Eliana Applebaum & Esther Simchi

Jewish Philosophy Name: Date: hello

Unit 1 Test: Faith and Reason
Part A: Please fill in the following chart of the 6 Rabbis. For extra credit include an
interesting Iact about the rabbi or his work.
Rabbi
Name:
Where: When: Books/writings: Significance
(E.C.):
Rav Ahron
Lichtenstein
America
(acc: Paris)
May 24
th
,
1933
By His Light: Character
and Values in the Service
oI God
Leaves oI Faith (vol. 1):
The World oI Jewish
Learning
Leaves oI Faith (vol. 2):
The World oI Jewish
Living
Varieties oI Jewish
Experience

Modern
orthodox
leader who
has been a
spiritual and
intellectual
leader Ior
many Jews.
Rabbi
Soloveichik
Pruzanhy
(acc: Russia,
Poland,
Belarus)
February 27
th
,
1903
Torah Umadda
The Lonely Man oI Faith
Halakhic Man
Halakhic Mind

Talmudic and
spiritual
leader by
many Modern
Orthodox
Jews.
Rabbi
jonathan
Sacks
London March 8
th
,
1948
Traditional alternatives.
Orthodoxy and the future
of the Jewish people
Tradition in an
Untraditional Age
BBC Reith Lectures. The
Persistence of Faith
ChieI Rabbi
Ior the British
Orthodox
Jews.
Persistence of Faith
Arguments for the Sake
of Heaven
Crisis and Covenant
One People?
Will We Have Jewish
Grandchildren?
Community of Faith
The Politics of Hope
Morals and Markets
celebrating Life
Radical Then, Radical
Now
Dignity of Difference
the Chief Rabbis
Haggadah
To Heal a Fractured
World - The Ethics of
Responsibility
The Home We Build
Together - Recreating
Society
The Koren Sacks Siddur
Covenant &
Conversation. A Weekly
Reading of the Jewish
Bible
Future Tense. Jews,
Judaism, and Israel in
the Twenty-first Century
The Great Partnership.
God, Science and the
Search For Meaning

Rebbe
Nachman oI
Breslov
Ukraine April 4
th

1772
Likutey Moharan

Sefer HaMidot

Tikkun HaKlali

Sippurei Maasiyot
Introduced a
new and
closer
relationship
that can be
attained with
G-d to some
Jews.
Rav Saadya
Gaon
Egypt
(acc:
Babylon)
Agron

Kutub al-Lughah

Tafsir al-Sabina Lafah

Kitab al-Mawarith

Kelale ha-Talmud

Emunoth ve-Deoth

Tafsir Kitab al-Mabadi

Kitab al-Radd

Kitab al-Tamyi:

Kitab al-Sharai

Kitab al-Ibbur

Sefer ha-Moadim

Sefer ha-Galui
Attempted to
merge Jewish
belieIs with
Greek
philosophy.
Wrote mostly
in Arabic.

Rabbi
Yehuda
Ha`Levi
Spain Year 1075 The Ku:ari

Poetry


A great
Hebrew poet,
who wrote
about
religious and
secular topics.

