From: emc@doe.carleton.ca (Eli Chiprout)
Subject: Re: Einstein and Judaism
Organization: Dept. of Electronics, Carleton University
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 21:52:17 GMT

goldberg@techunix.technion.ac.il (Jacques Goldberg) writes:

>emc@doe.carleton.ca (Eli Chiprout) writes:

>   It seems to me, very simply, that Einstein's knowledge of Judaism,
>like that of so many Europeans, was so limited, and, much worse, so 
>deeply impregnated of Christianism, that he certainly could not reconcile
>Science with what he might have heard of religion and God. The bottom line
>seems to me, how can one choose without KNOWING first? Unless one actively
>studies, does one know anything else than the environmental "culture"?
>Jewish tradition says that every Jew carries with himself one little
>spark of Abraham's Judaism. Blowing a little bit of oxygen on it makes
>the whole of the difference. Asking why Einstein did not blow more on his
>is just like asking why did Poincar\'e fail to discover special relativity
>before Einstein, he had everything handy, except the little spark or the
>intuition to blow.
>   Contrarily to what so many believe, it is not enough to read one general
>book to go down to the bottom line of what Judaism is, and it takes the
>hell of a lot of time to rub off the "current culture" varnish.

I read your previous posting but let's discuss it in the context of
the latest one quoted here (I guess there is a transatlantic time
delay for our posts to get to one another :-)

What you are saying, (correct me if I am wrong) is that the responsibility 
is for us to seek God, after we detect that initial "spark" that is inside.
Once we follow it up, we must completely divorce ourselves from our 
culture in order to understand His way, for as in the words of Yeshaiahu,
"My ways are above your ways as the heaven is above the earth".
Einstein, when he was young, apparently discovered that spark, but
failed to follow through, dying without ever really knowing the real
God.

The main problem that I see with this response is the undefined "spark".
Why would Einstein, after initially recognizing the spark, have turned
away?  If this spark leads to a greater integrity, happiness, and truth,
then why turn away?  Yes, Einstein display some religious feelings, but
certainly far removed from the Orthodox Jew.  As a great thinker he was
able to shake off cultural influences more easily than the rest of us.
If he tought it correct to follow Orthodox Judaism he would have, come
"hell or high water".  He was not one to conform to his surroundings. Was
his refusal to "follow up" by more study due to his cultural surroundings?
I would have to doubt that.

You say that Judaism requires much study.  However, I submit to you that
before that in-depth study, come some much more fundamental questions 
about the nature of reality, belief, epistemology, ontology, and the
nature of the universe that Judaism does not address.  In other words,
Judaism assumes a certain "gut feeling" approach to begin with, and that
if a person detects that initial "gut feeling" or spark, he should 
follow it.  The problem is that Xtians and Muslims claim the same thing.
This is the problem of faith.  Faith requires certain assumptions that
cannot be rationally based.  But if they cannot be rationally based, the
claims of your own tribe's truth in religion becomes just as valid as 
any other's.   That Judaism provides a deep sense of integrity and 
fulfillment does not address, why Einstein would reject these for a more
difficult outlook on life.  For make no mistake about it -- it is much
more difficult to be a deterministic theist that an orthodox Jew.  The
later will be required to do many things, but the reward will be a deep
sense of belonging and peace of mind.

P.S. Abraham's "Judaism"?  That's an anachronistic combination is it not?

>   Yaaqov Goldberg
--
Eli Chiprout                 
Dept. of Electronics, 
Carleton University, Canada
emc@doe.carleton.ca                                     
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish