Was Rabbi Moshe Taku A Corporealist?

Rabbi Moshe Ben Chasdai Taku (circa 1200-1250) was a younger contemporary of Rabbi Yehuda Hachassid  (1140-1217) and is considered nowadays in many circles as the central medieval proponent of a corporeal understanding of God. See for example this post by R. Nathan Slifkin where he also makes an assertion that earlier Ashkenaz Rishonim were not philosophically inclined and did not know any earlier philosophical writings. I never bought into this and could not imagine that such great and brilliant scholars would not have amongst them at least a smattering of inquisitive thinkers who would try to understand the reason for existence and other such philosophical issues.  True those were dark ages in Europe and contact with the southern part of the continent was tenuous, they still would have developed a philosophy of their own. As we will see, they did but also had more contact with the rest of Judaism then is commonly thought.

As I began learning Rav Sa’adyah Gaon’s (892-942) (henceforth Resag) thought, I started getting interested in his place in Jewish thought in a historical context and discovered that indeed he was the source of almost all medieval Jewish thought and all the divergent theologies that subsequently developed were based on Resag. I am currently reading Professor Joseph Dan’s magnum opus Toldot Torat Hasod Ha’avrit which is now up to 6 volumes with more to come. Volumes 5 and 6 deal mostly with the Chassidei Ashkenaz beginning with Rabbi Shmuel (born 1115), the father of Rabbi Yehuda through Rabbi Eliezer of Worms (1160-1238) known as the Rokeach and his generation. These Rishonim were part of the great Kalonimus family that migrated from Lucca, Italy to the German towns along the Rhine anywhere between 800 (during the reign of Charlemagne) and 973 depending on the historian. The Chassidei Ashkenaz led by Rabbi Shmuel and subsequently by Rabbi Yehuda Hachassid, the most prominent and famous leader amongst them, developed a mystical approach to Judaism which had its roots in the writings of Resag, Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra (1089-1174), the Kuzari (Rabbi Yehuda Halevy - 1075-1141) at times expanding on the ideas proposed by these greats and at others disagreeing and using their ideas to argue for their own insights. Amongst the well-known writings of that school is the Sefer Chassidim which was composed in part by Rabbi Shmuel with the greatest part written by R. Yehuda and probably contains additions subsequently added by some of his disciples.  The Rokeach is another important sefer that is also central as a source in Halacha. Less well known but also important is the Arugat Habossem, a commentary on the prayer book and the Piyutim written around 1234 by Rabbi Avraham ben Azriel from Bohemia.  Another famous composition of that school is Shir Hayichud; the poem that is part of the Yom Kippur night prayer liturgy which has been shown (more about this later) to be a poetic presentation of Resag’s thought found in his Pirush on Sefer Yetzira and his Emunot Vede’ot. Although some think its author was Rabbi Yehuda Hachassid, it clearly was already well known and part of the liturgy at his time as he quotes it as a proof text in one of his philosophical writings. Rabbi Yehuda Hachassid was therefore clearly acquainted with the thought of Resag as were others in his school. In fact based on quotations that we find in their writings we can even trace quotes from Emunot Vede’ot- which is written originally in Arabic – to a translation that preceded the more common and well known R. Yehuda Ibn Tibon (circa 1120-1190) translation. It is not a verbatim translation but rather a flowery paraphrase.

This brings us to an important manuscript – the Sefer Hakavod – another sefer of that era and school of thought with many excerpts quoted by Joseph Dan in his book Toldot. Although the manuscript we have at Oxford is anonymous, Rabbi Yehuda Hachassid is named as its author by R. Moshe Taku in his Ktav Tamim (more about it later) and is a basis for a mystical sefer written by R. Eliezer of Worms the great pupil of Rabbi Yehuda. The Sefer Hakavod focuses principally on the question of how revelation – Nevuah – works. The problem is that there cannot be a connection between a transcendental God and a human being who is physical. God does not talk nor does He have a form or shape or body. That being the case what did the prophet see or hear in his vision? What exactly is Shechina the word used in Chazal to depict the presence of God? Sefer Hakavod proposes three possible explanations; one based on a Rav Hai Gaon Responsa, another based on Resag and the third its own explanation. I do not want to go into the details at this time but want to point out that all three explanations are consistent with an understanding of a transcendental God.

We now come to Rabbi Moshe Taku. Abraham Berliner (1833-1915) wrote an article about the Shir Hayichud which was translated from the German and published by Mossad Harav Kook (1969) in the two volume Selected Writings (Hebrew) pages 147-180. Berliner did not have access to the Oxford manuscript of Sefer Hakavod thus not knowing of its reference to Shir Hayichud. He therefore claims that the first mention of the poem is in R. Moshe Taku’s (RMT henceforth) Ktav Tamim (KT henceforth). He then proceeds to give a short appraisal of KT and its author. Here are some excerpts that I hope will give a flavor about this interesting Rishon.

RMT was born in Tachau   (Tachov nowadays and part of the Czech Republic). He lived in Regensburg  and died in Neustadt next to Vienna. R. Yehuda Hachassid also lived in Regensburg at approximately the same time thus it is probable that both he and RMT had access to the same sources and writings. We know that RMT sent a Responsa to Magdeburg around 1225-1230 which indicates that he flourished somewhere between 1225 and 1250 giving us an approximate date for his publishing KT. The manuscript of KT that we have is only a small part of a much more extensive sefer. The fragment that remained is complemented by a long quote in Arugat Habossem. In KT,  RMT attacks the philosophical/theological theories that were circulating during his time, quoting from Sefer Hakavod, Yessod Mora vesod Torah of Ibn Ezra, Sefer Hamada of Rambam, Shir Hayichud and Emunot Vede’ot in its paraphrased translation (see above). He accuses them all of inventing theories, all building on Resag’s writings, which according to RMT distort what Chazal really believed.

“There is a poem called Shir Hayichud, I heard that it was authored by R. Bezalel using the Sefer Ha’emunot as a basis. He did not author it completely because from the stanza beginning with Shadai, R. Shmuel (the father of R. Yehuda Hachassid) authored it.”   

Abraham Berliner comments that R. Bezalel is unknown from anywhere else but this reference to him here is probably the source for a later claim that the author of Shir Hayichud is the Christian priest Michael Basilios (the name Basilios and Bezalel having a similar sound). The Vilna Gaon indeed forbade the saying of it in his shul and tried to find the name Michael Basilios in the acrostic at the end of day 3.

Abraham Berliner argues that contrary the popular belief, RMT was no corporealist at all. Corporealism was anathema to all Jewish scholars. The issue was how to deal with verses in Tanach and sayings of the Rabbis that contradicted this basic belief. Resag followed by other medieval philosophers developed a sophisticated approach, interpreting all these difficult utterances allegorically or as a metaphor. RMT objected to that approach and felt that it is better to accept these corporealist statements as they are, admitting that we do not know how to interpret them. The interpretations lead to distorted and wrong opinions that inadvertently support one form or other of Corporealism.  

Berliner argues that RMT had a highly developed critical sense and questioned everything. In a discussion of the limits of human apprehension RMT quotes a Sifre that Moshe at the time of his death was able to apprehend so much that what he had apprehended during his life seemed obscure (Aspekaleria She’eina Me’ira)[1]. He follows this by a quote from the controversial Sefer Shiur Komah that refers to the Sefer Aleph Beit Derabbi Akivah, which belongs to the Heichalot literature. He prefaces it by questioning “if it is reliable being it is not found in our Babylonian Talmud, or in the Yerushalmi, or in the well-known Midrashim. For there are books that were forged by the Christians to fool the world, like Perek Shira where it says at the end of it[2] that whoever reads it constantly so and so vouch for him… So too in Sefer Ha’evarim (?) it is written that His right hand is called such and such and His left such and such. At the end he writes that “Rabbi Ishmael says that whoever knows this secret I and Akivah vouch for him”. One cannot trust this as they write this to reinforce their words.”  In other words these reinforcing comments in themselves create a doubt about the authenticity of these books. He then comments, “Every person that is disturbed by these external writings should ignore them and by doing this will not lose his love of God”.

