Would you still be Religious?

Someone asked me the following question this week. This blog is my attempt at an answer (though I still don't have a final answer, and may change my mind in the future)

Let's say archaeologists find writings from 2700 years ago, were King Josiah and the priests discuss the name of what is going to become their new national hero. They were deciding between John, Samuel, Sebastian and Moshe, (finally decided Moshe) and you can read their opinions were they say they cannot believe that people actually believe what they tell them, etc. An actual proof for an open mind that Torah was invented for political reasons. It is a hypotetical case, that obviously is never going to happen, but I would like to know if you would continue being a rabbi.

I'll make the question slightly stronger, since I never wanted to be a Rabbi in the first place, - 'would you continue being religious?'

++A word to the wise. This is not a question about the validity of the Torah. The question is about what is the basis for my faith. Could my Judaism survive without the Chumash?++

For years I thought the answer to this was a simple 'no'. If the Torah isn't true, then everything that is built on it is also false, and why would I be religious if it wasn't true.

I could never really understand people who keep mitzvot without believing in revelation at Sinai.

But now that I'm actually confronting the question (and perhaps because I am a bit smarter now) I'm not sure. If the question includes certain knowledge that G-d did not give any commandments to the Jews or any system of legislation, or indeed any message, then I still think I would pack it in tomorrow. In the words of one of my Rabbinical colleagues 'We could be playing glam rock in Maddison Square Gardens'. Perhaps not! but you get the point.

On the other hand, if the question asks us to imagine that the Torah as we have it is not an authentic document, but it is based on traditions, customs and beliefs going back a millenia before Josiah, I think I would still be 'in'.

I'll try to explain why (though I'm not entirely sure myself). Perhaps the best analogy is to the Zohar. Many scholars and Rabbis held (and hold) that the Zohar is a forgery compiled by Moshe de Leon over a thousand years after it was allegedly written. R' Yaakov Emden wrote a book, Miṭpaḥat Sefarim, proving that the Zohar is a forgery. Yet he also wrote several kabbalistic works and commentaries on sections of the Zohar. He used kabbalah in his halachic works and commentaries. How could he hold that it is a forgery, and at the same time consider it authentic? (I know one could argue that he only claimed the Zohar was a forgery because of the threat of Sabbateanism, but I don't think it is possible to prove so convincingly that it is not genuine unless he really believed what he wrote, and I also tend to assume that people write what they think is true).

Perhaps the answer is that the beauty of the Zohar and the kabbalistic system is not dependent on the authority and accuracy of the text, but is a self contained system which works. It can be an expression of the Divine Will if it was written by Moshe de Leon just as much as if it was written by R' Shimon bar Yochai.

I'm not trying to show whether this Zohar is authentic or not, just giving an example that even if it is not genuine, it can still provide a basis for faith.

Perhaps the same could be true for the Torah. Even though I'm convinced that it is true, I think my faith could survive even if it were not. As long as I felt it was an expression of the Divine Will. As long as I can believe in G-d, and as long as the system works, I think I would still be religious.

Perhaps this kind of belief is 'cutting the saplings' which was Acher's heresy in the Talmud Chagiga. Perhaps it is heretical to say that Judaism could survive without the Torah.

On the other hand, none of our halachah comes directly from the Chumash. Our Halachah is from the Talmud through the eyes of the poskim. I think the Talmud could stand without the Torah. The derashot may be 'reverse engineering' anyway (according to 'Doros Rishonim' for example). And (with a few exceptions) Yeshivas certainly don't seem to spend much time, or have much interest, in learning Chumash and Nach. They know full well that Judaism is about Talmud and Shulchan Aruch, not Bible.

So, as of today, I think I would still be religious, even were the Torah to be proven to be a forgery.

I'm open to other opinions, and I reserve the right to change my mind. But after a week of thinking about this issue, these were my thoughts so far.

Over to you, my readers.

Alan Johnston's answers

Alan Johnston is a BBC reporter who was held hostage in Gaza for 114 days. On the BBC website he answers readers questions in (what seems to me) quite a fair, honest and evenhanded way.

