Between Man and God: Issues in Judaic Thought

273 Pages·2001·1.54 MB·English

by  Martin Sicker

Between
Man and God
BETWEEN
MAN AND GOD
Issues in Judaic Thought
MARTIN SICKER
Contributions to the Study of Religion, Number 66
GREENWOOD PRESS
Westport, Connecticut • London
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sicker, Martin.
Between man and God : issues in Judaic thought / Martin Sicker.
p. cm.—(Contributions to the study of religion, ISSN 0196–7053 ; no. 66)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0–313–31904–9 (alk. paper)
1. God(Judaism) 2. Man(Jewishtheology) 3. Judaism—Doctrines. I. Title. II. Series.
BM610.S485 2001
296.3′11—dc21 00–069127
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.
Copyright © 2001 by Martin Sicker
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be
reproduced, by any process or technique, without the
express written consent of the publisher.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 00–069127
ISBN: 0–313–31904–9
ISSN: 0196–7053
First published in 2001
Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
www.greenwood.com
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this book complies with the
Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National
Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Introduction vii
1. The Judaic Conception of God 1
2. The Temporal or Prophetic Paradigm 21
3. The Experience of the Divine 41
4. Man, the Universe, and the Creator 57
5. The Meaning of Human Existence 75
6. Man in the Image 89
7. Man and Providence 97
8. Man’s Moral Autonomy 109
9. The Good and Evil Impulses 129
10. Divine Omniscience and Moral Autonomy 149
11. Resolving Rabbi Akiba’s Paradox 165
12. The Question of Divine Justice 189
13. Theodicy in Judaic Thought 201
14. Divine Justice and Human Justice 229
Bibliography 239
Index 255

Introduction
Morethanahalf-centuryaftertheHolocaust,thetheologicalreverberations
ofthathorrendousintrusionofevilintothecourseofhumanhistoryremain
withusunabated.“WherewasGodatAuschwitz?”isacrythatcontinuestobe
heard.Satisfactoryanswerstothisheartrendingquestionseemtoeludeus,as
wecontinuetowitnessthehorrorsthatmenarecapableofinflictingonone
another.Thisworkwaswritteninpartasapersonalattempttocometogrips
withthatawesomequestionandwithitsomeoftherelatedcentralissuesof
Jewish thought and belief.
InrecentyearsanumberofdisturbingbooksandarticlesbyJewishau-
thors on the subject of theodicy, the justification of divine acts, most of
themwrittenwiththeHolocaustastheirpointofreference,haveappeared.
Theseworksattempttodealwiththephilosophicalandtheologicalimpli-
cationsoftheHolocaustandthereforenecessarilytouchuponsomeofthe
crucialissuesthathavetroubledJewishthinkersformillennia.Ihavefound
someoftheseworkstobeparticularlydisconcertingprimarilybecauseIbe-
lievethemtobefundamentallyillconceivedaswellassociallyandpsycho-
logically counterproductive. In a sense, this book is my response to those
authors.
Thereseemstobeatendencyamongmanywritersofsuchcontemporary
workstoarguethattheveryfactoftheHolocaustinvalidatestraditionalJew-
ishtheology,andthatitslong-heldideasaboutGodmustthereforeberevised
radically.Anexampleofthisapproachisthepositiontakenbyonesuchwriter,
Steven Jacobs, who rejects traditional conceptions of God as being out of
touchwiththerealworld.“Whatisdemandedintherealmoftheologicalin-
tegrityisanotionofGodcompatiblewiththerealityofradicalevilatworkand
viii INTRODUCTION
atplayinourworld,anotionthat,also,admitsofhumanfreedomforgoodand
evil—withoutthefruitlessappealstoaGodwho‘chose’(?)nottoactbecause
He could not act.”1
Thisstatementimplies,stronglyandinmyviewincorrectly,thattraditional
thoughtdoesnotdealwith“therealityofradicalevil,”althoughitisnoten-
tirely clear what the author of the statement means by the phrase “radical
evil.”ItsauthorthenleapstothenonsequiturconclusionthattheGodoftradi-