Berliner points out that we clearly see that RMT holds that God is beyond our comprehension and only objects to explanations of contrary texts that are possibly wrong. He objects to speculative metaphysics and prefers to remain silent in awe of the unknown. His greatest criticism is directed at Resag, who he sees as the inventor of this approach and all others including the Chassidei Ashkenaz led by R. Yehuda Hachassid as his followers. “My complaint is on the Sefer Ha’emunot for he accepts foreign knowledge and sinned greatly by distancing many people from perfect fear of Heaven to speculate about matters to the point that they no longer know where they stand. He supports the star gazers (astronomers?) who have a grudge on the words [disagree] of our Rabbis and their perfect Torah, preferring their nonsensical prattle. Have we not suffered enough from the sayings of the Christians, pupils of jesus, who interpret the Mitzvot of the torah allegorically or from our compatriots the Karaites who deny the oral law, led by their wicked leaders Anan, Shaul and Abusseri[3] and the rest of their unholy friends?”  

He also objects to the approach that tries to synthesize theology with scientific theory of the day. He says that we have to accept the statements in the Torah and Chazal at face value and not worry about their practical aspect. It is better to live with the questions then to come up with erroneous opinions that the original author never meant.

This opinion of Berliner about RMT that he is not a Corporealist is supported by Joseph Dan[4]. Coming back to the start of this post, RMT saw the Chassidei Ashkenaz as philosophers and he objected to that.  Clearly philosophy was not alien to their school but in fact they were innovators in the field. It is ridiculous to accuse them of being ignorant of the intellectual ferment that was ongoing during the Middle-Ages because they developed theories based on demonology and other superstitions. That was the science of their culture, time and location and was the accepted wisdom which at the same time did not negate their philosophical speculation. Demons and angels were part of the physical world while God and His relationship with man is a metaphysical issue.

 It is important to note that R. Yehuda Hachassid was of the Kalonimus family and the elder R. Kalonimus is quoted by Rashi many times in his commentary on Shas referring to Girsa’ot he brought with him from Rome (Italy). Rashi learned in the Yeshivot in Ashkenaz which were all part of that school of thought. It is inconceivable that Rashi was not aware of all this thinking that was ongoing there and had no inkling of philosophy. I think that “Corporealism” is a label that is used indiscriminately and much more has to be defined about what incorporeality means before we can append that label to an intelligent and brilliant Rishon.  I hope to address this further in this forum and elsewhere.

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[1] The editor of KT does not find this Sifre which is not uncommon with Midrashim quoted by Rishonim which are no longer extant in current editions. I wonder if that is the basis for Rambam’s description of the death of Moshe, Aharon and Miriam in MN 3:51.

[2] I am not sure if he refers to Aleph Beit or Perek Shira.

[3] I have no idea who Shaul and Abusseri are. I would appreciate if a reader helps.

[4]RMT is quoted with great respect by Ramban in commentary on the first Perek in Gittin, who was his contemporary and refers to him as alive as do many others of his contemporaries and subsequent generations of scholars.   

Truth at The Risk of Atheism in Levinas Thought and Understanding of Judaism.

I am reading Difficult Freedom – Essays on Judaism - by Emmanuel Levinas and came across a very illuminating and interesting idea.

“For Judaism, the goal of education consists in instituting a link between man and the Saintliness of God and in maintaining man in this relationship. … Judaism has decharmed the world, contesting the notion that religions apparently evolved out of enthusiasm and the sacred. Judaism remains foreign to any offensive return of these forms of human elevation. It denounces them as the essence of idolatry.

The numinous (supernatural – DG) or the Sacred envelops and transports man beyond his powers and wishes, but a true liberty takes offence at this uncontrollable surplus. The numinous annuls the links between persons by making beings participate, albeit ecstatically, in a drama not brought about willingly by them, an order in which they founder. This somehow sacramental power of the Divine seems to Judaism to offend human freedom and to be contrary to the education of man, which remains action on a free being. Not that liberty is an end in itself, but it does remain the condition for any value man may attain. The Sacred that envelops and transports me is a form of violence” (Emphasis in the original).

Believing in the supernatural and what Levinas terms the Sacred and making it part of life denies human freedom of will, denying the concept of actions and consequence, being that the interference of a supernatural power plays a greater decisive role in the outcome of any action. This understanding of the supernatural is experienced through the ecstatic, where the intellect relinquishes control. Violence denotes submission to the control of another by giving up voluntarily or involuntarily control of self. Levinas then uses this idea to explain Echad, the uniqueness of God.

“Jewish monotheism does not exalt a sacred power, a numen triumphing over other numinous powers but still participating in their clandestine and mysterious life. The God of the Jews is not the survivor of mythical gods. … Monotheism marks a break with a certain conception of the Sacred. It neither unifies nor hierarchizes the numerous and numinous gods; instead it denies them. As regards the Divine which they incarnate, it is merely atheism.”

In other words, by denying the concept of the divine of the religious forerunners of Judaism, it is seen as atheism. It reminds me of the reaction I get when I deny that there is a supernatural – “are you a believer, a Maamin?” I may be an atheist in the questioner’s eyes but he unfortunately is misled clinging to idolatrous notions.

“ … And one frequently encounters curious Talmudic texts which try to present the nature of Israel’s spirituality as something which lies in its intellectual excellence. They do this not through any Luciferian pride of reason, but because intellectual excellence is internal and the “miracles” it makes possible do not at all wound, like thaumaturgy [the working of miracles or magic feats – Wikipedia dictionary], the dignity of the responsible being; and above all because these “miracles” do not ruin the conditions for action and effort.”

The “miracles” in Judaism are connected to the prophet, a person of intellectual excellence. They are therefore the result of action and effort. The “supernatural” in Judaism does not take away human control but is the result of human effort, an understanding of his environment and taking advantage of it. A little further on Levinas confronts the risks that this thinking entails.

“The rigorous affirmation of human independence, of its intelligent presence to an intelligible reality, the destruction of the numinous concept of the Sacred, entails the risk of atheism. That risk must be run. Only through it can man be raised to the spiritual notion of the Transcendent. It is a great glory for the Creator to have set up a being who affirms Him after having contested and denied Him in the glamorous areas of myth and enthusiasm. It is a great glory for God to have created a being capable of seeking Him or hearing Him from afar, having experienced separation and atheism.”

One has to deal with reality using one’s intellect in the search for Truth. There are no shortcuts and it is not simplistic “faith” nor the ecstatic experience brought about by the imagination that will allow a man to attain Truth. It is the painstaking search, even at risk of atheism that will eventually allow for a true understanding of God’s transcendence.



This is my first encounter with Levinas and is at a very early stage. So far I liked what I read.

Musings About Mitzvot And The War.

There is an interesting recurring theme which Rambam seems to find very central to his understanding of Mitzvot. In MN 2:39 Rambam explains that the Mitzvot of the Torah are finely tuned and balanced to the point of perfection.

