knowledge for sake of action

Knowledge for the Sake of Action - Science and Torah - Science Is Torah.

In my last few posts and comments on them, I proposed that most

secular study such as the sciences and most of the humanities are

necessary to get to Yediat Hashem - Knowledge of God - which is the

objective of humanity. Rambam often tells us that we learn Halacha to

know how to do the Mitzvot which help us perfect our personality and

thinking so that we can understand the sciences from a perspective

that will lead us to God. In this sense, the Mitzvot and the Halacha

that teaches us how to perform them are tools that precede and at best

are equal in importance with the necessary sciences. The most telling

statement is in MN 3:51 where he presents the allegory of the king

living in the inner chambers of the palace and his subjects looking to

find the way in. He places the Halachik authorities who have no

philosophic inclination in the courtyard circling the palace, together

with those who learn the basic laws of logic and Math.

"Those who arrive at the palace, but go round about it, are those who

devote themselves exclusively to the study of the practical law. They

believe traditionally in true principles of faith, and learn the

practical worship of God, but are not trained in philosophical

treatment of the principles of the Law, and do not endeavor to

establish the truth of their faith by proof... My son, so long as you

are engaged in studying the Mathematical Sciences and Logic, you

belong to those who go round about the palace in search of the gate."

He places the scientist who has no philosophical training in the

antechambers together with those who seek to understand the proofs for

God.

"Those who undertake to investigate the principles of religion have

come into the antechamber; and there is no doubt that these can also

be divided into different grades... If you however understood the

natural things you have entered the habitation and are walking in the

antechambers."

However, there is one additional point that is not accepted by all who

read Rambam but is to me clear like day. The objective is Yediat

Hashem but not for knowledge alone. Knowledge of God is equated with

Olam Haba and with the highest levels of experiential attachment to

God - Deveikut - and "Kiss of Death" - Mitat Neshikah. Knowledge of

God however is not the ultimate objective but a stepping-stone and has

as its own objective the emulation of God. When one knows God through

His actions and analyzes them properly, he can understand what God

wants from us and what our role is in the universe. That is the

meaning of the 13 attributes of God that we declaim as part of our

Teshuvah process.

"Our Sages call them Midot (qualities), and speak of the thirteen

Midot of God ... only the thirteen Midot are mentioned, because they

include those acts of God which refer to the creation and the

government of mankind, and to know these acts was the principal object

of the prayer of Moses." (MN 1:54)

In other words if man wants to perfect himself, in the process of

searching for God he has to meditate on God's action or attributes so

that he can emulate them. As Rambam states many times "good" is the

promotion of existence and continuity. When we say God is good by

definition, we are saying that He is the reason and First Cause for

existence. If we want to do "good", there is only one approach;

emulate God who is good by definition and do our part in promoting

existence and continuity.

After explaining in MN 3:54 that -

"The fourth kind of perfection is the true perfection of man: the

possession of the highest, intellectual faculties; the possession of

such notions which lead to true metaphysical opinions as regards God.

With this perfection, man has obtained his final object; it gives him

true human perfection; it remains to him alone; it gives him

immortality, and on its account, he is called man... And that the

religious acts prescribed by the Law, the various kinds of worship and

the moral principles which benefit all people in their social

intercourse with each other, do not constitute the ultimate aim of

man, nor can they be compared to it, for they are but preparations

leading to it."

Rambam makes the point that Knowledge is not enough.

"The prophet [Yirmyahu 9:22-23] does not content himself with

explaining that the knowledge of God is the highest kind of

perfection... The prophet thus, in conclusion, says, "For in these

things I delight, says the Lord," i.e., my object [in saying this] is

that you shall practice loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness

in the earth. In a similar manner, we have shown (MN I: 54) that the

object of the enumeration of God's thirteen attributes is the lesson

that we should acquire similar attributes and act accordingly. The

object of the above passage is therefore to declare, that the

perfection, in which man can truly glory, is attained by him when he

has acquired--as far as this is possible for man--the knowledge of

God, the knowledge of His Providence, and of the manner in which it

influences His creatures in their production and continued existence.

Having acquired the knowledge he will then be determined always to

seek loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, and thus to imitate

the ways of God."

Clearly, Rambam does not stop at knowledge of God alone. Humanity's

objective is to figure out how to act appropriately and perform its

role in creation through knowledge. I believe that this point is the

most important idea in Rambam's thought and without it, we miss the

greatest insight he teaches us. Only the intellectually perfected man

can know what his role is in creation and act appropriately. That

person is represented by the prophet and Moshe the greatest and unique

prophet is the paradigm of such a human being. Moshe gave the world,

through the Jewish people, the eternal Torah, the divine approach to

man's perfection. In practical terms, Judaism sees human knowledge as

a way of serving God by acting to fulfill His wish that each component

of the existence He created play its role in the continuity of His

creation.

The limits of human knowledge and the implications thereof will be the

subject of my next post.