Of course his kidnapping led him to a higher opinion of Palestinians in general (it was only the hostage takers themselves who weren't very nice, and some of them were almost embarrassed about it), and he sees a lot of good in the Palestinian people (which is reasonable, because there is). He also thinks that the Jewish claim to Israel is purely a religious one, and seems to ignore history, international resolutions and the persecution that ultimately led to the State.

But he has quotes like this, which IMHO show a better understanding of the conflict, and the likelihood of peace, than many of our politicians seem to have (and may I take this opportunity to wish our Prime Minister a Refuah Shleima - but couldn't you at least have used it as an excuse to avoid Annapolis?).

Q: How has your experience shaped your views on the Palestinian problem? Do you think there is a solution?
John Craig, Glasgow

For a century or more, this has been a dispute over the control of the narrow strip of land that stretches from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea. If the Israelis were to withdraw from every inch of occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, the Palestinians would be left with about 22% percent of that land. The Israelis would have 78% percent.

Every time you see an American president sit down with the two sides to talk peace, the question is largely about how much of that 22% the Palestinians should be allowed to have - and under what conditions.

I tend to feel that the Israelis will never really give enough - or be forced by their American friends to give enough. And for at least some angry young Palestinians, 22% could never be enough. They would want to fight on for much more.

I think that they would be hard to rein in, and in the poverty, despair and oppression of the occupation, the ranks of the radicals are only likely to grow.

Set against that, most people on both sides do want an end to the conflict - a settlement that might allow their children to live in peace and prosper. So, perhaps there is hope - "God willing", as they say in Palestine.

Read the full piece on the BBC website

Metal Kitchen Cabinets?

As some of you know, we need to replace our kitchen fairly urgently. The wood is rotting, there isn't enough storage space, and just before Rosh Hashanah our kitchen sink collapsed.

Hopefully we are getting most of a new (for us) kitchen from some friends who are redoing their appartment and getting rid of the kitchen that was there.

I have been asked whether I would put metal cabinets in my kitchen, instead of the traditional wooden ones. I know that metal storage units are usually found in garages, not kitchens, but they certainly do have many advantages.

They are really strong and come in many colors or in finishes like stainless steel. They won't go rotten, and most of all they look REALLY funky. Check out these metal cabinets from the Car Garage Guy.

Our house would certainly be the snazziest one in the building if we put in some of those cabinets. (Whether my wife would agree is an entirely different matter).

So in short, the answer is, YES, I would put metal cabinets in my kitchen.

What do you think?


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Nevuchadnezzar was a shrimp!

My son came home from school today and proudly announced that he had learned in school that Nevuchadnezzar, King of Babylon and the entire known world, was in fact very short. "Did I know how short?" he asked. "No", said I, fearing the worst.

"Nevuchadnezzar was exactly 1 tefach tall!" came the answer.

Well of course he was. 1 tefach is about 2 inches (5 cms) in modern terminology. Of course people are that big. Perhaps he was the original inspiration for Tom Thumb (or tinkerbell for that matter).

Apparently (again, according to my son), the Chazon Ish, or perhaps it was the Chatam Sofer, or maybe the Chofetz Chaim, once comforted a short person by telling them to imagine how powerful and evil Nevuchadnezzar was, yet he was only 1 tefach. This person was taller than that so imagine how much good they could do! Inspiring stuff.

I know Napoleon was short, as were many world leaders (particularly evil dictators for some reason - just ask Austin Powers. hmmm) but would I be accused of heresy were I to question the literalness of this particular story?

I found that in Tanna d'Bei Eliyahu, chapter 31, it says that Nevuchadnezzar was full of pride, but short of stature. When he would tour his countries, from city to city, all the townspeople would gather together and go out to meet him. They would make jokes with each other, and say to each other, "Is this the one who rules from one end of the world to the other?"

Pretty cruel huh!

I was discussing this tonight with someone, who suggested (wisely) that perhaps the midrash is coming to contrast his ego with his height, and since his ego was so enormous, they had to describe him as miniscule by comparison.

This makes a lot of sense. Especially as Nevuchadnezzar was criticised by G-d in the Gemara Chagiga (13a I think) for being so proud. He wanted to ascend to Heaven to wage war on G-d. G-d taunts him that from earth to the first heaven is 500 miles, and the heaven is 500 miles thick, and between each heaven there is 500 miles, and there are seven heavens all together. It would take several lifetimes and a person could still never get close to G-d (in that sense).

