Wednesday, September 23, 2009

This Blog Is Now Closed For Comments




After taking a look at some old posts, I realize that some of them need serious updating. While most of my core positions on the Torah VS. Science controversy have been verified over the past 4 years of blogging, much of it was misinformed or mistaken and needs to be seriously revised.

Also, many of my comments are much more nasty-sounding to me now that I am reading them from a distance.
Although they seemed appropriate or necessary in the heat of the debate, and were often written while under fire of someone's attack, I realize that this is no excuse in the long-term. I apologize to all those whom I've offended in this forum. The comments to all posts have been concealed.

Over the next months or years I plan on editing many posts and posting selected edited comments as new posts with cross-links provided to the original post about which they (usually) commented.
After that, they will be deleted.
The nasty tag "Target Practice" will also be deleted.

To all my readers and especially frequent commentors who have made this blog "interesting", thank you and
גמר חתימה טובה

Sincerely,
FKM

[Any comments to my posts can be e-mailed to fkmaniac@gmail.com]

Last round re: The Fall of the "Rationalist Mesorah"

From the comments to the previous post:

Freelance Kiruv Maniac said...

The original text can be found here:

http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=20180&st=&pgnum=174&hilite=

Mississippi Fred MacDowell said...

You can always find "surprising" things written by people. The question is where and how it fits in with their entire oeuvre. In any case, you really ought to read

BARZILAY, ISAAC E. - Between reason and faith. Anti-rationalism in Italian Jewish Thought, which

Who said that Rabbi Dr. Yitzhak Lampronti was a "rationalist"?

Freelance Kiruv Maniac said...

I'm so glad that מסיח לפי תומו you think this quote makes the Pachad Yitzchak an "anti rationalist" hands-down.

Who said that Rabbi Dr. Yitzhak Lampronti was a "rationalist"?

You've got to be pulling my leg.
Where have you been all these years??!!
Rabbi Slifkin put R' Lampronti prominently in his Rationalist Hall of Fame:
From here (page 3):

Judaism is not monolithic. Far from it. The Maimonidean controversies were not fought over nothing - they occurred because the approach to Torah and Judaism that developed in Moslem Spain was fundamentally different from the approach held by the rabbis in northern France. R. Avraham ben HaRambam's famous/infamous statement about Chazal's imperfect knowledge of science is not an "odd" statement, an aberration, as the writer of the above letter believes; it was completely normative of the Sefardic rationalist school of thought.
While this school of thought was originally geographically distinct, over time it became
diluted with the rest of Judaism. The result was that while, in recent centuries, it is difficult to point to a particular geographical community which continued the mesorah of the Golden Age of Sephardic Jewry, one can still constantly see this mesorah being transmitted by various people - such as R. Lampronti, R. Hirsch, R. Dovid Tzvi Hoffman, R. Herzog, and so on. In our day and age, the rationalist approach is dominant in the Torah U'Madda community and strongly represented in the Dati Le'umi community.

Mississippi Fred MacDowell said...

Don't put so much stock in the term "rationalist" itself. R. Lampronti was more or less an empiricist. That doesn't make him a rationalist, but it puts him neatly into the category he is trying to establish. My point was that there was a strong strain of anti-rationalism among Italian Jewry, yet they weren't benighted, still functioned as university-trained physicians, etc. You can't very well say that the most famous example of someone to actually question whether the halacha is correct because of what he found to be it's empirically incorrect underlying assumption belongs on your list, and not Slifkin's. In fact, he goes far further than Slifkin, who I assume does not publicly throw out the suggestion that we change the halacha because of this or that scientific fact.

Freelance Kiruv Maniac said...

Don't put so much stock in the term "rationalist" itself. R. Lampronti was more or less an empiricist. That doesn't make him a rationalist,

I think you are talking to the wrong man. R' Slifkin mislabeled him a "rationalist". Not me.

You can't very well say that the most famous example of someone to actually question whether the halacha is correct because of what he found to be it's empirically incorrect underlying assumption belongs on your list, and not Slifkin's.

I never put R. Lampronti in any list. He is too obscure a figure to do that to.
We are going to have to read many more entries in order to get a better picture.

But I do have to disagree with your assessment too. I think this entry provides strong evidence that the "famous" position he took on lice was only tentative and that he retracted due to his rebbe's sharp opposition. There is some evidence for this understanding in the lice entry itself too.

But regardless, the views expressed in this entry cannot be swept under the rug. It clearly shows he must be removed from Slifkin's list. (or at least seriously demoted to being inconclusive)

Freelance Kiruv Maniac said...

Hey, S.! You didn't obey the rules of my game! Who did you guess wrote this paragraph?

Mississippi Fred MacDowell said...

אתה עתה ברוך ה׳ led me to believe he was probably Italian, and obviously your point was this should be an unexpected quote. Although I might then have guessed the author of Pachad Yitzchak, I didn't. Rather, I thought of Shmuel David Luzzatto, who especially used the phrase אתה עתה ברוך ה׳ a lot, but who also was very anti-rationalist, despite being the sort of person whom many would consider rationalist based on the way it is being used in these debates. That would have been my guess, however "כי חכמי ישראל האמיתים ידעו והשיגו בכל המושכלות מה שעדיין לא השיגו ולא ישיגו כל חכמי העולם" didn't sound like him at all.

It's possible if I didn't just click the link and spent the time trying to figure it out I would have guessed. But only because of אתה עתה ברוך ה׳!

E-Man said...

I originally thought it was the Maharal or someone who followed him and I guess I was right. The Pachad Yitzchak follows in the ideas of the Maharal. I do not know why Rabbi Slifkin would put the Pachad Yitzchak into the rationalist category since he clearly is a big fan and follows a lot of the philosophy of the Maharal.

I guess we would have to ask Rabbi Slifkin what his point was.

Not sure why this is a blow to rationalism. I would say it is a contention to Rabbi Slifkin's assertion.

Freelance Kiruv Maniac said...

I do not know why Rabbi Slifkin would put the Pachad Yitzchak into the rationalist category since he clearly is a big fan and follows a lot of the philosophy of the Maharal.

Oy, E-man! If only yopu knew how ironic this was!

I think it's clear from this experiment that Rabbi Slifkin's whole approach to labeling rabbis based on isolated statements scattered throughout the literature, is completely incompetent and quite misleading.

E-Man said...

There is an explanation and it was similar to what I thought:

"It wasn't anything that I hadn't already dealt with. I already pointed to a similar such position from R. Lampronti in a footnote in Sacred Monsters - Pachad Yitzchak, vol. 4 (letters yud-lamed) p. 72b, erech Klayos yoatzos, where he likewise talks about Chazal having supernatural insights into nature and knowing more than scientists, etc. But there he writes more at length and says that when confronted with a maamar Chazal that conflicts with science, he takes one of two approaches: either that of Rambam/ de Rossi, or that they had mystical insight. So he admits to having a bifurcated approach (to put it mildly - others might call it self-conflicting). He certainly wasn't a rationalist in the Rishonic sense of the term, but he was willing to adopt that approach in certain cases. I see no reason whatsoever to believe that he retracted in the lice issue; after citing R. Brill’s position, Rabbi L. again explains why he believes that one should be concerned for a scientific error. And the additional source that I quoted here shows that this does not conflict with him elsewhere saying that Chazal were correct."

So he was not referring to him in the conventional rationalistic sense.

Freelance Kiruv Maniac said...

but he was willing to adopt that approach in certain cases.

Um, a small point of logic here: If you are very selective about when you accept science and when you reject it, that means it's not really his "approach" at all in any meaningful sense.

The most you can say is that, as an individual, his written positions do not have a consistent approach to science at all.

What's worse is that Rabbi Slifkin is aware of this and proceeds to list him as an authority anyway-- in essays which attempt to establish general rabbinic approval for his approach!

What we have here is a clear case of cherry-picking whatever random statement fits into his pre-established position and essentially painting the target around the arrow for a bull's eye every time.

(My original point was that he should just stop the misleading name-dropping altogether.)

E-Man said...

You seem to have very rigid definitions of things. An approach means this and only this even if u qualify it like rav slifkin, well family mesorah is different than inhereted mesorah, etc. Why can't u just agree that Rav Slifkin did not mean what u are saying he meant. This is especially disturbing since he wrote a whole post on what he actually meant. Read what he says not what u want to think. If he was no longer living and u had to figure it out yourself that is one thing, but the man is alive explaining his position and u are distorting it.

Freelance Kiruv Maniac said...

You seem to have very rigid definitions of things.

I think objecting to an conscious abuse of the [key], legitimizing term "approach" by Rabbi Slifkin, is not being "rigid". It's calling a spade a spade.

Why can't u just agree that Rav Slifkin did not mean what u are saying he meant. This is especially disturbing since he wrote a whole post on what he actually meant.

