Perek 1, #3: Knowledge, Understanding, and their Limits

L'amito shel davar, shnei zikot elu, these two approaches, these two ways of connecting to reality, makbilot, they parallel the du-partzufim sheba-havayah atzmah to two different images within existence itself. Ha-shniyut ha-ontit, the ontological dualism within ha-shniyut ha-ontit means the sort of objective dualism within the world is reflected in the dualistic approach to reality. It's sort of, if one person will have an attitude that he loves a sunny day and the other person will have an attitude that he gets very concerned with a sunny day, so there's a basis in reality for both. It will be a warm day, it's very pleasant to sit and sun oneself, on the other hand the too much radiation can cause skin cancer. So the difference on approaches, it's not just that, ultimately it's not due to pure subjectivity, but each one is reflecting an objective dimension. There may be a subjective component as to which of the two components one focuses on, but both components are there objectively. So ha-shniyut ha-ontit, this objective dualism in being, in existence, mishtakefet, is reflected bid-dualism ontologi in this difference, in this dualistic, right, two ontological approaches, approaches to being. המציאות היא בעלת שתי פנים מצד גיסא, on the one side,

היא מראה לנו פנים שוחקות מאירות שמחות מקבלת אותנו בסבר פנים יפות ומגלה לנו משהו ממהותה.

As it were reality, it smiles at us, it receives us very graciously and reveals something of its essence. נותנת היא לנו רשות להסתכל בה ולהציץ בדמותה. It gives us permission to look and to peek in its image, right, in Shir Hashirim, metzitz min hacharakim. מראה היא לנו טפח או טפחיים מחוקיותה וסדרי מעשיה. It shows us, it exhibits for us, maybe a tefach, maybe two of its how it functions according to law and the patterns of the briyah. בשעות רצון ורחמים כאלו mishtabe'a ha-objekt la-subjekt. As it were, when at times, when to a degree, to an extent the world is intelligible to us, so then the object subordinates itself to the subject, meaning the object being the world, the universe, existence, and the subject being man who is seeking to understand it. בשעות רצון ורחמים כאלו משתעבד האובייקט לסובייקט, the world, the object, subordinates itself to the subject. Ha-chefetz la-gavra, the object to the person. המציאות לאדם המהווה חלק בלתי נפרד ממנה. And that's the chiddush she-bah is that after all man is part of the universe, he's part of the briyah that he should be able to understand the briyah which he's a part of is something. that the world is again subordinate in the sense that it it reveals itself it's intelligible it's something that can be grasped by man who is just a tiny fraction of it is something extraordinary.

ההוויה לשכל ולדעת. כאן מתבצבץ ועולה היחס הנפלא של נושא ונסוא.

Here emerges the the wondrous relationship between subject and object shel makir venikar, one who's understanding, cognizing, venikar, that which is being understood, shel tofes venitpas. So this is an allusion to something that the Rav talks about ba'arichus in Uvikashtem Misham. It's it's much too complicated and much too profound to go into here where it's really just hinted at, but if you, I don't know if you're using this edition, if you're using an edition of Ish HaHalacha that you're on page 18, so then you have Uvikashtem Misham in the same edition, so you can look around page 200. You have to go a little bit before, you have to go a little bit after, but but around page 200 is where this idea of what this yachas nifla, this this wondrous relationship between subject and and object, again it's ikaron gadol, but but maybe some other time. Hatahalich shel hahakara, the process of understanding, of cognition, which is בעיית הבעיות ורז הרזים של האדם, right the problem, the secret, the hidden thing, מתגלה בכל תפארתו והדרו. Right, the the biggest question is is what can a man know, how does he know, what are the limits of human knowledge, that's what the Rav is alluding to here in terms of

בעיית הבעיות ורז הרזים של האדם. ומחסד זה שההוויה נוהגת בנו שהיא חושפת לנו קצת מקמט פניה מתפרנסת כל התרבות האנושית.

