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Thursday, October 7, 2010

Insight 5771-05: Haran

For Noach

Not yet available on the Nishma website.

4 comments:

  1. Rabbi Hecht,

    Your insight really struck me this morning.

    At so many points in my life I have heard talk about the reasons people became religious... it bothers me that so many of their stories are centered around momentary feelings that 'this is Truth', or that they experienced some type of modern-day personal miracle.

    While I don't want to discredit these experiences (as I think they do hold some type of importance), to base one's entire faith upon them is dangerous (as illustrated in your Insight).

    I too have been (and still am to some extent) guilty of that same perception, and so your Insight created a great sense of poignancy and immediacy in me.

    Thank you.

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  2. Determining criteria for faith is a most difficult topic. Many if not most people turn to miracles as the possibly best aternative yet, while the Makkot can serve as a strong defense for such a position, no one less than the Rambam declares unquivically that one cannot determine truth based upon miracles. As he puts it, there will always be the doubt that perhaps the miracle was some trick. (When you think of all the great illusionists, this argument clearly has some merit.)

    In the end, it is my belief that a major factor in this determination must be our perception of the results of the faith, namely the nature of the people who ascribe to the faith. There are, no doubt, problems with this yardstick as well -- and in many ways we can also question how we measure our perception of a person. In the end, though, there must have been something remarkable about Avraham Avinu and his very presence must have been special. This is not to detract from the miracle of the kivshon ha'eish but for Haran to have ignored the obvious difference in being between Avraham and the arrogant Nimrod is, to me, somewhat problematic.

    Rabbi Ben Hecht

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  3. Rabbi Hecht,

    Thank you for your response.

    It's funny that you mention that because I have also heard many ba'alei teshuva talk about one or two specific Rabbis who were crucial in their transformation. I do see a distinction in their faith based upon 'miracles' and faith based upon relationships...

    Your answer made me think of another question about faith: I assume that many people follow other religions because of developed, charismatic leaders in their faiths... What then makes Jewish faith unique? Or, is Jewish faith unique? Is faith a universal (or completely personal) concept?

    Thank you.

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  4. Indeed there are clearly other charismatic leaders within other religions. I, of course, was not just referring to charisma but individuals of exemplary behaviour -- but there are clearly individuals like that within other religions as well. The fact is that there is no one yardstick that can answer quesitons of faith. Knowledge of God obviously is objective and universal. It is a statement of reality. How we gain this knowledge, in fact any knowledge, however, is personal. Every human being has a personal, subjective determinant in the process of gaining external knowledge. The answer to how we can gain the best perception of the truth is thus a mixture of the objective and the personal -- not just a mixture but a constant dialectic. Our personal and universal must question each other -- and through that process we gain some knowledge. This is what is at the root of faith. A unique individual alone cannot be an argument for faith -- but it can be an element as with many other elements.

    Rabbi Ben Hecht

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