To Whom Was the Torah Given?

Matt Schneeweiss
http://kankanchadash.blogspot.com/

 

The central theme of Shavuos is the giving of the Torah. People assume that the Torah was given to all Jews. According to Ibn Ezra, however, this assumption is not entirely correct. In his introduction to the Ten Commandments, Ibn Ezra writes: “Hashem only gave the Torah to rational people; a person who is not rational has no Torah.”

 

According to Ibn Ezra, people can be divided into two groups: “rational” and “irrational.” The question is: “What do these two labels mean?” After all, everyone thinks and behaves irrationally from time to time. What defines a person as “irrational”?

 

Let us set this question aside for a moment and take a detour . . .

 

One of the most important mitzvos in the Torah is: “You shall not explore after your heart and after your eyes after which you stray” (Bamidbar 15:40). The Sages explain: “after your heart” refers to heresy; “and after your eyes” refers to licentiousness (Sifre: Bamidbar 115). The Rambam elucidates this mitzvah in Laws of Idolatry 2:3:

 

The Torah did not only prohibit us from inclining toward idolatrous thinking, but any thought which causes a person to uproot one of the fundamentals of Torah. We are commanded not to bring it to mind, and not to occupy our thoughts with it - not to speculate and to be drawn after the musings of the heart. For man’s mind is deficient, and not all minds are capable of clearly ascertaining the truth. And if every person were to be drawn after the thoughts of his heart, the whole world would be destroyed as a consequence of his deficient mind.

How [does one transgress this mitzvah]? Sometimes a person will explore idolatry, and sometimes a person will think about the Oneness of the Creator: “Perhaps He is One, perhaps He is not?” “What is above, what is below, what is in front, what is in back?” and sometimes about prophecy: “Perhaps it is true, perhaps it is not?” and sometimes about Torah: “Perhaps it is from Heaven, perhaps it is not?” And he will not know the methods of judging these matters to be able to clearly know the truth, and he will consequently become a heretic.

 

There are two major questions we can ask. The first question is rooted in the Rambam’s last example: and sometimes [a person will muse] about Torah: “Perhaps it is from Heaven, perhaps it is not?” The Torah itself commands us to verify, through rational argument, the Torah’s divine origin - the event at Sinai. Without a method of validating the historicity of the event at Sinai, we would be unable to differentiate between the authority of Moshe Rabbeinu and the authority of a false prophet who performs miracles and commands us to deviate from the Torah.[1] Part of the process of demonstrating the historicity of the event at Sinai is entertaining the possibility that the event never occurred. According to the Rambam, however, it is prohibited to think such a thought!

 

This presents us with a contradiction: on the one hand, the Torah commands us to rationally demonstrate that the Torah was given at Sinai; at the same time, the Torah prohibits us to engage in the very cognitive process involved in such a demonstration!

 

The second question we can ask on this mitzvah concerns the second component: “after your eyes.” The Rambam explains (Sefer ha’Mitzvos: Lo Saaseh #47):”The Sages’ statement ‘this refers to licentiousness’ refers to the pursuit of physical pleasures and bodily desires and constant preoccupation in thinking about them.”

 

The question is: What is the relationship between the two components of this mitzvah? “After your heart” (thinking thoughts which lead to heresy) seems to be entirely unrelated to “after your eyes” (preoccupation with the pursuit of physical pleasure). How can we unify these seemingly disparate behaviors?

 

To review, we have three questions on the table:
Question #1: According to Ibn Ezra, the Torah was not given to irrational people - who is considered “irrational” and why wasn’t the Torah given to such people?
Question #2: How can the Torah prohibit thinking “perhaps the Torah is not from Heaven” and at the same time obligate every Jew to demonstrate the Torah’s divine origin through rational argument?
Question #3: What is the relationship between thinking heretical thoughts and licentiousness?

Let’s take another look at the Rambam.