He can say what he means all he likes. I didn't claim he didn't mean it.
But language has to have some common meaning to the average person. The term "approach" just doesn't mean stringing random statements together in order to lend legitimacy to his pre-determined position.

He is abusing language with his custom-made "intended meaning" in order to give himself artificial legitimacy.

Foul.

September 23, 2009 2:54 PM

E-Man said...

FKM- everything is different in context. When someone is labeled in the rationalistic camp for a certain point of view that is not thé same thing as labeling him and all out rationalist. Everything needs to be understood in context. You are taking a statement out of context here. Words still have meaning, but context matters. That is what I think u are missing here.

I could call u a rationalist also by saying that u don't believe pigs can fly. That puts u in the rationalistic camp for that idea. That is what Rabbi slifkin is doing, putting him in the camp for a specific idea.

Freelance Kiruv Maniac said...

That is what Rabbi slifkin is doing, putting him in the camp for a specific idea.

Well by doing that, he is being very misleading about it, isn't he?

Let's take your example above:
Let's say you believe in all kinds of superstitious non-sense like fairies, leprechauns, elves and pixie dust, etc. But you would never believe in flying pigs.
Never.

Then some guy decides to publicize your disbelief in flying pigs and then describes you as a rationalist who is joining the ranks of Rav Saadia Gaon, the Rambam, and all the rationalist thinkers we all know and love.

I later takes this guy to task by pointing out that you happen believe in all sorts of imaginary beings which makes you very much the non-rationalist.

This guy responds to me: "I course I knew E-man believes in all that other non-sense. But with regard to the idea of flying pigs, E-man's a rationalist! That's all I meant!"

Don't you think that's a little misleading, E-man?

[P.S. more examples of this technique of Rabbi Slifkin can be seen here and in the last comment to an earlier post here.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Yet Another Blow To The "Rationalist Mesorah"

Let's have some fun:

First read the passage and try to guess which member of the so-called "Rationalist Mesorah" wrote it. Don't do any searches first. Test yourself.
Then go the comments to see a link to this text in the original and confirm your guess. Then leave a comment to say whether you guessed correctly or were surprised.

אתה עתה ברוך ה׳ השמר לך יפן יהיה עם לבבך דבר בליעל לאמר כי בעלי הנסיון יוכיחו בזה הפך דברי חכמי ישראל כי הנה מלבד שכבר הוכחתי ובארתי לעיל שאין סתירה כל עקר בדבריהם שהרי הם לא אמרו אלא *** **********

אפי׳ תימא שבעלי הנסיון היו מוכיחים הפך מדברי חכמים לא תאבה להם ולא תשמע בקולם כי חכמי ישראל האמיתים ידעו והשיגו בכל המושכלות מה שעדיין לא השיגו ולא ישיגו כל חכמי העולם כאשר כמה מן הדברים יוכיחו היות האמת והצדק כי דבר ה׳ היתה בפיהם אמת בפי המדבר אליהם הוא היתברך ויתעלה שם כבודו שחלק להם מחכמתו להבין ולהורות לבני ישראל את דרך עץ החיים אשר ילכו בה למען ישמרו לעשות ולפיכך אין לנו לזוז מדבריהם דברי אלהים חיים ועל המפקפק באמיתות זה לדעתי נוטה לצד מינות וראוי להעבירו ולנדותו אם לא ירצה לשמוע לדברי חכמים כמ״ש המרדכי שהשיב ר״י בר״י לרש״י על ********* ושאם היה אדם שמפשפש כנגד דבר זה שראוי לנדותו ונוטר,ונוטה לצד מינות לפי שלא חלקו חכמים בין חיה לבהמה עי״ש לכן שמענה ואתה דע לך כי להשלמים בחכמתם הרמיזה תספיק להם ואינם צריכים לא לכפול ולא להאריך בראיות רק בראשי פרקים וכמ״ש הרמב״ם מפסוק תן לחכם ויחכם עוד.

I will paraphrase some lines above which I believe are most relevant to the contemporary debate between Rabbi Slifkin and his detractors:

"Even if the experimenters bring strong proof against the words of the Sages, don't pay attention to them and do not listen to their voice.
For true Jewish Sages know and understand all wisdom-- including that which is not known and will never be known by the Non-Jewish wise men... for the word of God is in their mouths...God has apportioned to them a portion of His wisdom to comprehend and to instruct the Jewish People on the path of the Tree of Life...therefore we cannot budge from their words which are the words of the Living God.
And for one who will be skeptical of the truth of this, it seems to my knowledge to be a tendency towards heresy. And it is proper to remove him and excommunicate him if he does not want to listen to the words of the Sages...
"And if someone were to make investigations to oppose this thing, it is fitting to excommunicate him for he has a tendency towards heresy..."

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Just to emphasize some points that may have been overlooked...

I

In response to this line of reasoning by Chardal:

and even if you are right and R' Saadia's one example was meant to put a hard red line beyond which pesukim are not to be allegorized, this does nothing to us living in the scientific age. An age where epistemology is radically different than it was a 1000 years ago.

I made the following strong statement [with clarifying additions]:

Then do me a favor. If you think today's epistemology radically different enough to make the rishonim obsolete, don't bother quoting Rav Saadia as your Rav Hamachshir.

Just be upfront about it and say "Today, we know better and we need to allegorize things the rishonim never dreamed of."
Conjecture about what rishonim would have said if living today is not really worth anything--the non-Orthodox can say the exact same thing about [their distortions of Judaism claiming that the rishonim would have done the same thing had they known what we know now].

It will clarify to everyone where you really stand on Torah and Science.


Although Chardal subsequently posted a comment in response, it seems Rabbi Slifkin felt the need to express his sympathy with Chardal's approach on his "Rationalist Judaism" blog with this post (posted a few days ago concealed via an anachronistic time stamp) Edit: It has been clarified that the early time stamp was automatically put in place by the first draft date and was completed and posted later without adjusting the time stamp accordingly. I apologize if I may have implied that this was intentional.

There are three types of rationalists.

There are medieval rationalists.
There are 21st century rationalists.
And there are medieval rationalists living in the 21st century.

There are plenty of ideas and arguments that seemed perfectly rational in the twelfth century, but which have since been shown fallacious.

So, for example: Rambam believed that only a fool would deny spontaneous generation. That was a reflection of the scientific beliefs of his era, which a rationalist today should not accept. Many rationalist Rishonim believed that God's existence can be logically proven. But as far as I understand, in the world of philosophy, that is no longer true; at best, it can be argued to be rational to accept God's existence. Rambam believed that being a good Jew and receiving a portion in the next world is contingent on intellectual perfection, and therefore simple-minded people, children, and those making fundamental hashkafic errors simply cannot receive a portion in the next world. But this was a result of his particular hybridization of Greek philosophy with Judaism.


I have noticed a distinct group of people who consider themselves loyal followers of the Rambam, but they are medieval rationalists living in the 21st century. And as Rambam says, "A man should never cast his reason behind him, for the eyes are set in the front, not behind." Rambam did not believe Chazal to be infallible, and he would certainly not have rated himself that way, either. A rationalist today should follow Rambam's underlying guiding principles, not necessarily his specific application of them.

I later responded to Chardal regarding his method of "following the Rambam's underlining guiding principles" as follows:

I don't see you or Gil applying anyone with any real precision over here:
Rav Saadia used accepted Aristotelian arguments as proofs-- so we can accept modern science as proofs. That much I can agree with.



But then you say modern science has enough proof to force an allegorization of the Torah when Rav Saadia did no such thing with Aristotelian arguments. [So it does not follow that we can use modern science to force an allegorization.]



If a non-orthodox rabbi pulled a move like that in a teshuvah to matir XYZ as a horo'as sha'ah or whatever, I don't think you would be so quick to approve.


II
And as a response to this "important post" on "Rationalist Judaism", I concluded:

You misunderstand. The argument is not [against] a slippery slope. It it against a lack of rigor and rampant intellectual dishonesty.

Judaism is not a subjective realm of belief that has to conform to whatever one finds "convincing" or "compelling". It is a system which demands obedience to rigid rules of interpretation and precise models of precedent.

If you can liberalize your approach to belief in Judaism to whatever you personally find "intellectually compelling", then in principle, you are undermining the basic authority of Judaism as a self-justifying religious system.

I'm just pointing out the immediate logical consequences of that approach as an illustration of why it is wrong.

Since I am not the one who is making a business out of finding dogmas that define "authentically believing jews" - this is not a question I wish to answer. It is simply not a topic I am interested in.

That's funny. It seems the Rambam was VERY interested in this business. Why don't you follow the Rambam's approach and take interest in this area as well?
This is what I mean by intellectual dishonesty.


III


I'm wondering if anyone has a rebuttal to my proof from the Moreh that the Rambam indeed acknowledges the existence of a spiritual realm.
To review:

Chardal challenged:

"...This is a major revisionism of the rambam's whole philosophy! what spiritual realm? Rambam knows of no such realm."

