The Intellectual Soul (pt. 2): Bittul--The key to objectivity

The Intellectual Soul (pt. 2)

Bittul—The key to objectivity

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

(This post is continued from my earlier post, The Intellectual Soul pt. 1.)

As mentioned, the purpose of intellect and of the Intellectual Soul is to bring the person to transcend his own narrow self-interest and prejudices, and discover the truth of whatever subject he examines.

But if so, how is it possible that the Intellectual Soul of the non-Jews does the very opposite—it drags the person down into a state of coarseness?

The answer lies in the key to objectivity, bittul—which means self-effacement or humility.

When a person is consumed with the desire to promote his own self-interest, and he freely indulges his preferences, desires, and lusts, then no matter how intelligent he may be, and how much of an effort he makes to set aside his personal interests and be objective in his analysis of a moral dilemma, he is simply incapable of attaining true objectivity—although he may well convince himself and others that he has. And so the moral judgments that he renders will inevitably be hopelessly biased, and hence most likely incorrect.

How can one transcend personal bias and thereby attain truth? It starts with fostering an attitude of bittul—humility before Hashem and one’s fellow man.[1] This underlying philosophy then becomes manifest in one’s approach to worldly matters. The humble person will eschew hedonism and embrace a lifestyle of moderation and restraint in which fulfilling his responsibilities to Hashem and his fellow man is primary and material pleasure is secondary.

Although this order of priorities may necessitate sacrifice and hardship, it opens the person up to realize and connect with a higher truth. Since pleasure and personal comfort are not the goal of life, the person is willing to forgo them when a higher cause requires it of him.

To be continued, im yirtzeh Hashem (see here).

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[1] Cf.  Tanya ch. 30.


Dedicated by Shmuel and Sara Rochel Markel in honor of the birth of their daughter, Yehudis bas Shmuel Leib. Yegadluha leTorah, lechuppah, ulemaasim tovim mitoch harchavah!


Dedicated in the merit of a speedy release for the captives Yonasan ben Malka (Jonathan Pollard), Jacob Ostreicher (Yaakov Yehuda ben Shaindel), Alan Gross (Aba Chonah ben Hava Chana), Sholom Mordechai Halevi ben Rivka (Sholom Rubashkin), and Zeva Rochel bas Chaya (Wendy Weiner Runge).


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Listening to the Spiritual Health Experts

Health experts are constantly coming out with new “revelations.” They reveal to the undiscerning masses of laypeople how many foods that seem harmless are in fact poisonous or at least very unhealthy.

The same goes for spiritual health. What to the less spiritually attuned may seem harmless at first glance may contain elements that, even if not outright forbidden, are inappropriate and spiritually unhealthy and damaging; what’s more, often these things are outright forbidden!

The proper gauge to assess such matters, and to find out which apparently harmless things might in fact be inappropriate or even prohibited, is to delve into Torah. There Hashem expresses His will, and instructs us not only in what is permitted and forbidden, but also in the importance of going beyond the letter of the law, and avoiding the inappropriate and unworthy.

And just as it would be presumptuous of a dabbler in physical health to come out and declare that a practice that experts deem damaging to one’s health, e.g., smoking, is in fact harmless and even healthy, based on whatever “proofs” might seem logical to him or her, so would it be presumptuous of someone whose knowledge of Torah is only on a beginners level to make such critical decisions for him or herself or family without first consulting, without preconceived notions, with Torah texts and with a Torah sage—one who has devoted his life with self-sacrifice to rigorous Torah study with the goal of attaining the expertise in Torah necessary to accurately transmit the word of Hashem to the community.

This is all the more so considering that our sages rule that even a rabbi with full rabbinic ordination (“semichah for dayonus”) and training (“shimush”) who becomes a businessman is thereby disqualified from sitting on a rabbinic court and issuing rabbinic decisions, despite his being an indisputably G–d-fearing Jew.[1] Only a full-time practicing rabbi may issue halachic rulings, because involvement in the business world taints the purity of the person’s judgment on holy matters. How much more so does an ignoramus have no business making such weighty decisions for him or herself, and thereby aggrandize the mantle of halachic authority!

