[Avodah] Humanism in Yahadus

[Micha Berger]

Different variants of this issue have come up so often lately, that I
want to pull them together into an Avodah discussion.

On Areivim I hijacked a conversation because "humanism" was being used as
a shorthand for "secular humanism". The mental shorthand is dangerous,
as by making humanism something for "them", we increase the tendency
away from it.

In Yahadus, the question of humanism isn't "yes" or "no", but "how much"?

This is really two questions: intensity and breadth. (1) How often
does bein adam lachaveiro (BALC) concerns override other mitzvos? (2)
How rapidly does our responsibility drift off as we get further from
dealing with unzerer?

Intensity: RnCL recently raised the issue of the role of humanism
in pesaq.

Breadth: Here we recently discussed the difference between the Tanya's
take on Bava Basra 10b, that the gemara is describing an ontological
deficiency, and those of Rabbeinu Bachya through R' Elchanan Wasserman
(REW cites numerous rishonim) who explain the gemara as being a
condemnation of paganism.

I believe we all agree that there is some kind of difference between
the neshamos of Yehudim and nachriim. After all, there is the whole
concept comparing a geir to a qatan shenolad, and the acceptance of
another neshamah.

OTOH, if I start Shabbos early, do I perceive any less BALC to a Jew
who didn't yet accept that neshamah yeseirah?

***********************
1- Is the distinction quantitative or qualitative?

2- Is it inherent -- Jews were given the Torah because they are
different? Or, is it that we are different because we are the carriers
of the Torah? (Even those of us who try to escape that role.)

IOW, are all men created equal, but then some become part of the Torah
sheBa'al peh, or are some created different?

3- What bothers me the most is the third, perception issue. Do we define
the gap by using a language of how much greater we are than them, or of
how similar they are to animals? Does one express it as barukh Mordechai,
how much the Yehudi is beyond, or as arur Haman, how little the nachri
is above the chai?

It's the third question, even though is can often be one of perspective
rather than substance, will have the greatest behavioral impact.

The Kuzari says the difference is inherent (although not between Jew and
gentile but between matrilineal descendant of the Avos and gentile) and
qualitative. But about the greatness of the Jew, not the lowliness of
the gentile.

The rationalists (including R' Saadia, Rambam, much later R' Hirsch) say
it's both quantitative and caused by been given the Torah. (The Rambam
even goes so far as to place Aristo ahead of a Jewish am haaretz, not that
I think anyone else would. Maybe chassid umos ha'olam vs Jewish rasha...)

The Maharal says the difference is inherent and quantitative. See RDE's
discussion (link to his blog below), referring to Tif'eres Yisrael ch.
2, Be'ere haGolah, R' Harman's edition, fn 562-563, and Gevuros Hashem
28.

***********************

There is a whole genre that seems to exist to emphasize humanism in our
observance to the sole effect of having the reader nod their heads and
go on acting like they did.

>From RYS's life:
- He saw the need for a Mussar Movement after he tried to peak into
  someone else's machzor on YK, and the person was annoyed with RYS
  interrupting his kavanah.
- The time he missed Kol Nidrei because a baby was crying, and his older
  sister who was babysitting didn't know what to do.
- When he washed for hamotzi with a bare minimum of water, because he
  saw the maid had to heave the water up from the bottom of a hill.
- And in another Shabbos dinner, RYS rushed through the meal so that
  the almanah who cooked and served the food wouldn't have to stay up late.
- When he was too old to bake matzos himself, and his talmidim took over,
  they asked him what the most important chumrah to watch for. "Do not
  oppress the almanos who operate the bakery!"
And many many more of the like.

And in the hagiographies of 20th century gedolim...
    "When Rabbi Aharon Kotler, founder and first Rosh Yeshiva of the
    great Lakewood Yeshiva, was in the car with his driver, and would
    come to a toll, he would tell the driver to take the car to a human
    toll collector instead of to a toll machine in order to practice
    kavod habrios (human dignity). Going to the machine would disparage
    the kavod of a human being. The practice of giving kavod is too
    important and inescapable."

(Some of them actually came across to me as faint praise. Am I to be
inspired or amazed by the fact that sometimes Rav Moshe washed the
dishes?)

RYG posted to Areivim (in part):
> The definitive discussion of Jewish humanism is doubtless R. Aharon
> Lichtenstein's "'Mah Enosh': Reflections on the Relation between
> Judaism and Humanism", available from yutorah.org:
> http://www.yutorah.org/_shiurim/1.%20Aharon%20Lichtenstein%20-20%27Mah%20Enosh27%20Reflections%20on%20the%20Relation%20between%20Judaism%20and%20Humanism.pdf
> or
> http://tinyurl.com/57kkkv

I also recall RYGB sending me something about Hirschian Humanism, in
addition to the recent post by RYL. I'm cc-ing RYGB in case he still has
the URL to the essay.

Meanwhile, this issue also came up in an exchange on RDE's blog. See
<http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2008/11/all-men-are-equal-rap-vs-r-micha-berger.html>
or <http://tinyurl.com/6euxz3>, and
<http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2008/11/all-men-are-equal-ii-critique.html>.
Most of what I would have said here I wrote there already (while this
post was in my "Drafts" folder).

On my own blog, I summed up what I took from a discussion we had here
(Mar-Apr 2007) on "Universalism" at
<http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2007/04/universalism.shtml>.

And on Cross-Currents, RYAdlerstein recently wrote "Sharing it with
the World"
<http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2008/11/28/sharing-it-with-the-world/>
or <http://tinyurl.com/5bjlpm>, lauding R' Jonathan Sacks (CR of UK):
> Should Jews actively promote Jewish values to the rest of the world?
> For two millennia, there was not much of a question. No one would
> listen. Today in the West we have the ability to speak our minds, and
> often a large audience of those who believe that Jews have access to
> a treasure-trove of Divinely communicated wisdom. They are open to,
> and invite, our sharing it with them.

> This is where the debate begins, not ends. Some believe that anything
> we say will in time be used against us, as it always was. Our stance
> towards others should be respectful and cooperative – but not
> educative.

> Others believe the very opposite. It is more dangerous, they believe,
> to allow a world to plunge headlong into moral darkness. Besides, we
> have a Torah imperative to create universal respect for G-d (see
> Rambam in Sefer HaMitzvos, Positive Mitzvos #3). How better to do it
> than by showcasing the power of His teaching?

(RJS's complete message is quoted in RYA's posting.)

SheTir'u baTov!
-micha

-- 
Micha Berger             "Man wants to achieve greatness overnight,
micha at aishdas.org        and he wants to sleep well that night too."
http://www.aishdas.org     - Rav Yosef Yozel Horwitz, Alter of Novarodok
Fax: (270) 514-1507