This is a great read. Poetic. Compelling. But let’s not pretend this has anything to do with actual Judaism. You’re describing something new, not reviving a lost tradition.
The Judaism that exists today isn’t built on wonder and questioning. It’s built on certainty. The Torah is unchangeable. Halacha is binding. There’s a right way to think and live. And stepping outside that is, at best, tolerated. At worst, punished.
If you want to start a new religion, one that values doubt over dogma, I might be interested. But let’s be honest about what this is. It’s not Judaism as it exists. It’s a reinvention.
Sure, Judaism was a lot less rigid in the past. The Shulchan Aruch is less than 500 years old, and before that, halacha was more flexible. Mostly shaped by local minhagim. But let’s not pretend Judaism was ever about a free search for truth.
It was never an open-ended philosophical system like, say, Greek or Roman thought. Questioning was allowed, but only within limits. The debates in the Gemara weren’t about whether the Torah was really given on Sinai but about how to interpret it. The foundation was never up for discussion.
And at the end of the day, Judaism started just as all other ancient tribal cults. It wasn’t special in that sense. It just happened to be one of the few that adapted well enough to survive. After the second Bais Hamikdash, it almost completely reinvented itself, shifting from a sacrificial, Temple-based religion led by priests to a text-driven, halachic system dominated by rabbis. That reinvention allowed it to survive while other Bronze Age cults disappeared. And from there, it kept evolving, adapting just enough to stay relevant.
So yeah, it’s more rigid now than it used to be. But it was never really about chasing truth. It was about maintaining the system. And that’s what kept it alive.
Questions are always asked within a framework. While the framework itself can change, it only does so if one remembers why they are asking the questions in the first place. Even in ancient Greek culture despite its celebrated pursuit of inquiry there were ideas that could not be directly challenged. For all its intellectual openness, Greek society was far more rigid in certain areas, such as the roles of women and child-rearing, than even the most fundamentalist religious circles today.
Every culture has its axioms and beliefs that, for societal or historical reasons, remain unquestioned. And every discussion operates within a framework that shapes how ideas are explored. In Judaism at first these frameworks were part of an honest attempt to understand and explain the strange, wondrous, beautiful and often painful shit storm we call existence. But somewhere along the way likely due to various historical and cultural traumas (some of which I’ve outlined in previous posts) this pursuit hardened into the assertion that the truth had already been found. Inquiry gave way to dogma, and innovation itself became a threat.
Do you think it's possible you are viewing the history through a narrower paradigm than is reasonably possible?
There could very well be complicated and noble (dare I say Divine?) reasons that Judaism has survived throughout the ages. To say that "it just happened to be" betrays a frame of thought I think may be worth reconsidering.
Could I be wrong? Sure. Maybe there is something uniquely noble, or even Divine, about Judaism’s survival. But every surviving religion tells itself the same story. Christianity, Islam, Hinduism - they all see their endurance as proof of something greater.
But history favors the adaptable. Judaism didn’t just survive; it changed to survive. After the second Bais Hamikdash was destroyed, it completely reinvented itself. When faced with modernity, it splintered into different movements. Its endurance isn’t about some unwavering, eternal truth. It’s about pragmatism and legal flexibility (even when it pretends otherwise).
If you want to call that Divine, go for it. But you don’t need the Divine to explain it. The same forces that shape every surviving civilization - adaptability, cultural cohesion, and a strong survival instinct - explain it just fine. That’s not a narrow paradigm. That’s just looking at history without assuming the answer first.
I think you are far more certain of your position than I claim to be. There are evolving works in theologies that deal with all of these questions in a very sophisticated way. Your approach assumes the final say. The approach of scholarly works is far less certain. We are ok with that. No one is certain that everything couldve happened without God. Theism is a rational position
This blog is nothing but כפירה wrapped up in fancy words, and no one should fall for it. It’s just a way to reject תורה while making it sound deep. The blogger talks like doubt is the highest level, like we should always be asking but never finding answers. But Judaism isn’t about wandering in circles, it’s about searching for the truth and holding on to it once we find it.