Part B: Multiple Choice Questions. Please answer ALL oI the Iollowing questions.
1. Why did R` Saadya Gaon believe it was so important Ior Jews to learn Jewish
philosophy? (d)
a. So they know how to reIute anyone who challenges them
b. To learn Ior themselves what they know to be true.
c. To strengthen their emotional and intellectual understanding oI it.
d. All oI the above
2. Which Rabbi anticipated an objection to his reasoning Ior researching our religion? (hint:
the attack was that iI G-d, who is all powerIul and wise, knew that Jews could rationally
get to their belieI system oI understanding Hashem, the Torah, and Mitzvot, why did He
go through the whole revelation experience oI Matan Torah?) (b)
a. Rebbe Nachman
b. Rav Saadya Gaon
c. Rabbi Yehuda Halevi
d. None oI the above
3. In Rav Saadya Gaon`s book, Matan Torah served as: (d)
a. ProoI oI Hashem is the G-d oI the Jewish people.
b. ProoI the Torah came Irom Hashem
c. It did not serve to prove anything because Rav Saadya was not physically there.
d. Both A and B
4. Who does Rebbe Nachman compare Jewish philosophers to? (c)
a. The avot
b. Pharaoh
c. Amalek
d. Canaanim
5. When does the Al Khazari king hypothetically say that he believes that the Indian king is
good? (c)
a. When the Rabbi tells him that the king is good
b. When the Rabbi gives him examples oI good things that the king has done
c. When the Al Khazari king receives giIts Irom the king
d. Never
6. In the Rabbi`s Mashal to the Al Khazari king, is the Iollowing matched up correctly?
King of India: Hashem, The king Al Khazari: the Jewish people, The Messenger:
Moshe (who brought us the Torah), The messenger`s presents: The Torah and Mitzvot.
(a)
a. Yes
b. No
7. True or False, Rabbi Yehuda Halevi believes that personal experience passed down
through uninterrupted tradition and reliable sources serves as prooI oI something? (a)
a. True
b. False
8. Who, according to Rebbe Nachman, can learn Jewish philosophy? (d)
a. Everybody
b. Nobody
c. Reshaim
d. Tzadikim
9. True or False: R` Saadya Gaon and Rebbe Nachman agree on Jewish Philosophy. (b)
a. True
b. False
Part C: Short Answer Questions. Please answer ALL of the following questions.
10.Rav Aharon Lichtenstein mentions lessons he learned from his mentors. Who are
these mentors and what lesson did they teach him? How did they teach him this
lesson?
a. He does not explicitly mention who the mentors are but they are most likely his
parents and teachers (Rabbis). These mentors taught him that there is value to
asking questions, possibly more than the answer. Rav Lichtenstein envisioned
that his 'Iar sharper and wiser teachers would have raised the questions he had
and thereIore the Rabbis beIore him raised questions without answers and still
remained steadIast in their commitment to Judaism. This led Rav Lichtenstein to
think that iI the wise rabbis beIore him could live with the questions, so could he.
11.List the name of 2 Rabbis that Rav Lichtenstein respects and what century they
lived in.
a. Rav Yitzchak Hunter and Rav YoseI Soloveichik (the Rav) both lived in the 20
th

