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eekly Journal on Jewish Thought

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jan. 27, 2012

5

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Which One is the

True ReligionHow do we decide?What are the criteria?

Prophets & Writings

Divine?How do we prove these worksare divinely written, like Torah?

Rules of

KnowledgeTeaching students how to thinkis missing from the classroom.

Weekly Parsha

Ten PlaguesWhat was Gods purpose inbringing the Plagues?

Maimonides

On AstrologyA f un da men ta l l es son o n w hat t o a cc ept ,what no t t o, an d d is pro vi ng as tr olog y.

Weekly Parsha

No ReturnRepentance and divine justice.

From the poor comes forth Torah.This does not mean that poverty in-creases intelligence, or is a value: wealt

is a blessing. This means that those whostudy Torah are less engaged in pursuinwealth. Ibn Ezra had such poor fortuneearning a living, he said, If I went intobusiness making shrouds for the dead,people would stop dying.

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he eighth of Maimonides' 13Principles of Judaism is that the

entire Torah is God's word. As God knowsall, His will that Torah remains unchangedthroughout every generation teaches thatthe Torah's ideas are eternally true; theyare applicable to all generations.

History does not recount God giving areligion to mankind, other than Judaism.There was never a mass revelation otherthan upon Mt. Sinai 3324 years ago in frontof the entire Jewish nation totaling 2.5million people. While many other religionsclaim God spoke to them, such claims arewithout proof, explaining why otherreligions demand "belief" as a core tenet.They recognize the absence of any prooffor their words. The Aztec accountactually refers to itself as a "legend" andnot a historical event. Additionally, it failsto provide the story's characters, theirlineages or travels, while it also accepts

talking animals as reality. Christianity hasnumerous versions of the same supposedevents surrounding Jesus, thereby confess-ing their ignorance and exposing thefallacy of those stories and miraculousclaims. And those claims did not appearuntil generations after the time of Jesus'supposed miracles. Such silence indicatesthere were in fact no miracles, for no onecould silence publicly witnessed miracles,had they occurred. Islam attempts to gaincredibility by adopting Judaism and Chris-tianity, following the same method ofChristianity in its adoption of the FiveBooks. The Koran claims credit for givingthe Book to Moses and recounts manyTorah stories within the Koran. Both majorreligions affirm Torah's truth. Bothattempt to attain status as God's religion bycopying the Torah. Other religions rely onthe claims of individuals. But not onereligion possesses proof.

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ONE

TRUERELIGION

RABBI MOSHE BEN-CHAIM

With one human species, only one religion makes sense.

In contrast, Judaism traces individuals byname, family name, the ages of those peoplewhen they had children, the child's name, thedates of their deaths, and all of their travels.The eye-witness transmission of a singleaccount of Jewish history proves its truth.Moses would not have been successfultransmitting a fabricated story of Revelationat Sinai telling people "you were there." No

one would have accepted he was somewherehe was not. No individual would agree withMoses that he witnessed miracles togetherwith over 2 million others, when he and allothers knew they didn't. The Jewish peoplewould not have abandoned their true history,had Moses been lying about Sinai and therest of the Torah. However, the fact that theJewish people, and even the other majorreligions accept the entire history of the Jews

the Torah is testimony to the absolutetruth of the entire Torah, the Five Books ofMoses. Christianity incorporated thecomplete Five Books into their religion.

All historical accounts are verified in theexact same manner: when masses testifyunanimously to clear events, we know theevent could not have been fabricated. Massfabrication cannot occur. It is impossible thatmillions will share a common motive to lie,and abandon their true history. All otherreligions lack historical proof; not one claimsmasses witnessed an event, since such aclaim would not have been accepted by theworld when reality denies such claims.Therefore, all other religions launchedthemselves based on belief: you either acceptor you don't. It is not a matter subject to"proof". A strategically safe position.

Last week's Parsha Vaeyra recounts

Moses' numerous admonishments toPharaoh and that Egyptian society steeped ina man made religion. Moses showed respectto Pharaoh for his status. But respect mustnot to be confused with recognition,tolerance or agreement with any element ofthat idolatrous culture. Moses was quiteclear, as was God and the messagescontained in the Ten Plagues. The Egyptianculture was built on lies; they and their gods

were false and defenseless against God'splagues. There is but One Ruler of theuniverse. Egypt and Moses could not both becorrect. Pharaoh admitted this by summon-ing Moses not his astrologers to end each

painful plague. Pharaoh was stubborn, buthis dependence upon Moses unveiled histrue beliefs. In the end, Moses was shown asrepresenting the true Creator, the world'sGovernor; while Egypt was exposed as agroup of charlatans; lying astrologers withnothing more than sleight-of-hand tactics,incapable of altering natural law.

Judaisms Fundamentals

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Not one human desire isrejected; in fact we are to satisfy all of our needs.

We are not to live as unwed priests or nuns, or as self-deprivedmonks. We are asked to comply with our natures and follow reason.We see this most clearly in the volumes of Talmud where the Rabbis elucidatethe Torah's commands with such depth, offering us a deep appreciation of thereasoning contained. All of Torah complies with our human design. The

words of our great Kings Solomon and David reveal a religion of tremendousinsight that rings true and offers us our greatest moments as we uncover newconcepts and marvels. Like Abraham and David, we are to study the naturalworld and delight in its wonders. Our God is the God of the universe. InJudaism, science and religion are complimentary, unlike other religions.Maimonides wrote, "Had Aristotle proved the eternity of the universe, wewould be forced to reinterpret Genesis."

We follow reason, evidence and honesty. But we are to not only follow. Godasked that we also lead. He desires all of His creations to attain happiness:

"Observe therefore and do them [the commands], for this is your wisdomand your understanding in the sight of the people that, when they hear allthese statutes, shall say, surely this great nation is a wise and understanding

people!" (Deut. 4:6)

It is sensible that God gave one religion. A heart ailment of any man orwoman would not be treated differently based on the color of one's skin,accent, or culture. This is because there is one human design. All peoplereceive the identical treatment, since the heart is identical in all men andwomen. As our bodies are identical, so are our souls and psyches. Happinessand fulfillment are achieved by all men and women following the same path:removal of conflict, attainment of basic physical and social needs, success,health, recreation, laughter, music, self esteem, the sense of belonging,accomplishment, peace, and intellectual pursuits. Only a religion that recog-nizes the human design and caters to it, can offer man real happiness.

Religions that abhor sex or force man to renounce it, cause man to live in pain.Religions that demand man to believe claims without proof will frustrateman's desire to follow what's reasonable. Such religions are dissatisfying.

As there is only one mankind, only one religion makes sense. Judaism notonly offers proof ofGod's Revelation, italso makes sense.


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God desires all mankind to be impressed with the one religion Hegave the Jews. When we accurately represent the Torah, this quote iswhat God says the other nations will say. He wants us to lead, and nothide the truth. God is telling us the other nations will be as impressedwith Judaism as we are, and God desires this. God commands us notto alter the Torah at all. How then does it make sense that new religionsshould arise? It is clear, and it is proven: God gave one religion, for allmankind, for all time.

Just as Moses taught, that he and Egypt could not both be correct, wetoo must sustain this eternal Torah lesson that God gave only one

religion and that all others must be false. We are not to silence this truthbased on some emotional fear or cowardice. It is for this reason that wemust denounce the path led by many Jews and Jewish leaders who play"religious apologetics." Our goal is not to be liked by other religions,

but to share the truth, despite their initial disagreement with us. Wemust prefer their rejection and speak God's truth. For only through ourhonest representation of Judaism will other religions come to appreci-ate the brilliance and perfection of Torah. Only through our honestcondemnation of false religious notions will other religions recognizethe fallacy of their beliefs.