Yes, the גמרא is full of questions, but not the kind this blogger is talking about. חז״ל asked in order to get to the truth, not to stay in doubt forever. The תורה doesn’t fear questions, but it doesn’t glorify confusion either.
This blog twists the whole story of the עץ הדעת. The problem wasn’t that אדם wanted clarity. The problem was that he lost it! Before eating, right and wrong were crystal clear. After eating, everything got mixed up. That was the downfall! Not “certainty,” but excuses and confusion. And the עץ החיים? That’s תורה! It’s the path to real life, not some endless guessing game.
Also the מקובלים never said to question without answers. They searched for the deepest truths, but always knowing that the תורה is the key. The biggest מקובלים, the אריז"ל, the רמח"ל, the גר"א, they weren’t lost in mystical ideas. They were also בקיים in הלכה. They knew that תורה is not just poetry, it’s the blueprint of the world.
This blogger doesn’t like structure. They don’t want to be tied down by הלכה. They want Judaism to be about "searching" but never arriving, because arriving means commitment. But without הלכה, a Jew is just floating with no direction.
Judaism isn’t about endless questions, it’s about finding answers. The תורה is עץ חיים היא, the Tree of Life, not an endless circus of doubt.
No, Judaism didn’t “eat from the wrong tree.” Judaism is the עץ החיים. And this blog? It’s nothing but the נחש, leading people away from the truth.
כי הוא חייך וארך ימיך
Without תורה, a Jew has nothing. But with it, we have everything. Make no mistake.
I think there is plenty of “I don’t know.” On the other hand, a child needs certainly. Proper chinuch should include a mother or father saying “I don’t know”sometimes, but mainly, a feeling of security should be given over to a child—yes, mostly black and white. Also, a child should experience on his or her skin what a Hashem is through his parents (the mother naturally more of the Rachamim side of Hashem, and the father more Din. )As we know, a teenager is naturally rebellious. This is good! He begins to realize his parents aren’t flawless, and he develops an appreciation of something above them. Ideally, the teenager becomes a vessel for originality, preserving the security of his/her childhood, but building a more sophisticated vision of Hashem. I’ve heard great Rabbis say that Hashem does not want robots.
Re Halacha: the spiritual unfolds into the physical. Just as there are laws like gravity and the Third Law of Thermodynamics, so there are spiritual laws. Halacha is the natural extension into Our World of spiritual laws.
There is both certainty and wonder and uncertainty in the Torah. Jewish history winds through different eras. This may feel like a stagnant time in our history (I don’t think so, but you seem to think so), but Jewish story is dynamic.
For many years now I’ve looked at the Yiddishkeit of my youth as a relic from more tribal times which only sticks around because of its success in creating fear and offering the comfort from that fear (in addition to psychological comfort from the human condition).
I’ve often said how much I wish I would have heard “I don’t know” growing up. Just a sliver of intellectual honesty would have gone so far…
I don’t know of the Judaism that you describe. To me, you’re describing the diametric opposite of the Yeshiva world. The implications of your sentiment would dissolve... everything.
lol if an employee is fired in normal USA one could go and apply for compensation and will get done sort of a payment to buy meager amount of food in this case the 1000s can’t do that now because of the conditions imposed we didn’t sign a contract for Imperialism by voting democratically for Trump we didn’t crown him yet @Jim Acosta
This is a great read. Poetic. Compelling. But let’s not pretend this has anything to do with actual Judaism. You’re describing something new, not reviving a lost tradition.
The Judaism that exists today isn’t built on wonder and questioning. It’s built on certainty. The Torah is unchangeable. Halacha is binding. There’s a right way to think and live. And stepping outside that is, at best, tolerated. At worst, punished.
If you want to start a new religion, one that values doubt over dogma, I might be interested. But let’s be honest about what this is. It’s not Judaism as it exists. It’s a reinvention.
I think his point is that Judaism once welcomed the doubt which lead to appreciating knowledge.