The same goes for matters that are not strictly halachic, but are in one way or another related to questions of what behavior is appropriate for a Jew in his or her individual circumstances. In these matters one should consult with one’s personal asei lecha rav or mashpia (see here) as appropriate, in accordance with the Rebbe’s instructions.

And if the above caution is even true of physical health, although we find that the health experts often change their minds, how much more so when it comes to spiritual health, the conditions for which are taught in our timeless, perfect, immutable Torah. And if this caution is even true of physical health, although the body is temporary and secondary to the soul, it surely applies to spiritual health associated with the soul, which is eternal and primary, and whose health is also the key to material blessings, health, and prosperity.

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[1] Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat, 3:13, S’meh. Cited in Igros Kodesh, Vol. 26, p. 345-346. Toras Menachem 5720, Vol. 27, p. 223. Toras Menachem 5720, Vol. 23 p. 164 ff.

Dedicated by Chana Hawkins in honor of John Wilson.

Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

The Jew's Mission: Overcoming the World

The Jew's Mission:
Overcoming the World

Rabbi Y. Oliver

The Hebrew word for world, olam, is etymologically related to the word he’elem, concealment, for the nature of the world is to conceal the reality of G–dliness.[1] The reason for this is that the world receives its sustenance from the spiritual energy of Kelipah, lit. “a shell,” i.e., a force that conceals the true reality of G–dliness.

Our world is “a world of physicality and gross coarseness. It is the lowest of all levels; nothing is lower than it in terms of the concealment of Hashem’s light, and the doubled and redoubled darkness within it. [This spiritual darkness is so intense that] it is filled with forces of Kelipah and of ‘the other side’ that are totally against Hashem and that say ‘I exist, and nothing else exists but me.’”[2]

This also plays itself out in human experience. Since the Kelipah in this world is the “dregs of the coarse Kelipos ... all the events of this world are difficult and evil, and the wicked prevail in it.”[3] (It is no wonder then that the soul only enters the body “against its will”[4]!) Thus, we are warned, “All paths [in this world] should be presumed dangerous,”[5] which Chassidus interprets to refer to the constant spiritual tests that the Jew faces.[6] This necessitates a constant, daily struggle, lest this atmosphere harm the Jew.[7]

This was true even in days of old, when sin was less accessible; it is all the more true in our degenerate times.

What gives a Jew the strength to succeed in this struggle? In our time, we have been granted the power to overcome these tests (see here) through studying Chassidus and practicing the ways of Chassidus (see here). Chassidus permeates a Jew with the awareness that “There is nothing beside for Him”[8] and that until a Jew comes and elevates it, the world is “a place of death and impurity, may Hashem save us”[9] (see here).

This enables the individual Jew, and the Jewish people as a whole, to accomplish their task: to elevate the world as much as possible (through Torah and Mitzvos) and in this way prepare it for its purpose, the Messianic Era, when all Kelipah will either be eradicated or elevated to holiness.[10]

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[1] Likkutei Torah, Shelach, 37d. Sefer HaMa’amarim 5710, p. 116.

[2] Tanya ch. 36.
[3] Ibid. chs. 6, 24.

[4] Avos 4:22.

[5] Yerushalmi, Berachos 4:4.
[6] Sefer HaMa’amarim 5692-5693, p. 515.

[7] Toras Menachem, Vol. 23, p. 240.

[8] Devarim 4:35.

[9] Tanya ch. 23.

[10] Ibid. ch. 37.

Love of Torah

The Previous Rebbe writes:

There were many good qualities and upright character traits in the love of Torah, in the dearness for holiness, in the fear of Heaven and enthusiasm for observance of Mitzvos that the Yeshivah students of the two past generations brought into the homes of our Jewish brothers.

Di teg [Yiddish for “the days”]—the meals in which the Yeshivah students would eat in the homes of the wealthy, the middle-class, and even the poor, which the Yeshivah students would call di teg, were the bridge that bound and connected Jewish homes with the house of Torah study.

The days known as di teg acted as beacons of the light of Torah and Mitzvos, shining a clear, luminous light of aspiration for wisdom and knowledge, inspiring the hearts of the young to bring the spiritual to dominate over the physical, and to exile themselves to a place of Torah. ...

I still remember the way the Yeshivah students inspired me to devote myself to my studies, to pray slowly, to recite the grace after meals and the other blessings carefully, to be particular to recite the morning blessings and the bedtime recital of the Shema.

