(Part 2 can be found here) In light of all the available evidence, I think that despite the presence of Hukim, Halakha is a means for some external ends. There are four basic arguments for this fact which I will detail in the following paragraphs. The first argument is based on the existence of what [...]
Read(Part 1 can be found here) Halakha encompasses what are known as the Hukim – laws which seem to be purposeless – and the Mishpatim, laws which seem to be purposeful. Had the Halakha only consisted of Mishpatim, Leibowitz’s position would be untenable. The Mishpatim are laws which conform to our own intuitions about morality [...]
Read“What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecc. 1:9). Man is born. Man dies. The world takes its natural course and nothing new occurs. If Solomon is correct in this dictum, then how can miracles be possible? [...]
ReadIn the course of this three part article series, we will examine the fundamental nature of the halachic system. To do this we will begin with the “I Robot” stories written by Issac Asimov. In these stories, the three “laws of Robotics” which all robots are designed to follow are: 1. A robot may not [...]
ReadGod gave the Torah to all the Jews for all times, but if the Jews were different, or time had progressed differently than it did, would He have given a different Torah? Is there a possible world, a distinct way the world can be, in which the Torah would be different? The Torah was meant [...]
ReadSooner or later, most Orthodox Jews face the big questions. Why be Orthodox? What is our justification? One prominent rabbi publicly said that he doesn’t think that we have given these subjects the proper thought. Another, in private, invoked a platitude of “bringing light into the world” through Judaism as his reason for being Orthodox. [...]
ReadI The ever-insouciant, controversial Irish writer James Joyce (1882-1941), in what is arguably his most notorious and fêted work, Ulysses (1922), introduced the Odysseus of his Odyssey with the following words: “Mr Leopold Bloom ate with relish the inner organs of beasts and fowls.” In that brief description someone begins to take shape. Known as [...]
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Part 1: Foundationalism and Belief When I was thirteen, I decided to come closer to Halakhic Judaism. I did not grow up halakhically observant, but at the age of thirteen something dawned on me. In the upcoming pages, I will present my thoughts as a thirteen year old. Some of these thoughts have developed, while [...]
ReadWhen I was young, my mother told me a story about my grandfather. I believe this story until today. I believe that it happened. There are a lot of other stories I believe. Many of these stories, for instance, can be found in our Torah. Among the many things the Torah tells me, I am [...]
Read(Originally posted on Rabbi Fink’s blog here. A PDF of the original post is also available on his site.) In my personal experience, I have come across a lot of people who would somewhat fit into the following broad category. All of them know others in the same situation as well. Those people feel [...]
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