So perhaps the equation is: + ego = - physical size.

And we learn it all from Nevuchadnezzar, perhaps the only person in history to have a name bigger than he is!

Good night.

D.I.V.O.R.C.E. F.A.I.R.

Gone are the days when people would be so embarrassed they would only spell the word D.I.V.O.R.C.E. Nowadays everyone is doing it. Marriages are considered successful if they last longer than the leftovers from Shabbos. But perhaps this is going a bit too far:

You can't fault the organisers of this fair - after all they are only seeing the economic opportunity in a socialogical phenomenon. But there is something very disagreeable about the idea of a 'divorce fair'. 'Want to get divorced but not sure how?', 'looking for a new future?' etc.

Unfortunately divorce is a fact of life, and sometimes is the best thing that a person can do for themselves, their kids or their sanity. I am proud to know that Judaism was one of the first organised religions to legislate for divorce and allow a couple to part ways.

But read some of the quotes here: "I just wanted to get some information ahead of time, just to be prepared for the eventuality that such a terrible thing could happen again," said Silvia, (a woman who has just entered a new relationship, six years after her divorce).

I am reminded of the quote from Rita Rudner:
"Marriages don't last. When I meet a guy, the first question I ask myself is: is this the man I want my children to spend their weekends with?"

I once had a guitar teacher, who had just got divorced. He said he and his ex-wife had been on good terms the whole way through, and were considering inviting all their friends to a divorce party. Then they started discussing the financial side of the divorce. Pretty soon they weren't speaking to each other, and certainly didn't want to be in the same room at the same time as each other to host a party. I couldn't quite figure out why people would get divorced in that situation. But at least if they were to both attend this fair they could see each other at a neutral venue (as long as they don't both go to the shidduch booth at the same time).

It makes me feel old and old-fashioned to read articles like this. At least I can share them with the blogosphere.


Untying the Knot

Want to get divorced but not sure how it works? Need advice on how you discover if your partner is cheating on you?

Help is at hand in Vienna where the world's first "divorce fair" opened its doors on Saturday.

Titled "New Beginning", the fair hopes to attract those wanting or having to separate. Untying the knot has never been so easy.

Visitors have a chance to speak to lawyers and counsellors as well as private detectives and real estate agents.

Dating agencies advise on how to find love again, travel agencies on how to spend holidays without a partner.

A paternity testing firm helps those seeking certainty about their offspring while a party organiser gives tips on how to celebrate the break-up in style.

Many visitors making their way from stall to stall already had experience of parting ways with a loved one. Silvia, 49, got divorced six years ago and is in a new relationship.

"I just wanted to get some information ahead of time, just to be prepared for the eventuality that such a terrible thing could happen again," said Silvia, not giving her full name.

"Normally you don't think of these things, you have butterflies, you love each other, you want to live together. But I already got burned."

Around half of all Austrian marriages end in divorce. The rate is even higher in the capital Vienna where 66 percent of all couples opt to break up.

Organiser Anton Barz got the idea for the fair when he heard friends talk about their experiences during break-ups.

"There were so many stories and people needed to go to one place, then to another, and then somewhere else again to get all the information together, which was really painful for them," said Barz, who used to organise wedding fairs.

"So I thought: Let's have a divorce fair."

Besides getting one-on-one advice, visitors can listen to talks from charities on what a divorce is like for the children involved or how a mediator can help.

The two-day fair, which moves to the central Austrian city of Linz in three weeks, has touched a nerve around the globe.

"I had requests for information on how to hold a divorce fair from Germany, Switzerland, Britain, Australia and even California," said Barz.

A disillusioned air surrounded many visitors to the Viennese fair including a 63-year-old man who is separated from his second wife.

"My wife doesn't want get to divorced because she is hoping to get my pension," he said, without wishing to give his name.

"My lawyer told me I am the biggest idiot ever because I got married the second time round and asked me how I could do such a thing?"

But others were not yet ready to give up on matrimony.

"I never wanted to get married in the first place - and now I have been married three times and I have four children," said 49-year-old Gabriele Komma.

She divorced nearly a year ago "but I would get married again. After all, hope is the last thing that dies."