The Rambam, our Nesher ha Gadol, is one of Judaism’s most remembered, celebrated and controversial figures.  The Rambam’s Torah remains to this day the most complete and thorough representation of the Jewish religion.  The Rambam’s scholarly output and contribution to Judaism remains unparalleled.  His reliance on truth based on reasoned analysis as well as his philosophical brilliance is, at least in my mind, the most sophisticated and compelling approach to Judaism that we have.  This is in no way to discount all of the other brilliant and terrific Torah teachers that we have had throughout our history.  But the Rambam’s rational and holistic approach to Halakha and Hashkafa is one that stands apart.

If you have an hour, this is a terrific lecture on the Rambam given by Rabbi Berel Wein.  I highly recommend it.

 

It has been a couple of months since I have posted anything.  I have been wondering whether or not I have been taking the wrong approach with this blog.  As is clear to anyone who has read any of my posts, I prefer the rational philosophical approach to Judaism that was exemplified by the classical Sephardic world.  But, I have received concerns, criticisms, and even hostility because I do not have much appreciation for the Kabbalistic system.  I have even been told that my non acceptance of Kabbalah distances me from normative, traditional Judaism.

To be clear, I don’t deny the fact that Kabbalah has had an enormous impact upon Judaism and that it has been an historical part of Jewish thinking for quite sometime.  I also don’t claim to be an expert in Kabbalistic thought.  But what I do know of Kabbalistic thought and its impact on Sephardic customs and Jewish thought as a whole, just doesn’t work for me.  So while I don’t deny the historical development and influence of Kabbalah, I lament the fact that we traded a rational philosophical system that embraced scientific thinking and reasoned inquiry for “hocus pocus.”  In Kabbalah, the Torah and Mitsvot seem to be more about performing magic than a system that has the ultimate purpose of refining the human soul.  I am also very critical of a system of thought that insists upon ontological/essential differences between Jews and non Jews.  I am entirely sympathetic to the reasons as to why such ideas developed, given the all too  precarious, dangerous, and hostile environments that we have historically found ourselves in.  Anti-Jewish legislations, pogroms, persecutions, and expulsions certainly don’t make it difficult to understand why Jewish ideas of inherent differences between Jews and non-Jews would arise.  But I do also feel that its important and necessary to move past these ideas in order to properly implement our Torah given principle that all humanity is created in G-d’s image and has the capacity to come to truth by the proper implementation of that divine image.

While there is obviously SO much more to this topic than what has been presented here, I wish to conclude by asking any readers out there to let me know their thoughts on this subject and/or to let me know where I have gone wrong in my thinking or understanding.

Whats so Jewish about a name?  Before I attempt to tackle this subject, I would like to share a funny thing that happened to me last week at a local Jewish event.

It was our local community’s annual Federation Men’s Event last Thursday.  While I was standing in the buffet line drooling over all  of the meat I was about to pile on my plate, the man in front of me turns around an reads my name card.  Now for all of you out there who might be wondering, I am a Spanish Jew.  So, my last name is Spanish.  When this man read my name he looks at me quite perplexed and asks, “Are you Jewish?”  Needless to say, this question really got my blood boiling and it took a considerable amount of self control to not tell this person where exactly he can put his question.  Despite the fact that I was wearing a kippah, like I always do, and I was at a Jewish event this man was ignorant enough to ask me if I was Jewish.  While this is the first time I’ve ever had anyone be so blatant in their ignorance ask me if I was Jewish, it is certainly not the first time I’ve had people look at me bewildered when I introduced myself or asked me to repeat my name two or three times because they think they misheard it.