"...Please point to one passage where the Rambam discusses a "spiritual realm." Just one."

I responded:

The Rambam in Moreh Book I chapter 49 describes malachim as real live beings which are simply not physical.
This proves the existence of a spiritual dimension in which these malacim actually exist.

Below are the relevant excerpts from that perek to prove that malachim are real live existing beings.

גם המלאכים אינם בעלי גוף, אלא הם שכלים נבדלים מחומר 1, אבל הם פעולים וה' בראם [עב] כמו שיתבאר 2.


גם מחמת קושי זה 15 דברו ספרי הנביאים בלשונות שאפשר להבין מפשוטם גשמות המלאכים ותנועותיהם, ושהם צורת אדם, ושהם מצווים מאת ה' מפעילים פקודותיו ועושים את רצונו במצותו, כל זה כדי להדריך את המחשבה על מציאותם, 16 ושהם חיים שלמים כמו שבארנו במה שכלפי ה' 17. אלא שאילו השאירו את הדבר בהם כפי דמיון זה, כי אז הייתה נדמית אמיתתם ועצמותם לעצמות ה' בדמיון ההמון. כי גם כך נאמרו בה' לשונות שמראים פשטיהם שהוא גוף חי בעל תנועה כצורת אדם.

לפיכך הודרכה המחשבה לכך שמעלת מציאותם למטה ממעלת ה', במה שעירבו בתארם משהו מתוארי בעלי החיים שאינם מדברים, כדי שיהא המובן מכך כי מציאות הבורא יותר שלמה ממציאותם, כמו שהאדם יותר שלם מבעלי החיים שאינם מדברים.

ונבחרה תנועת התעופה, להורות 20 על היותם חיים, כיון שהיא היותר שלמה בתנועה המקומית 21 של בעלי החיים הבלתי מדברים והיותר נכבדה. והאדם חושב אותה שלמות גדולה, [עג] עד שהאדם מתאווה לעוף 22 כדי להקל עליו הבריחה מכל מה שמזיקו, וילך לקראת מה שמתאים לו במהירות, ואפילו היה רחוק. לפיכך יוחסה להם תנועה זו.

ועוד, מפני שהעוף נגלה ונעלם, ומתקרב ושוב מתרחק 23 בזמן מועט, וכל אלה מצבים שראוי שכך תהיה דעתנו על המלאכים כמו שיתבאר 24.



It seems from Chardal's comment above that there was/is a lot of scholarship on Maimonidean thought which firmly asserts that he believed there is no such thing.
I would find it pretty pathetic for this whole school to have overlooked my source.
Any defenders?

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Debate Re: Allegorizing Chumash

Since the Hirhurim post in which the following debate ensued is now sub-visual, and noticing that my interlocutors have not responded for a day, I figured I might as well post the exchange here for further exposure and comment.
My comments are mostly put in blue.
My responders are in plain black.
Check the signature at the end of each comment to be sure.
(Some comments were not reproduced here in order to stay on topic.)

Gil, [wrote in previous comments]
"When there is compelling reason to believe that they aren't, we are free to do so (according to R. Sa'adia Gaon, Rambam, etc.),...

"Not me. But according to R. Sa'adia Gaon, if and when it becomes clear that it is scientifically impossible, then we must assume that it was meant allegorically."


These are total distortions of these shittos and you seems to be blindly following R' Jeremy Wieder's distortions.

Look up the sources inside and tell me whether they really say all you need is "a compelling reason" or "scientifically impossible".

The proof you are wrong is Techiyas Hameism. The Rationalists of the time wanted to allegorize it precisely because of its scientific impossibility.
But Rav Saadia and the Rambam both said the scientifically impossible is not a reason to allegorize anything.

Hence we believe in Techiyas Hameism. The Rambam in that Iggeres said it is an ikkar BECAUSE it forces a person to allow miracles in his worldview-- despite the fact that it must defy what is scientifically possible.
http://fkmaniac.blogspot.com/200...-do-i- care.html


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FKM: These are total distortions of these shittos and you seems to be blindly following R' Jeremy Wieder's distortions.


I have looked them up, as well as the Chacham Tzvi's teshuvah. I (and R. Jeremy Wieder) presented them accurately.

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I have looked them up, as well as the Chacham Tzvi's teshuvah. I (and R. Jeremy Wieder) presented them accurately.

Sounds like an appeal to authority.
But I'm curious: Where is this teshuvah and what does he say?

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FKM: In Torah matters, an appeal to authority is valid.

http://hirhurim.blogspot.com/200...i-mayim- ii.html

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FKM: In Torah matters, an appeal to authority is valid.

http://hirhurim.blogspot.com/200.../200...i-mayim- ii.html
Gil | Homepage | 09.04.09 - 9:23 am | #


Okay, so where's the authority here that you are appealing to?

I see clearly that the Chacham Zvi reiterates the criteria of Rav Saadia Gaon--
כי לא נתנה התורה דברי' לשיעורין וזה יסוד כל התורה וכל הנביאים כולם אם לא במקום שדוחק אותנו החוש או המופת המכחיש פשוטו או שהמקראות סותרין זה את זה וכמ"ש רבנו סעדיא גאון...

Are you claiming these criteria apply in any way to the indirect, inductive, archeological and geological evidence mounted against the Torah's account of the Mabul?

I just don't see "compelling reasons", or "scientifically impossible" here in this teshuvah anywhere.

What evidence is there against the mabul that qualifies as חוש--direct observation of the senses-- or מופת--mathematical, syllogistic logic?


I just read your post again and found the problem.
You wrote (emphasis mine):

As I summarize here, R. Sa'adia Gaon's position is that verses may be understood as being purely allegorical if they fulfill any of the following four conditions: 1) the plain meaning contradicts the senses (and, I think, science); 2) it is repudiated by logic; 3) it is contradicted by other verses; 4) it is opposed by the oral tradition.

What you added in parentheses is precisely what I consider your (and R' Wieder's) blatant distortion of Rav Saadia's position. (However well intentioned you might be.)


"Mofes" refers to an abstract argument.


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1) You yourself translated it as "logic" in your linked post to the teshuva. Not "compelling reasons". Additionally, Rav Saadia Gaon doesn't leave the term up to our imagination. All his examples of this "מופת" category are air-tight syllogistic logic.

2) You yourself inserted "science" into the חוש category and implied here that it can cover the inductive evidence against the mabul's occurence. I am still at a complete loss how you justify this blatant distortion even to yourself.


FKM: I don't understand how your parents and rebbe could have raised you to think that it is acceptable to write directly to someone and refer to his "blatant distortion".

If you would think with a little flexibility and creativity, you could judge favorably and find an explanation for all of your questions. But, evidently, even during Elul you cannot do that.


If you would only be distorting Shakespeare (or J.K. Rowling) I wouldn't really give a darn.
But you're not, so I do.

Don't you realize that one false move in this area puts one under the Rashba's cherem?
When so many less knowledgeable Orthodox Jews take your views as representing non-controversial positions in Jewish theology, I think you have a responsibility to justify your reading of Rav Saadia in a way that does not require "flexibility and creativity" on my part.


"You yourself inserted "science" into the חוש category and implied here that it can cover the inductive evidence"

FKM:

I don't want to get involved in your battles, since I have other important issues to attend to.

However, in defense of R. Gil (not that he needs my defense), all physics is inductive evidence. Only mathematics is deductive. The law of gravity is inductive - one could easily imagine a universe with no gravity. We all use inductive evidence every day. Chazal used inductive evidence repeatedly in the Gemara.

The real question is not whether evidence is inductive, but whether it is persuasive. To know whether it is persuasive, you need to study it thoroughly.

On another matter, I think I speak for many people here when I ask you to have a bit more derech eretz for our achsania, R. Gil.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The real question is not whether evidence is inductive, but whether it is persuasive.

If you think that's the question, then
you haven't read Rav Saadia inside. The examples he gives to this category simply do not lend to that kind of enormous generalization.

Look, I'm not the only one who thinks this is a clear distortion of the sources:
http://machzikeihadas.blogspot.c...iders- when.html

(If R' Gil thinks a negative description of someone's scholarship is not appropriate for Elul because he takes it personally, then what does he think about R' Slifkin's critique of "Chaim Be'emunasom"?
The double-standard here is really quite transparent. Feel free to delete if you think it's offensive.)


Chazal used inductive evidence repeatedly in the Gemara.

Huh??
But did they use it as a reason to allegorize something in the Torah??
The question is not the general reliability of inductive reasoning (in halachic decision making or everyday life)!
That is certainly the NOT question.