Interfaith dialogue lies to other religions. It says that we share some-thing in common, when we do not. Nothing is further from God'sJudaism than Christianity's deification of man. This idolatry is Torah'santithesis. Moses was respectful to Pharaoh, and we too are respectful

to Christians, Muslims and others, as we respect all God's creations.But we must be clear with them that we do not accept their religiouscorruption in any measure, their falsehood, and their denial of God'sTorah commands. This emotional insecurity to gain favor with other

religions hurts Judaism, and misrepresents God's will for mankind.

Judaism requires courageous leaders who value truth over friend-ship, and rejection over popularity. To become the beacon God desires,our message must be truthful, clear, pure and undiluted by all socialmotivations:

- Religious life must adhere to reason just as any science; proof isrequired.

- All other religions lack proof of Divine origin and design and are

false. God revealed Himself and His religion only once, at Mt. Sinai.- All other religions accept fantasy a violation of God's will asGod wants us to engage the intelligence He gifted us in all areas,certainly in religious life.

- Deifying man violates God's commands.- There is no common ground between Judaism and any other

religion. Interfaith dialogue and religious apologetics suggest there is.This misleads other religionists and prevents them from learningJudaism's unique nature. It hides God's message to all mankind.

Torah contains absolute truth. By hiding it in any measure, weviolate God's will and show no concern for other human beings. Letus be severely conscious that we were not created to cater to men, butto obey God, to benefit all of mankind. If we follow God, and He is

our focus, we will shed the desire to be accepted by men and falsereligions, we will courageously take pride in the one true religion,and we will create the example that will elicit the world's response:Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people!

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(continued next page

ith His verse in Deuteronomy18:19, God obligates us to

follow the Prophet. God alsothreatens our rebelliousness towards theProphets' commands with punishment byHis hand. Maimonides states (YesodeiHatorah 10:1,2) that we affirm a Prophet astrue, only once he repeatedly predicts thefuture and all details materialize. We neednot ask him to perform miracles. His

commands that we adhere to the Torah andhis true predictions, God tells us, are only

possible if he is in fact a Prophet. If he werea charlatan, he would not have Divineaccess to future events and all of theirdetails. This knowledge emanates fromGod alone.

If the Prophet then tells us certainwritings are to become part of Prophets orWritings, then they shall become a part. Hiscommands are of equal weight to Moses'words. This validation of these new

intermediary words too within this bookmust be consistent with Torah. Thismitigated the concern for certain "conflict-ing" statements found within the book.Proverbs too was not hidden, since after duestudy, its "apparent" contradictions werealso revealed as harmonious. (Tal. Sabbath30b)

My friend asked, "If the Rabbis had to

debate it, then it wasn't clearly validated bya prophet. Thus, it can only be held as awork written by someone of potentiallyhigh scholarship. The sheer presence of adebate seems to be prima facie evidence ofa lack of prophecy and, thus, Divineinspiration. I'm not aware that any Rabbisgot together and debated whether, say,

Numbers should be included in the Torah."

It is important to note that the Rabbissought to "store away" these books, notabolish them. Storing away indicates adesire to preserve these works. Thus, the

Rabbis must have seen the truth of thesebooks, but their concern was not to confusethe masses lacking the skills to unravel theriddles and metaphors of one of the wisestmen to have ever lived. There was noquestion whether either book was "Divine."The Rabbis understood that once a Prophetis deemed a prophet by God' standards, thenwe must follow his word. His words arethen Prophetic. The Rabbis debate centeredonly on whether the works in questionwould be received properly by the masses.Talmud Baba Basra 14b-15a teaches whowere the authors of Torah, Prophets and

Writings. While there is debate concerningwho wrote certain verses (how could Moseswrite, "and Moses died there") and the timeframe of Job, the Talmud does not reject anywork as not Divinely inspired. Parentheti-cally, the debate whether Moses wrote thefinal eight Torah verses (matters subse-quent to Moses' death) intends to enlightenus about "ideas." This is not a simple debateover historic fact. Rabbi Yehuda saysMoses did not write the last eight verses; heis not concerned that some of the Torah'sverses are of different status. Rabbi Shim-one contends that Moses wrote those last

eight verses, but with tears. Rabbi Shim-one's position is that the Torah must all bewritten by Moses, as his level of prophecyand writing by God's dictation bestowshalachik significance to the Torah over allother works. But in order not to be accusedof writing fallacy, as Moses was not yetdead when he wrote of his death, Moseswrote these verses with tears as an admis-sion that he desired not to write a falsehood.Therefore, he differentiated these versefrom all previous verses by not using ink.

writings is no less Divine than Revelation atSinai and its validation of the Five Books.My friend Josh said similarly, "The proof ofthe Prophets and Writings may also beconnected to the proof of Sinai, "Accordingto the Torah which they teach you (Deut.17:11)" applies to the question of "What isTanach?" "

The Rabbis also possess the authority todetermine whether certain books will be

hidden away or sustained in accessiblestatus. It appears this is what Rabbi Chaitreferred to regarding the Rabbis' debatewhether to hide away Koheles and Proverbsdue to their "contradictory" content.Ultimately neither was hidden away: Kohe-les was not hidden since it commenced andconcluded with "words of Torah." Appar-ently this means that King Solomon'smessage was consistent (beginning to end)that Torah must be followed. And as theKing would not contradict himself, thus, all

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QUESTION: When you say that the writings of a prophet are "Divine", I don't know what that means. Does that mean that everyword is specifically selected by God? Does that mean that every word has the same importance and depth as the written Torah? If

not, how is its "lesser" status defined?RESPONSE: Yes, the words of every Prophet from Moses to Malachi are equally God's messages. Every word has the sameimportance and depth as the written Torah. They both have the same Author. The only difference, as Rabbi Chait taught, is that Proph-ets and Writings do not add any new idea that is not already part of the Five Books. They come to elaborate the Five Books.

QUESTION: I'm not clear what the "proof of Divine origin" is that you refer to. If it's the proof of 2M people hearing God's voice atSinai, that isn't a proof of the Divine origin of the Torah, my argument being that 2M people didn't see the written Torah; they justheard God's voice. In fact, we don't seem to know exactly when the written Torah was actually written, as you indicated.

RESPONSE: Our confirmation that all of Torah was Divinely given, is derived from Moses' continual miracle of his face shininglight. God would not endorse Moses, had he fabricated the entire Torah, or parts of it. But as God produced this miracle as Moseswrote the entire Five Books, we know that all Moses' transmission are of Divine origin.

Discussing these remarks above with a friend, he asked the following important questions. I respond after each one. But please notethat his questions below were actually made "during" our discussion noted above. So some questions are already answered. I ammerely repeating them as received, in a cohesive list:

QUESTION: To the best of my knowledge, nowhere does King Solomon claim within the writings that his words are prophetic orthat they should be included in any canon.