You don't think Judaism is far more rigid and certain nowadays than it used to be?
Sure, Judaism was a lot less rigid in the past. The Shulchan Aruch is less than 500 years old, and before that, halacha was more flexible. Mostly shaped by local minhagim. But let’s not pretend Judaism was ever about a free search for truth.
It was never an open-ended philosophical system like, say, Greek or Roman thought. Questioning was allowed, but only within limits. The debates in the Gemara weren’t about whether the Torah was really given on Sinai but about how to interpret it. The foundation was never up for discussion.
And at the end of the day, Judaism started just as all other ancient tribal cults. It wasn’t special in that sense. It just happened to be one of the few that adapted well enough to survive. After the second Bais Hamikdash, it almost completely reinvented itself, shifting from a sacrificial, Temple-based religion led by priests to a text-driven, halachic system dominated by rabbis. That reinvention allowed it to survive while other Bronze Age cults disappeared. And from there, it kept evolving, adapting just enough to stay relevant.
So yeah, it’s more rigid now than it used to be. But it was never really about chasing truth. It was about maintaining the system. And that’s what kept it alive.
Questions are always asked within a framework. While the framework itself can change, it only does so if one remembers why they are asking the questions in the first place. Even in ancient Greek culture despite its celebrated pursuit of inquiry there were ideas that could not be directly challenged. For all its intellectual openness, Greek society was far more rigid in certain areas, such as the roles of women and child-rearing, than even the most fundamentalist religious circles today.
Every culture has its axioms and beliefs that, for societal or historical reasons, remain unquestioned. And every discussion operates within a framework that shapes how ideas are explored. In Judaism at first these frameworks were part of an honest attempt to understand and explain the strange, wondrous, beautiful and often painful shit storm we call existence. But somewhere along the way likely due to various historical and cultural traumas (some of which I’ve outlined in previous posts) this pursuit hardened into the assertion that the truth had already been found. Inquiry gave way to dogma, and innovation itself became a threat.
Do you think it's possible you are viewing the history through a narrower paradigm than is reasonably possible?
There could very well be complicated and noble (dare I say Divine?) reasons that Judaism has survived throughout the ages. To say that "it just happened to be" betrays a frame of thought I think may be worth reconsidering.
Could I be wrong? Sure. Maybe there is something uniquely noble, or even Divine, about Judaism’s survival. But every surviving religion tells itself the same story. Christianity, Islam, Hinduism - they all see their endurance as proof of something greater.
But history favors the adaptable. Judaism didn’t just survive; it changed to survive. After the second Bais Hamikdash was destroyed, it completely reinvented itself. When faced with modernity, it splintered into different movements. Its endurance isn’t about some unwavering, eternal truth. It’s about pragmatism and legal flexibility (even when it pretends otherwise).
If you want to call that Divine, go for it. But you don’t need the Divine to explain it. The same forces that shape every surviving civilization - adaptability, cultural cohesion, and a strong survival instinct - explain it just fine. That’s not a narrow paradigm. That’s just looking at history without assuming the answer first.
I think you are far more certain of your position than I claim to be. There are evolving works in theologies that deal with all of these questions in a very sophisticated way. Your approach assumes the final say. The approach of scholarly works is far less certain. We are ok with that. No one is certain that everything couldve happened without God. Theism is a rational position
This blog is nothing but כפירה wrapped up in fancy words, and no one should fall for it. It’s just a way to reject תורה while making it sound deep. The blogger talks like doubt is the highest level, like we should always be asking but never finding answers. But Judaism isn’t about wandering in circles, it’s about searching for the truth and holding on to it once we find it.
Yes, the גמרא is full of questions, but not the kind this blogger is talking about. חז״ל asked in order to get to the truth, not to stay in doubt forever. The תורה doesn’t fear questions, but it doesn’t glorify confusion either.
