His [halakhic man] goal is not flight to another world that is wholly good, but rather bringing down that eternal world into the midst of our world. Homo religiosus, his glance fixed upon the higher realms, forgets all too frequently the lower realms and becomes ensnared in the sins of ethical inconsistency and hypocrisy. See what many religions have done to this world on account of their yearning to break through the bounds of concrete reality and escape to the sphere of eternity. p41
There is nothing so physically and spiritually destructive as diverting one's attention from this world. And, by contrast, how courageous is halakhic man who does not flee from this world, who does not seek to escape to some pure, supernal realm. Halakhic man craves to bring down the divine presence and holiness into the midst of space and time, in the midst of finite, earthly existence. p41
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Opening up the Halakhic Man at random this morning
I often open a book at random and see what I find. Today, I did that with Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik's Halakhic Man, and found these amazingly profound and important words that are a wonderful antidote to other-worldly mysticism and pure this-world attention:
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5 comments:
Excellent thought, excellently put, both by him & by you.
I believe that even if it's Either/Or that moves us into religion, spirituality, etc, it's Both/And that roots us & feeds us...indeed, I note with some amazement that one of the candidates for the US presidency keeps insisting on that in the terms of his turf.
Which reminds me: David Brooks, recent NYTimes Op-Ed, 'Neural Buddhism' - a soso piece, but has prompted som interesting discussion at the "Atlantic Monthly" site, worth looking at.
Jeff, this is an interesting thought.
"See what many religions have done to this world on account of their yearning to break through the bounds of concrete reality and escape to the sphere of eternity."
On the one hand, he is alluding, I think, to the dangerous error of immanentizing the eschaton (Eric Voegelin s phrase)and of course the Talmudic, halakhic tradition is squarely opposed to that, and as you have observed, firmly embedded in the daily work of living in the world as it is (Rabbi Sacks has an essay on line concerning the Jewish approach to societal transformation).
On the other hand, the abandonment of the immanent for an inner world represents another failure to engage.
The halakhic tradition attempts to bridge the gap between the immanent and the transcendent one breath at a time, as it were.
Dear Gandalin and gsk+,
One of the ideas that I find most encouraging and welcoming about Halakhic Man by Rabbi Soloveitchik is his emphasis on the idea that the halakhah is a democratic spirituality, not a mystical one. Everyone can follow the halakhah.
The Rav writes:
"If you desire an exoteric, democratic religiosity, get thee unto the empirical, earthly life, the life of the body with all its two hundred forty-eight organs and three hundred sixty-five sinews. Do not turn your attention to an exalted, spiritual life rooted in abstract worlds." 44
And while Gandalin you nicely say, "The halakhic tradition attempts to bridge the gap between the immanent and the transcendent one breath at a time, as it were." In some ways that almost sounds meditative ("one breath at a time"), perhaps it is one action at a time or with the rules around Lashon Hora (forbidden speech) one word at a time.
Jeff,
Thank you for noticing my comment. One breath at a time does sound meditative, but meditation is action.
One breath at a time is one hevel at a time, one moment at a time.
I am trying to suggest that the Halakhic approach does not seek to do everything all at once, but examines life in action in bite-sized pieces. Every moment is important and worthy of consideration.
Dear Gandalin,
Thanks again for your comment. I couldn't agree more. I used your comment to initiate a blog post today. I look forward to your comments.
Warmly,
Jeff
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