RESPONSE: Talmud Baba Basra discusses which prophet wrote which of our Prophets and Writings. Rashi comments, "Ezekiel didnot write his own book, possibly due to his living outside of Israel where prophecy was not granted. In that case, Ezekiel was not given

prophetic direction to write his own book." What Rashi teaches thereby, is that these works were written by God's directive. AlthoughKing Solomon does not say so "within" his work, as he was already proven to be a Prophet, nothing more was required. If he tells ushis work is prophetic, the Rabbis deem it part of the Torah. Jeremiah 36 commences with an example of God directing him to writehis prophecies. The Talmud teaches us that the Prophets men who received God's communications would not have written booksas God's word, unless it was so. We trust men inspired by God to be ruthful, that their words demand to be studied as divinely inspiredtexts. A fellow Rabbi added that the Talmud seems to indicate the Prophets wrote "their books" by Divine directives. This explain whyits says "Moses wrote "his book", Joshua wrote "his book," etc. "His book" means the Prophet was guided (Divinely) to write discretesections and form a book.



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QUESTION: The only indication that I've seen regarding theRabbis' judgments in a matter seems to be in Deuteronomy 17:8,when it says that if you have a "matter of judgment", then you aresupposed to "do according to the word that they tell you, from that

place that Hashem will choose." My reading is that this is referringto matters of law judgment, and I can't see a justification forexpanding this to include other matters.

RESPONSE: This applies to all areas of Torah. It is our Mesora,our transmission, that this is its accurate application.

QUESTION:How does accepting Koheles as Divine help us? Thecommentators appear to be all over the map with regard to theirinterpretations. As we discovered if I recall correctly, Ibn Ezra hada particular interpretation on one verse, while Rashi said the verserefers to human organs. So howwould anyone know what the Divineintent is? At that point, I'm quitetempted to throw up my hands and sayto the commentators, "Who says YOUguys know what you're talking about,if your views differ so widely?"

RESPONSE:: You are correct. Noneof the commentators can say, "I know

God's intent of this verse." Prophecyhas ceased, so such statements cannot

be made by honest people. But wemust say this is precisely God's plan!Man can only use his intellect toderive what he can. If his idea isreasonable, then he has learned atruth, regardless of whether Godintended "that" specific meaning, oranother. In act, God could haveintended "all" of the meanings thevarious Rabbis suggest.

QUESTION: I don't mean disrespectto the scholars here, but I amconcerned that there is such a lack ofcohesiveness amongst scholars - andapparently of almost any generation -that one starts to wonder if anyonereally has the correct ideas. Judaismis a small group. Orthodox Judaism iseven smaller. Microscopicallysmaller within that are those of yourthinking. I've listened to orthodox Jewish rabbis who seem to beall over the map, which makes me wonder what to think, other thanto trust my own reasoning. Rabbi Soloveitchik had a point of view.So did Rabbi Kotler. So did Rabbi Feinstein. So did Rabbi Nach-

man of Breslov, the Baal Shem Tov, Rabbi Schneerson, and on andon. And those views are not consistent. Is only one accurate, butthe rest are heretics? If so, who gets to name the heretic? If not,what is anyone to do but trust in what is clear to their own mind?

RESPONSE: If Rabbis suggest contradictory ideas in the sphereof halacha Jewish Law then their rulings must be followed bythose seeking their leadership, despite their debate. You referred tothis above citing Deuteronomy 17:8-11, this refers to matters of"law." Of course, two Rabbis with opposing views cannot both becorrect; either one, or both are incorrect, in the "absolute" sense ofGod's knowledge. But you must understand that in the area of law

halacha the very "law" is to be created by human intelligence.

That is God's will. Both Rabbis must be followed, as they areadhering to the system of discerning the Law. We are not trying toarrive at Moses' or God's absolute knowledge. That is impossible.What we are bound to do is arrive at our best understanding ofinterpreting the Law.

But in matters of philosophy, opposing views are not bothcorrect. If Rabbis argue here, someone is wrong. His views are notendorsed by Deut. 17:11. We are fortunate that most Rabbis do notdebate matters that border on heresy. Those matters are quite clear

to intelligent people learned in Torah and natural sciences. TheTorah is clear on fundamentals, so Torah "names the heretic." Theultimate arbiter is God's words. We don't find intelligent Rabbisdebating whether God is physical, has emotions, had assistance inCreation, if He knows all, whether Moses was a true Prophet, and

other clear matters. We do finddebates concerning the Afterlife, forexample: is it here on Earth, or is it ametaphysical existence? But no onedebates the existence of the soul afterlife.

In philosophical debates, one of theRabbis must be incorrect. But again,

we must tread lightly, as their debatesare not like ours. They are debatingover deep ideas, and despite theirconclusions, there is great insight to

be derived by patiently studying theirwords. (And I refer to the greatRabbis, Maimonides, Ramban,Rashi, Saadia Gaon, not today'sRabbis.) If we don't agree with eitherRabbi, we are honest and accept thatwe don't have a decision for ourselves.Rabbi Chait explained that in mattersof philosophy, "You cannot be toldwhat to think. No one can tell you that

you believe some notion, when you donot." So until we see a side that makessense, we cannot say "I agree with soand so." That would be a lie. But if wedo see one Rabbi as making sense tous, then we say "I don't agree with theother Rabbi", regardless of how greathe is.

We see a great cohesiveness amongthe Rabbis. I do not see any of them with doubts concerning majorTorah themes. The great Rabbis spoke words of wisdom that ringtrue. It is today's teachers who have done a grave injustice toTorah; spreading false and even superstitious notions. When truth

is clearly seen, we pay no attention to numbers. There are evengreater numbers of Christians and Muslims. Yet, we know theyfollow belief, and not proof. Numbers are meaningless, when truthis what we seek. Additionally, other religions differ greatly ashaving no original proof, upon which to lay claim to Divine origin.Judaism has proof of Divine origin; others do not. So although itappears both groups follow a system of relying on the leaders'decisions, Judaism alone possesses an original event of proof,while all others do not. And Judaism's act of relying on the Rabbisis actually a Divine mandate. The mandate to follow the Prophetsand Rabbis is equal to every other command God gave us at Sinai.There is no reason to differentiate.


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jan. 27, 2012

In Jewish education for 25 years, my experience

repeatedly teaches me that the most primary Rules

of Knowledge are not taught. Rebbeim and teach-

ers fail to provide students with the tools to think

properly.

Vital lessons not being taught :

The only 3 criteria for accepting truths, outlinedin Maimonides' Letter to Marseilles (reprinted in this

issue): 1) reason, 2) perception, and 3) Torah trans-missions. I quote Maimonides verbatim: Know, my

masters, that it is not proper for a man to accept as

trustworthy anything other than one of these three

things. The first is a thing for which there is a clear

proof deriving from mans reasoningsuch as arith-

metic geometry, and astronomy. The second is a

thing that a man perceives through one of the five

sensessuch as when he knows with certainty that

this is red and this is black and the like through the

sight of his eye; or as when he tastes that this is bitter

and this is sweet; or as when he feels that this is hotand this is cold; or as when he hears that this sound

is clear and this sound is indistinct; or as when he

smells that this is a pleasing smell and this is a

displeasing smell and the like. The third is a thing

that a man receives from the prophets or from the

righteous. Every reasonable man ought to distin-

guish in his mind and thought all the things that he

accepts as trustworthy, and say: This I accept as

trustworthy because of tradition, and this because of

sense-perception, and this on grounds of reason.

Anyone who accepts as trustworthy anything that isnot of these three species, of him it is said: The

simple believes everything (Prov. 14:15).