So again I ask, whats so Jewish about a name?  Inevitably, Jews have many different kinds of names and cultural backgrounds because Jews have long histories of being in many different places.  But I think  Jews of all different backgrounds should look more deeply into what it means to be a Jew.  Is being Jewish a matter of being from a particular “ethnic,” “regional,” or “cultural” background?  Or is being Jewish dependent on adherence to the Torah and its commandments?  When it comes to Jewish identity, does it really depend on a persons name, or does it depend on searching for the truth about G-d and existence  and doing our best to live according to the covenant that G-d made with us?  Does a “Jewish soul” exist essentially or inherently within a person regardless of what he or she does or doesn’t do?  Or is a Jewish soul something that needs to be cultivated and actualized within a person, as it was for our father Avraham?

Judaism is a religion that demands, its not a religion that endows.  It demands that we seek G-d with all of our hearts and all of our minds and live according to His Torah.  It demands that we be ethical and moral people.  Whether we were born Jewish or we are Jews by conversion matters little.  Whether we have  a “Jewish name” or not matters little.  We must all be Jews by choice.

This last Shabbat we read Parashat Lech Lecha.  In this Parasha, the Torah makes a dramatic shift from the two previous Parashiot.  In Lech Lecha the Torah shifts from recording world history to recording the beginning of Jewish history.  This section of the Torah tells us that G-d chose a man named Avram and made a covenant with him and his offspring after him.

A particularly fascinating aspect of this Parasha is that it is absolutely silent as to who this man Avram is and why G-d chose him.  At the end of Parashat Noach we read:

“And he (Terach) took Avram his son, Lot the son of his son Haran, and Sarai his daughter in law, the wife of Avram his son; and they went forth from Ur Casdim toward the land of Canaan, and when they arrived at Charan they dwelt there.  And the days of Terach were 250 years, and Terach died in Charan (Gen 11:31-32).”

Then, at the very beginning of Lech Lecha, we read:

“And the L-rd said to Avram, ‘Go forth from your land and from the place of your birth and from your fathers house to the land that I will show you.  And I will make you a great nation and I will bless you and I will make your name great, and you shall be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you and those who curse you I will curse, and all the families of the earth will bless themselves by you (Gen 12:1-3).”

So, here is this man Avram who is traveling with his father toward the land of Canaan, but stops and dwells in Charan.  There, his father dies at the ripe old age of 250.  Then, G-d calls Avram, seemingly out of the blue, and makes these tremendous promises to him.  Whats going on?  Ramban in his commentary formulates the question quite well:

“What sense was there in the Almighty ordering him to leave his birthplace and offering him unprecedented rewards, without prefacing that Abraham had deserved it by being loyal to G-d, or being righteous, or by telling him that by leaving his birthplace and going to another country he would attain a greater nearness to G-d?”

How then did Avram merit such a tremendous promise of nearness to G-d, that he would be made into a great nation, and that all families of the earth would bless themselves by him?  Even further in the this Parasha, Avram’s name is changed to Avraham, signifying that he would be the father of many nations, and he is told by G-d that his descendants would inherit the very land that Avraham is called to.  At the end of this Parasha, the covenant of the circumcision was made with Avraham and his descendants as an everlasting sign of this promise.

The Ramban endeavors to explain why Avraham fled his country to go toward the land of Caanan by explaining that Avraham was persecuted for his faith in the one G-d while still in Ur Casdim.  However apt this explanation is, it still leaves us puzzled as to how Avraham came to this faith in the first place.

In order to attempt to understand the question above, we must turn to the Rambam.  In Rambam’s Hilchot Avodat Cochavim, he sheds some light on this question by describing the process by which Avraham came to the realization of the Divine in a world sunk in idolatry:

“When this  spiritual giant was weaned, while still in his infancy his mind began to rove here and there, day and night; he pondered and wondered: ‘How is it possible for this sphere to revolve continually without a motive force propelling it, since it was impossible for it revolve itself?’ He had neither teacher or guide, but wallowed in Ur of the Chaldees among the brutish idolators, his father and mother and all the people serving the stars, he among them, his mind roving and seeking understanding, until he arrived at the true path and perceived the line of righteousness from his own right reasoning.  He perceived that there was one G-d who governed the spheres and created all, and no other god’s existed except for Him (Avodat Cochavim 1:3).”

