starwolf
Member
you need a doctor, do you think that he or she should not have pursued his or her knowledge for its own sake? The best ones do, you know.
Joseph
Member
I don’t believe that for a moment. They studied the material for the sake of practice, not for the sake of knowledge alone.
Joseph, you have no clue. Either that, or you are creating a distinction that does not exist outside of the hypothetical theatre of your own mind. I don’t know what you mean by studying for the sake of practice, unless you meant that the only reason doctors study in medical school is so that they can do their job. This is far from true.
Intellectuals and academics do study for the sake of the knowledge, in any field of study. Many doctors are in fact, altruists (and I think you are in the minority if you have trouble agreeing with this), and many of them are academically interested in knowledge of the human body. I would include myself in this category, despite the fact that I am not a doctor. I can only assume that you have never experienced an academic thirst for knowledge.
Your statement was wrong, and no amount of distortion on your part can change that. It was also off topic, because I believe we were discussing from a pure Torah standpoint.
From a pure Torah standpoint, you are also wrong. Knowledge is allowed, encouraged, and central to Torah Judaism. In the Mishna it lists 4 questions that may not be asked. It does not forbid other academic pursuits. In the Torah it says “ki yish’alcha bincho mochor lai’mor mah zos”. Meforshim interpret this quite broadly. It is an extremely recent philosophy amongst Torah jews that says the entire purpose of the world is to distract and tempt the Jew and the entire purpose of the Jew is to shut out the world (in fact, it sounds like the dogma of a certain other religion). Until a few hundred years ago, this philosophy never existed. To say that it is the one true Torah viewpoint is fallacious and close-minded (not surprising, considering). This philosophy emerged only as the collective faith of religious Jews started to falter in the face of enlightenment. It was to save Jews who would otherwise be lost. But the original true Torah viewpoint is that the world is here for us to enjoy and appreciate and elevate. I eagerly admit that in the present age a Torah Jew should not follow this path without a proper mentor (a ben torah, baal yiras shomayim) – but I contend that this was always the case. Proper mentors today, however, are rare and getting rarer (thanks mostly to the yeshivish movement).
For you to say that a Jew has no right to learn for the sake of learning, or for self-actualization, or to limit this to the study of ancient texts alone is completely off the mark. I encourage you to follow the philosophy that you have been brought up with, however – I take umbridge at your callous attack (made in ignorance) at academia at large. As a academic (and formerly a university academic), I am offended by your attitude. I would encourage you to educate yourself on the subject before commenting, but that advice would be self-defeating 🙂 🙂 🙂
I have said everything I want to say on the subject. I will not discuss this further.