All culture is all human culture is nourished from what we are able to understand about existence. Beram me'idach gisa, but on the other hand, צניעות יתירה נזרקה בהוויה. Right, an extra measure of tzenius, of modesty, of self-concealment is present in existence. Mitchabeit hi lifrakim, Havayah's lashon nekeivah, it it hides at times bechadrei chadarim in the innermost sanctum vene'elemet and it's hidden me'ein choker uvodek from the eye of someone who's investigating and searching.

ומתעטפת היא בשמלתה מתכסית באדרתה ומתכנסת לתוך תוכה של מהותה המסתורית.

It clothes itself, it covers itself and it withdraws into its hidden, into its mysterious essence.

כולה אומרת סודות ורזים כולה פלא וגניזות. וקו מוזר מסמן את המציאות.

Something literally strange, something paradoxical characterizes existence reality. Ki ba besha'ah at the very moment שנוהגת בנו מנהג טוב עין ומגלה לנו טפח. At the very moment when existence reveals something, reveals a tefach, הרי היא מכסה טפחיים. הבעיה גדלה במידה שההכרה מתקדמת. The the problem increases as a result, as to the degree that that understanding advances, so what we don't know becomes more, right. so we know that in every context, right? Before you begin learning, you don't see how much there is to learn. And then you begin learning. You learn a little bit, so you see there's a lot to learn. And then you learn a little bit more, and you learn a little bit of depth, so then you realize not only how much there is to learn quantitatively, but how much there is to learn qualitatively. So the more a person learns, the more a person realizes, the more a person has a push for what for what he doesn't know. So in the mashal, it's what he doesn't know but can be known. In the nimshal, it's it's the more a person knows, the more a person understands what what more a person realize what can't what can't be known. The deeper one's understanding of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, so the more one realizes how Hakadosh Baruch Hu is beyond our beyond our comprehension.

ויפה ניסחו חכמי ההשכלה הניאו-קאנטיאנית ובינה ישנה נושנה זו באומרם:

and the the Neo-Kantian school formulated this ancient idea very well when they said:

כי הפונקציה השולטת בין הפתרון לבעיה דומה ליחס השורר בין מחוג המעגל והיקפו לשטחו.

The function, the relationship between solving a question of of thought and the what's left unknown resembles the relationship between the radius of a circle and its circumference, machog radius, hekef circumference, on the one hand, lishtacho to its area on the other hand. כשהמחוג וההיקף גדלים בדימנסיה אחת, השטח גדל בריבוע. Footnotes 8 and 9, so the circumference of the circle is 2 pi R and the area of a circle is is pi R squared. So if you increase the radius, so then the area is always going to increase exponentially more than the circumference. Right? The the area is always going to increase exponentially more than the circumference. So that's the mashal, the nimshal being that the more we understand, the more we realize that we don't understand and the more we realize how how much is is beyond beyond human comprehension. נוהגת ההויה בנו מנהג שובבה, כאילו להקניטנו או לקנטרנו. It's as if it's teasing us. בתוך הדעת חוזרת וניעורת הסודיות. Within knowledge, so secrecy is is aroused. בתוך ההסתכלות מתגברת החידה. Within examination, the riddle prevails. ומתוכה של ההכרה מציצה התעלומה. And from from understanding, the the what's hidden appears.

מגילוי ליבה פריצותה ואדיבותה של המציאות נובעים כאמור למעלה כל הישגי המדע.

From its self-revelation, from its generosity, as it were, flows of of the world, of the metziut flows all the attainments, all the accomplishments of science. However, umitzniutah uprishutah, but from its its modesty, as it were, שוטפים ובאים כל הניגודים והסתירות שבביקורת ההכרה. All the contrasts, all the apparent contradictions, what we don't know,

כל האנטינומיות שבעבות ההויה המתגלית לנו, כל הבעיות משוללות פתרון,

all the the problems that that don't admit of of solution,

וכל האי-רציונליות והזרות המשתקפות לפעמים בעיקונו של היש המרחף נגד עינינו.