All that is in print is true, must be rejected.Rambam writes this too. Students are taught to

accept that books other than Torah, Prophets and

Writings are true, as they too are in print. When in

fact, many Jewish authors, even Rabbis, write false-

hoods and even heresy. Teachers do not train

students to challenge; to use their minds to deter-

mine truth. They must learn to question what is in

print. This is a grave injustice to students. Students

are not asked to take a stand on a position. This

develops a weak-minded, insecure Jew; a Jew who

will not be able to make decisions about his or her

Judaism.

The 13 Principles are not taught.

Jewish ideas must be Jewish. Sounds humor-ous, but many students are not taught that we go

back to the Chumash to determine philosophical

truths to reject popular Jewish notions. Gods

word trumps any Rabbis word. And many today are

not true to the Chumash.

Shivim Panim L'Torah does not mean all viewsare correct. The Rishonim admit this in their rejec-

tion of other Rishonim. Have you taught students that

as Moses erred, so too all others below his stature

are certainly not infallible? We must encourage

students to select a position when confronted with

Rabbinic arguments. They must be taught that a

Rebbe can be wrong. Torahs principles must be

their guide.

Comparative religion, how Judaism is distinctfrom all others and provable, must be taught.Students do not know this most fundamental truth of

Judaism.

Do YOU know these matters and possess the

answers? If not, become intimately familiar with

these topics. Train students to think.

The Rules of

KNOWLEDGE

THE FIRST COMMANDTHE FIRST COMMAND


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Weekly Parsha

The Purposeof the

RABBI BERNIE FOX

Ten

PlaguesAnd Hashem said to Moshe: I will bring one more plague upon Parohand upon the Egyptians and afterward they will send you forth com-pletely. They will chase you out from here (Sefer Shemot 11:1).The Plague of the Firstborn was intended to secure

Bnai Yisraels freedomThe above passage introduces the last of the ten plagues the Plague

of the Firstborn. Hashem describes the plague to Moshe. Moshe thenwarns Paroh that this terrible plague will be brought upon him and

Egypt if he does not allow Bnai Yisrael to leave the Land. Paroh refusesto heed Moshes warning and the plague strikes Egypt. The impact ofthe plague is unbearable and Paroh is forced to release Bnai Yisrael.

In the above passage, Hashem tells Moshe that this plague will forceParoh to release Bnai Yisrael. This suggests that although Hashem wasprepared to force Paroh and the Egyptians to liberate Bnai Yisrael, forsome reason, He delayed this horrible plague until this point. In otherwords, Hashems intent in bringing the plagues upon Egypt was notsolely to secure the freedom of Bnai Yisrael. If this were His solepurpose, this outcome could have been secured much earlier.


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For now, I could have sent out My hand andstruck you and your nation with pestilence andyou would have been removed from the land. Butin truth, for this reason I have sustained you inorder to demonstrate to you My strength and inorder that My name will be declared in all theland. (Sefer Shemot 9:15-16)

The first nine plagues werenot designed to secure Bnai

Yisraels freedomThe above passages are part of the warningthat Moshe delivered to Paroh after the Plagueof Pestilence and before the Plague of Boils.The Plague of Pestilence decimated the Egyp-tians livestock. However, this pestilence didnot affect humans only animals. Moshetells Paroh that had Hashem wished, He couldhave extended the plagues affect. He couldhave directed the pestilence against the Egyp-tian people and not only against theirlivestock. However, He fashioned the plaguein a manner that limited its damage andallowed the Egyptian people to survive.

Hashem spared the Egyptians from eradica-tion.

This passage provides additional confirma-tion of the message implicit in the first

passage above. Hashem did not bring theplagues upon the Egyptians solely to coerceParoh to release Bnai Yisrael. Some otherobjective was served through the plagues.

This means that the Plague of the Firstbornwas fundamentally different from the other

plagues. The Plague of the Firstborn wasintended to secure the release of Bnai Yisrael.This plague was preceded by nine other

plagues. These plagues were not designed tosecure Bnai Yisraels release. These plagueshad some other objective.

And you should say to Paroh, So says Hashem:Israel is My firstborn son. I say to you send outMy son that he may serve Me. If you refuse tosend him out, I will kill your firstborn son. (SeferShemot 4:22-23)

Hashem revealed to Moshe thePlague of the Firstborn whenHe assigned him his mission

Rav Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik Ztl notesthis distinction between the Plague of theFirstborn and the preceding plagues. He addsthat this distinction explains an odd set of

passages found earlier in Sefer Shemot.Hashem commands Moshe to return to Egyptand assigns him the mission of redeemingBnai Yisrael. He tells Moshe to confrontParoh; demand the release of Bnai Yisrael,and warn him that if he resists, he will besubjected to the Plague of the Firstborn. It isodd that Hashem tells Moshe of the final

plague before revealing to him the precedingnine plagues. Furthermore, Hashemdescribes the warning Moshe will deliver

before the final plague is brought upon Egypt.However, Moshe is not instructed to deliverthis warning until all of the preceding plagueshave been brought upon the Egyptians. Whydoes Hashem describe to Moshe the plagueand its warning at this point? It would havemade more sense for Hashem to wait until the

time had arrived for the final plague. At thatmoment, He should have revealed the plagueto Moshe and instructed him to warn Paroh.

Rav Soloveitchik responds that in thecontext of the discussion described in the

passages these instructions are relevant andappropriate. Hashem is sending Moshe toEgypt with the mission of leading BnaiYisrael forth from bondage. He assignsMoshe this mission and reveals to him theinstrument through which the mission will befulfilled. This instrument is the Plague of theFirstborn. It is this plague that will coerceParoh to release the people. This is not the

function of the other plagues. Therefore, incharging Moshe with his mission, he commu-nicates to him the instructions regarding thefinal plague and does not mention those thatwill precede it.

What was the function of these precedingplagues?

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And Hashem said to Moshe: Behold, I haveappointed you as a judge over Paroh andAharon your brother will be your spokesperson.(Sefer Shemot 7:1)

Moshe was Parohs judgeHashem speaks to Moshe. He tells Moshe

that he has been appointed as Parohs judge.Rashi comments that with this statementHashem transmitted to Moshe the authority

to judge and punish Paroh. This means thatthe process that unfolded with Moshesarrival in Egypt was not only one ofredemption for Bnai Yisrael. Moshe wascharged with a second mission. He wasappointed as judge and executioner of theParoh and the Egyptians. Rav Soloveitchikexplains that this appointment reveals therole of the first nine plagues. These plagueswere not intended to secure the release ofBnai Yisrael. These plagues were intendedto punish the Paroh and his people for their

persecution of Bnai Yisrael.

And He said to Avram: You should knowthat your descendants will be aliens in a landthat is not theirs. They (the inhabitants) willsubjugate them and afflict them for fourhundred years. But this nation that they willserve I will judge and afterward they will goforth with great wealth. (Sefer Beresheit15:13-14)

The dual objective of theplagues was revealed toAvraham

These passages were part of a prophecyand a covenant entered into by Hashem andAvraham. Hashem foretold Avraham of the

bondage of his descendants in Egypt. Also,He revealed to Avraham that his descen-dants bondage will end with the judgmentof their oppressors and their own redemp-tion. Rav Soloveitchik explains that thiscovenant was the basis for the design of the

plagues. The plagues fulfilled this ancientpromise. They punished Bnai Yisraelsoppressors and they secured their releasefrom bondage.