>If you think that's the question, then
you haven't read Rav Saadia inside. The examples he gives to this category simply do not lend to that kind of enormous generalization.<

I have. He clearly believes that philosophical conclusions which contradict the literal interpretations are sufficient reason to allegorize. The examples he give are reflective of the Aristotelian epistemology of his time. We live a 1000 years later and philosophy has developed a bit with something called the scientific revolution which cause a not-so-minor shift in the field of epistemology. It stands to reason that R' Saadia would apply the most current philosophical approaches were he living today.


E-man said:

"...That would go against logic, reason and common sense.
However, you can say that G-D performed an unnatural miracle and although it is impossible for a global flood to have happened G-D did it unnaturally, that is fine. However, it does not fit into the theology or philosophy or Rav Saadia or the Rambam.
"

If you think the possibility of nature-defying miracles goes against logic and reason then how can you (and Rav Saadia and the Rambam) believe in the ikkar of Techiyas Hameisim?


He clearly believes that philosophical conclusions which contradict the literal interpretations are sufficient reason to allegorize.


More unwarranted generalizations.

Don't commit the obvious fallacy of assigning all philosophic conclusions with the same strength.
Mathematical deductive logic is also a form of philosophy. That is the kind of philosophy Rav Saadia is clearly referring to.
Would you claim that this was significantly altered by modern science? I hope not.
Does 2+2=4 change over time like most of philosophy changes over time?


More unwarranted generalizations.

Don't commit the obvious fallacy of assigning all philosophic conclusions with the same strength.


Agreed. But many of R. Sa'adia's philosophical arguments that he accepted have been challenged. They are not of the type of 2+2=4.


Agreed. But many of R. Sa'adia's philosophical arguments that he accepted have been challenged.

Agreed. But were those challenged arguments the same ones he touts as an example of when we can allegorize Chumash? No.
So they are completely irrelevant.


They are not of the type of 2+2=4.

The ones he uses to justify allegory come pretty darn close. That's precisely my point.




looking at R' Kapach's translation of RSG again. I have to say that FKM's interpretation is a bit puzzling.

the second manner by which it is appropriate to allegorize is:

או שהשכל דוחה אותו, כאמרו כי ה' אלהיך אש אכלה הוא אל קנא, והרי האש ברואה וזקוקה לחומר ופעמים נכבית, ואין השכל מקבל שיהא הוא כך, ולכן מוכרח שתהא מלה נסתרת בלשון שנקמתו כאש אכלה, וכמו שנאמר כי באש קנאתי כאש אכלה, וכמו שנאמר כי באש קנאתי תאכל כל הארץ.

השכל דוחה אותו is not limited to deductive logic nor is the example which itself includes inductive observed components.

The reason R' Saadia give as to why techiyat hameitim does not fit into this category is:

וגם אין השכל דוחה אותו, מפני שהחזרת דבר שכבר היה ונתפרד קרוב למושכל יותר מבריאת יש מאין.

This is of course based on a aristotalean understanding of the nature of matter which itself was based on non-scientific observations about the world.

The point is, that your diyukim in R' Saadia are not warranted. All he is saying is that the intellect is a solid authority for the allegorization of scripture. His examples are exactly what you would expect from someone writing in that era.


I had a feeling someone would make this mistake.
He is giving two different examples of reasoning to make the following contrast.
The criteria for violating logic in order to allegorize the verses are HIGHER than the logic required for keeping their original intent.

Saying "God is literally a fire" is logically absurd--השכל דוחה אותו because:
God, on the one hand, is a uncreated entity and is not dependent on substance.
Fire, on the other hand, is a created entity and needs material substance to exist.
This is not an Aristotelian argument but syllogistic logic.

So to MAINTAIN the literal meaning of the verse and say God is fire, is a logical absurdity which the intellect rejects. And that level of intellectual certainty against absurdities allows allegory to win over the literal.

But to MAINTAIN the literal understanding of resurrection does NOT require a logical absurdity and is NOT something that the intellect rejects (--on the contrary-- it is something that Aristotelian logic can accept since it is not as bad as creation ex-nihilo), so it can stay literal. Allegory is not justified here because it is not an absurdity and can be logically justified (even though it is "scientifically impossible"--which Rav Saadia says elsewhere).


>This is not an Aristotelian argument but syllogistic logic.

The aristotelian part is the claim that "שהחזרת דבר שכבר היה ונתפרד קרוב למושכל יותר מבריאת יש מאין"

As for the syllogism. It is as powerful as the assumptions on which it is based - namely the observation that והרי האש ברואה וזקוקה לחומר ופעמים נכבית. a property of fire which is established through induction.

But in the final analysis - you are again missing the point. The example does not need to limit the condition - it only needs to illustrate it. The main point of R' Saadia is that something which the intelect rejects strongly is something which is worthy of being allegorized. Your diukim are not warranted nor are they even compelling.


The aristotelian part is the claim that "שהחזרת דבר שכבר היה ונתפרד קרוב למושכל יותר מבריאת יש מאין"

You are simply cutting and pasting this line out of context. Yes, Rav Saadia employs Aristotelian type arguments for accepting things as true IN GENERAL. But NOT for allegorizing pesukim!! His example for doing that shows you that it requires something much more powerful!

You are forgetting this Aristotelian notion he gave here was NOT an illustration of what it takes to allegorize. You are making a cholent out of the whole thing.


The main point of R' Saadia is that something which the intellect rejects strongly is something which is worthy of being allegorized.

And that means you have to RANK each argument for its particular strength, right?
The illustration Rav Saadia actually gave as a strong rejection of the intellect was in fact a syllogism which has NOTHING to do with his Aristotelian way of accepting Techiyas Hameisim.

But then you try to kvetch that this Aristotelian way of thinking about techiyas hameisim then qualifies as a being powerful enough to allegorize a pasuk??

Again, showing that Rav Saadia accepted an Aristotelian way of accepting some propositions as reasonable doesn't imply whatsoever that it has a great rank in absolute terms akin to his example of a syllogism.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




>You are simply cutting and pasting this line out of context. Yes, Rav Saadia employs Aristotelian type arguments for accepting things as true IN GENERAL. But NOT for allegorizing pesukim!! His example for doing that shows you that it requires something much more powerful!<

Again, there is no reason to think that that his example is anything more than an example. He does not say "and the only type of intellectual argumentation you can use for allegorical pesukim is X, Y, or Z" It would be absurd of him to say such a thing since R' Saadia was well aware that the human intellect progresses and develops new and improved methods to arrive at an understanding of reality. You are making diukim that are not warranted by R' Saadia's words in order to protect your own fundamentalism. >And that means you have to RANK each argument for its particular strength, right?

Presumably, yes. but reasonable minds can disagree on how to rank arguments. and even if you are right and R' Saadia's one example was meant to put a hard red line beyond which pesukim are not to be allegorized, this does nothing to us living in the scientific age. An age where epistemology is radically different than it was a 1000 years ago. (and if I may add, an age where we routinely matir issurei deOraitas for pikuach nefesh based on observations of reality that are purely based on the inductive scientific approach). Your arbitrary line in the sand is a bit disingenuous.


and even if you are right and R' Saadia's one example was meant to put a hard red line beyond which pesukim are not to be allegorized, this does nothing to us living in the scientific age. An age where epistemology is radically different than it was a 1000 years ago.


Then do me a favor. If you think today's epistemology radically different enough to make the rishonim obsolete, don't bother quoting Rav Saadia as your Rav Hamachshir.

Just be upfront about it and say "Today, we know better and we need to allegorize things the rishonim never dreamed of."
Conjecture about what rishonim would have said if living today is not really worth anything--the non-Orthodox can say the exact same thing about us.

It will clarify to everyone where you really stand on Torah and Science.




>Then do me a favor. If you think today's epistemology radically different enough to make the rishonim obsolete, don't bother quoting Rav Saadia as your Rav Hamachshir.<

Oh, I see, so in your view, admission of the progress of human knowledge and thought makes earlier greats obsolete. So much for the dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants image. Are you truly that inflexible in your thought?

>Just be upfront about it and say "Today, we know better and we need to allegorize things the rishonim never dreamed of."<

Today we know many things better and people have the right to allegorize things the rishonim never dreamed of - all based on the same methods those very rishonim used themselves when they allegorized things their predecessors never did.

>Conjecture about what rishonim would have said if living today is not really worth anything<

It is called talmud Torah - learning the rishonim (or geonim in this case) and applying them to the current reality.

>the non-Orthodox can say the exact same thing about us.<

so what? how is that an argument about anything?


It is called talmud Torah - learning the rishonim (or geonim in this case) and applying them to the current reality.

I don't see you or Gil applying anyone with any real precision over here:
Rav Saadia used accepted Aristotelian arguments as proofs so we can accept modern science as proofs. That much I can agree with.
But then you say modern science has enough proof to force an allegorization of the Torah when Rav Saadia did no such thing with Aristotelian arguments.

If a non-orthodox rabbi pulled a move like that in a teshuvah to matir XYZ as a horo'as sha'ah or whatever, I don't think you would be so quick to approve.
And he would charge that in your rejection you are acting just like רבי זכרי'ה...




