Avot209

Today's shiur is dedicated to the cherished memory of
Rabbi Dr Louis (Yehudah Leib) Jacobs z"l
who passed away last Shabbat, 5th Tammuz, aged 86.

1:
In some editions of the Mishnah our present mishnah is the continuation of the previous one. At any rate, it is clear from the introductory words that the author of this mishnah too is Rabbi El'azar ben-Azaryah.

2:
Our present mishnah is lengthy, mainly because of two quotations that it contains; but its teaching is simple. It will be easier for us to understand what Rabbi El'azar ben-Azaryah is saying if we understand the term 'wisdom' to be analogous to the modern term 'philosophy' or 'intellectual enquiry'. Our religious life has two bases: the philosophy of Judaism and the practice of Judaism. The former contains our rationale for why we observe the mitzvot; the latter is the observance of the mitzvot itself.

3:
Judaism has never scorned the investigation of the rationale for the mitzvot – even while admitting that in some cases we may not find an acceptable rationale. Observance of the mitzvot becomes meaningful after we have applied our intellectual apparatus to its understanding. But Judaism only lives through the observance of the mitzvot. For the fabric of living a Jewish life observance of Torah is more important than philosophizing about it and its implications. The prophet [Jeremiah 16:11] complains that

Well-known is the comment on this of the Talmudic sage, Rabbi Ĥiyya bar-Abba [Eikhah Rabbah, Introduction 2]:

Nevertheless, it is essential that we use our intellectual apparatus – our ability to philosophize – to justify for ourselves the requirements of Torah. And, as we have already noted [Avot 207], if collective intellectual scrutiny requires it we should not hesitate to admit that we may well have misunderstood until now what the Torah is saying and, as Rambam so neatly put it, "the gates of interpretation are not closed".

4:
So, for intellectual man, Judaism is best when it is an amalgam of practical observance and philosophic enquiry. But, which should be given the greater weight? Rabbi El'azar ben-Azaryah has no doubts about this: philosophical enquiry is good and commendable, but it must take second place to practical observance. I think our great philosophers would have put the same idea slightly differently. I think they would have said that for the philosophic enquiry of Judaism to be successful and fruitful it must be based on a solid foundation of practical observance. In his monumental halakhic compendium, Mishneh Torah, Rambam devotes the first four chapters to philosophic considerations. But then [Yesodé ha_Torah 4:13] he adds:

Our philosophic enquiry must have practical observance as its sure foundation. But once that is assured, we must not hesitate to subject the details of that foundation to philosophic enquiry.

5:
It is (sadly) fortuitous that one of the best examples of this approach in action is the legacy of Rabbi Dr Louis Jacobs z"l, who died a few days ago. Time will show that he was one of the greatest luminaries that have shone within Conservative Judaism for many a long decade. Even the title of his seminal book illustrates how he viewed tradition through the glass of intellectual assessment. In 1957 he published a book called "We Have Reason To Believe". The major thesis of this book was how to reconcile traditional Jewish conceptualizations of the origin of Torah with the results of modern critical scholarship. His message was that for the modern thinking person we can never be sincere in our observance if it negates what our own common sense tells us. His thesis was that since, from the intellectual point of view, the Documentary Hypothesis concerning the literary origins of Torah makes irrefutable sense we must not hesitate to interpret Judaism accordingly.

6:
Rabbi Jacobs could have been one of the greatest rabbinic teachers of modern orthodoxy. However, the foolish – yes foolish! – shortsightedness of the then Chief Rabbi of Great Britain denied him first the principalship of Jews' College (where I was one of his students) and later the pulpit of a congregation that wanted him to be their beloved rabbi and no other. Since he was denied the right to teach and preach to his congregation, his congregation created a new framework for themselves – and for him. In the fullness of time that new framework became Masorti, Conservative Judaism in the United Kingdom.

7:
Rabbi Jacobs was not just a great philosopher: he was a giant among poskim with a phenomenally encyclopedic grasp of halakhah down to its minutest details. Long before he embarked upon his philosophic enquiry he had 'filled his belly with Talmud and Poskim' to a phenomenal degree of knowledge and expertise. For him the 'actions' were always paramount; but they had to be viewed through what his 'wisdom' dictated.

8:
Not so long ago in a poll organised by a Jewish journal in the United Kingdom, by a wide margin Rabbi Jacobs was designated the most influential British Jew since the Restoration in 1656! I have particularly vivid memories of him not only as a brilliant teacher but even more as the personality at the centre of a great debate: the so-called "Jacobs controversy" more than 40 years ago. I was amazed a couple of years ago, when I communicated with him about something he had written, how his mind was still as alert as ever at his advanced age: his handwriting may have been shaky, but his intellect was as sharp as always.

When viewing history it is sometimes tempting to play the 'what would have happened if' game. But I cannot help thinking that there was a divine hand shaping the then Chief Rabbi's obstinacy in the 60's. Rabbi Dr Louis Jacobs never did become the Principal of Jews' College; but instead he became the founder of what developed into Masorti Judaism in the UK, and a very influential former of theological thinking for many Conservative Rabbis. Jews' College has passed into history and disappeared; Masorti thrives and grows. (According to a recent newspaper report the Masorti stream which Rabbi Jacobs founded is the only one in the UK to have grown numerically since 1990.) His memory is a great blessing – and that blessing will continue to grow in time. May he enjoy his studies – and arguments – with the truly great who preceded him to the Academy on High. In my imagination I can hear him, in his typical northern English accent, telling Rambam that "that's a daft idea!"