JUDAISM AND INDIVIDUALITY

JUDAISM AND INDIVIDUALITY

Setting the Stage Self Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson There is a time in every man s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till. The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried..trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events. Great men have always done so, and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their perception that the absolutely trustworthy was seated at their heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their being. And we are now men, and must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny; and not minors and invalids in a protected corner, not cowards fleeing before a revolution, but guides, redeemers, and benefactors, obeying the Almighty effort, and advancing on Chaos and the Dark. These are the voices which we hear Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world. Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. Society is a joint-stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion. It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs...whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world. What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. Would you describe yourself as self-reliant? What does Emerson mean when he describes society as a joint-stock company. Emerson clearly advocates nonconformity. What are the possible dangers of this position? How can they be avoided? 2 You & I: Judaism and Individuality

Engaging the Text Do We Each Have A Unique Soul? תלמוד בבלי מסכת ברכות דף נח עמוד א תנו רבנן: הרואה אוכלוסי ישראל אומר: ברוך חכם הרזים. שאין דעתם דומה זה לזה, ואין פרצופיהן דומים זה לזה. Talmud Brachos 58a Our rabbis taught: One who sees a huge gathering of Jews says: Blessed God who knows secrets. For just as the faces of every individual are different so are their minds and character. תהלים לא:ו ב י ד ך, א פ ק יד רו ח י: פ ד ית או ת י ה ק ל א מ ת. Psalms 31:6 Into Thy hand I commit my spirit; Thou hast redeemed me, O LORD, Thou God of truth. מדרש תהלים (בובר) מזמור כה ד ה [ב] דבר אחר זהו שאמר הכתוב בידך אפקיד רוחי (תהלים לא ו), בנוהג שבעולם אדם מפקידין אצלו פקדונות, הוא מחליף של זה בזה, ואת של זה בזה, לפי שאין מכירין, אבל הקב ה אינו כן, אלא ה קל אמת (שם תהלים ל א), שמא עמד אחד [שחרית] ובקש נפשו ולא מצאה, או שמא מצא נפשו ביד אחר, או נפשו של אחר בידו, לכך נאמר פדיתה אותי ה קל אמת (שם שם תהלים ל א). אמר ר אלכסנדרי בשר ודם מפקידין בידו חדשים, ושוהין אצלו, והוא מחזירן בלויים וישנים, אבל הקב ה מפקידין בידו בלויין ושחוקין, והוא מחזירן חדשים, תדע לך שהוא כן שהרי הפועל הזה עושה מלאכה כל היום, ונפשו יגיעה עליו ושחוקה, וכשהוא ישן הוא יגע ומשלים נפשו ונפקדת ביד הקב ה, ולשחרית היא חוזרת לגופו בריאה חדשה, שנאמר חדשים לבקרים רבה אמונתך (איכה ג כג). ר שמעון בשם ר סימון אומר ממה שאתה מחדשינו לבקרים, אנו מאמינים ומכירין...[שאתה מחזיר לנו נשמותינו לתחיית המתים], ר אלכסנדרי אומר ממה שאת מחדש אותנו לבקרים של גליות, אנו יודעים שאמונתך רבה לגאלנו. 3 You & I: Judaism and Individuality

Medrash tehilim Mizmor 25 That which it says that In Your hand I commit my spirit, means as follows. Normally if someone were to leave a deposit the lender, when returning the collateral, is not so careful that he returns the precise item deposited since many times there are items that look identical. But God is not so. God possesses truth and when a person wakes up each morning he always delivers the individual spirit of each person to the body it belongs to. Why is seeing a huge gathering considered an appropriate time to praise God? Engaging the text Balancing Individuality and Community משנה מסכת אבות פרק א משנה יד הוא היה אומר אם אין אני לי מי לי וכשאני לעצמי מה אני ואם לא עכשיו אימתי: Pirkei avos 1:14 He would always say: If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am just for myself, what am I? And if not now when? What is the connection between the questions in this text? Which question do you struggle with most? 4 You & I: Judaism and Individuality

Engaging the Text Biblical Interpretation of the Dangers of Intolerance for Individuality ב ר אש ית פרק יא א ו י ה י כ ל-ה א ר ץ, ש פ ה א ח ת, ו ד ב ר ים, א ח ד ים. ב ו י ה י, ב נ ס ע ם מ ק ד ם; ו י מ צ או ב ק ע ה ב א ר ץ ש נ ע ר, ו י ש בו ש ם. ג ו י אמ רו א יש א ל-ר ע הו, ה ב ה נ ל ב נ ה ל ב נ ים, ו נ ש ר פ ה, ל ש ר פ ה; ו ת ה י ל ה ם ה ל ב נ ה, ל א ב ן, ו ה ח מ ר, ה י ה ל ה ם ל ח מ ר. ד ו י אמ רו ה ב ה נ ב נ ה-ל נו ע יר, ו מ ג ד ל ו ר אש ו ב ש מ י ם, ו נ ע ש ה-ל נו, ש ם: פ ן-נ פו ץ, ע ל-פ נ י כ ל-ה א ר ץ. ה ו י ר ד ה, ל ר א ת א ת-ה ע יר ו א ת-ה מ ג ד ל, א ש ר ב נו, ב נ י ה א ד ם. ו ו י אמ ר ה, ה ן ע ם א ח ד ו ש פ ה א ח ת ל כ ל ם, ו ז ה, ה ח ל ם ל ע ש ו ת; ו ע ת ה ל א-י ב צ ר מ ה ם, כ ל א ש ר י ז מו ל ע ש ו ת. ז ה ב ה, נ ר ד ה, ו נ ב ל ה ש ם, ש פ ת ם--א ש ר ל א י ש מ עו, א יש ש פ ת ר ע הו. ח ו י פ ץ ה א ת ם מ ש ם, ע ל-פ נ י כ ל-ה א ר ץ; ו י ח ד לו, ל ב נ ת ה ע יר. ט ע ל-כ ן ק ר א ש מ ה, ב ב ל, כ י-ש ם ב ל ל ה, ש פ ת כ ל-ה א ר ץ; ו מ ש ם ה פ יצ ם ה, ע ל-פ נ י כ ל-ה א ר ץ. Genesis Chapter 11 1 And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. 3 And they said one to another: Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. 4 And they said: Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, with its top in heaven, and let us make us a name; lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. 5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6 And the LORD said: Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do; and now nothing will be withholden from them, which they purpose to do. 7 Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another s speech. 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth; and they left off to build the city. 9 Therefore was the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth; and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. 5 You & I: Judaism and Individuality