>But then you say modern science has enough proof to force an allegorization of the Torah when Rav Saadia did no such thing with Aristotelian arguments.<

But he did! Syllogistic arguments are one of the foundations of Aristotelian logic. And even if they are not. They are certainly not a part of our messorah. There is not much if any formal logic in the gemara. R' Saadia was applying the standards of his time. We should do the same. If we move past RSG and onto the Rambam, then we can see clearly that he allegorized pesukim based on greek astronomy as well as neo-Aristotelian metaphysics. There are of course times when he rejects the Aristotelian dogma a but it is usually for conceptual reasons which go far beyond the want to preserve the literal level of scripture.


They are certainly not a part of our messorah. There is not much if any formal logic in the gemara.

I can't think of examples off the top of my head, but I contest this assertion. If there is at least one example, then why couldn't you consider it part of the mesorah?

the Rambam, then we can see clearly that he allegorized pesukim based on greek astronomy as well as neo-aristotelean metaphysics.

Examples please.
And let me clarify:
1) Are you referring to allegorizing psukim in Chumash or only in Nevi'im or Kesuvim?
2) If in Chumash itself, is it really whole pesukim and total allegory? Or rather the metaphoric understanding of a phrase, like "lev hashomayim"?


>I can't think of examples off the top of my head, but I contest this assertion. If there is at least one example, then why couldn't you consider it part of the mesorah?<

Because the MO of the gemara is not formal logic - even if you were able to find an example of such argumentation (which would surprize me but would still not change the force of my point). See HaRav HaNazir's Kol HaNevua where he gives pretty comprehensive treatment to the differences between greek formal logic and the argumentations of the gemara.

>1) Are you referring to allegorizing psukim in Chumash or only in Nevi'im or Kesuvim?
2) If in Chumash itself, is it really whole pesukim and total allegory? Or rather the metaphoric understanding of a phrase, like "lev hashomayim"?<

1) all of the above. 2) understanding whole passages as dream sequences would qualify (eg. Abraham and the angels, Bilaam, etc). I would add to this his asseration in MN 2:25 that if the platonic model of a world created from primordial matter were philosophically compelling, he would re-interpret bereishit to conform to such a model. There are of course many other examples from the wider Maimonidean school which is of course why the whole debate about philosophy raged in the first place.



I still don't think the Greeks can put a copyright on deductive or logical thinking-- even if they were the first ones recorded in history to formalize the technical rules.

understanding whole passages as dream sequences would qualify (eg. Abraham and the angels, Bilaam, etc).

This certainly does NOT qualify.
1) This is not allegory in any sense that the Rambam himself used the term. It all literally happened in the spiritual realm. He explicitly differentiates between Chumash and Navi regarding the use of real allegory.
Acc. to you, that distinction doesn't exist.
2) The Rambam's shitta about malachim's non-interaction with the physical world makes him very tightly consistent in his application to all your examples. You cannot extrapolate from these to a story that has no internal indication that it did not physically take place.


I would add to this his asseration in MN 2:25 that if the platonic model of a world created from primordial matter were philosophically compelling, he would re-interperet bereishit to conform to such a model.

Sorry, this is only a metaphoric reinterpretation of the meaning of specific words. He explicitly compared this to how he re-interprets anthropomorphisms.
All it would take to accomodate Plato is to understand Bereishis as referring to a beginning of the physical universe and not an absolute beginning of all existence.
This would not alter the literal meaning of the creation story itself and render it an allegory-- it would only constrict its literal description to one (enormously significant) plane of existence.


There are of course many other examples from the wider mimonedean school...

Not relevant to this discussion if we are talking about appealing to authoritative rishonim for a license to allegorize. I believe R' Gil was trying to do that and he would not take a license from someone like Ibn Caspi etc...
(If I'm mistaken and he would, then I wouldn't bother debating him on the subject.)


Another response to this:

I would add to this his asseration in MN 2:25 that if the platonic model of a world created from primordial matter were philosophically compelling, he would re-interperet bereishit to conform to such a model.

This gets us back to where we left Rav Saadia Gaon. "philosophically compelling" is too vague a translation and open to the same abuse as above.
The Rambam used the term מופת and Kafach described it as הוכחה.
From the context it is absolutely clear that this term demands a high if not the highest level of proof in order to force such a re-interpretation.


That is entirely made up by you. Mifas and Hochacha just mean compelling. Highest level of force would be ones.


Huh?
If I want to say in Hebrew that something is proven without a shadow of doubt I say it's מוכרח.
I would never say that it's אנוס! (or some other form of the word)


FKM,

with all due respect, debating you is like trying to nail jello to a wall.

>This certainly does NOT qualify.
1) This is not allegory in any sense that the Rambam himself used the term. It all literally happened in the spiritual realm. <

This is a major revisionism of the rambam's whole philosophy! what spiritual realm? Rambam knows of no such realm. And if understanding whole narratives as dream sequences is not allegorization then I do not know what is. >He explicitly differentiates between Chumash and Navi regarding the use of real allegory.<>Acc. to you, that distinction doesn't exist.<>

>2) The Rambam's shitta about malachim's non-interaction with the physical world makes him very tightly consistent in his application to all your examples.<

This is based on his philosophical understanding of metaphysics and the way the Divine influences the physical. The fact that it is internally consistent does not change the fact that he is allegorizing based on a-priori philosophical conclusions whose source is well outside of traditional thought for his time.

>You cannot extrapolate from these to a story that has no internal indication that it did not physically take place.<

What "internal indication"? I am not even sure what you are saying in this sentence. The rambam does not allegorize based on internal indications in the text but based on philosophical understanding.

>From the context it is absolutely clear that this term demands a high if not the highest level of proof in order to force such a re-interpretation.<

This is ridiculous. The context shows no such thing. Further, the "highest level of proof" is a dynamic standard itself. As we said above, philosophy has developed over the past 800 years and what was considered compelling in the past has been largely reconsidered. The Rambam was quite radical in his philosophy and had few qualms about shifting away from the traditional messorah when his intellect compelled him to do so. People who allegorize the mabul today are simply following in that tradition.


This is a major revisionism of the rambam's whole philosophy! what spiritual realm? Rambam knows of no such realm.

I obviously disagree. This issue needs more detailed treatment than a comment on a blog.


This is ridiculous. The context shows no such thing.

Of course it does!

The Rambam was quite radical in his philosophy and had few qualms about shifting away from the traditional messorah when his intellect compelled him to do so. People who allegorize the mabul today are simply following in that tradition.

This line of argument is just futile and self-defeating.
A non-Orthodox theologian could oh, so easily replace "allegorize the mabul" with "allegorize Ma'amad Har Sinai" and remain an authentically believing Jew in your view?


>I obviously disagree. This issue needs more detailed treatment than a comment on a blog.<

But you are plain wrong. Please point to one passage where the Rambam discusses a "spiritual realm." Just one.

>This line of argument is just futile and self-defeating.
A non-Orthodox theologian could oh, so easily replace "allegorize the mabul" with "allegorize Ma'amad Har Sinai" and remain an authentically believing Jew in your view?<

Do all your arguments boil down to fear of slippery slopes? if so, you may find that there is no dry ground anywhere. Since I am not the one who is making a business out of finding dogmas that define "authentically believing Jews" - this is not a question I wish to answer. It is simply not a topic I am interested in. I will say however, that if someone feels that it is intellectually compelling to reject the historicity of maamad har sinai, then I certainly hope that he would prefer allegorizing it and still conceiving of the Torah as Divine as opposed to throwing it all away.


Please point to one passage where the Rambam discusses a "spiritual realm." Just one.

The Rambam in Moreh Book I chapter 49 describes malachim as real live beings which are simply not physical.
This proves the existence of a spiritual dimension in which these malacim actually exist.

Below are the relevant excerpts from that perek to prove that malachim are real live existing beings.

גם המלאכים אינם בעלי גוף, אלא הם שכלים נבדלים מחומר 1, אבל הם פעולים וה' בראם [עב] כמו שיתבאר 2.


גם מחמת קושי זה 15 דברו ספרי הנביאים בלשונות שאפשר להבין מפשוטם גשמות המלאכים ותנועותיהם, ושהם צורת אדם, ושהם מצווים מאת ה' מפעילים פקודותיו ועושים את רצונו במצותו, כל זה כדי להדריך את המחשבה על מציאותם, 16 ושהם חיים שלמים כמו שבארנו במה שכלפי ה' 17. אלא שאילו השאירו את הדבר בהם כפי דמיון זה, כי אז הייתה נדמית אמיתתם ועצמותם לעצמות ה' בדמיון ההמון. כי גם כך נאמרו בה' לשונות שמראים פשטיהם שהוא גוף חי בעל תנועה כצורת אדם.