This I, you know, just as a comment, you know, sometimes when, let's say last week we were metzayen the Ramban, when the Rav was in the Ramban in Acharei Mos, when the Rav was depicting the Ish HaDa'as, cognitive man, now we're about to look at a Rambam. So just to clarify, you know, that mareh makom, so the mareh makom definitely contains a lot of what the Rav is telling us, but that's only in light of what he explained. So when you look at the mareh makom, you could look at the mareh makom a hundred times beforehand, and you don't realize, but in light of this, oh, so much of this is really already reflected in a Rambam, in a Rambam. So if you take a look in the famous halacha in Yesodei HaTorah, Perek Beis, Halacha Beis, if you have it, rabosai, take a look. So in Halacha Aleph, the Rambam says האל הנכבד והנורא הזה מצוה לאהבו וליראה ממנו shene'emar ואהבת את השם אלוקיך shene'emar את השם אלוקיך תירא. Then the Rambam continues, Frankel has it as the same halacha, it's not even a different halacha. Rambam continues והיכן הדרך לאהבתו ויראתו. What's the path to cultivating ahavas Hashem, and the Rambam here is speaking of yiras haromemus.

והיכן הדרך לאהבתו ויראתו בשעה שיתבונן האדם במעשיו וברואיו הנפלאים הגדולים.

When a person will reflect and gain understanding, right, chochmah binah veda'as, yisbonen, he'll reflect, he'll gain understanding במעשיו וברואיו הנפלאים הגדולים in Hakadosh Baruch Hu's great wondrous handiwork and creations. ויראה מהם חכמתו שאין לה ערך ולא קץ and he'll see the inestimable and infinite chochmah reflected.

מיד הוא אוהב ומשבח ומפאר ומתאוה תאוה גדולה לידע השם הגדול

kmo she'amar Dovid צמאה נפשי לאלוקים לאל חי. So clearly when the person is misbonen bema'asav uveru'av hanifla'im, he attains a measure of understanding, right, he attains a very real measure of understanding. He sees, he recognizes them as nifla'im ugedolim, he sees the albeit אין לה ערך ולא קץ, albeit inestimable and infinite, but lema'aseh, the person sees, there's enough understanding that he sees it reflected. And that inspires within him the beginning of ahavas Hashem and the quest for greater. But then the Rambam continues וכשמחשב בדברים האלו עצמן, but when he thinks about these same, these same devarim ha'eileh atzman, the same ma'asav uveru'av that filled him with understanding and understanding that inspired his saying barchi nafshi, right, he sees חכמה שאין לה ערך ולא קץ. But וכשמחשב בדברים האלו עצמן מיד הוא נרתע לאחוריו, he recoils, right, he pulls back. וירא ויפחד ויודע שהוא בריה קטנה שפלה אפלה. He's overcome with a sense of awe and fear. veyodei'a and he recognizes shehu that he himself is a בריה קטנה שפלה אפלה, lowly, right, unenlightened choshech afeilah. He's a lowly, unenlightened, tiny creature omed beda'as kalah standing with a puny mind, a puny intellect lifnei temim dei'os. So it's the same וכשמחשב בדברים האלו עצמן. So that's the same thing that the Rav is talking about, right, the line that we had here on page eighteen, where was that line? paradoxical trait that characterizes the metzius of Hakadosh Baruch Hu's world that he created ki bo basha'ah again reading here on page eighteen bo basha'ah at the moment

שנוהג עמנו מנהג טוב עין ומגלה לנו טפח הרי מכסה טפחיים.