The students’ visits in Jewish homes left impressions of a pleasant light, of fiery, inextinguishable flames of the love for Torah and the dearness of the holy, to be attained through caution to perform the Mitzvos. They sowed in the hearts of the boys and girls seeds of yearning to toil in the Torah and to build Jewish homes on the foundations of Torah.

In this good quality the country of Lithuania excelled. Thank G–d, one can still recognize the good impressions that were engraved in the hearts of our brothers in Lithuania in terms of the love of Torah and the important position that Torah scholars hold, thank G–d.

When I visited one of the villages in Lithuania last year, in a place where people gathered from the outlying areas, how great was my pleasure to see the yearning for Torah scholars and to build Jewish homes of Torah scholars.

Of the hundreds of people who visited me and of the hundreds of letters from parents, most of them asked for advice in how to set up their lifestyle and how to arrange, with G-d's help, appropriate matches for their offspring. There was thank G–d a large percentage—may they increase further—who desired and blessed themselves that their children should be Yeshivah students and that their daughters should may Torah scholars. However, what astounded me, and brought me a spiritual pleasure and ecstasy of heart, were the letters of the youth related to arranging matches, for they recognized the greatness of Yeshivah students.

Kuntres Etz Chayim pp. 7-8.

Lessons:

“ Yeshivah bochrim” (unmarried students at a Rabbinical academy) are sometimes looked down upon by “baalei batim” (older, married people). “What do they have to teach me?” they ask. “What do they know already? A few comments of Tosfos? How much life experience have they had? And what have they accomplished? In contrast, I have a family, a house, an income. Instead of learning from them, since I’m older, I will teach them from my experience.”

However, the truth is the exact opposite.

The Hebrew word for world, olam, is etymologically related to the word he’elem, concealment of G–dliness (Likkutei Torah, Shelach, 37d). The more a person is involved in the world, the more difficult it is for him to sense holiness, to relate to Hashem. Like it or not, he has unwittingly absorbed a certain amount of hanachos ha’olam, secular attitudes that are foreign to Torah. A Yeshivah bochur, however, who is totally focused on Torah study and prayer, is not tainted by the world and can thus be truly receptive to holiness.

Thus, instead of the community regarding the Yeshivah bochur as second-class to them, they should regard themselves as second-class to him. Only then will they be fit vessels to learn from the shining example that the Yeshivah bochur sets, and instead of dismissing him as simple and naïve, revering him as pure and sincere.

When the parents show the greatest honor and adoration for Yeshivah bochrim (and by the same token, for members of Kollel and Rabbonim) the sons and daughters in the home will become sensitive to holiness, and thus come to hold Torah scholars in the highest regard, sensing the pricelessness of Torah. The yearning for Torah will be the deepest yearning of their hearts, one that will determine whom they choose to marry and how they choose to live their lives and invest their money and efforts. The boys will aspire to devote themselves to be talmidei chachomim, Torah scholars, or at least to learn regularly and support full-time talmidei chachomim, and the girls will aspire to the privilege of marrying a Torah scholar and building homes permeated with the love of Torah, in which those who devote their lives to Torah study with fear of G–d are accorded the greatest honor. Their children will then pass on this pure and holy passion for Torah faithfully to their own children, creating a very happy cycle that will act as a beacon of inspiration for the entire community.

However, if the community looks down on the Torah scholars and treats them as second-class, G–d forbid, not only will they not learn from the Torah scholars, but they will exert a bad influence on them. The Torah scholars will be less supported by the members of the community, making it more difficult for them to study Torah, thus creating a very vicious cycle that will degrade the community.

Let us promote the former attitude, and we will be blessed.

Torah illuminates and enables discernment

The Rebbe writes that one can only discern between spiritual health and sickness with the light of Torah:

If every person was granted the potential to change worldly events in a positive direction, and even to introduce a novelty, this is surely true of the Jewish nation. Its very existence is a deviation from the order of the world, and it has been assigned with the role of serving as “A light unto the nations” (Yeshaya 42:6).

