The Taste of Folly

In his Treatise on the Resurrection of the Dead, the Rambam identifies a fundamental difference between the hamon (masses) and the yechidim (select individuals) regarding their interpretation of Torah:

[O]ur endeavor, and the endeavor of select individuals, is in contrast to the endeavor of the masses. For the masses of Torah adherents, that which is beloved to them and tasty to their folly is to place Torah and rational thinking as two opposite extremes, and they will interpret everything exceptional as removed from that which is rational. They will say that it is a miracle, and they will flee from something being in accordance with natural law, whether something recounted from past events, something that is in the present, or something which is said to happen in the future. We, on the other hand, shall endeavor to integrate the Torah with rational thought, leading events according to the natural order wherever possible; only with something that is clarified to be a miracle and cannot be otherwise explained at all will we say that it is a miracle.

The individual described above is a members of the First Group. He is the pesi (philosophically naïve individual) about whom Shlomo ha'Melech says, "A pesi believes everything, but the clever person understands every step" (Mishlei 14:15).

The Rambam provides an excellent example of this in the Guide for the Perplexed (2:6). The Rambam first sets forth the principle that the laws of nature are referred to by the Torah and the Sages as malachim (angels), and that the two are synonymous. For example, the natural forces which form a fetus in the womb can be called "angels." The Rambam then goes on to decry the pesi's reaction to such a concept:

How bad and harmful is the blindness of foolishness! Say to a person who believes himself to be of the Wise Men of Israel that Hashem sends His angel to enter the womb of a woman and to form there the fetus, and he will be satisfied with the account. He will believe it and even find in it a description of the greatness of God's might and wisdom - even though he believes that this angel consists of burning fire and is as big as a third part of the Universe, yet, he considers it possible as a divine miracle. But tell him that God gave the sperm a formative power which produces and shapes the limbs, and that this power is called "angel" . . . and he will turn away from this, because he cannot comprehend the true greatness and power of bringing into existence forces active in a thing that cannot be perceived by the senses.

I am not writing this post for such individuals. As the Rambam writes at the conclusion of his exposition on the three groups: "Now if you, reader, belong to either of the first two groups, pay no attention to my words nor to anything else in this section. You will not like it. On the contrary, it will irritate you, and you will hate it."

Rather, I am writing this as a reminder for myself, and for other members of the Third Group. I can't speak for them, but I'll say about myself that it is very easy to delude myself into thinking that have utterly escaped the fate of the First Group. "After all," I reassure myself, "I know the principle of dibra Torah ki'lshon bnei Adam (the Torah speaks in the language of man), and I know that the Sages frequently speak in metaphors and allegories."

But what I tend forget is that the same psyche which is responsible for the pesi's attraction to the supernatural and his hatred of the rational is present in me as well, and if I am not vigilant, I will fall prey to it, in spite of my effort to approach Torah rationally. Every now and then, I gain an insight which makes me realize that my prior understanding - which I thought was purely rational - was subtly being influenced by covert magical thinking.

I have chosen not to provide examples in this post. If you know what I'm talking about, great. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then I hope you at least take away from this post the following warning: beware of your inner pesi.