One of the greatest mysteries of the

Torahs account of Bnai Yisraels redemp-tion is its description of Hashem suspendingParohs freewill. The Torah explains thatHashem instructed Moshe to warn Paroh ofthe consequences of continuing to enslaveBnai Yisrael. Before many of the plagues,Moshe goes to Paroh and warns him. Hetells Paroh that if he does not release the

people, he will experience another plague.However, the Torah also reveals thatHashem hardened or strengthened Parohsheart. He deprived Paroh of the volition to

heed Moshes warning. A bizarre routineevolved. Moshe warned Paroh; Paroh was

prevented from acquiescing; the plague wasbrought upon Paroh and Egypt.

In itself, this suspension of volitionimplies that the first nine plagues were notdesigned to secure Bnai Yisraels freedom.If that was their design, it would not makesense for Hashem to deprive Paroh of thecapacity to surrender Bnai Yisrael. Rav

Soloveitchiks conclusions provide a simplesolution for this mystery.

It is possible that a person will commit a greatsin or many sins and the judgment of the TrueJudge will be that the punishment for thiswillfully committed sin or sins will be that he isprevented from repenting. He (the sinner) is notprovided the volition to repent from his wicked-ness. This is in order that he should die and bedestroyed for the sin he has committed There-fore, it is written in the Torah, I will

strengthen the heart of Paroh. Because he firstsinned by his own volition and acted evilly tothe people of Israel who dwelled in his land itwas the judgment that repentance should bedenied him so that he should be punished.Therefore, Hashem strengthened his heart(Maimonides, Mishne Torah, Laws of Repen-tance 6:3)

The suspension ofParohs freewillMaimonides comments respond to a

difficult issue. One of the fundamentalprinciples of the Torah is that human beings

are endowed with freewill the capacity tomake their own moral decisions. Becausewe have freewill, Hashem revealed to usHis commandments, rewards us for ourobservance of them, and holds us respon-sible for their violation. Maimonides asks:How can we reconcile the principle of freechoice with various passages in the Torahthat indicate instances in which specificindividuals or people have been deprived oftheir freewill? Maimonides cites as anexample the Torahs description of Hashemstrengthening Parohs heart and deprivinghim of the ability to respond to the plagues

by releasing Bnai Yisrael. In other words,the Torah tells us that Paroh would havesurrendered Bnai Yisrael in response to the

plagues if he had freewill. However, he wasdeprived of the ability to choose freely.Therefore, despite the suffering that he andhis nation experienced, he could not releaseBnai Yisrael.

Maimonides responds that in this instanceParoh was only deprived of volition after hehad acted with terrible wickedness. Hemade freewill choices to oppress, afflict,

and murder Bnai Yisrael. As a consequenceof these freewill choices, he was punished

by losing the ability to repent. His freewillwas suspended in order to assure that hewould be punished for his wickedness.

With these comments, Maimonidesreconciles the principle of freewill with the

passages in the Torah that suggest thatfreewill can be suspended. He also

provides an important insight into the

mystery of Hashems treatment of Paroh.Hashem deprived Paroh of freewill aspunishment for his willful wickedness. Hethen brought the plagues upon him.Moshes warnings demonstrated Parohshelplessness. Even after being warned byMoshe, he could not repent. His volitionwas suspended.

In the course of answering his ownquestion, Maimonides confirms RavSoloveitchiks position that the plagueswere intended as a punishment for Parohand the Egyptians. Hashem gave Paroh theability to withstand the plagues so that he

would be punished with additional plagues.Clearly, Maimonides understands the

plagues as an instrument of punishment andnot merely as a coercive measure designedto force Paroh to release Bnai Yisrael.

To the One Who struck the Egyptiansthrough their first born for His kindness iseternal. (Tehilim 136:10)

Understanding

Hallel HaGadolIt is customary to recite the 136th chapter

of Psalms on Shabbat and festivals. Thischapter is referred to as Hallel HaGadol the Great Praise. The chapter begins with anumber of more general praises. The tenth

passage begins a series of praises that focuson the acts of kindnesses Hashem

performed for Bnai Yisrael beginning inEgypt. The first of these kindnesses isidentified as the Plague of the Firstborn.The chapter does not mention the nine

preceding plagues. This implies that theseplagues were not performed as a kindness

towards Bnai Yisrael. This characterizationand the contrast between the first nine

plagues and the final plague conforms toRav Soloveitchiks conclusions. The firstnine plagues were intended as punishmentfor the Egyptians. They were not designedas a kindness towards Bnai Yisrael. Incontrast, the final plague the Plague of theFirstborn was intended to force Paroh andthe Egyptians to release Bnai Yisrael. This

plague was a kindness performed on behalfof Bnai Yisrael.

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It seems to me that it will come to you before this reply,since it is already widespread on the island of Sicily, aswell as in the West and in the East and in the South. Inany case, I myself need to make this clear to you.

Know, my masters, that it is not proper for a man toaccept as trustworthy anything other than one of thesethree things. The first is a thing for which there is a clearproof deriving from mans reasoningsuch as arithme-

tic geometry, and astronomy. The second is a thing thata man perceives through one of the five sensessuch aswhen he knows with certainty that this is red and this isblack and the like through the sight of his eye; or as whenhe tastes that this is bitter and this is sweet; or as when hefeels that this is hot and this is cold; or as when he hearsthat this sound is clear and this sound is indistinct; or aswhen he smells that this is a pleasing smell and this is adispleasing smell and the like. The third is a thing that aman receives from the prophets or from the righteous.Every reasonable man ought to distinguish in his mindand thought all the things that he accepts as trustworthy,and say: This I accept as trustworthy because oftradition, and this because of sense-perception, and this

on grounds of reason. Anyone who accepts as trustwor-thy anything that is not of these three species, of him it issaid: The simple believes everything (Prov. 14:15).

Thus you ought to know that fools have composedthousands of books of nothingness and emptiness. Anynumber of men, great in years but not in wisdom, wastedall their days in studying these books and imagined thatthese follies are science. They came to think ofthemselves as wise men because they knew that science.The thing about which most of the world errs, or all ofitsave for a few individuals, the remnant of whomthe Lord shall call (Joel 3:5)is that thing of which Iam apprising you. The great sickness and the grievousevil (Eccles. 5:12, 15) consist in this: that all the things

that man finds written in books, he presumes to think ofas trueand all the more so if the books are old. Andsince many individuals have busied themselves withthose books and have engaged in discussions concern-ing them, the rash fellows mind at once leaps to theconclusion that these are words of wisdom, and he saysto himself: Has the pen of the scribes written in vain(Jer. 8:8), and have they vainly engaged in these things?This is why our kingdom was lost and our Temple wasdestroyed and why we were brought to this; for ourfathers sinned and are no more because they found manybooks dealing with these themes of the star gazers, thesethings being the root of idolatry, as we have made clearin Laws Concerning Idolatry. They erred and were

drawn after them, imagining them to be glorious scienceand to be of great utility. They did not busy themselveswith the art of war or with the conquest of lands, butimagined that those studies would help them. Thereforethe prophets called them fools and dolts (Jer. 4:22).And truly fools they were, for they walked afterconfused things that do not profit (I Sam. 12:21 and Jer.2:8).


Letter to Marseilles

Letter onAstrology

Iperceive in this inquiry thatalthough its boughs are many,they are all branches of a

single tree, which is their commonroot: namely, all the statements ofthe astrologers, the stargazers(Is. 47:13). It is evident that the com-pilation we have made of the stat-utes of the Torah, which we entitledMishneh Torah, has not reachedyou. If it had, you would have

known directly my opinionregarding all those things of whichyou have inquired; for we havemade this entire matter clear in(the section of that work called)Laws Concerning Idolatry and theOrdinances of the Nations.