“Things are similar with regard to this Law as is clear from its equibalance. For it says "Just statutes and judgments" (Deut. iv. 8); now you know that just is equibalanced. For these are manners of worship in which there is no burden or excess such as monastic life, pilgrimage and similar things. On the other hand, they are not so deficient as to lead to greed and being engrossed in the indulgence of appetites so that in consequence the perfection of man is diminished with respect to his moral habits and to his speculation – this being the case with regard to all the other nomoi of the religious communities of the past.”

Asceticism is not a requirement for holiness and perfection; on the contrary, it leads away from it just as excessive indulgence does. Perfection is equibalance. Rambam then continues by focusing in on “worship in which there is no burden or excess” and elaborates –

“There are persons who believe that the Law commands much exertion and great pain, but due consideration will show them their error. Later on, I will show how easy it is for the perfect to obey the Law… We must not consider the Law easy or hard according as it appears to any wicked, low-minded, and immoral person, but as it appears to the judgment of the most perfect, who, according to the Law, are fit to be the example for all mankind.”

What exactly does he mean by “burden or excess”? Why should someone consider the commands of the torah as “much exertion and great pain” when it is equibalanced? If the criterion for perfection of the law is how it is perceived by the “most perfect”, which we know to mean in Maimonidean parlance “intellectual perfection”, how will knowledge change the same precept from hard to easy?

In MN 3:30 Rambam explains that idol worship, Avodah Zara, is a belief inculcated into people that by doing one thing an unrelated result will occur.

“On examining these old and foolish doctrines we find that it was most generally believed by the people that by the worship of stars the earth will become inhabited, and the ground fertilized. The wise, pious, and sin-fearing men among them reproved the people and taught them that agriculture, on which the preservation of humankind depended, would become perfect and satisfy man's wishes, when he worshipped the sun and the stars. If man provoked these beings by his rebelliousness, the towns would become empty and waste.”

In other words, instead of perfecting agricultural methods, developing new strains of seed that can better adapt to the environment they are in, and other such actions that relate to the intended goal, idol worshippers operate in different ways. They believe that worship of gods will induce the gods to improve the crops and protect them from drought. Man’s actions are futile. The gods, the “spiritual” powers are what decides outcome. Man toils in vain. Man is only an actor with no real impact on what he does; in reality, the “spirits” are the real power behind the results.

“The idolatrous priests then preached to the people who met in the temples, and taught them that by certain religious acts, rain would come down, the trees of the field would yield their fruit, and the land would be fertile and inhabited… The following words of the Sabeans are quoted there: All ancient wise men advised, and prophets likewise commanded and enjoined to play before the images on certain instruments during the festivals. They also said--and what they said is true--that the deities are pleased with it, and reward those who do it. They promise, indeed, very great reward for these things; e.g., length of life, protection from illness, exemption from great bodily deformities, plenty of the produce of the earth, and of the fruits of the trees.”

Rambam gives us here a lucid and clear description of a belief that sees a lack of connection between cause and effect and thus result oriented action. It is a belief based on myths and causes people to act in ways that are unrelated to reality or in simpler terms, in vain. Their action will not bring about the intended result but to the contrary. The land will become barren as the crops fail. No matter how much worship and prayer, self-flagellation and asceticism, prostration and genuflection before the gods, there cannot be any relief. It is frustrating and purposeless efforts.

“When these ideas spread, and were considered as true, God, in His great mercy for us, wished to efface this error from our minds and to take away fatigue from our bodies through the abolition of these tiring and useless practices and to give us the Law… .”

Our bodies are fatigued and practices are tiring when they are useless. That is the meaning of “burden or excess”. The Law is different. All Mitzvot of the torah have practical purposes. Worship of God is not unrelated to a practical outcome because all Mitzvot are geared towards –

“It [the Mitzvot] aims first at the establishment of good mutual relations among men by removing injustice and creating the noblest feelings. In this way, the people in every land are enabled to stay and continue in one condition, and every one can acquire his first perfection. Secondly, it seeks to train us in faith, and to impart correct and true opinions when the intellect is sufficiently developed.” (MN 3:27)

The Torah does not demand that we do senseless Mitzvot and in exchange, we will be rewarded. The Torah intends to teach us how to become perfected human beings so that we act responsibly thus avoiding disasters and that is the purpose of the Mitzvot.

In other words, useless practices that do not relate with the intended outcome are tiring. If one is told to stop whatever they are doing because Shabbat has arrived, to learn Massechet Bava Metziah with fervor or to say Tehilim and the purpose for doing this in New York or for that matter Bnei Brak is so that our soldiers in Gaza are protected can become tiring and difficult to a thinking person. Ask people in any Shul in your neighborhood how they feel about davening and I bet you the majority answer will be that it is very hard, boring and requires discipline. That is so because we are taught that Davening helps by changing God’s mind. How many REALLY believe that it is so? How many feel guilty because they cannot truly accept this belief?

However, if we understand that stopping everything when Shabbat arrives is meant to remind us that God created the world we are in and we have a purpose and a goal to fulfill in it, Shabbat becomes a great treasure. It is the day that we take stock of reality and it resets our mind for the coming week so that whatever we do is directed towards a greater purpose than just selfish indulgence. If Davening three times daily, is meant to remind us that all we have, whether health, possessions even a justice system all exist in a world that was willed by HKBH and we have a role to play in it, it no longer is a burden but rather a needed reality check. The same applies to learning Bava Metziah. We do it so that we know better how to maintain a peaceful society. We learn Tehilim so that we get a better understanding of our relationship with HKBH. That goes for all Mitzvot. Once we understand that God gets nothing out of Mitzvot but rather that they are tools given to us to help us understand God and our role in His universe they take on meaning and are no longer tiring, excess or a burden.

Our brethren in Eretz Israel are going through tough times. Most families have members on the ground in operation Cast Lead. It is heartening to know that so many of these soldiers are Bnei Aliyah who understand what God wants from us. I am confident that the Torah they learned and the love and fear of God that they have acquired through keeping the Mitzvot, will lead them to make the right decisions for the good of the Jewish people and eventually humankind.

Shabbat Shalom.

"Miracles" as Anomalies in Nature - The Will of God at Creation.

Basing himself on the Mishna Avot 5:5, Rambam sees all “miracles” as anomalies in nature. When HKBH put in place the rules of nature, these rules had in them the possibility for rare phenomena to occur under certain conditions. As Rambam explains in his commentary, God created water with the possible ability for it to flow upwards, against gravity. What or who triggers this anomalous phenomenon? Does it require the input of an outside sentient catalyst? Or does it occur naturally when certain conditions serendipitously[1] come together? As I read him, Rambam opts for the latter but with a twist – God’s will.

The concept of will when attributed to God is very complicated. I have discussed it at length in my article on Miracles (link available on sidebar) and I refer the interested reader to it. Summarizing, if we say that God wills miracles as necessary, reacting to human needs, we are lessening His omniscience. We are saying that He does not have the ability to foresee problems and has to step in to adjust His universe as it goes along. We therefore limit will to one time only – at creation – where all future events that require will were willed. Of course, the terms “at creation”, “were willed” are all equivocal terms that we, as humans, use to express ourselves. God is not time bound and to Him past, present and future are the same. It is only from our perspective that we assign time and even the concept of will to HKBH. Taking this into consideration we can say that all natural anomalies and when they will occur, when the proper conditions will come together for any one of them to occur, has been willed and put in place by God at creation.

If anomalies are natural events, what is miraculous about them? This brings us back to our treatise. Rambam the great teacher that he is, discusses in the treatise concepts that at first blush seem to be side issues and superfluous to the present discussion. It is only after reflection that we realize that it is in fact an integral part of the whole presentation. It is in this vein that almost as a throwaway, Rambam ends the treatise with a section about what defines miracles. He divides miracles into two general categories: those that are “naturally impossible” and those that are “naturally possible”.