Given the Rambam’s explanation, which is derived largely from the Midrash, Avraham was a person who was extremely unsatisfied with the spiritual predicament of the world in which he lived.  He was a man intensely devoted to seeking after truth and understanding and he dedicated himself to the pursuit of knowledge.  From contemplating the natural world and properly implementing his faculty for right reasoning, he was able to derive the truth concerning existence; that there is one G-d and there is nothing besides Him.  Avraham also lived in accordance with the moral and ethical principles that are the natural consequences of that profound truth.

I think that we can rightly say, according to the Rambam, what made Avraham  different from the surrounding peoples and cultures, was not that he possessed some innate or essential difference from the rest of humanity.  All humans have the potential to come to the truth through their G-d given faculties of reason and intellectual apprehension.  The difference was, Avraham used his correctly.  Avraham was not interested in chasing after the imaginings of the people around him.  Rather, he sought the truth and came to the realization of the One who created everything.  This realization was reciprocated on the part of our Creator.  G-d chose Avraham because Avraham chose G-d.

 

 

 

In my last post I posited, based on the Rambam’s definition of the term tselem, that when humans use their faculty of intellectual apprehension properly, we can become close to the Divine by conjoining with the Divine intellect.  I would like to further explore this idea and discuss how it could be relevant to humanity’s first sin.

We all know the story well.  The pristine perfection of Gan Eden is shattered when the serpent entices humanity to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Upon eating of the tree, their eyes are opened and they see that they are naked.  Feeling rather embarrassed, they hide when they hear G-d walking through the garden in the midst of the day.  The rest is history…

While on the surface, it is clear that the sin involved eating of the forbidden tree that G-d had commanded them not to eat.  The questions that I’m sure many of us have asked ourselves when pondering the meaning of this story are, ‘What exactly is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,’ and ‘Why was it forbidden to eat of it?’  The Midrash Tadsheh has a fascinating explanation:

“Said R. Pinhas ben Yair, ‘before Adam partook of this tree, it was simply called tree, just like all other trees.  But as soon as he partook of it, thereby transgressing the decree of the Holy One blessed be He, it was called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…”

According to the Midrash then, there wasn’t anything inherently special or wrong with the tree.  It was just a simple tree like any other.  Humanity’s transgression lay in the the disregarding of G-d’s commandment.  The tree was forbidden because G-d said it was forbidden.

Although there is great wisdom in this understanding, it is fascinating that same Midrash cannot resist the urge to find a rationale as to why G-d would forbid this tree:

“Why did the Holy One blessed be He ordain that he might eat of all the trees of the garden and withhold from him just one of them?  So that he should continually remember his Creator and be conscious of the yoke of Him who fashioned him…”

The rationale of forbidding one tree was so humanity would ‘continually remember its Creator’ and ‘the yoke of Him who fashioned him.’  It was not G-d’s intention that man should be without a reminder of His presence and will.

It is with this rationale provided by the Midrash that we now turn to the Rambam’s understanding of humanity’s first sin.  Rambam, as I attempted to explain in my previous post, maintains that it is man’s intellectual apprehension that makes him/her created created in the Divine image.  The Rambam explains:

“Now man in virtue of his intellect knows the truth from falseness and this holds good for all intelligible things.”  “However, when he disobeyed and inclined toward his desires of the imagination and the pleasures of his corporeal senses – in as much as it is said: that the tree was good for food and a delight to the eyes – he was punished by being deprived of that intellectual apprehension.”

So it seems that according to the Rambam the act of ‘eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ involved the forsaking of our image and pursuing our own desires and imaginings.  Instead of seeking after knowledge and connection with the Divine, humanity sought what it perceived as ‘good’ and sought to avoid what was perceived to be ‘bad.’  But this perception was false and not based at all in truth.  It was based rather on imagination and selfish desires.  Humanity abandoned the remembrance of its Creator and His yoke and chased after falsehood.