MAIMONIDES

Letter to Marseilles

Letter onAstrology


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Know, my masters, that I myself have investigatedmuch into these matters. The first thing I studied is thatscience which is called judicial astrologythat is, (thescience) by which man may know what will come topass in the world or in this or that city or kingdom andwhat will happen to a particular individual all the days ofhis life. I also have read in all matters concerning all ofidolatry, so that it seems to me there does not remain in

the world a composition on this subject, having beentranslated into Arabic from other languages, but that Ihave read it and have understood its subject matter andhave plumbed the depth of its thought. From those booksit became clear to me what the reason is for all thosecommandments that everyone comes to think of ashaving no reason at all other than the decree of Scripture.I already have a great composition on this subject in theArabic language (namely, the Guide of the Perplexed)with lucid proofs for every single commandment but thisis not required of us now. I now return to the subject ofyour inquiry.

Know, my masters, that every one of those thingsconcerning judicial astrology that (its adherents)

maintainnamely, that something will happen one wayand not another, and that the constellation under whichone is born will draw him on so that he will be of suchand such a kind and so that something will happen tohim one way and not anotherall those assertions arefar from being scientific; they are stupidity. There arelucid, faultless proofs refuting all the roots of thoseassertions. Never did one of those genuinely wise men ofthe nations busy himself with this matter or write on it,no (nation) wrote such compositions or committed theerror of calling it a science, other than the Chasdeans,Chaldeans, Canaanites, and Egyptians, for that was theirreligion in those days. But the wise men of Greeceandthey are the philosophers who wrote on science and

busied themselves with all the species of sciencemockand scorn and ridicule these four nations that I havementioned to you, and they rally proofs to refute theirentire position root and branch (Mal. 3:19). The wisemen of Persia also recognized and understood that allthat science which the Chasdeans, Chaldeans,Egyptians, and Canaanites produced is a falsehood anda lie. Do not imagine that those refutations are mereassertions and that we therefore should not put our trustin them; rather there are lucid and correct, faultlessproofs to refute that entire position, and the only one whowould cling to it would be a simple one who believeseverything(Prov. 14:15), or one who wishes to deceiveothers.

And know, my masters, that the science of the starsthat is genuine science is knowledge of the form of thespheres, their number, their measure, the course theyfollow, each ones period of revolution, their declinationto the north or to the south, their revolving to the east orto the west, and the orbit of every star and what its courseis. On all this and the like, the wise men of Greece,Persia, and India wrote compositions. This is an exceed-ingly glorious science. By means of it the onset of theeclipses of luminaries may be known and when they will

be eclipsed at any given place; by means of it there maybe known the cause for the moons (yareah) appearingjust like a bow, then waxing great until it is full, and thengradually waning; by means of it there may be knownwhen the moon (levanah) will or will not be seen; andthe reason why one day will be long and another dayshort; and the reason why two stars will rise as one, butnot set together; and the reason why a given day at a

given place is thirteen hours long and in another placefifteen or sixteen or twenty hours long, yet being a singleday. (In one place the day and the night will be of equalduration; in another place the day will be like a month ortwo months or threeso that a place may be foundwhere the entire year is a single day, six months daytimeand six months nighttime.) How many amazing condi-tions are made intelligible by this science, all of which isundoubtedly true. It is this calculation of astronomicalcycles of which the (Talmudic) sages said that it iswisdom and understanding in the sight of the (Gentile)peoples (Shabbat 75a). But as for these assertions of thestupid astrologers, they are nothing. I am now makingclear to you the main points of those matters that are the

mystery of the world.Know, that all the wise men of the Gentile nations-and they are the great philosophers, men of intellect andsciencewere all in accord that the world has a Gover-nor; He makes a sphere revolve, the sphere not revolvingof itself. They have many books advancing a lucid prooffor this; on this point there is no controversy among menof science. There is, however, a great controversy amongthem regarding this entire world, namely, the sphere andwhat is beneath it.

(1) Most of them say that it is not subject to generationand corruption, but that as it is now, it was and it will beforever and ever. Just as the Holy One, blessed be He,who was always the same as He is now, is making it

revolve, so was He always making it revolve, and it wasalways being revolved; the two of them were alwaystogether, never was one without the other.

(2) Among them there are those who maintain that thissphere has come into being and that the Deity hascreated it, but that there is a single thing that existstogether with the Creator, like the clay in the pottershand (Jer. 18:6). From that thing which exists togetherwith Him, He makes whatever He pleases. SometimesHe will use some of that clay, as it were, to make heavenand some of it to make earth; and sometimes, if Hepleases, He takes some of that out of which He has madeheaven and makes something else out of it. But to bringforth something out of nothing is impossible.

(3) Among the philosophers there are those whomaintainjust as the prophets maintainedthat theHoly One, blessed be He, created all created things out ofnothing and that there is no other thing with the Creatoraside from the creation that He has brought forth.Now the great controversy is over this point, and this is

the very point that Abraham our Father discerned. Athousand books have already been written on this, withproofs that each and every one of them rallies to supportits position. It is the root of the Torah that the Deity alone



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is primordial and that He has created the wholeout of nothing; whoever does not acknowledgethis is guilty of radical unbelief and is guilty ofheresy. I myself have already written a greatcomposition in Arabic (Guide of the Perplexed)on these matters. I have explained the lucidproofs of the existence of the Creator and thatHe is one and that He is not a body or corporealin any respect. I have shattered all those proofsthat the philosophers advance as proving that

the world was not created. In addition, I haveresolved all the great difficulties that they haveraised against us on account of our maintainingthat the Deity has created everything that existsout of nothing.... All these, then, are the threesects into which the wise men of the world fall,from the earliest antiquity down to now.

(l ) Those who maintain that the sphere is nota created thing, but that it eternally has beenand will be just as it is.

( 2 ) Those who maintain that the Deity hascreated it out of that matter which always existsby Him.

( 3 ) Those who maintainjust as all the

prophets didthat there is no other thing that iswith the Deity, just He Himself, and that whenHe wished, He brought forth this world out ofnothing, in conformity with His will.

All of these three sects are in accord on thefollowing point. Everything that comes intobeing in this lower worldnamely, everyliving soul (Gen. 1:30) and every tree andevery species of grass and every one of thespecies of mineralsthe whole has the Deityas its maker, through a power coming from thespheres and the stars. And they are in accordthat the power of the Creator flows first uponthe spheres and the stars; from the spheres and

the stars it flows and spreads through this(lower) worldeverything that is, therebycoming into being. Just as we maintain that theHoly One, blessed be He, performs signs andwonders through the angels, so do thesephilosophers maintain that all theseoccurrences in the nature of the world comethrough the spheres and the stars. Theymaintain that the spheres and the stars possesssouls and knowledge. All these things are true.I myself have already made it clear, with proofs,that all these things involve no damage toreligion. And not only this, but what is more Ihave understood from the sayings of the sages

in all of the Midrashim that they maintain as thephilosophers maintained. There is no contro-versy whatever between the sages of Israel andthe philosophers on these matters, as I havemade clear in those chapters [in the Guide ofthe Perplexed, a philosophical treatise].