What was the sin of those who built the tower of Babel? What was the point of the Tower? Why does the story begin with stating the unity of the people? netziv, comments to genesis ibid. Summary is from Rabbi Dr. Gil Perl s article, No Two Minds are Alike : Tolerance and Pluralism in the Work of Neziv While his introduction to Genesis and the above cited essay seem to call for basic tolerance, Neziv s interpretation of the story of the Tower of Babel is often understood as advocating full-fledged pluralism. In describing the society from which the tower emerged, he paints a picture of a totalitarian regime which hoped to restrict its populace to a single uniform ideology. The Bible s seeming omission of the sin that provoked God s wrath, and its concurrent emphasis on the unity of Babel s society, leads Neziv to conclude that the initial sin of the people of Babel lay in the very fact that they were one. He states that they sinned further, though, by appointing guards to enforce the uniformity of thought and by making the espousal of divergent ideas punishable by death. When the Bible writes that the members of this community desired a tower lest they be scattered throughout the land Neziv comments: We must first understand why they feared that some might emigrate to another land. And it is clear that this was related to the uniformity of thought which existed amongst them. Since the minds (de ot)12 of people are not identical, they feared lest someone leave their ideology and adopt another; thus they made sure no one left their domain. In other words, since humans are naturally predisposed toward diverse patterns of thought, allowing them to encounter alternate environments with diverse stimuli was likely to bolster their inherent individuality, thereby hindering the goal of this totalitarian regime. Thus, the guards stood watch on the Tower of Babel to make sure no one traveled beyond the limits of their settlement. Engaging the text Many Unique Paths to Righteousness משלי פרק כב פסוק ו ו ח נ ך ל נ ע ר, ע ל-פ י ד ר כ וּ ג ם כ י-י ז ק ין, ל א-י סו רּ מ מ נ ה. Mishlei 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old, he will not depart from it. 6 You & I: Judaism and Individuality

מסילת ישרים להרמח ל וזה פשוט, כי כל אדם לפי האומנות אשר בידו והעסק אשר הוא עוסק, כך צריך לו היישרה והדרכה. כי דרך החסידות הראוי למי שתורתו אומנותו, אינו דרך החסידות הראוי למי שצריך להשכיר עצמו למלאכת חברו, ולא זה וזה דרך החסידות הראוי למי שעוסק בסחורתו, וכן כל שאר הפרטים אשר בעסקי האדם בעולם, כל אחד ואחד לפי מה שהוא, ראויים לו דרכי החסידות. לא לפי שהחסידות משתנה, כי הנה הוא שווה לכל נפש וודאי. הואיל והנושאים משתנים, אי אפשר שלא ישתנו גם האמצעיים המגיעים אותם אל התכלית כל אחד לפי עניינו. וכבר יכול להיות חסיד גמור איש שמפני צורכו הוא בעל מלאכה פחותה, כמו מי אשר לא יפסק מפיו הלימוד. וכתיב (שם ט ז): כל פעל ה למענהו ואומר (שם ג ): בכל דרכיך דעהו והו יישר אורחותיך. the Path of the Just by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato: Chapter 26 We can easily understand that every person needs direction and guidance in accordance with his skills and his occupation, since the path of piety for one who studies torah all day is unsuitable for one who is in the employ of another; and neither of these ways is suitable for one who is engaged in his own business. And this is the case regarding all the other particulars of human affairs in the world: there is a path to piety that is suitable to each and every individual whatever his profession. This is not to say that the nature of the piety changes, for it is the same with everyone, since its goal is to bring pleasure to our Creator. But in view of the fact that circumstances are always changing, the means leading towards implementation of the goal must also vary, according to the circumstances that prevail. It is possible that someone who be employed as a simple worker can become a completely pious person like an individual who never stops learning. And it states (Proverbs 16:4): The Eternal created everything for His own sake. And it says (ibid. 3:6): in all of your ways know Him, and He will direct your paths. In your life, what different paths have you seen in different people on the road to righteousness? What is your path? 7 You & I: Judaism and Individuality