As a consequence of this behavior, ‘he was punished by being deprived of that intellectual apprehension.’  I think that what the Rambam is saying here is; before humanity engaged in imaginings and chasing after selfish desires, it naturally and instinctively used its faculty for intellectual apprehension properly, thereby conjoining with the Divine intellect.   Now, we must work rigorously and carefully to properly implement our faculty of intellectual apprehension.  This involves correct methodology and the avoidance of imaginative thinking, as the Rambam explains to his star pupil:

“In the same way we say that man should not hasten too much to accede to this great and sublime matter (the desire and the endeavor to acquire and achieve true beliefs) at the first try, without having made his soul undergo training in the sciences and the different kinds of knowledge, having truly improved his character, and having extinguished the desires and cravings engendered in him by his imagination.”

This process, as stated above, is arduous and painstaking.  But when engaged in properly and for the right reasons, it has the end result of perfecting the person.  The end result of such engagement can cause humanity to live in G-d’s truth and not according to our selfish desires and false imaginings.  We can ‘truly distinguish between truth and falsehood,’ in ‘perfection and integrity.’

I had hoped to get this posted before Shemini Atzeret, in time for Shabbat Bereshit.  But even though Shabbat Bereshit has come and gone, there is a fascinating subject in last weeks Parasha that I would like to discuss.

We are all familiar with the timeless and unforgettable pasuk in the first chapter of Bereshit (Genesis), “Na’ase adam b’tselmenu, k’demutenu.”  “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”  I have always found this concept to be one of the most profound in all of the Torah.  What does it mean to be created in the image of G-d?  Let us begin discussing this question by citing the Rambam’s definition of tselem (image):

“…the natural form; the notion in virtue of which a thing is constituted as a substance and becomes what it is; the true reality of the thing in so far as the latter is that particular being…”

According the the Rambam, it seems as though there is a “virtue” that man shares with his/her Creator.  The Rambam further explains:

“In man that notion is that from which human apprehension derives.  It is on account of this intellectual apprehension that it is said of man, ‘In the image of G-d created He him.’”

Man was endowed by its Creator with the faculty and capacity for intellectual apprehension and it is this intellectual apprehension that makes us created in G-d’s image.  Not only is man aware, but man is self aware and able to use its faculty of intellectual apprehension to discern between truth and falsehood.  The Rambam makes it clear that the Divine intellect was “conjoined with man.”  Therefore when we exercise our faculty for intellectual apprehension properly, we can become close to the Divine by conjoining with the Divine intellect.  Hacham Jose Faur expresses this idea quite beautifully in his book, Homo Mysticus, “Being created in the image of G-d (Gn. 1:26) means, precisely, that G-d and humans have the faculty to transcend their realities and to reveal themselves to one another.”

In the introduction to Rav Saadia Gaon’s Sefer Emunot v’Deot, he makes a very interesting claim.  Rav Saadia says that all of the truths contained within the Torah could have been realized from the proper implementation of our faculty for reasoned analysis and philosophical speculation.  So, Rav Saadia asks, why did The Master of the Universe find it necessary to give humanity a revelation supported by wonders and miracles,

“We cannot avoid considering another question that is connected with the foregoing discussion: Inasmuch as investigation and correct speculation can establish the religious matters concerning which our L-rd has informed us, where was the wisdom in G-d’s transmitting them by way of prophecy and supporting them by means of visibly miraculous proofs rather than intellectual ones?”

Here is how the Gaon answers this question,

“We shall reply to this question fully, with the help of G-d.  We say that the All Wise knew that the problems studied by the art of speculation could be thoroughly mastered only over a period of time.  If He had directed us to that art alone for our knowledge of religion, we would have remained without religion until we had completed this art and ceased occupying ourselves with it.”