century.
12.Explain what is meant by ~The source of faith is faith itself. Include who said this.
a. Rav Lichtenstein said this and he meant that the source oI Iaith in
Judaism/Hashem is the preceding Rabbis who asked unanswered questions and
still remained true to Judaism. He had Iaith in unanswered questions because oI
the actions oI his Rabbis.
13.Rav Soloveichik quotes a major philosopher. Who is it? When did he live? What
two things does the quote compare? How are they similar?
a. Rav Soloveichik quotes Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish Christian who lived Irom
1813-1855. This philosopher compares the relationship between a bride and a
groom to the relationship between a 'prayerIul soul (religious worshipper) and
G-d. Just as a bride would not question the existence oI her groom, so too a
worshipper should not question the existence oI his/her G-d.
14.Who is Anselm of Canterbury? What did he do to upset the philosopher that the
Rav quotes?
a. He was a religious individual who invented an ontological prooI. His actions
bothered Kierkegaard because he prayed to Hashem that he could be able to
develop a prooI proving G-d`s existence. There is a contradiction between praying
to G-d and trying to prove His existence: II he believed in G-d why does he need
a prooI? II he did not believe in G-d than why is he praying to G-d?
Part D: Analysis Questions. Please answer 3 out of 4 questions.
1. ~He commanded us to inquire patiently until the truth of Tradition was brought out
by speculation, and not to depart from our religious position before its truth was
verified, since we are obliged to believe in it on account of what we saw with our
eyes and heard with our ears. Which one of the six rabbis we have learned
would/did say this statement? Explain.
a. Rav Saadya Gaon in his book Emunot V`deot said this. Rav Saadya`s goal was to
bring assimilated Jews back to Torah, Mitzvot, and Halacha. In order to do this he
demonstrates that the teachings oI the Torah will uphold against logical inquiry.
He oIIers irreIutable prooI why we believe in G-d and how we know that the Torah
came Irom Hashem, i.e. the Matan Torah experience. Though he goes and tries to
Iind reasons to the Mitzvot, at the end oI the day the Mitzvot are right and he
believes in them even without physical prooIs or reasons because oI 'what we saw
with our eyes and heard with our ears. (The Miracles, lightning, and voice oI
Hashem at Har Sinai.)
2. Do Rabbi Yehuda Halevi and Rav Nachman MiBreslov disagree or agree regarding
finding reasons and proofs for 1ewish beliefs? Explain.
a. These two Rabbis disagree. Rabbi Yehuda Halevi, in SeIer Hakuzari, writes a story
about a king, Al Khazari, who was searching Ior the true religion. AIter being
dissatisIied with the answers oI a philosopher, a Moslem religious leader, and a
Christian priest, the king summons a Jewish Rabbi to discuss G-d and religion. The
Rabbi begins explaining his Iaith to the king by mentioning acts that Hashem
preIormed starting Irom Matan Torah and the Exodus Irom Egypt. The king
questions the Rabbi why he did not start Irom the creation oI the world. The Rabbi
answers that the creation oI the world is not a good enough reason to believe in
Hashem and Iollow His laws because Breiat HaOlem is based on speculation and
not revelation (revealed to you by other people). Since no one saw the creation oI
the world, while more than 600,000 people saw the revelation at Har Sinai, the two
experiences are opposites oI each other (because one is speculation and one is
revelation). The rabbi then gives a mashal about a king Irom India proving that one
is more likely to believe in something iI one was substantial prooI oI that Iact.
ThereIore he started oII with the prooI oI Judaism (our tradition passed down Irm
Matan Torah) and not the incomplete mashal (creation oI the world). Unlike Rabbi
Yehuda Halevi who thought prooI and reasons were important Ior belieI, Rav
Nachman MiBreslov thinks that philosophers who use scientiIic studies and
philosophical reasoning to explore and understand things are 'evil. He compares
the evils oI philosophizing and rationalizing to the nation oI Amalek, the symbol
Ior all oI the horrible and anti-Jewish values. He quotes about Amalek, ' nx: x::
c:;:x " 'and they did not Iear G-d. This means that this nation acted without Iear
in G-d and did not have emotion in their liIestyles (it is all about reasoning and
rationalizing). The reason that Rav Nachman opposed philosophizing and trying to
Iind prooI oI things was because it distracts us Irom our ultimate goal and purpose
oI having Iaith in Hashem and doing the Mitzvot because G-d commanded us to.
He does mention, however, that although ideally one should not philosophize, a
great Tzadeek is permitted iI it is necessary.
3. Rav Aharon Lichtenstein was bothered by moral, theological, textual, and historical
questions. Within these categories of questions, list 5 to 6 questions that bother you
as a 1ewish woman.
a.
i. Historical questionHashem did enormous miracles Ior us, why do Jews
doubt G-d`s existence? Why doesn`t everyone believe in Hashem?
ii. Moral question Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do good
things happen to bad people?
iii. Moral question How can our merciIul G-d command us to destroy the
entire nation oI ;::v?
iv. There is a concept oI 'x:n c::c: x: n:n- How can the majority over rule
the word oI Hashem?
v. What are women`s roles in Judaism compared to men?
vi. What happens aIter death?

4. Are Rabbi 1onathan Saks and Rav Aharon Lichtenstein`s views similar regarding
faith? If so, how are they similar? Please provide proof for your answer.
a. Yes. Both Rabbis recognize the value oI questions, possibly more than the
answers. Rav Lichtenstein says, 'the source oI Iaith is Iaith itselI. This means that
the source oI Iaith in Judaism/Hashem is the preceding Rabbis who asked
unanswered questions and still remained true to Judaism. ThereIore, the questions
are valuable. Similarly, Rav Saks thinks, 'Iaith is not a certainty. Faith is the
courage to live with uncertainty. This means that Iaith in Judaism is not based on
prooI, reason, or certainty; rather, Iaith is the courage to live with uncertainty and
unanswered questions. Since Iaith is dependent on uncertainty, the questions are
just as, iI not more, important than the answers to the questions.
Extra Credit:
1. What is epistemology?
a. The study oI knowledge.
2. Who said, ~I think therefore I am.
a. Descartes.
3. What contradiction exists in the title Lonely Man of Faith?
a. A IaithIul man should not be lonely because one who has Iaith in G-d has a
relationship with G-d.