 

We are commanded not to bring it to mind, and not to occupy our thoughts with it - not to speculate and to be drawn after the musings of the heart. For the mind of man is deficient, and not all minds are capable of clearly ascertaining the truth. And if every person were to be drawn after the thoughts of his heart, the whole world would be destroyed as a consequence of his deficient mind. How [does one transgress this mitzvah]? Sometimes a person will explore idolatry, and sometimes a person will think about the Oneness of the Creator: “Perhaps He is One, perhaps He is not?” . . . And he will not know the methods of judging these matters to be able to clearly know the truth, and he will consequently become a heretic.

 

There are two ways in which a person can approach a philosophical question. The first way is to engage in an intellectually honest, unbiased, methodical investigation. A person who engages in such thinking will be cautious, thorough, and rigorous in his analysis, scrupulously avoiding fallacy and error. He will guard against cognitive and emotional biases and not rely on first impressions. He will consult experts when he has questions and will discuss his thoughts with other people before drawing any conclusions. Most importantly, he will recognize the limitations of an untrained mind, and will only venture into areas which are within his intellectual capacity. Let us call this approach: analytical investigation.

 

The second way to approach a philosophical question is with intuitive musing. A person who uses this method will think casually, lazily, and uncritically. He will stick with his first impressions, not bothering to scrutinize his reasoning for bias and error. He will not consult experts, nor will he bother to discuss his questions with others. He will confidently think about any area, and will not feel the need to train his mind. Let us call this thinking: affective speculation.

 

According to the Rambam, the Torah never prohibited analytical investigation of philosophical questions. Indeed, one who is capable of such an investigation is obligated to validate the giving of the Torah at Sinai. Rather, the whole prohibition of “exploring after your heart” refers to affective speculation. The Torah recognized that this form of “thinking” is the source of idolatry and heresy and prohibited it. Moreover, the Torah recognized that an untrained mind will naturally lapse into this sort of speculation. If an individual is intellectually incapable, or emotionally susceptible to idolatry or heresy, the Torah prohibits him from investigating certain questions. The Torah is pro-intellect - but only when the intellect is used responsibly.

 

Let’s take another step and ask: what makes affective speculation so attractive and convincing? And what is the relationship between affective speculation and preoccupation with physical pleasure?

 

Apparently, the prohibition of “you shall not stray after your heart and after your eyes” was designed to eliminate more than just a particular way of thinking. Rather, the objective of this prohibition is to uproot an entire philosophy of life, the philosophy which proclaims: what feels true is true.

 

There are two types of truth: theoretical and practical. “The earth is round,” “2+2=4,” and “God is One” are all statements of theoretical truth; they proclaim what is or is not the case. “Look both ways before crossing the street,” “eat healthy,” and “don’t drive recklessly” are statements of practical truth; they proclaim what one should or should not do.

 

In short, the mitzvah of “you shall not stray after your heart and after your eyes” prohibits us from relying on our hearts for theoretical and practical truth. The message of this mitzvah is: just because it feels true doesn’t mean it is true, and just because it feels good doesn’t mean it is good.

 

Perhaps this is the answer to our original question. A person who embraces the philosophy of “what feels true is true” is the “irrational person” of whom Ibn Ezra speaks. He is definitively irrational, rejecting the Tzelem Elokim as a perceiver of reality and relying on his feelings instead. Deep down, he assures himself saying, “I will have peace, for I proceed on the authority of my heart” (Devarim 29:18). Such a person will not be enriched by the Torah.

 

The system of 613 mitzvos is a blueprint for the happiest life for a human being. Shavuos is a time to reflect on Hashem’s kindness in giving us this system. May we all merit to fulfill that which is written, “to observe the commandments of Hashem and His decrees, which I command you today, for your benefit” (Devarim 10:13).

(Special thanks to Levi and Ben, who helped me with these ideas.)

 


[1] See Laws of the Fundamentals of Torah 8:1-3; for an elaboration, see Torah from Sinai, by Rabbi Yisroel Chait and chapters 3 and 6 from Living Up to the Truth, by Rabbi Dovid Gottlieb.