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Jewish World Review Oct. 3, 2003 / 7 Tishrei, 5764 Yom Kippur and Arthur Schopenhauer By Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
What history's all-time greatest pessimist can teach us about the Day of Atonement. An essay on Truth — capital 'T' — that will alter the way you perceive reality.
http://www.jewishworldreview.com |
Without any doubt all religions and philosophies are confronted
with the question how to relate to "existence." Should one oppose
"existence" and ideally opt for "non-existence" or should one see
"being" as good and "non- being" as the opposite.
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), one of Germany's major
philosophers and author of "The World as Will and Idea" could
perhaps be seen as Europe's greatest pessimist. In his works,
Schopenhauer has no good word for "existence." From his
youngest days on, he sees the world as an ongoing disaster, and
Shopenhauer therefore lives in constant fear that things will only
get worse. Danger is everywhere, and therefore he decides to
sleep with a weapon under his pillow and refuses to have the
barber shave him with a knife, lest he cut his throat. The only one
he trusts is his dog, but as for man, there is no one to have faith in.
Life is an ongoing deceit, harsh and cruel.
Why, then, are there optimists in this world? How, then, is it that
some people live in joy and see everything in a sanguine light?
How is it that these people deny the truth and ignore the fact that
this life is really a catastrophe? Why will they not see the truth?
Well, argues Schopenhauer, the aggressively optimistic
philosophers of the Western World have fallen victim to a vulgar
buoyancy which is rooted in the Jewish Tradition!
Jewish
traditional optimism reflects "a self-congratulatory human egoism,
which is blind to all except our (own) all too frail human goals and
aspirations." ("Works" translated R.B. Haldane and J Kemp,
London, Kegan Paul, Trench: Trubner and Co., 1909, vol. 111, pp.
305ff, 446ff)
Yes, believe it or not: Jews are guilty of bringing some optimism
into the world. Is it indeed true that Judaism is blind to the tragic?
Nobody will deny that Judaism teaches an optimistic view of life,
but does that mean that its optimism is vulgar and self destructive,
because it is shortsighted and, therefore, unable to cope when
confronted with disaster?
"Rabbi Shimon said: In the hour that G-d was about to create
Adam, the angels of service were divided. Some said: 'Let him
not be created.' Others said, 'Let him be created.' Love said, 'Let
him be created, for he will do loving deeds." But, Truth said, 'Let
him not be created, for he will be all falsity.' Righteousness said,
'Let him be created, for he will do righteous deeds.' Peace said,
'Let him not be created, because he will be full of strife.' What,
then, did the Holy One Blessed be He do? He seized hold of the
truth and cast it to the earth [where it broke into pieces] as it says,
'You cast truth to the ground' (Daniel 8:12)." (Bereshis Rabbah,
18:5)
Nearly no Midrash wants to be taken literally. Every Midrash wants
to be taken seriously. When it speaks about the origin of man, it is
trying to tell us something about the human condition.
This
midrash is clearly "disturbing" because it makes the point that
truth needs to be thrown to the ground before the creation of man
can take place. At first blush, it appears that not even the Divine can create man
unless there is a compromise made in which truth pays the price.
There is no "all is well" attitude when man appears. To create man
one has to remove all romantically "optimistic" views about human
existence. Not even the good Lord, it seems to be saying, has the power to
indiscriminately silence all opposition: To create man is taking a
risk, and the pessimists have a point.
Meshech Chochma (Genesis 1.31) explains that while all
creatures were blessed with: "And G-d saw that it was good," this
is not so with man. Only man is endowed with free will.
He is the great unknown, and hence the absolute truth, reflected in
the existence of G-d, will have to be compromised, since man's
very purpose is to be a free agent with the ability to deny or ignore
G-d.
So pessimism is born: Man may go wrong and indeed he may
become a "Schopenhauer disaster." The Midrash knows that truth
is cast to the ground, and so all devout Jews know that truth is
difficult to bear. But what is the effect of this knowledge? Can it be
anything other than despair, as the German philosopher would
have it?
There is only one response possible. It is as if the earlier
mentioned midrash has anticipated Schopenhauer: "Then the
angels of service said to G-d, 'L-rd of the Universe, how can
Thou despise Your seal (the truth?)' And G-d responded, 'Let
Truth arise from the earth, as it says: "Truth springs from the
earth." (Psalms: 85:12)'" True, the truth will have to rise from the
earth in "broken pieces," but there is a purpose; so that man will
be able to labor to rediscover it, fragment by fragment, without
ever seeing the full picture. The truth will not be truth for man
unless he discovers it by way of his own effort. Paradoxically, it is
man's potential to go wrong that creates a realistic optimism: The
Jew clings to life, despite Schopenhauer, because he knows that
since G-d was prepared to cast the truth to the ground, there must
be a divine plan beyond man's comprehension. That is the
foundation of balanced optimism as taught by Jewish Tradition.
This is the underlying motive of Yom Kippur. It is a protest against
Schopenhauer and all dedicated pessimists. It gives testimony
and is a warning not to yield to death as long as the truth springs
from the ground. It is an admonition to endure truth and to choose
life. Yom Kippur, more than any other day of the Jewish year,
would seem to carry the seed for Schopenhauer's approach, yet it
is a festival of joyous life: It is a plea to endure, for it is only defiant
endurance which reveals the fact that truth, however broken,
remains the seal of G-d: "Avinu Malkenu (Our Father, our King), seal us in the book of
life."
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JWR contributor Rabbi Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo is a world-renowned lecturer and ambassador for Judaism, the Jewish
people, the State of Israel and Sephardic Heritage. Comment by clicking here.
© 2003, Rabbi Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
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