THE TORAH AND THE WORLD

This Website is a challenge to the Old to think like the New. And it is a challenge to the New to think like the Old. This is a Torah Oriented Website and we are exploring here the nature of Torah and Torah Study. We are investigating the logical grounds, the basic assumptions that underlie all of Torah thinking – that which makes it unique among Systems of Thought – and that which binds it to the Universal Understandings of all Men. We are going to do this in great detail and with as much logical rigor that we can muster and which will be appropriate to the subject.

We also propose to look at the Modern World, through the Eyes of the Torah. This can only be done by relying upon the greatest thinkers who have shaped Jewish Thought and Halachic Decisions down through the ages. For the Torah is not a thing – which we can point to and say this is it. Rather the Torah, as the Jews know it to be, is the Written Text and the Oral Tradition joined and irrevocably intermingled so that we cannot appeal to the Western Ideal of a Nation of Laws and not of Men. There is no such thing in our opinion. Hence we will delineate the nature of the Jewish Judge and what distinguishes him from great Judges in other systems of Law. We will explain clearly how the personality of the Jewish Judge, the Posek, is inextricably intertwined with the Torah and all that has come before.

We will look at many critical issues in Modern Life. We will cite studies, many by non-Jews or by Jews in their capacity as Academic Scholars, and show the reader where to go for the most profound insights and understandings on ever so many currents in Modern Life, including Law, Economics, Science, Health, and Politics.

One of the assumptions here is that the World will be saved by The B’nai Noach, by men who are not Jews, but who are righteous and upright, and who recognize their responsibility to G-d and to Men, to correct the world and save it from destruction. It is true that we, the Jews, believe that we are at the center of Mankind’s journey into the future. We believe that the Torah has insights and understandings which all men can share and benefit from. The Jewish contribution to Civilization is unique and unmistakable. But let us not forget, as Jews, that we are also part of Civilization.  We must be partners with all of Mankind in striving for the continued survival of the World. It must be remembered that Galileo was not Jewish. Nor was Newton. Nor was Bach or Beethoven. That is to name just a very few of the luminaries who have helped to create Western Civilization. But when allowed to share in the effort, then the singular contribution of the Jews becomes recognized and respected. The truths of the Torah will  then be sought out by all of Mankind.

We will delve into the limits of Human Thought and Reasoning. We will study and analyze how Rule Following Systems work, in Mathematics, in Games, and in Law. We will compare Jewish Law and Secular Law – and in particular, Jewish Law with American Constitutional Law.  We shall study and remark on the disregard for Law and the sheer scorn and disregard which both Nations and Corporations have for the Law. We shall describe how nations and the Modern Corporation have been the chief destroyers of the Environment and Bio-Diversity.

All of this will be done, step by step, post by post, and in small, measured articles which will point the way. Sometimes, we will only provide an annotated Bibliography – since so much of the work has already been done – and one only has to point to it.

Many of our articles will be closed to the general public because they are in Hebrew or are a mixture of English and Hebrew. This cannot be helped. Further, many of the articles are written for people who are already well-versed and literate in Torah Studies.

The English sections of this Website will be a challenge to everyone, Jew and non-Jew, to look at the issues of the day, with a critical eye and a thoughtful heart.

PDF – Why This Site Was Created