All three of these sects of the philosophers,which maintain that everything is made bymeans of the spheres and the stars, alsomaintain that whatever happens to each and

every human being is due to chance; it is notdue to any cause coming from above, andneither the constellation under which one isborn nor nature will avail against it. There isno difference for them between this individualwho was torn to pieces by a lion that happenedupon him, or this mouse that was torn to piecesby a cat, or this fly that was torn to pieces by aspider. Neither is there a difference between aroofs falling upon and killing someone, or a

rocks breaking loose from a mountain andfalling upon a tree or upon another rock andbreaking it. All this, they maintain, is simplyfortuitous. It is said as well of those humanbeings who are warring with one another overa great kingdom, that they are like a pack ofdogs warring over a carcass. This is not due toany cause coming from the stars. Further-more, this one being poor and that one rich,this one having children and that one beingchildlessall the philosophers maintain thatthis is due to chance. The summary of thematter is that they maintain that what happensto each and every thingbe it man or beast or

trees and mineralsis all due to chance. Butthe being of all the species and the thingscomprehended in the entire worldin whichthere is not the activity of a living soulall ofthis stems from the power of the sphereswhose root, in turn, comes from the Holy One,blessed be He. The controversy lies in this, thatthe true religionists, and that is the religion ofMoses our Teacher, maintain that whathappens to individuals is not due to chance, butrather to judgmentas the Torah says: For allHis ways are judgment (Deut. 32:4). Theprophet explained: Whose eyes are openupon all the ways of the sons of men, to give

every one according to his ways, and accord-ing to the fruit of his doings (Jer. 32:19). It isregarding this that the Torah warned and borewitness and told Israel: But if you will nothearken to Me (Lev. 26:14), I shall bringhardship upon you. If you maintain that thathardship is not an affliction brought on by yoursins, but rather due to chance and one of thosethings that happen by chance, why then IMyself shall heap more of that chance uponyouas it is written: And if you walk withMe in (the way of) chance, I too shall walkwith you in the wrath of chance (Lev. 26:27-28). This is a root of the religion of Moses our

Teacher, that everything happening to humanbeings is a (just) decree and judgment. Hence,the sages maintained: There is no deathwithout sin and no affliction withouttransgression (Shabbat 55a).

And know, my masters, that it is one of theroots of the religion of Moses our Teacher-and one that all the philosophers alsoacknowledgethat every action of humanbeings is left to them and that there is nothing


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A

to constrain or draw them. Rather, if he sopleases, a man will worship God and becomewise and sit in the house of study. And if he sopleases, he will follow the counsel of thewicked and run with thieves and hide withadulterers. There is no influence or constella-tion under which one is born that will draw himin any manner toward any one of these ways.Hence it was commanded and told to him: Dothis and do not do that. We have made clear

many of the things involved in these matters inmost of our Arabic compositions, in theCommentary on the Mishna and in the rest ofthe compositions. Thus we ought to know thatwhat happens to human beings is notas thephilosophers maintainlike what happens tothe beast.

Three disagreements are to be found in thesematters. Imagine this situation. Here is Reuben,a tanner, poor, and his children have died in hisown lifetime. And here is Simon, a perfumer,rich, and his children stand before him.

(1 ) The philosopher will maintain that this isdue to chance. It is possible that Reuben could

become a perfumer, grow rich, and havechildren; and it is possible that Simon couldbecome impoverished, turn into a tanner, andwitness his childrens death. All this is simplyfortuitous. There is no nature in the world andno power emanating from a star that caused thisindividual to be or not to be thus. This is theposition of the philosophers.

(2) The second position is that of those whobelieve in judicial astrology and whose sayingsyou have heard and whose follies arewidespread among you. They maintain that it isimpossible that a given thing should everchange. Never will Reuben be anything other

than a tanner and poor and childless, for it wasthus fixed by the power of the sphere at the timeof his birth. Similarly, it is impossible for Simonto be anything other than a perfumer and richand with surviving children, just as it was fixedby the power of the sphere at the time of hisbirth.

These two ways, or these two positions, areregarded as falsehoods by us. The position ofthe astrologers is given the lie by reason, forcorrect reasoning has already refuted, bymeans of lucid proofs, all those follies that theyhave maintained. It also is regarded as afalsehood by us because of the religious

tradition, for if the matter stood thus, of whatutility would the Torah and the commandmentand the Talmud be to a particular individual?For in that event, every single individual wouldlack the power to do anything he set his mindto, since something else draws himonagainst his willto be this and not to bethat; of what use then is the command or theTalmud? The roots of the religion of Moses ourTeacher, we find, refute the position of these

stupid onesin addition to reasons doing sowith all those proofs that the philosophersmaintain to refute the position of the Chasdeansand the Chaldeans and their associates. Theposition of the philosophers who maintain thatthese things are due to chance is also regardedas a falsehood by us because of the religioustradition.

(3) The true way upon which we rely and in

which we walk is this: We say regarding thisReuben and Simon, that there is nothing thatdraws on the one to become a perfumer andrich, and the other to become a tanner and poor.It is possible that the situation will change andbe reversed, as the philosopher maintains. Butthe philosopher maintains that this is due tochance. We maintain that it is not due to chance,but rather that this situation depends on the willof Him who spoke, and (the world) came intobeing (Ps. 33:9); all of this is a (just) decree andjudgment. We do not know the end of the HolyOnes wisdom so as to know by what decree andjudgment He required that this should be this

way and that that should be the other way; forHis ways are not like our ways, neither are Histhoughts like our thoughts (Is. 55:8). We ratherare obliged to fix in our minds that if Simonsins, he will be punished with stripes andimpoverished and his children will die and thelike. And if Reuben repents and mends his waysand searches his deeds and walks in a straightpath, he will grow rich and will succeed in allhis undertakings and see (his) seed and prolong(his) days (ibid. 55:10). This is a root of thereligion. If a man says, But look, many haveacted in this way and yet have not succeeded,why, this is no proof. [For] either some iniquity

of theirs caused this, or they are now afflicted inorder to inherit something even better than this.[But not afflicted in the senses that they aresinners, and a subsequent good will be areward. Maimonides means they are dealt atrail through which they will emerge with agreater good. An example is when Godcommanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Thiswas not commanded as a means of suffering sothat Abraham might thereby be owed a subse-

quent good. Rather, it was to actualizeAbrahams potential, for his own good.]

The summary of the matter is that our mindcannot grasp how the decrees of the Holy One,blessed be He, work upon human beings in thisworld and in the world to come. What we havesaid about this from the beginning is that theentire position of the stargazers is regarded asa falsehood by all men of science. I know that

you may search and find sayings of someindividual sages in the Talmud and Midrashimwhose words appear to maintain that at themoment of a mans birth, the stars will causesuch and such to happen to him. Do not regardthis as a difficulty, for it is not fitting for a manto abandon the prevailing law and raise onceagain the counterarguments and replies (thatpreceded its enactment). Similarly it is notproper to abandon matters of reason that havealready been verified by proofs, shake loose ofthem, and depend on the words of a single oneof the sages from whom possibly the matterwas hidden. Or there may be an allusion in

those words; or they may have been said with aview to the times and the business before him.(You surely know how many of the verses ofthe holy Law are not to be taken literally. Sinceit is known through proofs of reason that it isimpossible for the thing to be literally so, thetranslator [of the Aramaic Targum] rendered itin a form that reason will abide. ) A manshould never cast his reason behind him, forthe eyes are set in front, not in back.

Do not censure me, my masters, for thebrevity of these remarks, for the writingmakes it clear that I wrote it to fill a present

need. For I was very busy with many Gentileaffairs. The Deity knows that if RabbiPinhas had not sent a messenger who urgedme till I was ashamed (II Kings 2:17) anddid not leave my presence until I had writtenit, I would not be replying now since I haveno leisure. On this account, judge in myfavor. Farewell, my brothers, friends, andmasters; may you increase and be exaltedforever. Amen.