So, as Rav Saadia explains, although humanity is fully capable of deriving the truth about G-d, G-d did not want to leave humanity without an authentic revelation because of the long, painstaking, and difficult process that this would entail.  The Gaon describes the different ways in which humans are capable of failing to come to the truth because of their faulty methodology,

“We can say the same for the things apprehended by our intellect.  Here again doubts arise from one of two causes: either because the person who seeks intellectual knowledge is unfamiliar with the methods of demonstration – he judges a bad proof to be correct, and a good one, incorrect – or he knows the right methods of investigation, but treats the matter lightly and carelessly, rushing to a conclusion about some object of knowledge before having completed the art of investigation concerning it.”

Because of unfamiliarity or carelessness, a person will not be able to achieve lofty truths and correct beliefs.

All of this, at least in my mind, leads us to another question that is connected to last week’s post.  If a person is theoretically capable of deriving the truth about G-d and His creation by means of philosophical speculation and reasoned analysis, but, is unlikely to come to such truth due to faulty methodology or sheer lack of inclination, then such a person has an authentic revelation, the Torah, to rely on for truth.  Since this is the case, what place is there now for philosophical speculation and reasoned analysis?  Perhaps the Gaon can shed light on this question as well,

“Know, then, and may G-d direct you aright, you who study this book, that we have two goals when we investigate and speculate into the matters of our religion.  One is to verify in actuality the knowledge we have received from G-d’s prophets.  The other is to respond to any one who argues against us in regards to matters of our religion.”

The Gaon also informs us that careful and correct investigation and speculation will create in us, “the complete truth.”

When we investigate and speculate into the “matters of our religion,” we do so in order to actualize and internalize the truth that we have received through authentic revelation.  The careful process of rational speculation still applies so as to avoid faulty methodology and the development of false conclusions.  But reasoned analysis and philosophical speculation have two main goals in mind; one is to understand G-d’s revelation and His creation as they actually are (to whatever degree this is possible for a person), and to be in Devekut (loving attachment to G-d).  I believe what Rav Saadia is telling us is reasoned analysis is a tool, that when used properly, can bring us closer to The Holy One, blessed be He.

Today is the day after Yom Kippur.  I truly hope that all of you out there had a very meaningful and rejuvenating Yom Kippur experience.

With that, I would like to talk about a drash I heard on Rosh Hashanah.  It was after mincha on the first day of R’’H and the rabbi of the synagogue I attended this year gave a very interesting talk about the sounding of the shofar.  He began the drash by explaining how chazal derived the number of shofar blasts that we are halachically obligated to hear from the three different sections in the Torah that mention the sounding of the shofar on Yom Teruah.  He then posed a fascinating question to the congregants by asking why we sound the shofar.  People in the congregation gave various answers, one of them being the rationale offered by the Rambam which states that we sound the shofar in order to cause us to awaken from our slumber.  The shofar blasts are meant to awaken us to begin the kind of intensive introspection that we are supposed to engage in during this time of year.  The rabbi listened to all of these different reasons offered and concluded his drash by saying that all of the different reasons offered are very nice, but inevitably, we sound the shofar because G-d said so.

This conclusion really got me thinking.  I am a person who enjoys thinking, discussing, and contemplating about the possible reasons behind the mitzvot.  When doing this, I certainly don’t think that there is only one right meaning or reason behind any particular mitzvah.  Granted, there might be reasons for mitzvot that I prefer over others.  But I believe that all different reasons are essentially hypotheses that should be tested for their validity.  However, if the only reason we observe the mitzvot is because G-d said so, then is this process futile? Or worse, does it send a message saying, “Because G-d said so?  That’s not good enough!”  When we endeavor to find the reasons behind the mitzvot, do we lack faith in their truth?  Or, by engaging in the speculative process that searches for meaning behind the mitzvot, are we better equipped to internalize the moral and spiritual message of the Torah?

