samet@sfmag.UUCP (A.I.Samet) (03/21/85)
In the orthodox view, the Torah does not require us to make a
"leap of faith", i.e, to accept without proof, that it is
Divinely revealed. Other religions, lehavdil, require blind faith
in one way or another , and Jews often attribute that feature to
our religion by association.
Adam Reed is entitled to be skeptical about claims to Divine
authority until proof is furnished. Our sages recognized this as
an issue and the Rambam, Reb Yehuda Halevi (Kuzari) and others
dealt extensively with it. (This issue deserves attention as a
separate discussion.)
Still, it should be pointed out that for most of our history,
Jews did recognize the binding authority of the Torah. The Torah
is permeated with the theme of Divinely ordained requirements.
To extract the Divine from the Torah is to ignore that major
theme.
Furthermore, the normative function of our religion throughout
the ages depended very much on that claim to authority. It is
difficult to expect our people to make serious sacrifices (which
we did) to adhere to a man-made religion. It is not surprising,
then, that intermarriage is so high among non-orhthodox Jews even
though they are somewhat affiliated with Jewish customs and
institutions. It is also not surprising that after one generation
of secular Zionism, so many Israelis are disenchanted with living
in Israel. In a modern, pluralistic world, why give up a
sweetheart, endure hardships, or risk life and limb, for man-made
ideals conceived by primitive ancestors?
Among the mitzvas, the Torah commands us to believe in G*d, to
love Him, to fear Him, to sanctify His name (by surrendering
one's life if necessary). Adam Reed can certainly come up with a
skillful interpretation of these mitzvas which are in tune with
Atheism. But it's unreal to think that our ancestors who
sacrificed their lives for these mitzvas were atheists.
Yitzchok Samet