Examples of the “naturally impossible” are the transformation of the staff into a serpent, the sinkhole at the Korach rebellion and the splitting of the sea.

הוא שהנפלאות פעמים יהיו בעניינים הנמנעים בטבע, כהתהפך המטה לנחש ושקיעת הארץ בעדת קרח ובקיעת הים

It is noteworthy that of these three examples, two, the sinkhole and serpent are mentioned in the Mishna Avot 5:5 as having been created at dusk on Friday of Creation. The third, the splitting of the sea, Rambam explains in his commentary on the Mishna that it was put into the nature of water at creation[2]. The word טבע is therefore not just nature in this context. It means regularly occurring natural phenomena as opposed to rare anomalies. Anomalies are part of the fabric of nature but are seen as “impossible” because they occur very rarely and therefore unpredictable or “impossible” - הנמנעים בטבע.

So what makes them into miracles? It is the timing. When they occur at the proper time and can be taken advantage of by people, they are seen as miracles. The word miracle in Hebrew is נס which can also translate “flag”. Rambam in MN 3:24 in a related discussion about נסיון – test – explains that it is like bringing up a flag on a flagpole, teaching the whole world a specific lesson. When a natural anomaly occurs at the right time for people to take advantage of, it teaches that God willed it at creation and that it is not just a coincidence, thus a miracle – נס. It also teaches that God wills. It reminds us that God willed the world into existence. It did not exist eternally together with a First Cause that had no will. That is the rationale for the Mitzvot, such as Pessach, other Yamim Tovim and those that require Zachor that demand we remember the miracles.

Now we can understand that “miracles”, natural anomalies that occur at propitious times, are not caused by some outside sentient catalyst. We see them as willed by God at creation. This only works if we accept creation from nothing which was willed by God. In an eternal world, where God is concomitant with it and has no will, the only other possible explanation for a propitious anomalous phenomenon would be magic or trickery.

People at that time all belonged to the Sabeans who believed that the world is eternal. They believed that God is the “spirit” of the sphere as we explained in the Moreh. Their belief necessitates the denial of miracles ascribing them to magic or trickery.

For such events to be seen as “miracles” they cannot be long lasting or they will lose their status as anomalies. Rambam makes the point at length here in the treatise and in his discussion of this in MN 2:29.

I said earlier that the fact that these anomalies happen at a propitious time makes us see them as miracles. In my article, I also showed that the ability of a prophet to predict and take advantage of these anomalies, expecting their occurrence and counting on them through intuitive or whatever other prophetic quality that allows for that, is part of this concept of miracles.

Not only anomalies teach us about God’s will. “Naturally possible” miracles do too.

I will discuss this in my next post.

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[1] I added serendipitously because of MN 2:29 - For although the rod was turned into a serpent, the water into blood, the pure and noble hand into a leprous one, without the existence of any natural cause that necessitated this. The way I read the underlined is that the conditions that came together to create the anomaly were not necessitated but serendipitous thus attributable to the will of God at creation.

[2] . Rambam bases this on the Midrash Rabah Breishit 5:5

אמר ר' יוחנן

: תנאין התנה הקב"ה עם הים שיהא נקרע לפני ישראל, הדא הוא דכתיב (שמות יד

וישב הים לאיתנו,

לתנאו שהתנה עמו

אמר רבי ירמיה בן אלעזר:

לא עם הים בלבד התנה הקדוש ברוך הוא, אלא עם כל מה שנברא בששת ימי בראשית, הדא הוא דכתיב (ישעיה מה):

אני ידי נטו שמים וכל צבאם צויתי

The Rationale for the Many Detailed Rules Against Idolatry - Eradication and Prevention.

In my last post, I analyzed Rambam in Sefer Hamitzvot using the verse in Devarim 4:19 to support the prohibition of even contemplating the possibility of astrology being a science and true. I failed to point out that the idea that astrology (and for that matter magic) is false, was one of the most difficult things for a medieval thinker to accept. In fact, almost all ignored this position of Rambam and even his most ardent followers felt forced to disagree. His position was considered revolutionary and it was only much later in the history of human development that the truth of Rambam’s position was finally seen and accepted. Most of Rambam’s followers such as Ralbag, Rabbi Levi Ben Avraham, and Rabbi Yaakov Antuli (author of the seminal Malmad Hatalmidim) to name a few, all believed that astrology is an empirically proven science. As we will see, even direct communication with Rambam in a letter to the sages of Marseilles who queried him and where he clarified his position admonishing them to change their thinking made little impact. Ramban’s position that astrology is real but forbidden was accepted throughout Europe for centuries thereafter. It is a separate subject for discussion, but it is worthwhile to mention that here we see how philosophical thinking affected Halacha and that the two were never divorced from each other during the earlier periods of Jewish learning including the era of the Rishonim. The apparent disconnect and separation between the two in contemporary Jewish Halacha is a more recent development.

I would like to now analyze how Rambam addresses this verse (Devarim 4:19) in his Mishne Torah Hilchot Avodah Zara 2:1.

עיקר הציווי בעבודה זרה, שלא לעבוד אחד מכל הברואים--לא

מלאך, ולא גלגל, ולא כוכב, ולא אחד מארבע היסודות, ולא אחד מכל הנבראים

מהם. ואף על פי שהעובד יודע שה' הוא האלוהים, והוא עובד הנברא הזה על דרך

שעבד אנוש ואנשי דורו תחילה--הרי זה עובד עבודה זרה.

The core [literally: the root] of the commandment [forbidding] idol worship is that one may not worship any creation, whether an angel, a sphere, a star, one of the four elements or anything that is made from them [the elements]. Even if the worshipper knows that God is the [supreme] God and he [only] worships the created entity, the way Enosh and his generation did in the beginning – that is Idol Worship.

According to Rambam in the preceding Chapter, Enosh developed the idea of worshiping the forces of nature that run the world as God’s intermediaries. At first, it was just as a show of respect for God’s tools, just as one respects the king’s minister – which is what Rambam is referring to here with the words “in the beginning”. With time, people attributed independent powers to them. To understand what Rambam means when he introduces this chapter with the words “The core of the commandment” we need to differentiate between goal and method. The goal is the eradication of the concept of idolatry and once eradicated preventing recidivism. The method is the development of laws that will lead people to that goal. These laws will not only forbid idol worship itself but anything that might lead towards it. There is a fine line between being in awe and worshipping God as the source of all the beauty and wisdom we observe in the world around us and worshipping the beautiful and awesome world itself. Crossing that line is dangerous and the laws are there to prevent that from happening. Rambam here is laying out the underlying rationale for the many rules in minute details that follow in the coming chapters. He therefore explains that at the core of the rules, the underlying rationale for all the detailed laws that he will enumerate and discuss in the coming chapters is the eradication and prevention of this kind of thinking. That will explain why actions that at first blush do not seem to be real idol worship are prohibited because of the risk that they will take us across that fine line of seeing independent powers in created entities.

ועניין זה, הוא שהזהירה עליו תורה ואמרה "ופן תישא עיניך

השמיימה, וראית את השמש ואת הירח ואת הכוכבים . . . אשר חלק ה' אלוהיך,

אותם, לכול העמים

כלומר שמא תשוט בעין ליבך ותראה שאלו הם המנהיגים את העולם, והם שחלק ה'

אותם לכל העמים (העולם) להיותם חיים והווים ונפסדים כמנהגו של עולם; ותאמר שראוי

להשתחוות להן, ולעובדן. ובעניין זה ציווה ואמר "הישמרו לכם, פן יפתה

לבבכם"

כלומר שלא תטעו בהרהורי הלב לעבוד אלו, להיותם סרסור ביניכם ובין הבורא.