That's exactly what the Rambam says on the one hand so the person he's misbonen he understands and yet that understanding makes him realize that he's a biryah shefalah afeilah a biryah afeilah doesn't understand anything. So what the Rav was depicting what we read last week with the ish hadaas and the ish hadaas sort of dismisses and in so doing as it were denies everything about reality that he can't understand that he can't penetrate. So that's what allows for what one unfortunately sometimes sees not all the time Baruch Hashem but plenty of the time. Sometimes you see let's say one modern embodiment of ish hadaas maybe would be scientists. So sometimes not all but those who are secular are very very arrogant very very arrogant. Because if you read פרק ב' הלכה ב' and you stop before כשאדם מחשב הדברים האלו עצמן so then a person is sort of very impressed with what he knows and what he understands. That's why the Ramban that we saw last week says heiges beda'ato again heiges beda'ato is an expression of arrogance when he describes that. But the arrogance is only possible if a person takes a scissors and excises part of halacha beis here. Even the beginning he has to distort obviously. Kemo she'heigashnu la'el as we emphasized earlier hashnius ha'ontit this ontic dualism again meaning that in reality itself there's a part of reality there's a degree there's a measure of reality which is intelligible which is comprehensible all with all the profound and exquisite wisdom but on the other hand there's so much of it which is incomprehensible to us impenetrable and hahefech hi it translates to shnius ontologit it translates into two ontological dualism into two approaches to the world. The du-partzufim the two again partzuf literally is the face the two complexions that's a good translation here וזיקת איש הדעת ואיש הדעת me'uravim and they're intertwined and in Chazal you have lashon me'urav hagidim it's intertwined beyeshus atzmoh with existence itself. Again this is not something both reactions are engendered by existence itself איש הדעת מזדקק להוויה פשוטה וגלוית לוף. But clearly right there is a I don't want to call it implicit I'll call it explicit but just the description itself maybe it's neither it's just the description itself is clearly a critique that the ish hadaas you know is restricting himself to one element of existence. He relates להוויה פשוטה וגלוית לוף an existence that's totally comprehensible. comprehensible. אינו מתייחד עם הנסתר שבישות. Right, he doesn't come, he doesn't literally, he doesn't seclude himself, meaning he doesn't recognize, he doesn't acknowledge that which is hidden. Elam hanigla sheba. Masheken ish hadas,

הוא כרוך אחרי ההוויה שכאילו פירשה מן ה-subject המכיר והדירה את השכל הנועם ממנו.

The ish das, so he's focused on the mystery that's beyond understanding.

הריהו מסור ונתון כולו להוויה מלאה סודות כרזי עולם. עצמו של הכל ועצמה של הכרה מהווים פרשה פתוחה לאיש הדת וסתומה לאיש הדת.

When HaKadosh Baruch Hu is revealed mitoch hase'arah, hareihu shoel oto

איפה היית ביוסדי ארץ הגד אם ידעת בינה מי שם ממדיה כי תדע ומי נטה עליה קו על מה אדניה הטבעו או מי ירה אבן פנתה הנגלו לך שערי מות הבאת אל אוצרות שלג הידעת עת לדת יעלי סלע

hamibinatcha yaaver netz? And HaKadosh Baruch Hu prefers to the beriah obviously the whatever understanding we have is within the beriah, but we can't understand where were you? All this is beyond you. How do you expect to understand everything? The same way when you look into the world, there's a limit to human knowledge and comprehension. So when you look into HaKadosh Baruch Hu's hashgacha, obviously there's going to be a limit to human comprehension and understanding. How do you expect to understand everything that happens?

