Intellect

I am pretty sure my readings and discussions with the rabbi change me. It is probably true because this process involves a lot of learning. Learning the tradition, the history, and the culture of Judaism. And learning generally changes people because it opens up another perspective to see the world around us. It may be only my obsession with learning but I enjoy getting to know new layers and aspects to shape the way I see things. This is why I studied so many languages in the first place. They are the gateway to other cultures.

I am fascinated with both learning and Judaism, so this seems to be a rather good combination. This week I got to know more about the beginnings of what we call today Rabbinic Judaism. The forerunners of rabbis are thought to be the Pharisees, a religious "sect" or party of Judaism in the 1st century C.E. These people studied the Torah and interpreted its verses and commandments. I would say: updated them. This is so amazing, though. It got me thinking: how enlightened and therefore learned these people were. First of all, while Christianity still considers its Bible as credible accounts of their history, Judaism in the 1st century was already tending toward not taking the Bible literally but symbolically. This can only be possible if people (well, mostly scholars at that time, but still) acquire a high level of abstract thinking.

My feeling is that even though Judaism has been through so many oppression, persecution and torture, it has survived because of its emphasis on studying, thinking and therefore being open to new ideas and adjustment to new social, technological, scientific, etc. conditions. Being able to adjust and accept the world "on the go" is a very valuable asset for survival.

I never knew, though, that the roots of such ability of abstract thinking went back to the very early history of Judaism. Even in the 1st century, at the dawn of Rabbinic Judaism, rabbis and sages were able to think of the sacred Scripture as "guidance" from God as to how they should live their lives to make the world a better place for everyone. Jewish laws are derived from the Bible but in some cases they can even be in opposition with the words of the Bible. This is amazing for me. One might think that religious people would stick to every word of their Scripture, which would be, in my opinion, a very limited view of the world. Jews were (and are) making their laws based upon the Bible, by flexible rules of interpretation.

This flexibility is also originated from the 1st century, from the School of Hillel (who was a Pharisee himself). They (the Hillelites) established 7 rules of interpretation, which later was extended to 13 and 32. Hillelite approach, I guess, became the basis of contemporary Judaism, especially of Reform Judaism. This school promoted liberal views and human-centered approach to rituals.

When I first looked into Judaism a little more deeply I still thought that the rules of tradition and rituals were rather strict. I even looked up websites of synagogues in the city and found exact times to light the Shabbat candles on Friday night: 18 minutes before sundown. Although I like the Holy Day of the shabbat, I think it might not be possible for everyone to be home at that exact time and light the candles. They can work late hours or be away for some reason and it should not be considered as if they were "bad" Jews. The more human-centered approach -- which was represented by the Hillelites -- seems to be more reasonable: the important thing is to light the candles and celebrate the Shabbat, not the timing. This is the human response to God's commandment: Shabbat starts when people recite the kiddush.

All in all, I always knew that Judaism put great emphasis on being learned and aware of the world, it was still shocking (in a good way :-)) to learn that this is not a recent, contemporary development of the Jewish culture but it goes back to the beginning of our Common Era. This is astonishing -- again, in a good way :-) I never knew that public education even existed by the 1st century -- not only in Judaism, but in general.

This is always confirmed in my thoughts when I go to the Shabbat service and see a teenager reading from the Torah. I mean, these guys are teens, with all the problems a teenager can possibly have: pimples, girl/boy troubles, issues of popularity among their peers -- well, there is really no need to mention all the troubles, everyone knows :-)
Take this young guy, for example, who last night re-read his Torah portion in front of the congregation to celebrate the 1st anniversary of his becoming a bar mitzvah. He was a cute teen, wearing a suit and tie with Vans sneakers :-) He also was quite serious and even proud about reading the Torah. Usually, among teenagers, popularity is inversely proportional with being smart publicly. This is not the case in this congregation, that is for sure (probably in Judaism in general) :-) And this is one of the aspects I respect, admire and love about Judaism.