One People, Two Worlds by Ammiel Hirsch

Author:Ammiel Hirsch [Hirsch, Ammiel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-48909-8
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2002-03-18T16:00:00+00:00

Chanukah, 2000

Dear Yosef:

I send this posting to you as my Chanukah gift. I hope you enjoy it! I must be going soft on you. I thoroughly enjoyed the uplifting description of your beliefs. There are a few comments that I will make at the end of this essay in reaction to some specific points you raise, but by and large I would like to simply let your description stand. It is a good description of Orthodoxy.

I am not really interested in persuading you to alter your Orthodox philosophy. Really I am not. I want Orthodoxy and Orthodox Jews around. We need each other. It is precisely because I believe that so much of religion involves the human element that I concede my (and your) fallibility regarding the search to discern God’s will. It is the spectrum of understanding and the sum total of Jewish history and experience that best serves this search. Jews have always had different interpretations of the sacred texts. I find this not to be a source of weakness, but one of strength. This characteristic has served us well in reenergizing Judaism in every generation and ensuring its vitality. It is one secret to our longevity.

The Midrash says: “Just as the etrog has taste as well as fragrance, so Israel has among them those who possess learning and good deeds. Just as the palm tree has taste but no fragrance, so Israel has among them those who possess learning but no good deeds. Just as the myrtle has fragrance but no taste, so Israel has among them those who possess good deeds but not learning. Just as the willow has no taste and no fragrance, so Israel has among them those who possess neither learning nor good deeds. What does the Holy One do? He says, ‘Let them all be tied together in one band and they will atone for each other. If you have done so, then at that instant I am exalted.’” (Leviticus Rabbah 30:12)

We are a people with differing characteristics and understandings. But we are all bound together in history and destiny. We need each other and our differing understandings of Judaism. It keeps us honest, refreshed, and vital. God exalts in these differences.

The religious task is best articulated in the book of Deuteronomy: “And now Israel, what does the Lord your God demand of you?” (10:12) The fundamental characteristic of the religious person is the search to discern the will of God. What does God demand of us?

“Only[!] this,” states Deuteronomy. “To revere the Lord your God, to walk only in His paths, to love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.”

“Do what is right and good in the sight of God.” (Deuteronomy 6:18)

The religious person assumes the existence of God. But how to discern what is “right and good in God’s sight?” How to discover the will of God?

For the Jew, the starting point is the Torah. Indeed, Deuteronomy itself states: “keep[ing] the Lord’s commandments and laws which I enjoin upon you today.

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