It is against this that the Torah warns when saying, “lest you raise your eyes heavenward and see the sun, the moon and the stars… for the LORD your God has allotted them unto all the peoples under the heavens”. Namely, should your mind wander and notice that these [the sun etc…] are responsible for the running of the world and God gave them to all the peoples [Rav Kafih edition: world] causing them to come into being [literally: live], exist and be destroyed, as is the natural way of the world. [A poetic way of saying, the cosmos is responsible for the existence of life on earth]. You will therefore think that it is proper to bow down to them and worship them. That is the meaning of the warning “careful, lest your mind be enticed”. Namely, do not stray in your mind thinking that these are worthy to be worshipped as intermediaries between you and the Creator.

To understand what Rambam means with “notice that these [the sun etc…] are responsible for the running of the world”, we need to know a little about how he saw the cosmos and its relationship to the world. Professor Twersky in his “Introduction to the Mishne Torah” writes that the MN is like a Gemara to the MT which is like the Mishna, when dealing with philosophic matters. It fleshes out and expands on the concepts presented in MT in a summary fashion. Rambam in MN 1:72 presents a very concise and clear exposition of his understanding of the Aristotelian cosmos. Summarizing what is pertinent to our discussion, Rambam proposes that we look at the universe as a single body with different interacting components very similar to the Gaia Hypothesis[1]. Our world is composed of the four elements that are inert. When some external force induces them to move, they have a natural tendency to return to their original position. The interplay between these two forces, the external force and the internal tendency, is responsible for the four elements’ interaction with each other. That interaction is responsible for all the things that exist in our world which all are different composites of these four elements in different combinations and ratios. The external force that is responsible for the movement of the four elements emanates from the spheres, the repository of the sun, moon and the stars. The spheres are a fifth element, an element that has the ability to think which is what induces them to stay in constant motion. The thinking that induces the spheres to stay in motion is the wish to emulate God’s perfection by being perfect[2]. Perfection to them is perfect motion which is circular and constant. Their motion in turn creates the movement in our world that is responsible for the four elements’ interaction. The spheres in this scenario are therefore responsible for our existence in this world of ours. The “thinking” that Rambam talks about is gravity which Newton eventually understood and explained. However, to the mind of a pre-Newtonian thinker it is a small step to seeing this force as an independent power. It is therefore not surprising that many did attribute independent thinking and power to the spheres, including great Jewish thinkers. It is to Rambam’s credit that he was able to insist that, though misunderstood by him, they were still only natural forces that were constant and subject to natures’ rules of cause and effect. It is exactly how he reads our verse. Although the spheres seem to be responsible for existence in our world, “responsible for the running of the world”, it warns us not to fall into the trap that they are independent from nature and the laws of cause and effect. Their force is a constant one unchanged since creation. There is therefore no reason to worship them.

Next post will address Rambam’s discussion of this verse in MN 2:5.

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[1] See - http://www.answers.com/gaia+theory?cat=technology&gwp=11&ver=2.3.0.609&method=3 .

[2] This is the key to the very surprising chapter MN 2:7, very difficult to a contemporary to understand. I hope to discuss in a future post.

Why is the Study of Myths Forbidden?

In Devarim 4:19 we read:

וּפֶן-תִּשָּׂא עֵינֶיךָ הַשָּׁמַיְמָה,

וְרָאִיתָ אֶת-הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ וְאֶת-הַיָּרֵחַ וְאֶת-הַכּוֹכָבִים כֹּל צְבָא

הַשָּׁמַיִם, וְנִדַּחְתָּ וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִיתָ לָהֶם, וַעֲבַדְתָּם--אֲשֶׁר

חָלַק יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, אֹתָם, לְכֹל הָעַמִּים, תַּחַת

כָּל-הַשָּׁמָיִם

And lest you raise your eyes to the heavens, and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and you be led astray and bow down to them, and worship them, for the LORD your God has allotted them unto all the peoples under the heavens.

One way of reading this text is that the arrays of the heavens have powers that have been allocated for the other nations of the world while the Jewish people may not avail themselves of these same powers. The implication is that there is such a thing as astrology, the science of the spiritual powers of the stars, but it is forbidden for Jews to turn to it. Other peoples however may and should. In fact, that is how Ramban explains the verse in several places in his Pirush on the Torah. (Devarim 4:15, Vaykra 18:25 and more). This is consistent with his understanding that repetitiveness in nature and the physical sciences that try to explain it are false and an illusion. In reality, spiritual forces run the world, and God chose the Jewish people and the Land of Israel to be led and controlled directly by Him. Chance is when the spirits rule while reward and punishment is when we are under the sway of God, the Just. It is this fact, the difference of how Jews and the rest of the world are ruled, that proves the existence of God, His omniscience, His omnipotence and that He is the Creator.

Rambam on the other hand reads it very differently. He too discusses this verse in several places in his writings. I will analyze each and discuss them in this and the next few posts.

The earliest mention is in Sefer Hamitzvot Negative Commandment 10.

“It is forbidden to follow Avodah Zara and be involved in its matters. I mean by that, learning and repeating the foolishness and nonsense that its founders claim. They say that a specific “spirit” can be accessed in such and such a way, it will then do x; if one brings x offering to a specific star and stands in front of it in a certain way, it will do y. So too [are forbidden] other similar things. Thinking about these things and learning these fantasies entice the fool to follow and worship them. The verse that warns against this is “do not turn to the idols” (Vaykra 19:4) … He [God in the Torah] also said on the subject “and lest you raise your eyes to the heavens, and see the sun and the moon…” He [obviously] did not prohibit one raising the head to observe them visually but rather forbade contemplating in the mind the powers their worshippers attribute to them…”

This prohibition includes studying the powers attributed to the stars by idol worshippers. The anthropological study even for the sake of historical knowledge is forbidden. Interest in idol worship even as a curiosity is forbidden because it attracts. Spiritualism is a very attractive theory and it talks to many people. I remember about fifteen years ago reading and watching videos of Joseph Campbell and noticing how he fell in love with the idolatrous ideas of the ancient cultures, he wrote so much about. In one of his books or videos, I cannot remember which, he attacks Judaism for destroying and eradicating such beautiful ideas while praising Christianity for bringing it back into civilization. As an aside, this comment confirmed to me Rambam’s position that Christianity IS idolatry as opposed to the Ba’alei Hatosafot who held otherwise.

It is the study of idolatry for knowledge’s sake that is forbidden and not the utilitarian study. Sanhedrin had to learn about it enough to identify it (Hil Sanhedrin 2:1). Rambam boasts that he read all available books on the subject because it helped him understand the reason for many Mitzvot. However just interest for knowledge sake is forbidden because it is too enticing.