לפיכך הודרכה המחשבה לכך שמעלת מציאותם למטה ממעלת ה', במה שעירבו בתארם משהו מתוארי בעלי החיים שאינם מדברים, כדי שיהא המובן מכך כי מציאות הבורא יותר שלמה ממציאותם, כמו שהאדם יותר שלם מבעלי החיים שאינם מדברים.

ונבחרה תנועת התעופה, להורות 20 על היותם חיים, כיון שהיא היותר שלמה בתנועה המקומית 21 של בעלי החיים הבלתי מדברים והיותר נכבדה. והאדם חושב אותה שלמות גדולה, [עג] עד שהאדם מתאווה לעוף 22 כדי להקל עליו הבריחה מכל מה שמזיקו, וילך לקראת מה שמתאים לו במהירות, ואפילו היה רחוק. לפיכך יוחסה להם תנועה זו.

ועוד, מפני שהעוף נגלה ונעלם, ומתקרב ושוב מתרחק 23 בזמן מועט, וכל אלה מצבים שראוי שכך תהיה דעתנו על המלאכים כמו שיתבאר 24.


Do all your arguments boil down to fear of slipery slopes?if so, you may find that there is no dry ground anywhere.

You misunderstand. The argument is not from a slippery slope. It it against a lack of rigor and rampant intellectual dishonesty.

Judaism is not a subjective realm of belief that has to conform to whatever one finds "convincing" or "compelling". It is a system which demands obedience to rigid rules of interpretation and precise models of precedent.

If you can liberalize your approach to belief in Judaism to whatever you personally find "intellectually compelling", then in principle, you are undermining the basic authority of Judaism as a self-justifying religious system.

I'm just pointing out the immediate logical consequences of that approach as an illustration of why it is wrong.

Since I am not the one who is making a business out of finding dogmas that define "authentically believing jews" - this is not a question I wish to answer. It is simply not a topic I am interested in.

That's funny. It seems the Rambam was VERY interested in this business. Why don't you follow the Rambam's approach and take interest in this area as well?
This is what I mean by intellectual dishonesty.

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Better Let Rabbi Slifkin Say It

From the way Rabbi Slifkin openly expresses his views of Chazal and Rishonim on his own blog, I see very little reason to continue posting on this one on a regular basis.
One of my main objectives here seems to have been achieved for me by the source itself.

From this post on "Rationalist Judaism
I also disagree with your linkage of not seeing God with His being one. That is taking a philosophical argument from Rambam - itself almost certainly based on Greek-Muslim philosophy - and transferring it to Rashi. But there is no evidence that the French Rishonim worked with such philosophical frameworks. I think it is much more likely that it has to do with one of the ideas that I raised above.
--R' Slifkin
I am not claiming that Rashi took the argument from the sources that the Rambam may have used; I am merely making a claim that there exists in the realm of logic/Torah the idea of Echad and incorporealism being linked. Rashi could not arrive at this idea on his own without Aristotle or al-Farabi?? There are numerous times that rishonim from different communimties, indeed different worlds, arrive at the same logical conclusion independently. --R' Zucker
It's very unlikely. We don't see any evidence of the Rishonim from Rashi's time and place engaging in such philosophical pursuits. To put it another way - if he could and did, why did Rambam have to get it from Aristotle and Al-Farabi? --R' Slifkin

The idea that 'HaShem is One' can be connected logically to 'HaShem is incorporeal' is a philosophical pursuit unique to Sefarad, to the exclusion of chakhmei Ashkenaz? Is it not a logical argument about a fundamental principle of the mesorah? Are chakhmei Tzorfas excluded from coming independently to logical conclusions that chakhmei Sefarad, on account of their exposure to Greek and Muslim philosphy, came to? And... the Rambam HAD TO get his conclusion for Aristotle and al-Farabi?! He COULDN'T come up with it on his own? --R' Zucker

The idea that 'HaShem is One' can be connected logically to 'HaShem is incorporeal' is a philosophical pursuit unique to Sefarad, to the exclusion of chakhmei Ashkenaz? Is it not a logical argument about a fundamental principle of the mesorah?

No, of course not! Otherwise, how do you explain the existence of Torah scholars who were corporealists - did they not believe that Hashem is one?!

Are chakhmei Tzorfas excluded from coming independently to logical conclusions that chakhmei Sefarad, on account of their exposure to Greek and Muslim philosphy, came to?

It makes it EXTREMELY unlikely. They just didn't involve themselves with such things. Have you read the history of the period?

And... the Rambam HAD TO get his conclusion for Aristotle and al-Farabi?! He COULDN'T come up with it on his own?

Maybe he could have, but he didn't. Which makes it even less likely that Rashi, who is not known at all as a philosopher, would have.

Look, you are making the northern French Rishonim identical with the Spanish ones - in fact, superior in philosophy, since the Spanish got their philosophy from Aristotle and the Moslems, whereas you are claiming that the French came up with it on their own! This is just not consistent with our historical knowledge of the period. How much have you read about Jewish history in that period? I am referring to academic studies of the history of Jews and theology in the medieval period.
--R' Slifkin
July 31, 2009 9:32 PM

"It makes it EXTREMELY unlikely. They just didn't involve themselves with such things. Have you read the history of the period?"

Really? There are numerous examples of statements of Chazal that are entirely consistent with modern psychological and scientific positions and discoveries. Are those statements also "unlikely"? By the way, I submitted my doctoral thesis at Yeshiva University on the medieval period, so yes...I did study the period rather extensively.

"[my quote:] ... the Rambam HAD TO get his conclusion for Aristotle and al-Farabi?! He COULDN'T come up with it on his own? [your response:] Maybe he could have, but he didn't. Which makes it even less likely that Rashi, who is not known at all as a philosopher, would have."

Please demonstrate how you know that the Rambam DID NOT come up with the idea of Echad = incorporeal on his own, but took it from Aristotle and/or al-Farabi. Or are all incorporealists automatically Aristotelians? --R' Zucker

Really? There are numerous examples of statements of Chazal that are entirely consistent with modern psychological and scientific positions and discoveries. Are those statements also "unlikely"?
If they are consistent with modern positions and INconsistent with ancient positions, then yes, they would be unlikely. Please can you list a single example of a statement of Chazal that is entirely consistent with modern scientific positions and discoveries and is inconsistent with ancient positions.
--R' Slifkin

August 1, 2009 3:06 AM

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Gender Differences Acknowledged By Brain Studies

Below is more encouraging news for all of us bigoted people who still think men and women were not created equal. I know this isn't the first study to prove this, but when popular science media give it more publicity, it means there is a change in the zeitgeist. Hopefully, it indicates that more people are open to learning and hopefully accepting the awful truth.
The article also acknowledges the (obvious) earlier maturity of girls over boys and thus confirms the halachic time gap between Bar and Bas Mitzvah.
(I also think the article's suggestion of the existence of 'feminine' and 'masculine' types within both genders is perfectly accurate, and I discovered that it is fully acknowledged in a sefer called שדה צופים refered to me by E-man. It's a great diyyuk in the Gemara on Sanhedrin 100b)

The full article in SciAm is here.
I paste the paragraphs of most interest to me. (As usual, please ignore the ad hoc, evolutionary "just-so story" explanations for the differences which is unfortunately still de rigueur for SciAm.)

As MRI scanning grows ever more sophisticated, neuroscientists keep refining their search for male-female brain differences that will answer the age-old question, “Why can’t a woman think like a man?” (and vice-versa).
Social cognition is one realm in which the search for brain sex differences should be especially fruitful. Females of all ages outperform males on tests requiring the recognition of emotion or relationships among other people. Sex differences in empathy emerge in infancy and persist throughout development, though the gap between adult women and men is larger than between girls and boys. The early appearance of any sex difference suggests it is innately programmed—selected for through evolution and fixed into our behavioral development through either prenatal hormone exposure or early gene expression differences. On the other hand, sex differences that grow larger through childhood are likely shaped by social learning, a consequence of the very different lifestyle, culture and training that boys and girls experience in every human society.
At first glance, studies of the brain seem to offer a way out of this age-old nature/nurture dilemma. Any difference in the structure or activation of male and female brains is indisputably biological. However, the assumption that such differences are also innate or “hardwired” is invalid, given all we’ve learned about the plasticity, or malleability of the brain. Simply put, experiences change our brains...


...In their article, Wood and colleagues speculate about the evolutionary basis for this sex difference. Perhaps, since women are the primary child-rearers, their brains have become programmed to develop a larger SG, to prepare them to be sensitive nurturers. Prenatal sex hormones are known to alter behavior and certain brain structures in other mammals. Perhaps such hormones—or sex-specific genes—may enhance the development of females’ SG (or dampen the development of males’) leading to inborn differences in social cognition.

