http://text.rcarabbis.org/from-our-archives-prof-michael-wyschogrod/ Tradition's Blog of Orthodox Jewish Thought Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:29:58 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 http://text.rcarabbis.org/from-our-archives-prof-michael-wyschogrod/comment-page-1/#comment-349 Yaakov Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:22:52 +0000 http://text.rcarabbis.org/?p=418#comment-349 I just read his response to R. Danziger and find it astounding. [Comment edited by moderator.] First of all, not everyone does, or has to, agree with Rambam's anti-anthropomorphism or via negativa. Secondly, even according to Rambam there is the "will and wisdom of G-d", albeit categorically different from our use of these words as "Hu mamada vehu hayedu'a etc.": with us wisdom is acquired, and will is motivated, by external factors, thus separate from us, while with G-d they are unified part and parcel of His very essence. This "will and wisdom", manifest in Torah, He communicated to us at Sinai. How this occured is totally irrelevant, and dibra Torah belashon bnei adam. The fact is that all the people had the identical experience of that communication, whether by sound, telepathy or whatever, and this renders the experience objectively true (as much as any epistemological criteria can determine). Thus yes, G-d DID "speak" literally, reading "speak" as communicated. MW reduces everything to the absurd which would render all human knowledge and experience to relative meaninglesness and total skepticism - including, of course, his own premises. I am truly amazed how [Comment Edited by Moderator] MW, some of whose writings (esp. the book reviewed by Meir Soloveichik) really impressed me, could stoop to such mental acrobatics which would shock even logical positivists. I just read his response to R. Danziger and find it astounding. [Comment edited by moderator.] First of all, not everyone does, or has to, agree with Rambam’s anti-anthropomorphism or via negativa. Secondly, even according to Rambam there is the “will and wisdom of G-d”, albeit categorically different from our use of these words as “Hu mamada vehu hayedu’a etc.”: with us wisdom is acquired, and will is motivated, by external factors, thus separate from us, while with G-d they are unified part and parcel of His very essence. This “will and wisdom”, manifest in Torah, He communicated to us at Sinai. How this occured is totally irrelevant, and dibra Torah belashon bnei adam. The fact is that all the people had the identical experience of that communication, whether by sound, telepathy or whatever, and this renders the experience objectively true (as much as any epistemological criteria can determine). Thus yes, G-d DID “speak” literally, reading “speak” as communicated.
MW reduces everything to the absurd which would render all human knowledge and experience to relative meaninglesness and total skepticism – including, of course, his own premises. I am truly amazed how [Comment Edited by Moderator] MW, some of whose writings (esp. the book reviewed by Meir Soloveichik) really impressed me, could stoop to such mental acrobatics which would shock even logical positivists.

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