I also think that there is more to it. Rambam understands that even the suggestion that the cosmos is controlled by “spirits” and therefore these spirits have an impact on how things are in our world is forbidden. It is nonsense and lies and whoever believes that is a fool. When we try to understand how the cosmos works, we can explain it as a physical phenomenon or as a spiritual one. Starting from a standpoint that there is no such thing as “spiritual” or non-physical powers, one is forced to look for explanations that can be proven empirically. It is the belief in “spirituality” which is the greatest obstacle in the scientific understanding of our world. It is much easier to explain things by attributing phenomena to “spiritual” powers. It closes off avenues of inquiry and dulls the mind satisfying curiosity with nonsense. One has to have a strongly developed critical mind to overcome this stultifying way of thinking. It is this critical thinking that brought us Galileo, Copernicus, Newton et al… who explained the cosmos in physical terms which eventually were empirically proven as true. Although not completely weaned from spiritualism, as we know Newton believed in the existence of non-physical powers, their ability to overcome and question the accepted wisdom, their curiosity not satisfied with the explanation proffered by the “spiritual” centered science of their time, that allowed these great scientist to bring humanity forward and out of the dark ages. How much farther would science be if the millennia of “spirituality” as science never were? The Torah and its Mitzvot being a tool to teach and lead man towards seeking Truth, therefore has as its central theme the eradication of idolatry. It is why the Torah prohibits even the study of these myths lest they entice someone to even contemplate the possibility that they have any validity.

Rambam understands that clearly and teaches that “spirituality” is false. The supposed proofs that it exists are illusions and lies. Science still has a way to go to explain that which is not yet understood but “spirituality” is not an option. Ramban on the other hand cannot overcome the knowledge and science of his time. He therefore cannot reconcile reality with Rambam’s outlook. He is forced into interpreting the texts so that they conform to his understanding of reality and science. Thus, we have the two opposite readings of the verse with which we started this post.

Rambam expands further on this verse in Hilchot Avodah Zara Chapter 2 with much more elaboration addressing the text itself and its reference to the other nations. I will analyze it in my next post and flesh it out further.

Important Note:

A commenter on an earlier blog understood that I was saying that there are no natural phenomena as such according to Ramban. That is incorrect. Ramban in his commentary on the Torah clearly describes Creation and the coming into being of the components of the universe. He explains that certain of these components have to be combined to generate a phenomenon. There is no question that a rainbow is the result of sunrays shining through a cloud at a certain angle. (See commentary on Breishit 9:12). The issue is why is there a cloud in this position? If it is the result of the seawater being heated up and pushed by winds to this spot at this exact time, is it because another natural cause, causes ad infinitum, that brought this about randomly? Or is it because somewhere along this chain of cause and effect, some non-physical power stepped in and precipitated that chain and started it so that the rainbow should appear at the exact moment it did? While Rambam would see it as the chain of cause and effect started at creation and left to its natural progression Ramban would see it as the result of something started by a spiritual power with the specific objective of this happening. It is how we understand the interactions and the results we see, that is at the core of the arguments of these two thinkers.

Is Oppression, Ignorance and Superstition - The Deadly Brew of Idoaltry - Still a Contemporary Malaise?

I got busy with several projects and now I am returning continuing with the Pirush Hamishna on AZ 4:7 where Rambam describes how idolatry developed and now addresses the practical negative impact it has on human society. What started as a mistake in thought becomes a political tragedy.

ואלה הדברים כולם נעשו לצרכים, וזה, שבזמנים שעברו אוחדו בהם המדינות

והוטעה בהם המון העם, ונאמר להם שתיקון ארצכם ומצביכם באלה הצורות,

ושתתקבצו לבתיהן, ותגדלו אלו הזקנים אשר ילמדו סודותיהן, והתקיימה בזה

המלכות, והאמינו שהוא דבר אמיתי, והיו אומרים, זה דבר כוכב פלוני וזה דבר

מזל פלוני, ויגדלו אותו וילכו אחריו ויאמינו בו, כמו שנאמין אנחנו בנביאים

עליהם השלום מן השלימות והמעלה. הלא תראה איך קראם הכתוב נביאי הבעל

ונביאי האשרה

All these were done for a specific purpose. In times past, these [beliefs] were used to unify nations, fooling the general masses. They were told that the welfare of their land depended on these idols [lit: forms] and they should therefore gather into their temples showing respect to the elders teaching their secrets. The government was thus maintained stable. They [the masses] believed that all this was true, saying that this is a matter that belongs to this star or that sphere. They aggrandized them and followed them. They believed in them just as we believe that our prophets are perfected and elevated individuals. Note how they are referred to in Scriptures – prophets of Ba’al and prophets of the Asheirah.

Now the real tragedy starts. All rituals require specialists who know the wishes of the gods and know how to satisfy them, deflect their attention or focus their attention as needed. They now lord it over their fellow man and a ruling elite comes to power eventually oppressing the populace. A religious movement based on superstition as opposed to one that adopts a positive outlook of acquiring knowledge and seeking truth will always degenerate into two groups: oppressors and oppressed. Using fear of the unknown as a tool, legitimizing supposed savants as saviors and protectors of that same unknown, a population is slowly thrown into slavery for the benefit of those few. It becomes a self-perpetuating system of sinking deeper and deeper into slavery that is difficult to break. Mind control and limits on open-minded thinking are imposed thus preventing anyone even trying to seek out the truth. Jewish history, starting with the Galut of Egypt is replete of these episodes and breaking the yoke of such slavery is an almost impossible task. It is always seen as miraculous.

It is not always obvious when a population falls into such a deep abyss. There are at times movements that seem innocent enough. They are based on philosophical ideas like those that are described by Rambam here with Enosh and his generation venerating God through His servants. That is why constant vigilance is needed. I do not want to be too controversial and enumerate the instances which are many, but we are witnesses in our own community in the last few years, to a drift towards this type of mind control and rejection of truth. There is no question in my mind that it is the result of the mystical bent traditional Judaism has taken. Tehilim clubs, the cursed “Mekubalim” and wonder Rabbis and their ilk are just a symptom of a deeper theological malaise. But the worst is the rejection of truth and the prohibition to seek it. The whole attitude of the community where even such watered down approaches to secular knowledge like TIDE and the Gra’s approach of science at the service of Torah are seen as fringe movements especially in the world of Yeshivot, is at the root of the problem. Rambam’s approach which is that knowledge of our environment is a goal because it leads us to knowledge of God which is the ultimate goal, and that Mitzvot are our God given tool to help us attain that knowledge, is totally ignored.

If we are honest with ourselves, we can discern how the belief in a spiritual world and the resulting superstition, is at the core of the problem. When confronted with existential mysteries, we do not try to understand them and thereby hope to control and deal with them, preventing them or protecting ourselves against them. We conveniently turn to the spirits, we blame unrelated behaviors as the cause of a tragic event both general and personal. The true scientific cause is not even sought out. After all truth is only incidental to the real powers. The angels and spirits (Ruchot) or as they translate this idea piously, God, are the real powers that make things happen.

God IS Truth. He created the universe with its laws which do not contain any spiritual forces. Those spiritual forces are Avodah Zara and falsehoods and lies! He left it to man, the most advanced sentient being He created to discover how those laws of nature work. It is only in his quest for truth, for the true nature of the universe, God’s creation, that man will find the ultimate Truth – God.

As long as we still seek out and believe in the “spiritual” powers and their representatives the men with “Ruach”, whichever type it is, to help us deal with our day-to-day problems, we have not yet absorbed the teachings of Torah and its rejection of Avodah Zara. Though we have come a long way, we are not there yet by a long stretch. The Mitzvot that are meant to distance us from Avodah Zara are very relevant to our contemporary society.

Astrology and Talismans as Percursors of Idolatry - Both are Deceptions

Rambam wrote the Pirush Hamishna, his first major published work, while he was in his twenties. He tells us at the end of Seder Taharot that he started it at 23, finishing it in Egypt at 30. Although some scholars, based on certain rulings in Mishne Torah see a softening of his position on idolatry, as he grew older, it is clear that the basic underlying thinking never changed. I hope to eventually address those seeming changes of heart. As we will see his explanation of idolatry and its nefarious consequences is consistent from the Pirush Hamishna through the letter to the sages of Marseilles I already quoted in another post, which he wrote in his last years (Rambam died at 69).