The best way to test this hypothesis is to look at children. If the sex difference in the SG is present early in life, this strengthens the idea that it is innately programmed. Wood and Nopoulos therefore conducted a second study with colleague Vesna Murko, in which they measured the same frontal lobe areas in children between 7 and 17 years of age.
But here the
results were most unexpected: they found that the SG is actually larger in boys !

What’s more, the same test of interpersonal awareness showed that skill in this area correlated with smaller SG, not larger, as in adults. The authors acknowledge that their findings are “complex,” and argue that the reversal between childhood and adulthood reflects the later maturation of boys’ brains, compared to girls. (Adolescents’ brains undergo a substantial “pruning” or reduction in gray matter volume during adolescence, which happens about two years earlier in girls, compared to boys.)
However, in both studies, Wood and colleagues added another test that reminds us to be cautious when interpreting any finding about
sex differences in the brain. Instead of simply dividing their subjects by biological sex, they also gave each subject a test of psychological “gender:” a questionnaire that assesses each person’s degree of masculinity vs. femininity—regardless of their biological sex—based on their interests, abilities and personality type. And in both adults and children, this measure of “gender” also correlated with SG size, albeit in just as complicated a way as the correlation between “sex” and SG size. (Larger SG correlated with more feminine personality in adults but less feminine personality in children.)

In other words, there does seem to be a relationship between SG size and social perception, but it is not a simple male-female difference. Rather, the SG appears to reflect a person’s “femininity” better than one’s biological sex: women who are relatively less feminine show a correspondingly smaller SG compared to women who are more feminine, and ditto for men.

This finding—that brain structure correlates as well or better with psychological “gender” than with simple biological “sex”—is crucial to keep in mind when considering any comparisons of male and female brains. Yes, men and women are psychologically different and yes, neuroscientists are uncovering many differences in brain anatomy and physiology which seem to explain our behavioral differences. But just because a difference is biological doesn’t mean it is “hard-wired.” Individuals’ gender traits—their preference for masculine or feminine clothes, careers, hobbies and interpersonal styles—are inevitably shaped more by rearing and experience than is their biological sex. Likewise, their brains, which are ultimately producing all this masculine or feminine behavior, must be molded—at least to some degree—by the sum of their experiences as a boy or girl.

My only questions are..(Updated)

Why is Baruch Pelta suddenly resurfacing to comment all over the place on this specific issue?

And what's with the disappearing posts on Hirhurim and Rationalist Judaism?
(Good thing they are saved on my Google Reader for future reference...)

And why has Gil's removed post resurfaced somewhere else, after claiming on Hirhurim that:
On the advice of rabbinic counsel, and against my own judgment, I have taken down my post from the other day attempting to manipulate search results and will no longer engage in such attempts. Thank you for those who assisted. I apologize for involving you in the effort.
???

Update: Gil took that post down after I mentioned it in the comments.
This issue is getting curiouser and curiouser...

Thursday, September 03, 2009

My second-most favorite analogy

R' Gil Student has recently dealt with the problem of mounting academic-type evidence against TMS which is known to us only from Jewish Tradition. He admitted to me that his response is basically "sharbt nisht fun a kashe", but he wanted to frame it in more sophisticated, intellectually respectable epistemological terms, with edifying lexicon and nomenclature.
I can appreciate that, since it's basically what many sophisticated Chareidim try to do when confronted with the standard Torah and science conflicts.

But I think I can do better, so here goes.

Look at this real-life scenario: (hat-tip to Dass Torah for bringing this news story to my attention a while back)
In March of 1992 Monroe found her longtime companion Roger de la Burde dead in his Virginia home, a bullet in his head, a pistol by his side.


By all appearances, it was a suicide. But the police told Beverly Monroe she was suspected of murder …

"I had no experience, no thought of ever being accused of anything," she told Cobiella. "I mean, it's incomprehensible."

It was equally incomprehensible to Beverly's daughter. But, as a young lawyer beginning a new job, Kate Monroe also knew that "incomprehensible" did not make her mother's conviction impossible.

"I think I understood immediately when Mom was charged that she could be convicted," Kate said. "And I understood when then she was convicted that she might never come home."

It turns out she was half-right. In October of 1992, a jury believed not her mother but the prosecutor. Beverly Monroe was sentenced to 22 years in prison.

"I was convicted on not only no evidence, but just sheer speculation," Beverly said.

Lawyer Kate Monroe quit her job and spent the next six years searching for proof of her mother's innocence.

She found it in 1999. Prosecutors, she discovered, had withheld evidence showing that the likely cause of Roger de la Burde's death was suicide, not murder.

Seven years after her conviction, Beverly Monroe was released.

Now let's analyze this story.
The woman convicted of murder had a daughter. This daughter was absolutely convinced that her mother did not not commit the crime. Therefore, she "spent the next six years searching for proof of her mother's innocence". She found the necessary evidence, and her mother was exonerated.

Let's ask ourselves: Why indeed was it "equally comprehensible" for a daughter to think her own mother would be accused of anything so serious? Is it simply because of the close emotional relationship? Could there be no other reason other than pure unadulterated emotional bias which clouds all rational judgment?

(I guess you could say she was lucky the court gave her daughter a chance to present her evidence on her mother's behalf.
If Rabbi Slifkin was the judge, he certainly would have thrown her from the courthouse and issued a restraining order. After all, she is hopelessly biased in favor of her mother! How could she possibly be objective enough to evaluate the evidence properly?)

What many people do not understand is that one's personal inclination towards a specific outcome of an investigation might not always have to do with pure subjective emotion.
Yes, a daughter loves her mother more than anyone else and would be deeply troubled to see her put behind bars.
But a daughter also knows her mother more than any outsider and is intimately familiar with her moral character.
Think of "character witnesses" used by the legal defense in order to convince the jury of his client's innocence.

This dual-view of looking at a strong emotional convictions in the face of mounting evidence was completely overlooked by R' Student's analysis of Harry Potter's dilemma.
I would humbly submit (without having read the book) that Harry would be quite rational in disbelieving the rumors surrounding his mentor's hidden past because of his personal knowledge and experience of his mentor's moral integrity.
Yes, of course it's possible that his mentor effectively hid a nefarious dark side of his personality from his disciple for all those years. But in this area, the evidence at Harry's disposal in his mentor's favor is far more conclusive than the many fact-based rumors against.


Case dismissed.

P.S.
What is frustrating is the inability of the average person to genuinely articulate these evidence-based yet personal convictions in a way that can convince an outsider of its cogency. Nomenclature doesn't really help.
Here lies the futility in trying to give an academic-minded individual a sense of what emunas chachomim truly means.

Archive Post of some VERY important comments Part IV

[Thanks to Rabbi Slifkin for allowing all these comments to be posted to the pubic on his blog.]

Anonymous said...

You don't seem to be considering that you are biased toward taking positions that others will find controversial. To me, it's obvious that you have reason to be biased. You've been dealing with people who not only say your positions re chazal and science and evolution/age of U are kefira, but also some who deny rambam, rabenharambam etc etc say what they clearly say, who claim forgeries, who seem unaware of the long history of the rationalist view on chazal and science vechuley. all this due to their strong bias. dealing with people whove banned you and backed it up with lots of evidence of bias and not much actual evidence for their positions will incline you to conclude that a lot of people are terribly biased and incapable of dealing with evidence rationally. moreover, theres the lack of historical awareness, a creation of a new "mesora" almost overnight that some shitas were written out of klal yisrael etc etc inclining you to focus on lack of historical awareness in some circles.
so for example, you say

"It might be that although people are aware of Shapiro's sources, and the statement of Raavad, and the position of R. Moshe Taku, they are only aware of it in a very detached, remote sense."

but machzor vitry is also a source. a strong one, a very relevant one. You seem not just to raise the issue, but to be pretty confident that rashi was a corporealist. machzor vitry is more relevant than any of the sources you cite above. You also argue that the odds are rashi is a corporealist even though we dont really know how many corporealists were in his area, in the end, we have differnet conjectures, phrases here and there, but no real demonstration of how current exactlyh the thought was. Similarly, while corporealism issue may not have been set in stone the way it is today in the past, there's evidence that incoporealism long predates the rambam, not just from unkelos, but for example, where did mohammed get his incorporealism from? we dont know exactly when corporealism became however popular it became in northern france, possibly later than rashi. and so on. So the broader context seems objectively a lot less clear than you make out. To me anyway. So regardless of whether this is fair or not, you come across first of all as courting controversy, trying to pick a bone with those who would be horrified if rashi was a corpealist - when even you must acknowledge you cant prove the case, why do it? As I wrote, in my view, you have gotten so exposed to the biases from the banners vesiyatam that you veer off in the other direction, decide all the received wisdom is wrong, and given that lots of people would be shocked to hear if rashi were a corporealist then you become biased to think he was a corporealist just for that reason.
there's more to say, but not for now. I hope I have not offended you, I just want to know if you are considering the possibility that you are biased in the opposite direction of the way you presume others to be biased. Hopefully no offense. Kol tuv.