Since this description is given by our Torah, “a Torah of truth,” it is exact in all its details. This includes the fact that light represents a force that, although apparently not introducing any novelty, displays and reveals the true nature of the object [being illuminated]. Usually, this light is essential to discern between good and evil, holiness and impurity, health and sickness, and between those who call evil, good, and sickness, health.

Nitzutzei Ohr, p. 83.

Elsewhere, the Rebbe discusses this in terms of the concept of the comparison between Torah and a candle:

A candle does not produce anything new. A candle merely illuminates and enables one to see things next to oneself. When the candle is lit one can see what to be careful of, and what one ought to pursue; what is a door that leads one out into a wide space, and what is a pit, where one is liable to fall to the nethermost depths. This is the idea of light—it merely reveals existing things.

Sichos Kodesh 5730, Vol. 1, p. 343.

When we reflect upon at events in our personal lives, or in the world around us, and seek clarity in our perception, we have to ask ourselves one question: Are we looking at the event from the perspective of Hashem’s eternal Torah? If so, then our view of it can be true and healthy. But if not, then no matter how smart, knowledgeable, or otherwise accomplished we may be, our view of it will be inevitably tainted by worldly attitudes, and thus we are bound to err in our assessment of good and evil, holiness and impurity, and health and sickness, what one ought to avoid, and what one ought to pursue.

The sins of befriending non-Jews and learning their culture

Torah study—“Our life and the length of our days;
we will meditate (on its words) day and night" (Evening liturgy)”

The sins of befriending non-Jews and learning their culture

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

“The sins of the Jewish people in the time of the Greeks were: befriending the Greeks, learning their culture ... ”[1]

Just a minute, an outsider might ask. It’s a sin to befriend a non-Jew?! Isn’t Judaism a religion of peace and love? If anything, that should be considered a Mitzvah, no?

Well, no. Jews should not be “buddy-buddy” with non-Jews. It’s not that we dislike them. We just know that we ought to ... keep a distance from them. Ours is “a nation that dwells alone.”[2] We have our role in the cosmos, and they have theirs. When we draw too close, those lines become blurred.

A friendship is a two-way relationship. You influence him, but he also influences you. A non-Jewish friend will naturally share his values and feelings with you, and precisely because he is your friend, his company will influence you with his non-Jewish attitudes and culture. We don’t want this because it may weaken the Jew’s devotion to Torah, and even bring him to abandon it altogether, G–d forbid. Thus, we find a concern in Halacha that a close friendship between a Jew and a non-Jew may lead the two to make a deal to marry off their children to each other (known as “chasnus”), which the Torah considers a normal outcome of a very close friendship. (Along similar lines, a religious Jew should even take care not to overly befriend a not-yet-observant Jew—see here.)

In general, although he may do business with non-Jews, a regular ehrleche (fine) Jew is not tempted to befriend non-Jews, and the reason is not just that that he can’t discuss Tosafos with them. He simply can’t relate to them, because he doesn’t live in their world. The cross-cultural divide is too great, and that is a good thing.

However, this is not to say that a Jew should act in an unfriendly or rude manner toward non-Jews, G–d forbid. On the contrary, since non-Jews are created in the image of Hashem, they deserve to be accorded the utmost respect, and even cherished.[3] This is also not to say that one should not have any form of contact with non-Jews; rather (in addition to maintaining contact for the purpose of shared business interests, or the like), one should do so where necessary, but with a clear awareness of the purpose of the interaction in mind. The nature of the relationship between Jew and non-Jew is one of teacher and student, with the Jew inspiring the non-Jew indirectly through his fine moral conduct and wholesome family life, or directly, by teaching him the Noahide laws.

However, the second item mentioned in HaYom Yom, learning secular culture, is a temptation that is lamentably all too common in our times.

Many frum people feel that they must read the newspaper every day, follow the sport, politics, and even gossip, and generally be “up with the latest” amongst the non-Jews. Many immerse themselves in study of secular topics purely for the sake of knowing them, and send their children to schools with a very good record in secular studies even if the Torah studies there are poor; they then insist that their children go to college, and not just in order to earn a good living (despite the severe dangers that their children are exposed to there), but in order to “be a man amongst men” by being au fait with the culture of the western world, finding their prestige from secular academic recognition and titles, and the like. Many indulge in “entertainment” by exposing themselves to supposedly “neutral” novels, television shows, and movies, despite the fact that doing so involves violating the prohibitions of exposing oneself to heresy or immorality). And so on.