As the following quote from his Pirush on Avodah Zara 4:7 is lengthy, I will break up the translation into thematic segments with comments as I go along. Depending on the length, this may spread over several posts. (Note: I copied the Hebrew translation available online and compared it with the Rav Kafieh edition. Wherever I thought it was important I used the latter in the translation. That should explain any discrepancy between the translation and the original.)

Introduction:

ממה שראוי שתדעהו, שהפילוסופים השלמים אינם

מאמינים בטליסמאות, אלא צוחקים מהם ומאלה החושבים שיש להן השפעה. וביאור

זה יארך, ואמנם אמרתי זאת ליודעי שרוב בני האדם ואולי כולם מרומים בהם

תרמית גדולה מאד, ובהרבה דברים מסוגם, ויחשבום דברים אמיתיים, ואינם כך.

עד שהטובים החסידים מאנשי תורתנו חושבים שהם דברים אמיתיים אלא שהם אסורים

בגלל התורה בלבד, ולא ידעו שהם דברים בטלים כוזבים שהזהירה מהם התורה כמו

שהזהירה מהשקר.

You need to know that the perfected philosophers [as opposed to the imperfect ones] do not believe in talismans. They laugh at them and at the people who believe that they have an influence [on the physical]. To explain this will be lengthy. I say this because I know that most people, indeed possibly all, are deceived by this great deception, and by many other similar things, considering them to be true. They are not. [The deception is so great] that even the best of the Chassidim [faithful] among our men [scholars] of Torah, think that they are true but forbidden because the Torah forbids them. They do not realize that they are nonsensical false things that the Torah warned against, just as it warned us against [believing in] falsehoods.

Rambam speaks plainly. He admits that what he is about to say goes against the opinion of the best of his learned and religious compatriots. Not only is he referring to his contemporaries but I understand that he is also addressing the Rabbis in the Talmud and even Mishna who seem to have believed in talismans and “other similar things”. He also stakes out his position that talismans and “other similar things” are false and do not work. They are a deception perpetrated by intentional deceivers who are so successful that everybody is susceptible. They are forbidden, not only because the Torah forbade their use, but also because they are a deception, just as lies and falsehoods would be forbidden even had the Torah not said so. I emphasize this because I believe it is one of the most important ideas that underlie Rambam’s understanding of idolatry, as we will see.

The Great Deception and why it is False:

והם דברים שזכו לפרסום רב אצל האומות, ושורש זה, הצאבה,

והם העמים אשר יצא אברהם אבינו מכללם וחלק על דעותיהם הנפסדות במה שאצר ה'

בליבו מן החכמה, והיו מגדלים את הכוכבים ומייחסים להם פעולות שאינן להם,

והם אשר יסדו את גזירת הכוכבים והכישוף והלחשים והורדת הרוחניות ושיחות

הכוכבים והשדים והקסם והניחוש לכל ריבוי מיניהם, ודרישת המתים, והרבה מאלה

הענינים אשר שלפה התורה האמיתית חרבה עליהם וכרתה אותם, והם שורש עבודה

זרה וענפה. וזה, שהכזב הראשון הוא גזירת הכוכבים, אשר מוכח במופת בחכמה

הטבעית ביטול הקדמותיה הראשונות, באומרם כוכב פלוני מזלו רע ופלוני מזלו

טוב, וחלק פלוני מן הגלגל מתאים לכוכב פלוני, ומתנגד לכוכב פלוני, עם היות

הגלגל כולו גוף אחד שחלקיו דומים, אין ניגוד בהם ולא הרכבה. ואלו שתי

ההקדמות הן עמוד גזירת הכוכבים, אשר אם יתאמת ביטולן, כמו שכבר התאמת,

יתבטלו פרטיה עד האחרון שבהם. אחר כך הורכב כזב שני על זה הכזב הראשון,

והן הטליסמאות, ואמרו שאם יהיה כוכב פלוני שמזלו טוב במקום פלוני המתאים

לו, תיעשה צורה בתואר כך והיא תביא תועלת כך, ואם היה כוכב פלוני שמזלו רע

במקום פלוני המתנגד לו, תיעשה צורה בתואר כך והיא תרחיק נזק כך, והתפשט זה

הענין כפי התפשטות גזירת הכוכבים ומה שמיוחס להם מן הפרטים. אחר כך הורכב

כזב שלישי על זה השני, והיא עבודה זרה, ונאמר שזאת הצורה אשר תיעשה במזל

כך ועל מצבה פלונית אם יוקטר לה באופן פלוני ויתפללו אליה במילים כך

וישתחוו לה, וכך וכך, הרי היא תפסיק נזק כוכב פלוני ותביא תועלת פלוני

These ideas gained great traction among the nations and at their root were the Sabeans, the peoples Avraham Avinu distanced himself from and, using the wisdom God gave him, disputed their ideas. They honored the stars attributing to them actions that were not theirs. They are the ones that established the laws [that apply to the use of the powers] of, the stars, magic, incantations, the bringing down of spirits, talking with the stars, the Sheidim, ghosts, prestidigitations of all types, consultation with the dead and many of such similar matters that the True Torah[1] unsheathed its sword and destroyed them. They are at the root of idolatry and its offshoots. The first deception was [the establishment of] astrology, which we can disprove its basic premises empirically and scientifically. For they [the astrologers] say that this specific star augurs good while the other augurs bad. They also say that a certain part of a sphere is compatible with a certain star and incompatible with another although they [the spheres] are one body without parts or compositions. These two propositions are the basis for astrology and if disproved – and they have been – all their details to the last, will fall apart.

A second deception was grafted on the first one – the Talismans. They said that if a certain star which augurs good finds itself in a compatible place [on the sphere] and if one makes a certain form in this and this way, it will be beneficial. If a certain star that augurs bad finds itself in a place that is incompatible with it, a different form will protect against it. These details broadened and spread as did astrology.

And now a third deception was grafted on the first two and that is idolatry. It was said that a form made during a specific sign on this specific altar and then certain kinds of incense are burned accompanied by specific words, genuflecting at such and such, it will stop the harm brought by a star [also] bringing a specific benefit.

Rambam explains why idolatry is a lie and false. Its underlying premise is that the spheres and stars have “spiritual” powers to influence happenings on earth. As he explained in MT that the whole thing started innocently as a natural consequence of the observation that there is a physical connection between the movement of the stars and what occurs on earth. Seasons, weather and tides depend on the sun and the moon. They conceptualized that they must be intermediaries between God and us and doing His bidding and therefore deserved respect. It was not long before powers other than physical were ascribed to them. They were no longer forces of nature that acted according to certain preset laws but now had a mind of their own. Thus, astrology came to be seen as a science. We have to understand that with the Aristotelian universe of the medieval era, it was much easier to accept these ideas than it is with our view of the universe. They, including Rambam, believed that the stars were sentient beings to an extent. Their movement was caused by a striving for the perfect motion, the circular. That limited sentience did not extend to independence of action. It was seen by Rambam and other “perfected philosophers” as a focused and single-minded sentience. However, it was not a great leap to take the extra step and give them independence albeit under the ultimate supervision of God. Almost all Rambam’s contemporaries fell for it even after Rambam’s admonition as witnessed by his letter to the sages of Marseilles and their subsequent writings. However, once that step is taken, a pantheon of greater and lesser gods is not far away.

