Wrestling with a Rabbi
Isaiah Berlin (1909-1997), a Jewish Russian-British political philosopher and historian of ideas, once shared this concept: “If you are truly convinced that there is some solution to all human problems, that one can conceive an ideal society which men can reach if only they do what is necessary to attain it, then you and your followers must believe that no price can be too high to pay in order to open the gates of such a paradise.” (Paraphrased from the essay: The Pursuit of the Ideal, 1988, read in Turin, Italy.)
Berlin here warns of what he would call a Monistic solution to human problems, which he suggests can be to the detriment of humanity. He did not believe that human problems can be solved using an all-encompassing scientific approach. According to Berlin, problem solving (based on a scientific approach) in modern times has relied on three assumptions; that there is only one (‘Monistic”) true solution to a problem, that the way to reach it relies on a certain methodology, and that once reached, the solution must be compatible with other truths.
While these assumptions seem to be working as part of scientific thinking, Berlin argues that they don’t work when it comes to the humanities and for the solving of human and societal problems. The reduction to only one “Monistic” solution is the cause for terror and violence, which has plagued society in the 20th century and has continued to disturb people today.
When we look at our Torah reading this week, the interpretations of a specific passage can best exemplify what Berlin was attempting to explain in his philosophy.
Our Torah portion this week, Vayishlach, holds within it, the story of Jacob wrestling with the angel. The wrestle in his dream ultimately gave Jacob a limp and the name Israel.
וַיִּוָּתֵ֥ר יַעֲקֹ֖ב לְבַדּ֑וֹ וַיֵּאָבֵ֥ק אִישׁ֙ עִמּ֔וֹ עַ֖ד עֲל֥וֹת הַשָּֽׁחַר׃
Jacob was left alone. And a figure wrestled with him until the break of dawn.
וַיַּ֗רְא כִּ֣י לֹ֤א יָכֹל֙ ל֔וֹ וַיִּגַּ֖ע בְּכַף־יְרֵכ֑וֹ וַתֵּ֙קַע֙ כַּף־יֶ֣רֶךְ יַעֲקֹ֔ב בְּהֵאָֽבְק֖וֹ עִמּֽוֹ׃
When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he wrenched Jacob’s hip at its socket, so that the socket of his hip was strained as he wrestled with him.
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר שַׁלְּחֵ֔נִי כִּ֥י עָלָ֖ה הַשָּׁ֑חַר וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ לֹ֣א אֲשַֽׁלֵּחֲךָ֔ כִּ֖י אִם־בֵּרַכְתָּֽנִי׃
Then he said, “Let me go, for dawn is breaking.” But he answered, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.”
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֵלָ֖יו מַה־שְּׁמֶ֑ךָ וַיֹּ֖אמֶר יַעֲקֹֽב׃
Said the other, “What is your name?” He replied, “Jacob.”
וַיֹּ֗אמֶר לֹ֤א יַעֲקֹב֙ יֵאָמֵ֥ר עוֹד֙ שִׁמְךָ֔ כִּ֖י אִם־יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל כִּֽי־שָׂרִ֧יתָ עִם־אֱלֹהִ֛ים וְעִם־אֲנָשִׁ֖ים וַתּוּכָֽל׃
Said he, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with beings divine and human, and have prevailed.”
While our sages agree that the angel was Esau’s guardian angel (Bereshit Rabah 77) they disagree about how the angel appeared to Jacob; what form did he have? Masechet Chulin in the Talmud (91a) brings different opinions. Some sages suggest that he was looking like a bandit, others a worshiper of false idols and surprisingly, Rav Shmuel bar Aha suggests that he was looking like a Rabbi - a wise man. Some interpretations suggest that Jacob was wrestling with his “evil inclination”.
However, if Jacob was wrestling with his “evil inclination”, why would our sages suggest that this evil appeared in the form of a wise man? To this, Rabbi Adin Steinzalts wrote: “It may be surprising, but just as there is an evil inclination to falsehood, the desire to constantly adhere to the truth can be a type of evil inclination as well, one that at times is much worse than the inclination to falsehood.” This profound point lies at the core of Isaiah Berlin’s philosophy.
The Enlightenment era, the era of reason and evidence, had a scientific approach to the comprehension and solution of human problems. However, for human and societal problems, there is never one truth or one answer. Therefore, the three assumptions that form the basis of scientific inquiry would not be applied here.
To illustrate his thinking, Berlin brings the example of holding in mind the values of both Justice and Mercy when making verdicts. Most societies strive for law and order, for enacting justice to punish perpetrators and protect its members from harm.
At the same time, we all know that forms of justice can be violent and oppressive especially towards those who survive on the margins of our society. Punishing a thief who stole bread to feed his or her family, is acting without mercy. Therefore, mercy must be balanced with justice, and judgment must bring into consideration the circumstance. Here, Berlin provides us with an example that contradicts Monism. When it comes to solving human problems, there is never one way which is right.
Berlin might have drawn from Rashi’s commentary on the first verse of the Torah:
“The Lord (the Merciful One) created, because at first God intended to create it (the world) to be placed under the attribute (rule) of strict justice, but He realized that the world could not thus endure and therefore gave precedence to Divine Mercy allying it with Divine Justice.
ברא אלהים וְלֹא נֶאֱמַר בָּרָא ה', שֶׁבַּתְּחִלָּה עָלָה בְמַחֲשָׁבָה לִבְרֹאתוֹ בְּמִדַּת הַדִּין, רָאָה שֶׁאֵין הָעוֹלָם מִתְקַיֵּם, הִקְדִּים מִדַּת רַחֲמִים וְשִׁתְּפָהּ לְמִהַ"דִּ, וְהַיְינוּ דִּכְתִיב בְּיוֹם עֲשׂוֹת ה' אֱלֹהִים אֶרֶץ וְשָׁמָיִם:
Another paradoxical tension that Berlin brings to illustrate his point is that of Liberty and Equality. He famously said: “Both liberty and equality are among the primary goals pursued by human beings throughout many centuries; but total liberty for wolves is death to the lambs, total liberty of the powerful, the gifted, is not compatible with the rights to a decent existence of the weak and the less gifted.”
Nationalism, Communism, Fascism and so on… these ideas, which claim the absolute of values and utopian outcomes, never brought to humanity what they claimed to possess. Contradictory often in their inherent values and ideologue and their manifestation. They all hold absolute yet contradictory values that never could be resolved in society.
Although Berlin was one of Karl Marx’s most important biographers…he reached this conclusion: He believed that all humans do share a rational moral core which keeps them human. Berlin was a true pluralist, one that recognizes that we all have common goals, but different ways of pursuing them. Therefore, he believed in the possibility of dialogue between people, even between those who seem to disagree on everything.
Similarly, our role as a nation, the nation of Israel, is to wrestle. The portion is telling us whether we converse with the person who is wise or evil, we must wrestle with them by sharing our thinking, our truths. They may think they have and are selling us “the truth”. However, as we have learned, there is no absolute truth when it comes to humanity.
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