Anyone who knows even a little about Sephardic customs (and I in no way claim to be an expert in such matters) knows that Kabbalah has had a major influence upon them.  Often times, this influence came at the expense of older Sephardic customs and practices.

One such example of this is the different customs surrounding putting one’s head down when saying nefilat apayim or tachanun.  The customs concerning putting one’s head down while reciting our supplicatory prayers not only differ between Sephardim and Ashkenazim but also differ amongst the Sephardim.  Let us begin by citing the Hacham Shem Tob Gaguine’s Keter Shem Tob:

“The custom (of the Spanish-Portuguese Sephardim) in London and Amsterdam, as well as (amongst the Sephardim) in Israel, Syria, Tograma, and Egypt is to lay ones head down on their left side (during nefilat apayim) at both shacharit and mincha.  And amongst the Ashkenazim it is the custom to put one’s head down on their right side during shacharit and on their left side during mincha.” (KST, alef: ayin-alef)

According to the Keter Shem Tob, it seems as though the western and eastern Sephardim have the same custom in regards to laying one’s head down during n’’a.  He explains in the lengthy commentary that he gives on this custom that the reason we go down on our left side is because we are bnei chorin and even when we are approaching G-d in supplication, we do it as sons of a king and free men.  Hacham Gaguine sites the Geonim as the source for this custom, concluding his commentary by saying, “Therefore it is from these Geonim who have established for us the Sephardim to fall on our left side for n’’a.”

However, according to Hacham Hayyim David ha Levi in his Kitsur Shulchan Arukh Mekhor Hayyim, there is a much different custom amongst the Sephardim when it comes to putting one’s head down:

“When one falls on his face it is the custom to bow to the left side.  And there are those who say that one should bow to the right side.  And the reason for bowing on the right side during Shacharit, for one who has tefillin on his left, is because of the honor of the tefillin.  But at mincha or for one who does not wear tefillin on his left, he should bow to his left.  And every person should accustom himself according to the customs of the congregation in the synagogue in which he prays, due to fear of disagreements.  However, the Sephardic congregations do not have the custom to fall on their faces at all.”  (Kitsur Shulchan Arukh, Mekor Hayyim, pg. 54: gimmel)

It is the last sentence of this statement by H. ha Levi that is most important for our discussion. Although H. ha Levi opens his statement by saying the custom is to put one’s head down on the left side, he concludes by saying the Sephardim don’t put their heads down at all!  This is a striking difference from what the Keter Shem Tob tells us is the normative Sephardi minhag.  What is the source of this discrepancy?  In a daily email I receive from a Moroccan community in Toronto called, Moroccan Daily Halahkha, there was a great explanation given about n’’a that can help us better understand the difference between H. Gauguine and H. ha Levi:

“4. Nefilat Apayim – Putting Down One’s Head

The original minhag in Morocco, as elsewhere, was to lean on one’s left side and actually put one’s face down while saying the prescribed supplications for Nefilat Apayim (according to our custom, Tehilim 25, “Ledavid elekha…”). However, more recently it has become customary among nearly all Sefaradim to simply sit and say the supplications without leaning or putting one’s head down.

Any elder Moroccan ribi can attest that the original minhag in Morocco was to lean on one’s left side and put one’s head down for Nefilat Apayim. This was also customary in Tunisia, Syria and other countries. See Maran haHida (Kesher Gudal 19:463), Ribi Refael Barukh Toledano (Qisur Shulhan ‘Arukh, Laws of Nefilat Apayim) and others. All this is in accordance with the statements of the Talmud and Shulhan ‘Arukh, which state that one puts one’s head down during Tahanun, though this is not required – it was simply the custom of Jews, dating at least from Talmudic times. See also Sidur Bet ‘Obed.