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jewishtimes21

jan. 27, 2012

Weekly Parsha

However, according to the Rambam, there is anexception to this rule. He asserts that there is aunique punishment reserved for a particular type osinner whose evil is so egregious that Hashemremoves his capacity to repent in order that hereceive his just punishment. Rambam cites Pharaohas an example of this phenomenon saying, ere-fore it says in the Torah, And I will harden the hearof Pharaoh, for he sinned of his own accord initiallyand did evil to the Jews who dwelled in his land

Justice demanded that repentance be withheld fromhim so that he be punished and therefore Hashemhardened his heart.We can now make sense of the opening verse o

Parshat Bo. G-d wanted to give the Egyptians achance to obtain proof of His Existence and absolutepower. is required numerous signs and wondersEach plague displayed a dierent aspect of Hashemsupreme might and strengthened the growing belief othe people in His Existence. Had Pharaoh relentedunder the pressure of the blows and released the Jews, iwould have been bad for the Egyptians as it would have

terminated the learning experience of the plagues.e demise of Pharaoh contains a sobering lessonOur task in life is to perfect our souls through pursuit otruth and righteous behavior. Our most precious asset ithe power to choose between good and evil. Every sinstrengthens the forces of instinct and weakens our abilityto overcome them. Every good deed empowers the souand elevates our spiritual moral. Full condence in ourcapacity for goodness is essential to our mission in life asindividuals and people. May we always act in a manner

which justies this optimistic attitude.

is weeks Parsha, Bo, begins with Hashemsinstruction to Moshe to Come to Pharaoh for Ihave hardened his heart and the heart of hisservants in order to place my signs in his midst.We must ask, why did Hashem harden Pharaohsheart? It would seem that the goal of the signs wasto convince the Egyptians of Gods existence andabsolute mastery of nature and thereby inspirethem to renounce idolatry and embrace thecreator. is is clearly enunciated in the versewhich states, And Egypt will know that I am theLord when I increase my signs among them. Ifthat is the case, it is dicult to comprehend whyHashem would harden Pharaohs heart as thiswould seemingly run counter to the stated objectiveof the signs.

One of the most fundamental principles ofJudaism is that of Free Will. Man is endowed withthe divine soul which enables him to perceive truthand freely choose his lifes path. ere are no internalor external factors which pre determine the choices hewill make. Because man is the master of his moral

destiny, he is subject Reward and Punishment. epower of free will is such that man is never defeated bysin but always retains the capacity to correct his awsand return to the path of righteousness. us forJudaism the ability of the sinner to repent is ofparamount importance. Hashem says, I do not desirethe death of the sinner but that he abandon his evil pathand live. e worst sinner has the option to do Teshuvaat any point, even on his death bed. If it is genuine, itwould be accepted and earn him a share in the world tocome.

Point of

No ReturnRABBI REUVEN MANN


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Preview and Purchase

https://www.Mesora.org/ReligionofReason

33 pg Previewwww.Mesora.org/ReligionofReason

AstrologyReincarnationPraying to the DeadSuperstitionDemonsBashertEvil EyeRebbe WorshipSegulasSatan

AngelsWestern Wall Prayers

Red BendelsKabbala

MysticismMiraclesWhat is God?Jewish SoulsTalmudic Stories

MetaphorsBelief vs. ProofDo Rabbis Err?Gentile Equality

Mans Purpose

RABBI REUVEN MANN

Rabbi, Y. Israel of Phoenix; Founder, Masoret Institute; Menahel YBT

Rabbi Moshe Ben-Chaim has written extensively about thephilosophy and Hashkafa of Judaism for many years. As the

title of his book, Judaism; Religion of Reason indicates, his

ideas are rooted in an uncompromisingly rational approach to

Judaism. He follows the guidelines of the great rationalist

philosopahers such as Rmbam and Saadia Gaon in his

exploration into the values and ideals of Torah Judaism. He is convinced that all

of the teachings of Judaism and the statements of the Sages make perfect sense

and are amenable to the rational, inquiring mind.

He is absolutely opposed to all forms of mysti-

cism and seeks to debunk all practices and beliefs

which are rooted in superstition or are contrary to

reason. This collection of writings covers a wide

variety of topics that are of interest to contempo-

rary Jews. It also contains insightful analyses ofBiblical narratives as well as the underlying

significance and relevance of many mitzvot.

Rabbi Ben-Chaim demonstrates that

Judaism can be harmonized with human

reason. Indeed he asserts that one can only

understand and appreciate Judaism by analyz-

ing it in a logical manner in order to elucidate

its deeper ideas. He is not afraid to ask the

most penetrating and challenging questions

because he is absolutely convinced that

Torah is the Word of God and thus based

on the highest form of wisdom.

Jews who have a profound desire to

make sense out of their religion willbenefit greatly from reading this book.

One need not agree with all of Rabbi

Ben-Chaims ideas, but his questions,

analyses and original thoughts will

open your mind to a new appreciation

of the wisdom and logical consistency

of Torah Judaism.

RABBI STEVEN WEIL

Executive Vice President, The Orthodox Union

Rabbi Moshe Ben-Chaim has followed in the footsteps of thegreat Medieval Rishonim (Rambam, R. Avraham ben HaRam-

bam, etc.) in trying to explain, define and lay out the world

outlook of Torah and the philosophy of Judaism in rational,

logical terms. Rabbi Ben-Chaim asks critical, crucial and

defining questions that any thinking Jew needs to ask. He is

extremely critical of approaches to Judaism that superimpose external methodologies

(such as mysticism, other religions) and project primitive emotions onto the

Almighty. Although one can disagree with some

of the conclusions; his approach, his questions

and method enable the reader to explore and

engage our theology in a meaningful and serious

way. When chazal employ certain terms and

convey certain images, the student is forced to

conceptualize, extract and deduce profoundpsychological and philosophical principles.

Unfortunately, many take chazal at face value or

project onto chazal, motives and rationalizations

they never meant. Rabbi Ben-Chaim following

the method of the Rishonim, forces us to define,

weigh and analyze each word and phrase of

chazal. Rabbi Ben-Chaim shows there is no

contradiction between a serious investigation of

Science and a serious investigation of Judaism.

Rabbi Ben-Chaim has written a work that

addresses the thinking, seeking person of all faiths.

This work speaks to the scholar and lay person

alike. Once again, one may not agree with specifics

within the book but at the same time will appreciateit and gain insight into how the great Rishonim

define how we view the world. Rabbi Ben-Chaims

website, Mesora.org is a very serious tool and

resource for thinking human beings who want to

engage and explore the Almighty, the Almightys

universe and do so within the realm of wisdom,

rationality and intellectual honesty.

REVIEWS

PARTIAL CHAPTER LIST

Jews have succumbed to mystical religion and pop-kabballa. Tenyears in the making, the author cites authentic Torah sourcesunveiling the fallacy of widespread beliefs. He focuses on Torah'sbrilliance and method of decryption; unraveling metaphors andinterpreting texts to reveal hidden gems. Readers will enjoy along overdue, rational expos of cultural beliefs, and a uniquelook at Torah's deep insights. Free 33 page preview at right...

by Rabbi Moshe Ben-Chaim, Founder Mesora.org

RELIGIONofREASONRELIGIONofREASONRELIGIONofREASON

Are your beliefs trueor simply popularamong other Jews?


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