The numbers of such people are not small, and probably greater than we estimate. And although not all of the behaviors listed above are necessarily strictly forbidden (except when they involve consciously exposing oneself to heresy or immorality, as above), they are sins in the sense that these are not befitting behaviors for Jews.

“But,” the advocates of “normalcy” clamor, “what’s so terrible with it? Why are you being so fanatic? It’s harmless!”

But it’s not. These influences are saturated with subtle and not-so-subtle inappropriate messages that desensitize us to holiness, true refinement, and actualizing our spiritual potential. They may lead one to start adopting certain typically non-Jewish behaviors, which is in itself forbidden. Ultimately, when imbibed frequently and for a lengthy duration, such influences may entice the Jew to give up Yiddishkeit altogether, may G–d save us.

And above all, preoccupation with the non-Jewish culture, even the most supposedly harmless cartoon, distracts the Jew from what he should be really focused on if he has any free time—Torah study. The Torah is Hashem’s timeless wisdom. It is a priceless gift from Above. A Jew has the constant obligation and privilege to study it, and neglecting it is considered a severe sin.

As the Mishnah exhorts us: “Ben Bag-Bag used to say of the Torah: Turn it and turn it again, for everything is in it. Pore over it, and wax gray and old over it. Stir not from it, for you can have no better rule than it.[4] Everything a Jew could want to know is in the Torah, and it is what should preoccupy him whenever he has a “spare” moment.

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[1] HaYom Yom, 29 Kislev.

[2] Bamidbar 23:9.

[3] Avos 3:14.

[4] See Mishneh Torah, Laws of Idolatry, 11:1—

One may not follow the rites of idolaters, nor imitate them in dress, hairstyle, and the like. As the verses say: “And you shall not follow the rites of the nation that I evict from before you”;[a] likewise, “And do not follow their rites”;[b] “Beware lest you be lured by [their ways].”[c] The import of all these verses is the same: We are warned not to imitate [non-Jews]. Rather, a Jew must be separate from them and distinguished in his dress and in his other affairs, just as he is different in his doctrines and beliefs. As the verse says, “I have separated you from the nations.”[d]

[a] Vayikra 10:23.
[b] Ibid.18:3.
[c] Devarim 12:30.
[d] Vayikra 20:26.

[5] ibid. 5:22.

This post was dedicated by Rabbi Shmuli Markel and family (Shmuel Leib ben Esther and Sara Rochel bas Chaye Nechomoh).

Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

The true message of Chanuka

It pains me to write this, but I feel that I must.

Sometimes there is a fine line between not saying the whole truth, and saying something incorrect. I have found this to true of Chanukah in particular, and the way it is presented to the outside world by some well-meaning Chabad representatives.

For example, in one article, a leading Chabad rabbi is quoted as saying that “The world’s largest Hanukkah menorah stands as a symbol of freedom of democracy and delivers the message of light over darkness and freedom over oppression.”

Another article, this time from an official news site, is entitled: “Menorah: A Symbol of Religious Freedom.” It describes how Chanukah brings “ ... a message of peace and religious liberty to the public square.” Moreover, an official spokesman is quoted as saying that “ ... the menorah is a universal symbol of freedom and independence which totally conforms with the American ideal.”

These statements clearly say that the message of Chanuka is “religious freedom.” In effect, what this means to the average reader is to declare that the Torah teaches that Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Wiccans, and voodoo-worshippers should all be free to worship just as they please, and no one should ever in any way hinder the religious worship of anyone else—and that this is the message of Chanuka (G–d forbid).

But in reality, nothing could be further from the truth. The concept of an inherent right to express one’s religion as one wishes is not a Torah value. In fact, the concept of religious freedom as a fundamental human right is of recent historical origin. My understanding is that religious freedom has existed as a matter of government policy in various ages and societies, but it only became identified as a principle of inherent value with the rise of the Enlightenment movement. The principle of religious freedom for all is also closely tied with other secular ideas like pluralism and multiculturalism.