What I find interesting is that Rambam sees talismans as an intermediate step between the original well-intentioned respects afforded to God’s tools and full-blown idolatry where they become powerful independent forces. It puts a certain light on understanding why the Torah is so strict forbidding anything that is a precursor or has any connection with idolatry more than any other prohibition. But I think the biggest point Rambam is making that idolatry and the premise it rests on is false and untrue. That in itself is reason enough for the focus of religion to be the eradication of idolatry. Deception and lies are so dangerous and bring about such destruction that an open and constant war against it must be waged.

Next post we will see the destruction the falsehood of idolatry brings about.

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[1] Or in context: the Torah of truths

Where does Physics Stop and Metaphysics Begin? Rambam and Ramban.

There is very little difference between Rambam and Ramban, the two great representatives of the two schools of Judaism, the rational and the mystical, when it comes to defining the goals and objectives of humanity. They both agree that the goal of Torah is to bring about a perfect civilization that knows God[1]. Rambam’s position is discussed in my earlier posts. We read similar ideas in Ramban in Torat Hashem Temimah (Kitvei Ramban Chavel Edition (Heb.) Vol. 1 page 142-143) and in many of his other writings. The difference between these two greats is how one answers the question of where science stops and metaphysics starts. The implications of the answer to this question underlie the great chasm that developed between the Rambam’s rationalism and the Ramban’s Kabbalah.

Rambam maintained a clear delineation between the physical and the spiritual. Spirituality to him had no place in science. If he did not understand something about the physical world, he assumed it was some mechanism that he had not yet understood. He thought that there are things that humans will never understand through systematic research, only through inspiration or intuition, but ultimately the explanation will be physical. Rambam addresses this in several places in his writing, (I know offhand of three but I am sure there are more), and to me the most telling, especially to a contemporary Jew, is the following one in his introduction to Pirush Hamishna. In a discussion about the purpose of the different components of our world, he makes the following statement -

, ויש שתכליתו עמוקה ונסתרת עד שלא תוודע כלל זולתי אם נודעה בחזון

או בידיעת הנסתרות, אבל בחקירה מדעית אין הדבר אפשרי, לפי שאין ביכולת

האדם לחקור ולדעת מדוע המציא הטבע מן הנמלים בכנפים ומהם בלי כנפים, וכן

מדוע המציא תולע מרבה רגלים, ואחר פחות רגלים ממנו, ומה תכלית התולעת הזו

והנמלה הזו

…some things’ purpose is so deep and hidden that it cannot be known except through a vision or intuition [my paraphrase/explanation - the method used in finding hidden things (see Rabbis Kafieh and Sheilat notes in their respective editions)]. Understanding the purpose of those things through scientific inquiry is impossible. For it is impossible for man to inquire and know why nature has produced ants with and without wings, why it produced a critter with many legs and another with less, and what the purpose of this critter or ant is.

The example he brings is an anachronism for a contemporary reader. Darwin has explained this phenomenon quite conclusively. Rambam however contents himself with stating that there must be a physical reason and explanation that is unknown to him. To him Darwin, who explained it, would be either intuitive or a visionary, which is not so far from the truth. There is no possible “spiritual” explanation to natural phenomena because there is no interaction between the conceptual (to us), non-physical existence and the physical world we live in.

Ramban on the other hand explained scientific mysteries by ascribing them to spiritual entities that emanate from the stars and spheres. Where Rambam saw only unknown physical phenomena, what we now know is gravity, magnetism etc… Ramban saw transitional semi-physical entities that carried out the wishes of the astral powers. In his world, there was no clear delineation between the physical and the metaphysical. There is a category of semi transcendence populated by a multitude of entities such as Sheidim, Ruchot (spirits) and Neshamot (souls) which are found in Tanach and the Gemara. Where Rambam saw allegories and metaphors, Ramban saw science and reality. For a thorough discussion of the contrast between these two thinkers in this area see R. Buchman’s article in Hakirah Vol. 2 http://hakirah.org/Vol%202%20Buchman.pdf .

Ramban could therefore accept many Chazal and verses in the Torah literally. An angel was not just a “form” but also a physical entity albeit ethereal. The soul is similarly a physical entity that God “blows” into man just as the Passuk says. When the rabbis say that there are a finite number of souls stored in the “Guf” created at the same time as the world, he sees that as literal (Kitvei Haramban page 159). That being the case souls must be recycled and a whole body of theories regarding Gilgulim comes into existence. Ramban has support for these ideas from old Midrashim, the Heichalot, and literal reading of more accepted sources. This approach leads to a completely different understanding of Olam Haba, Techyat Hametim and generally has a much more eschatological view of death and its aftermath.

There is no question that some earlier thinkers including some Amoraim and probably Tannaim, held similar positions and Ramban has a rich tradition to rely on. Rambam knew the same sources and either ignored them or when forced to confront them, either interpreted them allegorically or rejected them. Rambam accepted that the Rabbis had no clear tradition when it came to these issues and based their understanding on how they saw their world. He therefore did not have a problem accepting that there are different schools of thought that contradict each other and when looking at a text one has to see to which group the author belonged. When forming our own opinion on which group to follow we have to evaluate which one fits with our reality and follow the Truth as we see it.

Rambam held that there is a limit to what humans can apprehend. Knowing that limit and not going beyond it is a sine qua non of knowledge and perfection.

“A boundary is undoubtedly set to the human mind which it cannot pass. There are things (beyond that boundary) which are acknowledged to be inaccessible to human understanding, and man does not show any desire to comprehend them, being aware that such knowledge is impossible, and that there are no means of overcoming the difficulty. (MN 1:31)

“If, on the other hand, you attempt to exceed the limit of your intellectual power, or at once to reject things as impossible which have never been proved to be impossible, or which are in fact possible, though their possibility be very remote, then you will be like Elisha Acher. You will not only fail to become perfect, but you will become exceedingly imperfect. Ideas founded on mere imagination will prevail over you. You will incline toward defects, and toward base and degraded habits, on account of the confusion which troubles the mind, and of the dimness of its light, just as weakness of sight causes invalids to see many kinds of unreal images, especially when they have looked for a long time at dazzling or at very minute objects.” (MN1:32)

Contrary to popular belief, Rambam was the more conservative of the two. He set limits to how far we may speculate beyond the physical. Ramban with his world of mysticism was much more daring. It was not that Ramban did not accept the limits to human knowledge but rather, though there was no direct evidence for the existence of a spiritual world, there was a lot of circumstantial evidence supporting it. One has to wonder how much his perspective would have changed when confronted with the empirically proven scientific explanations for the once mysterious phenomena. Would he still maintain that magic and astrology work but may not be used because Jews have to rely on God? Or would he accept Rambam’s position that they are forbidden because they do not work and are false? How would this have affected his understanding of the supernal world?

It is important to understand that the two approaches are mutually exclusive. If one accepts Rambam, one has to follow his position to its rational conclusion. Clearly, what to Ramban was science to Rambam was superstition and forbidden. It brought the transcendental into the physical where it does not belong. I find it an affront to my intelligence when I read some who seemingly seamlessly integrate the two approaches. It is insulting to both of these great truth seekers. The approach would have to be with both to try to update their ideas based on our current knowledge. As I quoted in an earlier post, Rav Kook already implied that this would be a much easier task with Rambam’s rational outlook than with Ramban’s mystical one. As I discuss idolatry, we will have to keep in mind the different ways Rambam and Ramban looked at the world. We will see that even in what seems a Halachik issue, the underlying philosophical thinking affects practical rulings.

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[1] They seem to differ in their respective understanding of Vehalachta Biderachav. That is a subject for a separate analysis.