This blog twists the whole story of the עץ הדעת. The problem wasn’t that אדם wanted clarity. The problem was that he lost it! Before eating, right and wrong were crystal clear. After eating, everything got mixed up. That was the downfall! Not “certainty,” but excuses and confusion. And the עץ החיים? That’s תורה! It’s the path to real life, not some endless guessing game.
Also the מקובלים never said to question without answers. They searched for the deepest truths, but always knowing that the תורה is the key. The biggest מקובלים, the אריז"ל, the רמח"ל, the גר"א, they weren’t lost in mystical ideas. They were also בקיים in הלכה. They knew that תורה is not just poetry, it’s the blueprint of the world.
This blogger doesn’t like structure. They don’t want to be tied down by הלכה. They want Judaism to be about "searching" but never arriving, because arriving means commitment. But without הלכה, a Jew is just floating with no direction.
Judaism isn’t about endless questions, it’s about finding answers. The תורה is עץ חיים היא, the Tree of Life, not an endless circus of doubt.
No, Judaism didn’t “eat from the wrong tree.” Judaism is the עץ החיים. And this blog? It’s nothing but the נחש, leading people away from the truth.
כי הוא חייך וארך ימיך
Without תורה, a Jew has nothing. But with it, we have everything. Make no mistake.
Which I could repost this a thousand times, highly recommend sharing
I think there is plenty of “I don’t know.” On the other hand, a child needs certainly. Proper chinuch should include a mother or father saying “I don’t know”sometimes, but mainly, a feeling of security should be given over to a child—yes, mostly black and white. Also, a child should experience on his or her skin what a Hashem is through his parents (the mother naturally more of the Rachamim side of Hashem, and the father more Din. )As we know, a teenager is naturally rebellious. This is good! He begins to realize his parents aren’t flawless, and he develops an appreciation of something above them. Ideally, the teenager becomes a vessel for originality, preserving the security of his/her childhood, but building a more sophisticated vision of Hashem. I’ve heard great Rabbis say that Hashem does not want robots.
Re Halacha: the spiritual unfolds into the physical. Just as there are laws like gravity and the Third Law of Thermodynamics, so there are spiritual laws. Halacha is the natural extension into Our World of spiritual laws.
There is both certainty and wonder and uncertainty in the Torah. Jewish history winds through different eras. This may feel like a stagnant time in our history (I don’t think so, but you seem to think so), but Jewish story is dynamic.
Fascinating
For many years now I’ve looked at the Yiddishkeit of my youth as a relic from more tribal times which only sticks around because of its success in creating fear and offering the comfort from that fear (in addition to psychological comfort from the human condition).
I’ve often said how much I wish I would have heard “I don’t know” growing up. Just a sliver of intellectual honesty would have gone so far…
I don’t know of the Judaism that you describe. To me, you’re describing the diametric opposite of the Yeshiva world. The implications of your sentiment would dissolve... everything.
The rebuttal of “Daas Torah”, I could never quite
articulate.
Easy we are the Pen @EliLake
One could argue that studying and memorizing halachos for a test is itself already a contradiction, right out of the gate.
lol if an employee is fired in normal USA one could go and apply for compensation and will get done sort of a payment to buy meager amount of food in this case the 1000s can’t do that now because of the conditions imposed we didn’t sign a contract for Imperialism by voting democratically for Trump we didn’t crown him yet @Jim Acosta
These are thoughts of goodness beautifully written!
“Jewish thought used to be in motion. It wrestled. It questioned. It danced between the infinite and the practical.”—This is gorgeous writing!
Yes, true—“Certainty is comforting. It makes you feel safe.”
Especially when the world is crumbling all around you!
“start seeing itself as a search for truth”*
Possuk—“and you will seek ME and find ME when you search (dirshu) Me with all your heart.”
Great encouragement in this writing! Thank you, and how do we search for H”S?
Could have been a lot shorter
There are trillions of articles out there that are infinitely shorter. (Because they were never written at all.)
And which you could enjoy for their consummate brevity.
But you have to go and criticize just *this* one.
Are you pleased with yourself now? 🤣
Such a funny title…