To be sure, to a great extent these ideas have significantly benefited the Jewish people, in that they have enabled us to observe the Mitzvos without the persecution that we suffered under the likes of the Spanish Inquisition or the Communist regime. But that merely makes these ideas useful and beneficial; it doesn’t make the concept of religious freedom inherently worthy.

And like all philosophies not directly rooted in Torah, the concept of religious freedom has had its downside. Until the rise of the Enlightenment, state-legislated discrimination against Jews was common in all European countries. The result was that assimilation into gentile society was extremely rare. Once the influence of the Enlightenment became widespread, assimilation did, as well. This was the reason that the first Chabad Rebbe, the Alter Rebbe, preferred the rule of the Czar to that of Napoleon, for although the Jews would suffer from draconian decrees under the Czar, they were safe from assimilation, while under Napoleon, freedom from oppression would be accompanied with the very tempting enticement to assimilate (Napoleon u-Tekufato, Mevorach, pp. 182–183).

Moreover, the most basic knowledge of Judaism demonstrates that the Torah rejects the notion of inherent religious freedom. When the Jewish people had the ability to maintain full military control over the Holy Land (which they do not possess today), the Torah mandates what in modern-day language would be called a theocracy. Jews who were seen committing idolatry were penalized harshly. Pagan statues and temples of pagan worship were illegal. Only non-Jews who committed to follow the Noahide laws were allowed to remain in the Land; those who refused, forfeited that right.

Can any of this be done today? No. But the reason for that is that we are in exile. We don’t live in what the Torah views as an ideal world—one in which Jews and non-Jews alike universally accept the Torah alone as the pure Truth, and follow the laws that the Torah mandates for them (with Jews following the Code of Jewish Law, and non-Jews following the Noahide Laws). But our holy prophets predict that this will take place in the age of Moshiach, and Jews hope and pray every day for this day to come.

This is not to say that the Torah seeks to promote an age of coercion. We don’t want Moshiach to come so we can force everyone to accept belief in the Torah, because “Its [the Torah’s] ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its paths are peace” (Proverbs 3:17). Rather, Moshiach will reveal the truth of Hashem’s existence and of Torah to all mankind. Mankind will then give up adherence to other religions willingly, because their former adherents will recognize the other religions to be false, and realize the absolute truth of Torah. Moshiach will then effect universal peace by settling all the quarrels between the nations. The reason he will be able to do so is that all mankind will recognize him as a holy man, and thus be confident in the justice of his rulings.

In any case, the true message of Chanuka is the exact opposite of the concept of religious freedom that treats all religions as equal. Chanuka is about the Macabbees’ insistence that Torah is the absolute truth, and Hashem alone should be worshipped, and bringing the entire world to recognize this necessity, albeit via peaceful means (for more explanation, see here).

(This article was posted on shturem.net here.)

Hellenism vs. Torah--the Perennial Struggle

Hellenism vs. Torah—The Perennial Struggle

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

There are two general approaches to the universe that are totally at odds with each other:

One is the view of the modern western society in which we live, which is not only secular, but secularist and humanistic. This view maintains that knowledge and wisdom have intrinsic value, and that the human mind is the most superior tool of attaining it, and is therefore the final arbiter of truth and morality. A Creator may or may not exist. If it makes sense to believe in Him, then He can be accepted, but if not, not. In the time of Chanukah, this was the view of Greek society and of the assimilationist Jews known as the Hellenists.

In stark contrast, our holy Torah teaches that Hashem is the only true reality—“There is nothing beside Him”[1]—upon which everything in the universe is totally dependent. As Rambam famously puts it at the very beginning of his magnum opus, the Mishneh Torah:

The foundation of foundations and the pillar of wisdoms is to know that there is a Primal Existence, and He brings all entities into existence. And all entities from the heavens to the earth and everything in between only exist from the reality of His existence. And if you could imagine Him not in existence, then no other entity would be able to exist.

Since belief in Hashem is the basis of all wisdoms, no wisdom has any value if it is not based on the foundation of fear of Hashem, and the commitment to use this body of knowledge—which, like everything else in the world, is in fact a gift from Above—to fulfill His will. Or, as the Talmud puts it, “Everything that G–d created in His world, He created only for His glory.”[2] This was the view for which the Maccabees fought.

