”, the rule of the intellect, implying that it overruled Rambam’s religious persona. It is clear that Rambam’s intellect was totally suffused with religion – awe and fear of God.