The first source for the custom of not putting one’s head down seems to be the Ben Ish Hai (Year 1, Perashat Ki Tisa §13), who says that the minhag in his city, Baghdad, was not to put one’s head down at all. The reason he gives is that, according to the Zohar, it is dangerous to put one’s head down if one is not at a high enough level of spiritual refinement and is not able to have the proper intentions (kavanot) during Nefilat Apayim. Since the days of the Ben Ish Hai, this custom has become prevalent among Sefaradim and most communities no longer put their heads down during Tahanun.”

So here we have it!  According the Zohar, one should not put one’s head down for n’’a.  Although, it is interesting to note that it was not until the Ben ish Hai that the custom of not putting one’s head down really started to become prevalent amongst the Sephardim.  It is also interesting to note that the Keter Shem Tob makes no mention of the custom of not putting one’s head down.

All of this discussion concerning the differences in custom’s when saying n’’a is really an example of the differences in how we think about our Judaism and Jewish observance.  I really want to use this specific example to open up a broader question; what is authentic Mesorah?  Not that I’m in any way trying to convince anyone to change their custom, nor am I trying to tell anyone that they have the wrong custom.  But there is a very important ideological difference behind the two different customs described above.  On the one hand, we have the Qabbalah as explained in the KST that was established by the Geonim.  In my very humble opinion and limited understanding, this custom is meant to impress upon the worshipper that even when he or she is approaching G-d in supplication, he or she does it as a completely free person.  We, from our own free will, choose to beseech our Master for forgiveness, meditating on the fact that G-d freed us from bondage to accept the yoke of Torah.  This is what the Geonic custom impresses upon me.  I feel it is both rational and philosophically compatible with our Torah.  On the other hand, we have the Kabbalah of the Zohar as described by H. ha Levi and our Moroccan source.  This custom makes the practice of putting one’s head down for n’’a something to be avoided because most people will not be on the correct “spiritual level.”  By doing this, the Zohar undercuts the important point that the Geonic custom seeks to get across to us, namely; the internalization of the spiritual and philosophical principles of Yetziat Mitzrayim (The Exodus from Egypt) and what that truly means for us as Jews.  I don’t believe it’s about already being on the correct spiritual level before one can put their head down for n’’a, rather, I believe it’s about using the custom of putting ones head down for n’’a to repent, contemplate, and ultimately transform us into the kind of ethical, moral, G-d fearing and spiritual human beings that G-d requires us to be.  With that, I must say with all due respect, thanks but no thanks to the Kabbalah of the Zohar.  I’ll stay with the Qabbalah of the Geonim.

Tomorrow night is erev Yom Kippur.  May the Master of the Universe inscribe us in the Book of Life and for a good, prosperous, and sweet new year.  May this year be one of increased knowledge and dedication to truth.

It has been apparent to me for some time that classical Sephardic Judaism is something that we in the contemporary Jewish world talk very little about.  The classical Sephardic approach to Judaism was one devoted to Torah learning as well as philosophy and the sciences.  It was the time of the merchant scholar, the courtier rabbi, and the rational Jew.  I can only imagine the beit midrash in the academy of Lucena, the philosophical discussions in Cordova, and the wine parties where Hebrew and Arabic poetry was recited in beautiful gardens.

The methodology of reasoned analysis and philosophical speculation was considered by many of the early Sephardic rishonim (most notably the Rambam) to not only not be incongruous with traditional Judaism, but to be the only way in which one could authentically practice Judaism.  Rav Saadia Goan, in the introduction to his Emunot v’Deot, after discussing the kind of careful and thorough analysis that is required for arriving at the truth, explains the purpose of careful speculation in this way, “In this manner, may G-d show mercy to you, we conduct our speculation and inquiry, in order to actualize what our Master has informed us about through revelation.”  Reasoned analysis and philosophical speculation is the process by which we internalize and actualize the truth of creation and revelation.

It is my hope and prayer that this blog will be a place of reasoned discussion and analysis.  I’m searching for the spirit of classical Sephardic Judaism and its methodology.  For all those who are interested in a rationally based and philosophically compelling Judaism, please join me.