Posted on 05/30/2012 8:28:16 PM PDT by Phinneous
By the Grace of G‑d 6th of Shevat 5731 [February 1, 1971] Brooklyn, N.Y.
Miss ——— London, England.
Blessing and Greeting:
I received your letter with some delay. In it you write about the uncertainty you feel regarding commitment to Yiddishkeit [Judaism,] inasmuch as you think that life in accordance with the Torah and Mitzvos is restrictive, and limits the individual in personal creativeness, particularly in the area of thinking and choosing for himself, etc., so that it is hard to reconcile such commitment with the idea of personal freedom.
(Excerpt) Read more at chabad.org ...
Where did this title come from? Is it yours?
I think the Rebbe was trying to get across that the mitzvot (commandments) are important for US. We don’t really do them for Hashem (the Almighty), for He doesn’t need them. Worshiping Him and following His commandments are good for US to do.
No one is perfect. You can’t do all of them well, all the time. But we are supposed to strive toward perfection. Because we special beings (humans) can even conceive of striving for perfection.
If they are restriction,it is restriction along the lines of how scales and melody and harmony, efc, restrict writing music. Within the lines, creativity flows mightiest. Structure begets expansion.
Judaism isn’t something to “prove.”. It’s a way to live. Study + practice. It uses all your senses, all your body’s functions, the way you think, the way you feel. It almost doesn’t matter what you “believe” — it’s not about faith. It’s about listening, learning, and doing. And above all it’s about loving.
For some reason, this article with the title of “Yoke of Heaven” is headlined as “The Rebbe: Can You Prove That Judaism is True?” on all of Chabad’s interconnected web sites.
The point is that just as it is not normal for a person to prove to himself the laws of aerodynamics before one flies, or to prove to himself the efficacy of a prescribed drug before taking it, so it is also not normal for a Jew to prove to himself that Judaism is true before doing Torah and mitzvos.
All of the aforementioned proofs exist and can be learned, but taking action based on them should not wait until then.
Demonstrable within the limit that physics is demonstrable, though neither is “provable”.
To quote Roberto Deniro in Casino, “We have infallible proof...they won!”
Ultimately, Jews do not have faith in revelation...we were there (spiritually, and via an unbroken chain from our ancestors) at Mount Sinai and heard G-d speak. The article is a gloss to nudge Jews in the right direction. Do a mitzvah, then go learn about it.
Yaelle, your first comment is pure and perfect Jewish philosophy (and opinion of the Rambam)—to become perfect, more-close to G-d. You may be interested to know that the Chassidic philosophy is to bring G-d close to earth. Every mitzvah, positive and negative, draws godliness into the world (ask your local Chabad shliach.)
Hopefully carrying forth as one of the “Sons of Noah”, I sure do rally to the classical views that you both put forth so well. Though the “philosopher” in me can’t quite ignore the “title” of the thread either, as it was noted.
I find it fascinating that life started from it’s very beginnings with the sophistication of reproduction already “pre-programmed” into it. Where else but God could that have possibly come from? Again, while that doesn’t constitute “proof”, I, at least, have yet to encounter a more convincing explanation.
Thank you for your contributions to a very “spiritual” topic.
Shalom.
...And thanks to you, P, for having posted.
s, ping....
Bnei Noach also prepare the world for G-d, for Moshiach.
Rereading my post, I see I forgot a point, that is, we don’t rely on faith—because we KNOW. The point of the unbroken chain is that we know for a fact that Torah is true.
If you like the classical view/philosophy of the Rambam, then you’ll like to know (or rehear) that he obliged us to look at the world as equally balanced on a scale between meritorious and sinful (or meritorious and guilty) and one more mitzvah/good deed can push the scale to the good side and bring Moshiach.
Have a good night.
Thank you.
A lot of science to me proves our Creator.
Fascinating collection of understandable lessons at
http://www.simpletoremember.com/authors/a/rabbi-akiva-tatz/
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