Joel - Week 4 - Chapter 3
Mishnah 3:15 [Rabbi Akiva would say] All is foreseen, yet [free] choice is given.
What a paradox this is! If God has foreseen everything, do we really have free will to make our own decisions? Is everything pre-destined or not? Do Jews believe in predestination? And if there is no free will, then why do we need to repent on Yom Kippur, after all, we’re not responsible for our actions!
The rabbis suggest that since God is perfect, such a paradox can work effectively in this world; that God can know the big picture, but since we don’t, we live as if we are are making choices, because we don’t know that big picture.
Rabbi David Nelson said it this way. Imagine that the universe is like a huge tapestry. Have you ever looked at the back of a beautiful tapestry? All you can see is knots-- it looks like a mess. Sometimes, if you examine the back of the tapestry carefully, there are places where you get a hint of the pattern on the front.
So it is with us, Rabbi Nelson argues. Our lives can feel random, messy, without order. And, on other days, everything seems to make sense-- it’s as if we can comprehend that there is a divine plan-- and that we might even be able to glimpse it! And then, just as suddenly, we’re in the dark again, and nothing seems to make sense.
I admit, I struggle with these ideas.
I believe that that God gave us both free choice and a Torah that tells us what God expects us to do. I believe that we are free to make good and bad choices, and that God wants us (but doesn’t force us) to choose life and blessing rather than death and curse. I don’t believe in a God who has already worked everything out; I don’t believe in a God who determines which evil people get the thrive and which good people suffer, or vice versa.
At the same time, I want to believe that there is a grand plan on a macro level. I believe that the universe didn’t just fall together, like my favorite singer songwriter David Wilcox says, “like a big mistake.” I believe there’s a divine order, but that we are free to make decisions that alternately help bring us and our world closer to that divine order or take us further from it.
So perhaps I agree with Rabbi Akiva in the end. How about you?
Beth - Week 4 - Chapter 3
Mishnah 3.9 Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa often said, “One whose fear of sin precedes one’s wisdom, one’s wisdom will last. One whose wisdom precedes one’s fear of sin, one’s wisdom will not last.” He [also] would say, “One whose deeds exceed one’s wisdom, one’s wisdom will last. One whose wisdom exceeds one’s deeds, one’s wisdom will not last.”
Rabbi Rami Shapiro alternately translates this same Mishnah as:
Mishnah, 3.11 - 3.12“If your concern for others exceeds your desire for wisdom, your wisdom will endure. If your desire for wisdom exceeds your concern for others, your wisdom will not endure. If your kindness exceeds your wisdom, your wisdom will endure. If your wisdom exceeds your kindness, your wisdom will not endure.
According to Kravitz & Olitszky, “Wisdom is based on a response to the relationship of the individual with God,” (pg. 42). The Talmud uses a metaphor to help us understand this position: A person who is a Torah scholar but does not “revere God is like the gatekeeper who has been given the keys to the inner door but not the outer ones.” How can that person enter?” (B Talmud, Shabbat 31a-b) (Olitzky and Kravitz p. 42).
Rabbi Shapiro states that according to this Mishnah, “justice and compassion together must both exceed the desire for wisdom.”
From this Mishnah (whichever translation you use) we can see that wisdom without concern and kindness (or fear of sin and [good] deeds) is not held in high regard. A learned person who does nothing good with his or her knowledge, that scholarship will not last.
Again, as a lifelong learner, I have had to learn to balance my thirst for knowledge with my deeds and actions in the world. Do I use my knowledge for good or evil? Do I do the right thing in the midst of those doing the wrong thing? Do I embrace compassion and engage others with graciousness? This is something I struggle with all the time. Not that I am an evil person, but that I make sure my actions are true and just, not self-aggrandizing, or selfish, or limited to my needs alone.
The lessons I have learned over the years is that intellectual superiority and the pursuit of worldly goods is not in and of itself a bad thing, but must be tempered with compassion, understanding, empathy and patience.
Sometimes I get caught up in the heat of the moment. I want to prove I am right about something at the expense of someone else’s feelings. At times like this I must try to pull myself back and remember it is not always necessary for me to “win” the intellectual argument. I can listen to the other person’s side and try to understand his or her perspective. That doesn’t mean I never fight for what I believe. I just try to make sure I am fighting the right fight for the right reasons. And I have learned that it is not my job (nor within my ability) to control the actions or beliefs of others. Again, it comes down to setting the good / right example by my actions. Only when I do this am I using my wisdom correctly and engaging with others in a compassionate and just manner.
Ethics of the Sages : Pirke Avot Annotated & Explained Translation and Annotation by Rabbi Rami Shapiro, Skylight Paths, Woodstock, Vermont © 2006
Gates of Prayer: The New Union Prayerbook Edited by Chaim Stern, Central Conference of American Rabbis, New York and Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues, London, © 1975
Respectfully submitted,
Beth F. Levine
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ReplyDeleteWell said.
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