In recent centuries the secularist view is particularly dominant in the world of academia, which arrogates for itself the right to analyze anything and everything, and classify it and define it from its “objective” standpoint.

While academia claims for itself absolute authority and true objectivity, its starting point—that G–d doesn’t necessarily exist, or necessarily doesn’t exist, G–d forbid—is false and therefore surely anything but objective.

Therefore, even when studying the same material studied by a G–d-fearing Jew, e.g., the Tanach (Hebrew Scripture), the secularist will reduce the holy, priceless, timeless words of Hashem into an intellectual specimen for cold, detached study. For instance, he will examine social and cultural trends reflected in the Tanach that are of historical significance, all the while treating the text of the Tanach as a work of folklore, G–d forbid. From his self-assumed all-knowing position as a skeptic of anything and everything, he will not hesitate to call into question and even reject any idea in Torah for which he finds no explanation that satisfies him. Sometimes he will not even bother to ask for an explanation, but will dismiss out of hand any idea that seems odd to him.

In contrast, the G–d-fearing Jew also studies the Talmud, but not because he desires wisdom for its own sake. Rather, he uses his G–d-given mind, and with rigorous consistency, as a means to an end—to do his utmost to understand G–d’s will. His use of intellect does not stem from the secularist’s arrogant conviction that he can know and master all; on the contrary, it stems from humility, from the sense that truth can only be obtained by submitting one’s fallible, puny mind to G–d’s all-knowing “Mind”, His infinite wisdom that He invested in the Torah.

Thus, he will study with the goal of grasping the reasons and deeper meaning behind the Talmudic statements and bringing them to permeate his consciousness and his daily life.

Moreover, he grasps that just as G–d is perfect, so is His wisdom. Thus, when he encounters a difficulty in his Torah study, he regards it as solely a fault in himself, a personal failure, and not a fault in the word of Hashem, G–d forbid (for further explanation, see here).

Likewise, when a G–d-fearing Jew studies something secular, he does so leshem Shomayim ("for the sake of Heaven"), with an agenda, asking himself: How can he use this knowledge to better serve Hashem (for more explanation, see here).

In other words, the secularist takes the holy and makes it mundane and even G–dless, while the G–d-fearing Jew rejects the G–dless, and takes the mundane and makes it holy.

There can be no compromise between these two approaches.

This is also reflected in their respective goals for society:

The humanist awaits the time when everyone will give up the “superstition” of belief in G–d, and worship intellect alone, the deity of the humanist.

In contrast, the G–d-fearing Jew eagerly awaits the time when G–d “will be one, and His Name, one,”[3] when all mankind will recognize that “all entities from the heavens to the earth and everything in between only exist from the reality of His existence,” and they will worship G–d alone.

________________
[1] Devorim 4:35.
[2] Avos 6:11.
[3] Zechariah 14:9.


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Chanukah: Absolute truth, not pluralism!

Due to the common coincidence of Chanukah and a certain other widely celebrated non-Jewish holiday, there is a tendency in secular circles to lump them together, and for Jews and non-Jews to cheerily wish one another “happy holiday.” Which holiday, you ask? Whichever holiday one happens to be celebrating around “holiday season.”


At first glance, this seems to be a positive practice. Isn’t it important to promote darkei shalom, “ways of peace,”[1] acceptance, and goodwill between the Jewish people and the gentile nations? 

 In a similar vein, the holiday of Chanukah is often presented to the world by well-meaning Jewish spokespeople as a holiday celebrating religious freedom from those who seek to impose their beliefs on others. They say the story of Chanukah goes like this: The Jewish people wanted to practice their religion, the ancient Greeks oppressed them and denied them their rights, so the Jewish people courageously revolted and won, recovering their right to religious freedom. So what then is the message of the lights of Chanukah? The celebration of the universal right to religious freedom, or, in modern terminology, pluralism. 

It is indeed necessary to seek creative and dynamic ways to pleasantly explain difficult concepts in Judaism, but it is unacceptable to water down the message in the process. In this case not only does the above presentation detract from the message, and not only is it is misleading, but it turns it on its head. 

Let it be said unambiguously: Chanukah has nothing to do with pluralism, and its message could not be more different. 