תודתו של איש הדת מלאה קדושה שאלות וחידות. קושיות ובעיות שלעולם לא תיפתרנה

with questions and difficulties that will never be solved. Often one hears, often one hears that we don't understand everything that happens because we're living for a short span within history which extends for millennia and ימי שנותינו בהם שבעים שנה ואם בגבורות שמונים שנה. So how can you expect to understand, if there's a 6,000 page book and you read 50 pages of the book, it's not going to make any sense. You don't really understand what happened before the 50 pages, you don't know what's going to happen after the 50 pages, so you can't understand the 50 pages. And that mashal is true, but it also implies something which isn't true. What it seems to imply is that let's say when keitz hayamim when Moshiach comes and then we can look back on how history unfolded then we understand everything. And what the Rav is saying, if you, it very much aligns, Rav Shach has in ספר הרמב"ם אבי עזרי, I think it's in Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah, that something he heard from a Velvel beshem Reb Chaim. That Reb Chaim told them that מצוות אינן בטלות לעתיד לבוא. So if there's a mitzvah to have emunah as distinct from yediyah, what that means is that there will always be a mitzvah of emunah. What's the sort of dividing line between yediyah and emunah? Yediyah is what we know. Yediyah is what we know. So we know there's a Borei Olam, that we know. It's not that we just make some kind of assumption. That we know. It's grounded, it's anchored. We know that hatzur tamim poalo. We know that HaKadosh Baruch Hu is perfect. Things happen in the world that we don't understand, that we don't understand why a perfect, all-good God allows something. some things to happen in the world. So that's where when when we reach the limit, the outer limits of what we can know and understand, so that's where a person has to have emuna. So the emuna is based on yediah, the emuna is not a blind faith, it's not an irrational faith, משל למה הדבר דומה, obviously there's no adequate mashal, but משל למה הדבר דומה, let's say you have a, you have a doctor and and the doctor's been the family doctor for 30 years and and he's steered them correctly through every health challenge and through every health crisis and and he's always been right on the money with his advice, his diagnosis, his prescriptions, his treatments. And and now something comes up and his treatment doesn't seem to make sense. His approach doesn't seem to make sense. So what are you going to do? So you're going to say, look, he's the he's the medical expert and and we're we're laymen and we've had so much experience with him that he's been right time and time again, so we're going to we're going to defer to him. We're going to defer to him. So that's not a blind faith or trust that you're placing in him, it's it's a faith or trust that's been earned based on on what you know. So that's what the relationship is between emuna and yediah. Emuna comes where yediah when yediah reaches its outermost limits, we end it it's outermost limits, and that's where you have emuna. So Chaim says there's always going to be emuna. It's not true what the welt says that when Mashiach comes then we understand everything. It's not true. There will always be emuna. And and that's what that's what this idea is, again what Rebbe is saying here on the, again on a much grander scale and explaining it again, ein el mah what we said in terms of the, you know, to shtelt zu the Rambam שאלות וחידות קשות ובעיות של עולם לא תפתרנה and I don't mean to reduce one to the other, שאלות וחידות קשות ובעיות של עולם לא תפתרנה. And and it has to be that way. If if a person is a בריה שפלה ואפילה עומד בדעת קלה לפני תמים דעות, so that doesn't change when Mashiach comes, we still remain a בריה שפלה ואפילה עומד לפני תמים דעות when Mashiach will come also. There will always be שאלות וחידות של עולם לא תפתרנה. You can't reduce ha-Kadosh Baruch Hu's knowledge and understanding that that it's going to be totally intelligible to us. נועץ מבטו בעולם ותמיה. A person trains his literally no'etz is no'etz tzipornav ba-karka, you you dig your fingernails into the ground. So no'etz so here it means that to train your gaze. נועץ מבטו בעולם ותמיה וההשתוממות והתמהון התוקפים עליו and and and the sense of wonder and bewilderment,

אינם רק דוחה להכרה המטאפיזית כמו שתוארו ביחס אל איש הדעת במשנתו של אריסטו וכיוצא בו אלא מהווים מטרת המטרות וגולת הכותרת של תהליך ההכרה של איש הדעת.

So why is that? So again at first glance that seems, why should that that sense of timahon and hishtomemut, that sense of bewilderment, bewilderment and and and total amazement and and lack of understanding, why is that the matrat ha-matrot? Because that's what part of the answer is that's what engenders within the person that self-recognition that that relative understanding of being a בריה שפלה ואפילה עומד בדעת קלה לפני תמים דעות. That's why that that recognition of what a person doesn't understand, the recognition of of the what the outer limits and how much lies beyond the outer limits of human comprehension, why that's so religiously significant to the ish ha-da'at. Ve-Iyov שהטיה דברים כלפי מעלה, Iyov who challenged ha-Kadosh Baruch Hu, משום שחשב חשבונו של עולם וטעה. So to challenge ha-Kadosh Baruch Hu means a person thinks that that he can understand everything and because of that he can he can sit in and judgment of ha-Kadosh Baruch Hu. קיבל עליו מידת הדין. He recognizes the the arrogance and and foolishness of

מי זה מעלים עצה בלי דעת לכן הגדתי ולא אבין נפלאות ממני ולא אדע

chata he sinned behapalato hashachzanit right hapalah means a brazen endeavor and after the Moshe Rabbeinu tells the dor midbar because of the cheit hamiraglim they're not going to enter Eretz Yisrael so vayapilu la'alot so the Torah describes when they say no hinnenu ve'alinu when they're trying to reject Hakadosh Baruch Hu's gezeirah so it's described as vayapilu חטא בהפלתו השחצנית והנועזת his arrogant and again initiative

