On Rabbinic Thought

Walter Benjamin, at the height of World War Two turned to Hassidic mysticism, as it seemed to offer an answer to the enormity of irrational violence that surrounded him. His last published words would be these.

"We know that the Jews were prohibited from investigating the future. The Torah and the prayers instruct them in remembrance, however. This stripped the future of its magic, to which all those succumb who turn to the soothsayers for enlightenment. This does not imply, however, that for the Jews the future turned into homogeneous, empty time. For every second of time was the strait gate through which Messiah might enter."

We ask ourselves questions in the ways that we hope will best provide the answers we are looking for. Different cultures have developed different analytical and questioning strategies that reflect their situations and the goals they are trying to achieve. The differences between ancient Greek and say, Confucian methodologies being prime examples of this. Having stated the obvious, I wish to address the eastern European Rabbinic approach to thought that emerged during the late Middle Ages and was further extrapolated since the emergence of Hassidism. It stood in stark opposition to the Ashkenazic enlightenment, known as the 'Haskalah.' Those thinkers posed themselves questions, adopting the scientific method that were designed to produce demonstrable improvements in quality of life for their communities. However, the Rabbinic thought-mechanism for theological and personal-political reasons sought to preserve the existing communities as far as possible. They thought in order to freeze.

Today the end results of both gaols can be measured in terms of how secular and orthodox Jews, live, dress and love. However, the point of interest is observing the strategy that the Rabbis adopted. In sharp contrast to Catholic or Islamic conservatives, who shun questioning - they flooded the mind with as many questions, contradictions and possibilities as possible. Thus it became clear that the only possible answer for those adopting this strategy was either total acceptance, or madness. Perhaps it is time to address the fact that far from being uniquely liberating, questioning can be subjugating too. By turning the world into a question mark whose sole answer was God, Judaism actually created the most totalitarian answer to the question of modernity of them all.