tionalJudaictheologyisessentiallyimpotentandthereforenotworthyofour
supplications.Inotherwords,itappearsthathehasassignedtoGodasetofre-
sponsibilities, a sort of job description. Since these responsibilities were not
carriedouttohissatisfaction,especiallywithregardtoGodnothavingpre-
vented the Holocaust, the traditional Judaic notion of an omnipotent God
whoisconcernedwithmanmustthereforebediscountedandHisjobdescrip-
tionradicallyrevised.However,thequestionis,wouldthinkerssuchasJacobs
reallywantaGodwhovisiblyintervenedinourcollectiveandprivatelives,
thereby restricting our freedoms of choice and actions? Michael Lerner ob-
servedinthisregard:“Althoughtheyknowtheycouldneverreallybelieveina
godofthissort,andthoughtheydon’treallybelieveinthisgod,theyareangry
at‘him’fornotexisting,andsowon’tallowthemselvestoknowtheGodthat
Does exist.”2
Itseemsclearthatitwasinresponsetothisgenerallineofargumentthat
Emmanuel Levinas wrote:
Whatcanthissufferingoftheinnocentsmean?IsitnotaproofofaworldwithoutGod,
where only man measures Good and Evil? The simplest and most common answer
wouldbeatheism.Thisisalsothesanestreactionforallthoseforwhompreviouslya
fairly primary sort of God had dished out prizes, inflicted punishment or pardoned
sins—aGodwho,inHisgoodness,treatedmenlikechildren.Butwithwhatlesser
demonorstrangemagicianhaveyouthereforefilledyourheaven,youwhoclaimitis
empty?Andwhy,underanemptysky,doyoucontinuetohopeforagoodandsensible
world.3
WithallduerespectforthesincerityoftheJewish“deathofGod”theolo-
gians,muchofthislineofargumenthasalwaysstruckmeasaformofverbal
“dragon-slaying.” That is, one conjures up a conceptual “dragon,” and then
proceedstoslayit,deftlyandwithfinality.However,myownresearchintothe
traditionalliteratureofJudaismindicatesthatonewouldbehard-pressedto
findanysuchreadilydestructibletheological“dragons.”Thisisnottosuggest
thatonewillnotfindsomeratherunsophisticatedideasaboutGodthere.But
thisisverydifferentfromassertingthatsuchideasarerepresentativeoftradi-
tionalJudaicthoughtwhich,infact,asmayreadilybeseenintheworksofits
principalexponents,ishardlyasnaïveasthe“dragon-slayers”wouldhaveus
believe.Theequivalenttothequestion,“WherewasGodatAuschwitz?”has
INTRODUCTION ix
long been asked by Jewish thinkers, albeit in reference to other places and
times,sincethedestructionoftheFirstJewishCommonwealthmorethantwo
andahalfmillenniaago.Theywrestledwiththepossibleanswersthen,justas
wedotoday.Thebigdifferencebetweenthenandnowisnotwiththeenor-
mityanduniquenessoftheHolocaustwhencomparedwithallotherdisasters
inJewishhistory,butwiththereadinessofearlierthinkerstosearchformean-
ingwithoutalmostcavalierlydiscardingideasandbeliefsthatwerecherished
throughoutthathistory.Iwillargueinthisbookthatthemodernadvocatesof
radicaltheologicalrevisionactuallyhavelittletoaddtoourunderstandingof
thewaysofGodandevenlesstoameaningfulJudaicperspectiveontheuni-
verse and the relationship between man and God.
A second concern of this work is the argument, heard rather frequently
nowadays,thatbecausethereisnouniversallyacceptedtheologyofJudaism,
oneisnotboundbyanyparticularconceptionofGod,whetherofbiblicalor
rabbinicorigin,orasespousedbyJewishphilosophersandtheologiansoverthe
centuries.Inotherwords,Jewishtheologyhascometobeviewedessentiallyas
an“equalopportunity”fieldofintellectualendeavor.Atitsextreme,theargu-
mentismadethat,aslongasoneidentifiesoneselfand“lives”asaJew,what-
everthatissupposedtomean,ithardlymatterswhatonebelievesaboutGod,
orthatoneevenbelievesinoranythingaboutGod.Moreover,thisapproach,
whichmostoftentendstobeidentifiedwiththemodernmovementforthere-
constructionofJudaism,isalsotakeninessencebyanotinsignificantnumber
ofrabbisandthinkersfromallthevariousstreamsofcontemporaryJudaism.
Andthisisso,despitethefrequentlyradicaldifferencesbetweenthesevarious
schools of thought with regard to what constitutes an authentic Jewish ap-
proachtothedilemmasofexistenceandthepathtobefollowedthroughthem.