The Talmud states that the light of the Menorah in the Beis HaMikdash (the Holy Temple) was “testimony to all the world’s inhabitants that the Divine Presence rests amongst the Jewish people.”[2] “From it [the Menorah] light goes forth to the world”[3] via the “windows that were wide and narrow.”[4] The windows of the Beis HaMikdash were narrow inside and broad outside, so that light could go forth from them to the world. Ultimately, this light reached the entire universe, for the nature of light is that as long as nothing intervenes (such as clouds or physical objects) the light spreads ever further without limitation, until the ends of the universe.[5] 

What was the message of this light that shone to all the nations, and that was restored when the Beis HaMikdash was miraculously recaptured by the Macabbees? It was the light of the Divine Presence, the holy light of G–d’s absolute Truth. This is the significance of the finding of the jar of pristine olive oil untouched by the Greeks, with the seal of the Kohen Gadol intact. This represents a level of pure, unadulterated truth, uncompromised and unaffected by foreign values. 

Any falsehood necessarily conflicts with this truth. Thus, although other religions contain certain elements of truth, which are elements that stem from Judaism (e.g., the concept of G–d’s oneness promoted by Islam, and the concept of the Moshiach promoted by Christianity[6]), since they also contain falsehoods, these religions are incompatible with Torah. For only Torah is the “Torah of truth”[7], the absolute truth, and the other religions are, well, poor imitations. 

 Indeed, it is necessary to respect all mankind since they are created “in the image of G–d,”[8] and to maintain peaceful relations with non-Jews on a collective and individual level. However, it is morally wrong to distort the truth in a vain bid to make Judaism more palatable to the secular mind. Pluralism is a secular value, one that maintains that all beliefs are equally acceptable and legitimate. This idea is of course pure nonsense, for two opposite beliefs cannot both be true.[9] 

The Torah rejects this fallacious philosophy and teaches that there exists absolute truth—the Torah—and everything else, which is a mixture of truth and falsehood; there exists absolute goodness—the Torah—and everything else, which is of a mixture of good and evil.[10]

Thus, the Torah does not teach that it is good and proper for non-Jews to follow other religions, or no religion, doing whatever they please as long as they don’t harm (or preach to) others, for those belief systems are predicated upon principles at odds with the divine doctrines of the Torah. 

 Rather, the Torah teaches that all mankind should be encouraged to recognize the One G–d of the Jewish people, and unite to follow the Noahide laws as prescribed in the Torah.[11] This is the true message of Chanukah to the world. Thus, the Rebbe encouraged[12] organizers of public Menorah lightings to take the opportunity to publicize the importance of adhering to the Noahide laws.

So let us set the record straight: In the time of the second Beis HaMikdash the Maccabees sought to serve the one true G–d, the path of absolute truth and goodness, rejecting all other religions and belief systems completely. The Greeks, who followed the evil lifestyle of hedonism and the false doctrine of paganism, sought to prevent this. However, with the help of Hashem the Jewish people fought courageously and won. Truth triumphed over falsehood, good over evil. So may it be for us, especially with the coming of Moshiach, who will reveal the absolute Truth of G–d to the entire world, and thereby automatically vanquish atheism, paganism, and all other non-Torah beliefs forever. 

[1] Gittin 61a. 
[2] Shabbos 22b. 
[3] Talmud Yerushalmi, Berachos, 4:5. 
[4] Divrei HaYamim 6:4. Menachos 86b. 
[5] Hisva’aduyos 5747, Vol. 3, pp. 491-492. 
[6] See Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings, 11:4, in the section removed by the censor. 
[7] Blessings on the Torah. 
[8] Bereishis 9:6. 
[9] Likewise, wishing “happy holiday”—and not specifying which—smacks of this pluralism. 
[10] The Rebbe related: “There is a famous story of the Rebbe, my father-in-law, that on one of his journeys several people were debating and expressing different opinions about the approach of Torah to the political philosophies, and with which one it is consistent. Each person pointed to a source in Torah for his philosophy. When they asked the opinion of the Rebbe, my father-in-law, he responded, ‘The Torah, since it is the ultimate truth and good, includes all the good aspects of all the other philosophies’” (Kuntres Inyanah Shel Toras HaChassidus p. 2). 
[11] Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings, 8:10. 
[12] Hisva’aduyos, 5747, Vol. 2, p. 133.