Natan Slifkin said...

You don't seem to be considering that you are biased toward taking positions that others will find controversial.

Actually, I definitely do consider that. I explicitly raised that as a possibility, in an earlier post/comment. So I try to take that into account (as best as I can!) when evaluating my evidence.

machzor vitry is also a source. a strong one, a very relevant one.

It depends which source in vitry you are referring to. There is one source that I raised myself in the essay, which I acknowledge to be a strong source, but which I still feel is countered by everything else. Then there is the source that Rabbi Zucker raised, which I am currently researching since it appears to be of questionable authorship and meaning.

we dont know exactly when corporealism became however popular it became in northern france, possibly later than rashi. and so on

It is more likely to have been earlier than later.

when even you must acknowledge you cant prove the case, why do it?

I think that the evidence leans strongly in this direction, but you are quite correct that it looks like I am courting controversy, which is not good.

By the way, please sign your name or a pseudonym to future comments.

me said...

it's not so much that it looks like you are courting controversy - though it does look that way - but that this happens due to an inclination to dismiss received wisdom as another case of revisionism, historical inaccuracy etc

Someone pointed out that if the typical reaction is biased to require a higher level of proof that rashi was a corporealist than you would require to reach this conclusion, it's consistent with rambam. Who says to interpret chazal in line with what he considers to be correct opinions. As others have pointed out, he says aatrology is a daas yachid in chazal etc

But in this case there is a reason for the bias. Namely, that no one can come up with a single person of lasting influence in our history who was a corporealist (except for your claim of rashi). This is unlike the other ikarim, davening to angels, moshe writing the torah (even in gemara there's the deah that yehoshua wrote the last psukim). Now obviously this opinion existed and there can be many reasons for not seeing the legacy of it today. Rambam was influential, the noncorporeality of god is an easy to understand point of difference with Xians, the corporealists weren't writing philosophical treatises and so on. But still, it's striking. The ramban quoting someone respectfully - so? Tosfos quotes IE respectfully, this doesn't mean IE = the authority level of other rishonim. A lot of traditional biases have a basis in fact. You're treating this like a bias to think that everyone was learning in kollel in prewar europe, or like the mesora is whatever the banners of your books say it is, but this is a bias that is based on a picture that emerges from honest attempt at historical assessment. I dont think you are crediting even the attempt at historical assessment - you're assuming purely emotional bias, not based in rational considerations, when there are rational reasons to consider the burden of proof to be on you.

Natan Slifkin said...

it's consistent with rambam. Who says to interpret chazal in line with what he considers to be correct opinions.

Are you saying that we should interpret views with a deliberate bias? It doesn't matter who proposes that approach, it's not intellectually honest.

in this case there is a reason for the bias. Namely, that no one can come up with a single person of lasting influence in our history who was a corporealist

What does that have to do with anything?!

me said...

"Are you saying that we should interpret views with a deliberate bias? It doesn't matter who proposes that approach, it's not intellectually honest."

I disagree. It can be, it depends how far you carry it. But this is not the main point, so I dont want to argue it, the main point is:

"What does that have to do with anything?!"

because bias the way you are using the word for emotional investment or irrational tendency to see things in a particular way is VERY different than having an a priori assumption based on rational consideration of evidence that something is unlikely. You are asserting that the null hypothesis should be that rashi was likely a corporealist. I am saying that this null hypothesis doesn't fit the evidence that we begin with. One reason for the bias is that there's no one else of lasting influence who was known to be a corporealist - how many people are familar with machzor vitry vs the figures cited as coporealists? Dont you think this is meaningful?? I disagree that all rashi's students are equally authoritative. Was the other student of rashi's exclusively rashi's student - how much do you know about him? You have to prove the basis for your null hypothesis first, AND. when we move from the null hypothesis to new evidence, you arent presenting a whole lot of evidence, but arguing that given how solid your null hypothesis is, the rest of your arguments are enough.

To put it much more succintly, I think your null hypothesis is biased. If you say it's where the evidence leads you, accept that the evidence leads other ppl differently.

kol tuv

Natan Slifkin said...

What does "lasting influence" have to do with anything?

me said...

"What does that have to do with anything?!"

I've read a lot of polemics about the haredim who take midrashim literally. Such haredim exist. But with all the ranting about them, they're a fringe group. You wouldnt know that to read the polemics on blogs. There are even elite figures in todays UO world who take midrashim literally, but it's a fringe view among "elite" haredim too, and most would say it's ignorance. If a view is common among elites, normally there's a record of it and not just the polemics against it and information about lesser figures. Now there could be reason for this absence of evidence, and I listed some, but one reason for it might be that fewer ppl of importance subscribed to it than you might think from the polemics. The raavad is not giving a statistical count of who believes what. Just look at the way you present it in your post:

"It might be that although people are aware of Shapiro's sources, and the statement of Raavad, and the position of R. Moshe Taku, they are only aware of it in a very detached, remote sense. It's kind of like how a smoker feels about the evidence that smoking causes cancer - he is sort of intellectually aware of it, but doesn't really feel it to be true, and he is genuinely surprised when he is diagnosed with cancer. People don't take Raavad's testimony seriously, and R. Moshe Taku is too obscure a figure to care about. When the idea of a Rishon being a corporealist is actually starkly presented as being genuinely the case, they find it hard to come to terms with it."

Shapiro's sources on other ikarim are not his sources on this ikar. Raavad is not presenting a demographic poll. R Moshe Taku is not that important a figure, because we already know that some people of some significance thought like him - we want to know if there's reason to think rashi was a coporealist, not if any corporealists existed. It doesn't occur to you that maybe they are right not to take Raavad's testimony as a poll and to think RMTaku is indeed just obscure enough to be one of the harbey yet not significant to the present discussion...You say they're like smokers - I say you're like the people who say anyone not convinced of manmade global warming is in denial. You're not just weighing the evidence differently - you are being condescending about the poor people who aren't weighing the evidence the same way you do, they're in denial... to me, that's evidence of bias.

me said...

"What does "lasting influence" have to do with anything?"

Rashi founded a school, and in short is rabban shel kol benei hagolah. If this view had no lasting influence, that's a point in favor of it not being rashi's view. It's not dispositive of course, but when the elites have an opinion, esp elites of lasting influence and many students, it gets play. You claim his students wouldnt have known what he thought, and maybe he himself didnt give it much thought. Yet you also claim the controversy was swirling all about him, with one student saying corporeality is minus and the next one believing it and no way to choose between the two.
An admittedly imperfect analogy - R Chaim Soloveitchik is arguably the most influential torah figure of the last hundred plus years, his derech halimud took the yeshiva world by storm, he had many students etc The culture of chumra which is completely unrelated to his derech halimud and was probably for RCS familial and not intended as public policy etc also was largely influential. Which goes to show that influence earned in one area is spent in other areas. If rashi was a coporealist, even if his corporeal view was incidental and not something he taught, you'd expect to see more signs. You're also claiming that rashi has a policy of commenting on some anthropomorphisms and not others but not giving it all a lot of thought and no one knows all this...it can happen, it's just we'd like a little more evidence than that raavad attacks rambam and R moshe taku. You're saying it's likely even before you get to analysis of what rashi actually writes.

Hope that's clearer.

Natan Slifkin said...

You're looking at it the wrong way. Do you know how many Acharonim write against evolution? Virtually none. Does this mean that they were evolutionists? Of course not. Rather, they took it for granted that Bereishis was literal, and they never saw a need to discuss it. Furthermore, they simply weren't that interested in analyzing the process of creation.

Rashi's writings are voluminous. But he doesn't address theology.

me said...

yes but the machzor vitry is writing about it!

"You claim his students wouldnt have known what he thought, and maybe he himself didnt give it much thought. Yet you also claim the controversy was swirling all about him, with one student saying corporeality is minus and the next one believing it and no way to choose between the two...
You're also claiming that rashi has a policy of commenting on some anthropomorphisms and not others but not giving it all a lot of thought and no one knows all this"

Natan Slifkin said...

Rashi commented on those pesukim which conflicted with his view of Hashem and did not comment on those that didn't.

I hear your objection regarding his talmidim. But the twelfth century was a time of transition, with the Jews of France starting to feel the influence from the Jews of Spain. Eventually, none of the Jews of Ashkenaz were corporealists. That was the end of the process. The process began with corporealists who saw no issue with it, and the interim stage was one of discussion and debate.

Anonymous said...

yes but machzor vitry is more or less contemporaneous with rashi.

"Rashi commented on those pesukim which conflicted with his view of Hashem and did not comment on those that didn't."

and i would expect his closest students caught up in the controversy to know this

Can you tell me anything about r yaakov ben shimshon? do we know that he had no rebbe other than rashi? is he considered one of rashi's close talmidim? and so on?