The general approach of these thinkers, in my opinion, is fundamentally
andultimatelyfatallyflawed.Itistruethatthereisnogenerallyacceptedfor-
mal dogma in Judaism, notwithstanding the highly controversial efforts of
somereligiousauthoritiessuchasthevenerableMaimonidestostipulateone.
However,thisisbynomeansthesameassuggestingthat,asaconsequence,any
theologyisasvalidasanyotheris.Iwouldarguethatsuchasuggestioniswith-
outabasisinJewishintellectualhistory,regardlessofwhetherornotoneac-
cepts a dogmatic set of beliefs set forth by some thinkers in the past.
ThefactisthatJudaismasithasbeenknownformorethantwomillenniais
predicatedonanumberofbasic,albeitnotpreciselydefined,assumptionsand
valueconcepts,withoutwhichitwouldbecriticallyundermined.Itisthese
crucialideasthatarecurrentlyunderrelentlessattack,bynumerousessentially
agnostic and atheist rabbis and theologians of various religious persuasions,
undertherubricofredefiningJewishbeliefasanecessarysteptothepreserva-
tionofJudaisminthepostmodernera.Thereis,however,littleifanyevidence
x INTRODUCTION
thatthisfreewheelingapproachislikelytoachievethisgoalandsomerather
disconcerting evidence that it will not.
ThecentralargumentofthisbookisthattraditionalnondogmaticJewish
thoughtdoesnotrequireradicalrevision.Indeed,therearesolidgroundsfor
suggestingthattherabbinicJudaismofthelasttwomillenniaprobablycould
notsurvivesuchrevisionandremainthehistoricalforceithasbeensincethe
destruction of the Second Jewish Commonwealth and its central religious
shrine,theTempleinJerusalem.Instead,whatisrequiredisamatureandsym-
pathetic understanding of the theological assumptions and ideas of the past
coupled with a sincere and respectful attempt to reformulate them in terms
moreattunedtothemoderntemper.Thatis,weneedtobuildonthoseideas
andnotsimplyrejectthemoutofhandasunsatisfactorybecausewefindtheir
implicitexplanationsofhoworwhyGodlettheHolocausthappendisagree-
able.
Eventhoughonecertainlywillfindinthetraditionalliteraturesomerather
simplisticstatementsofbeliefinapersonalGod,thesearerarelyifeverformu-
latedasformaltheologicaltenets,andjustasrarelytakenatfacevaluebyseri-
ousthinkers.Thesagesofold,aswellastherabbisandphilosophersoflater
times, were acutely sensitive to the difficulties inherent in such beliefs but,
generallyspeaking,didnotattempttosimplydiscardthemassomanyseemea-
gertodotoday.Theyunderstood,asmanyofusappeartohavegreatdifficulty
indoing,that,asPascaloncewrote,thehearthasreasonsthatreasondoesnot
know.Enamoredwithourpowersofdeductionandreasoning,weseemtobe
preparedtodiscardanythingthatwecannotdefineorlabeltooursatisfaction,
forgettingthatideasmayhavemeta-logicalvaliditythattranscendsthecon-
ventionallogicthatgovernswhatweusuallyconsidertoberationalthought.
InthisbookIattempttograspanddescribehowsomeofthegreatissuesof
Jewishthoughthavebeenunderstoodandaddressedthroughouttheages.Per-
hapsforemostamongtheseisthequestionofapersonalGod,theideathatwas
universallyacceptedbythosecommittedtonormativeJudaism,butwhichwas
understoodinawidevarietyofways.NotraditionalJewishthinkerpriortothe
twentiethcenturywouldhaveconceivedofrejectingtheconceptoutright,as
demandedbythenewradicalrevisionists,becausetodosowouldhaveunder-
mined the entire edifice of rabbinic Judaism.
WithoutbeliefinapersonalGod,eventhoughthatnotionhasneverbeen
defineddogmaticallyinJudaism,therecanbenobeliefindivineprovidenceor
indivinerewardandpunishment,andwithoutthelatterJudaismisdeprivedof
much of the basis for its normative content. It could, as suggested by some
modernthinkers,berecastasaformofrationalhumanism,butonecannotbut
seriouslydoubtthatthissortofvaguevestigeoftraditionalJudaismcouldcarry
theemotivepowertokeepitortheJewishpeoplealiveforverylonginthefu-
ture.ThiswasattemptedbyFelixAdlerwithhisfoundingoftheEthicalCul-