![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Analyst-300x200.jpg\" "\\"Analyst\\"")
The LA Times reported on a study published in the journal Science that people who think more analytically are less likely to be religious believers. I don\u2019t question the results, but I wonder how things would have gone had they conducted such a study with yeshiva students.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s an old joke in which a man asks his rabbi to explain Talmudic logic. The rabbi gives the following example:<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo thieves break into a house through the chimney. One\u2019s face gets dirty, the other\u2019s stays clean. Which thief washes his face?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one with the dirty face,\u201d replies the man.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d says the rabbi. \u201cThe thief with the dirty face looks at the other and thinks his face is also clean. The one with the clean face looks at his friend and thinks his face is also dirty, so the clean thief washes his face. Let\u2019s try it again. Two thieves break into a house through the chimney. One gets dirty, one stays clean. Who washes?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one with the clean face,\u201d replies the man.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d replies the rabbi. \u201cThe one with the dirty face looks at the one with the clean face and thinks his own face is also clean but when he sees the one with the clean face wash, he realizes his face must be dirty. He washes, too, with the result that both have washed. One last try. Two thieves break in through a chimney. One gets dirty, one stays clean. Who washes?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth,\u201d says the man.<\/p>\n
“No,\u201d says the rabbi. \u201cThe entire question is moot. How can a thief break in through a chimney and not get his face dirty?\u201d<\/p>\n
This joke is meant to highlight the analytical nature of the Talmudic methodology, which constitutes the major portion of a traditional yeshiva education. Critical thinking and religious belief don\u2019t go hand in hand? I think not!<\/p>\n
Judaism may be unique in that it actively encourages questions. While all religion is ultimately predicated on faith, we do not believe that G-d said, \u201cBecause I said so,\u201d and left things at that. The Jews\u2019 crowning moment came at Sinai when they declared, \u201cAll that G-d has said, we will do and we will hear\u201d (Exodus 24:7). They agreed to do the mitzvot<\/em> (commandments) because G-d said so and, let\u2019s face it, He knows best.<\/p>\n But while we do them, we also try to understand them, to figure out their nuances, and to derive lessons for our lives from them. Judaism doesn\u2019t end with the observance of mitzvot; that\u2019s where it begins. From our observance, we enter a world of analytical thought that leads to a better understanding of G-d and ourselves.<\/p>\n Many people equate analytical thought with science. Science and religion cannot coexist, they posit\u2013incorrectly, I might add. Historically, the more Torah one knows, the less scientific \u201ccontradictions\u201d pose a challenge. Two simple examples:<\/p>\n (1) \u00a0\u00a0The heliocentric model of the solar system, popularized by such people as Copernicus and Galileo, was considered problematic for contradicting Church doctrine. Judaism was never bothered. Joshua chapter 10 certainly implies that the sun moves; so what? \u201cThe Torah speaks the language of man\u201d (Sifre). We, in the 21st century, know that the Earth goes around the sun, but we still say things like \u201cthe sun came up\u201d because, from our point of view, it does!<\/p>\n (2) \u00a0\u00a0When first discovered, fossils of cavemen or dinosaurs threw many religious people into a tizzy. Some even believed they were planted by \u201cthe devil\u201d to trick people into straying from their faith. Judaism was again unfazed. The Midrash describes a series of earlier worlds that were created by G-d.\u00a0These were allowed to run their courses, then He wiped them out and built increasingly more complex worlds on top of them. What for 2,000 years was no doubt considered by many to be a fanciful metaphor suddenly became consistent with archaeological finds that were troubling others.<\/p>\n Scientific challenges do not trouble the analytical Jew. There are any number of approaches to reconciling such things that do not require one to throw out either religion or science. The existence of chlorophyll doesn\u2019t mean that G-d doesn\u2019t make the plants grow. Understanding how G-d does something doesn\u2019t mean that He doesn\u2019t do it.<\/p>\n Does this mean that we can never reach an impasse in our understanding? Are we guaranteed that we will always have satisfactory answers to every question about life, the universe and everything? Of course not. We\u2019re only human. Even without religion there are plenty of unanswered questions in life. (Wave-particle duality? Quantum entanglement? \u00a0Science has enough head-scratchers without our help!) But half of \u201cna\u2019aseh v\u2019nishmah<\/em>\u201d (\u201cwe will do and we will hear\u201d) is \u201cna\u2019aseh<\/em>.\u201d We agreed to do the mitzvot while we analyze\u2013and we\u2019ll still do them even if our analysis fails!<\/p>\n Judaism encourages analysis, of itself and of the world. Regarding Torah, the Mishna in the fifth chapter of Pirkei Avot<\/em>\u00a0tells us \u201cTurn it over, turn it over, because everything is in it.\u201d It\u2019s possible to be an observant Jew without being analytical, but a non-analytical Jew may not be getting as much out of his Judaism as he might. Conversely, an analytical mind is only helpful insofar as it helps to bring us closer to G-d. If one\u2019s observance is predicated on always understanding everything, he is in danger because there will always be one more mystery to solve.<\/p>\n Rabbi Jack Abramowitz<\/strong> is\u00a0Torah Content Editor at the Orthodox Union<\/a>. He is the author of four books, including\u00a0<\/em>The Tzniyus Book<\/a>, available on\u00a0Amazon<\/a>. His fifth book,\u00a0<\/em>The Taryag Companion<\/a>, is available from OU Press<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While all religion is ultimately predicated on faith, we do not believe that G-d said, \u201cBecause I said so,\u201d and left things at that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":384,"featured_media":25026,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
\n