Anon asked Staff ago Hello.
I have a friend who is newly religious and I don’t know how to handle him. He recites the words of the rabbi who talks to him, he says he’s found the light and the truth, that one should act in accordance with what is written in the Shulchan Aruch and that our secular lives are full of nonsense. Suddenly he has change completely and I want to know some facts about how to force him to understand that the Torah and Talmud were written by old men who didn’t know anything more than their contemporaries; they weren’t holy. I want to show him Biblical Criticism, but he scoffs at that.
Thanks in advance,
Ronit
jsadmin Staff answered 22 years ago
Dear Ronit,
The process of becoming religious is a process of searching for meaning. It does not stem from rational considerations, but from a sense of having lost the way, having no goal and purpose in life. This is the reason he feels like he has found the light and the truth though he does not know Judaism, has not succeeded in reading a single page of Gemara or ruled Halacha.
Even if you show him black on white that Halacha discriminates against women, the secular, and gentiles, he will answer that you don’t understand the “holy light” which sparkles from between the racist and immoral letters. Even if you prove to him that Chazal’s knowledge about science was mistaken, as we do on this site, he will not accept it. His overwhelming desire to find some meaning in his life blurs his critical, rational sense. This is why he will reject Biblical Criticism. Paradoxically, the person who becomes religious revolutionizes his life because he criticizes the secular community; he chooses the Orthodox community, which rejects criticism.
In other words: one who becomes religious needs long talks about the meaning of life. Perhaps he will understand that he is undergoing a mental crisis and should deal with that instead of running away from his personality and into the Holy Writ, G-d, Torah, and the commandments.
Sincerely,
Daat Emet
jsadmin Staff answered 22 years ago
Like all those who seek meaning, you mix up meaning in life and the concept of knowing the truth.
Meaning in life is a moral ideology which each person chooses when he decides what gives his life — in this world — meaning. It has no connection with any scientific truth.
Some people find meaning in defending their homeland and give most of their lives to the army. Some find meaning in helping others and give most of their energy and time to assistance organizations.
There are those who find meaning in this world in creating an illusion that they’ll get their reward in the World to Come, and they are willing to conquer and suppress their will and intelligence for an unknown future.
The search for truth is a field which belongs to science, a field universal to all men. Scientific truth is accepted by man even against his will; he is not free to refuse it. For example: the earth is spherical and turns on its axis. This is a scientific truth which all reasonable people are forced to accept. On the other hand, “meaning in life” — in this world — is a subjective value judgment. The meaning in life for a Japanese willing to sacrifice his life for his Emperor is unacceptable to Trumpeldor, who found meaning in life in trying to establish a national home for the Jewish people, and was willing to die for that. The meaning of Trumpeldor’s life would not be acceptable to a Palestinian, who is willing to die for the establishment of a state for the Palestinian people.
Sincerely,
Daat Emet