לתפוס ולהשיג את סוד היצירה ומתוודה ושב אל ה' בהכרת בלתי יכולתו בלתי יכולתו להבין את המסתורין שבמעשה בראשית

he acknowledges he confesses he recognizes his inability to understand the mystery within Ma'aseh Bereishit

על כן אמאס ונחמתי על עפר ואפר מחוז חפצו של איש הדעת הוא השאלה הידעת הדרך אשר ילך בה למטרתו היא ההכרה השלמה של ההוויה

so as the Rav's going to elaborate in the next paragraph when he speaks of the ish hada'at focusing on what can't be known don't don't don't the Rav says don't confuse what I'm saying with agnosticism agnostics think you can't know anything you can't know anything you can't know I don't know is it day is it night is it agnostics they right the prefix a often means not and the gnosis is a word for knowledge so agnostic means not knowledge agnostic no you can't know anything you ask him do you believe in Ribbono Shel Olam or not and he says I'm an agnostic he thinks you can't know anything the Rav says that's not what we're talking about right הדרך אשר ילך בה למטרתו the way the ish hada'at arrives at his mystery is through after understanding no he believes there's understanding no he understands he understands tremendously and he comes to know Hakadosh Baruch Hu but from that yediyos so then he realizes that there's a point there's a gvul at which the sign says עד כאן ולא יוסיף that this is the limit of what you can understand so that's not agnosticism right it's the polar opposite of that קוטביות משונה של חשיפה וכיסוי there's a type of polarity of uncovering and covering gilluy vehe'elem revelation and concealment bokat ve'olah emerges betoda'ato in the awareness shel ish elokim

הוא חושף על מנת לכסות מגלה על מנת להעלים ולפיכך אין בעמדה זו

this posture there's no shum nitzotz there isn't even a mashehu not even a spark shel hamachshavah ha'agnostit of agnostic philosophy hamachchishah which denies את האובייקטיביות של ההכרה the objectivity of knowledge and understanding ומוחה את חותמה של האמת הטבועה על הפעולה הקוגניטיבית and looks to erase there's no objective knowledge no אין השקפה זו שתוארה למעלה what this outlook that was described above מביאה את האדם הדתי לידי מרידה במלכות ההכרה והדעת no it's not rebelling against reason and understanding ולא לידי תפיסה מסורסת and not to some distorted view of one of the early church fathers said. He said it in Latin, so that's how the Rav quotes it, that Credo quia absurdum, quia absurdum est, I believe, Credo means I believe, and that comes in an English word also, right? One's credo, what one believes, but in Latin it means I believe, even though it's absurd. אני מאמין אף על פי שזה מנוגד להיגיון, even though it's it's opposed to reason and logic. So that is a very, very un-Jewish notion. It's antithetical to everything we believe. That formulation שנולדה מתוך ייאוש מרירי, a bitter despair, ve'achzava nora'ah and disappointment של האדם הדופק בשכלו, who with his sechel was knocking be'sha'arei ha'havayah, the gates of existence, ha'ne'ulim ve'hastumim, as Tertullian, k'mo she'asah Tertullian, be'shitato, שגירשה את הסערה והפריזה על המידה. Aderaba, again, it's the exact opposite of what is distilled into that famous or infamous quote. Aderaba, איש הדת כמהה להכיר ולהבין, no, he does desire to understand. אבל גופא של הדת היא חידה יותר גדולה וחמורה, dat nifla, dat va'pela, hakara u'mistoriyut, havana va'raz, right? Knowledge and what's hidden, understanding and mysteriousness, havana va'raz,

חוק ואי ידוע מהווים תופעה אחת המתגלה לנו בדו פרצופים.

It's two sides of a coin, הכל לפי הבחינה ונקודת המבט. So in the Ish HaDat, in the contrary, it's his knowledge and his understanding which is the basis for discovering the mystery. And in that sense again, it's the antithesis of some kind of agnostic posture. Okay, I was hoping to finish Yod Gimmel, but maybe next week.