The Benefit of Straightforward Faith

There are people who entangle themselves in unnecessary questions that straightforward thinking cannot resolve, complicating matters needlessly. Some struggle with complex questions about the purpose of suffering, the transmigration of souls, philosophical paradoxes, or intricate matters of faith, and they get confused by them. However, our holy Torah teaches Jews honest and true guidance for life: "You shall be wholehearted with Hashem, your God" (Deuteronomy 18:13), and King Solomon gave us straightforward advice: "Trust in Hashem with all your heart, and do not rely on your understanding" (Proverbs 3:5). Understanding is a wonderful tool, but over-reliance on human understanding can lead one astray: "God made man straightforward, but they sought out many calculations" (Ecclesiastes 7:29).

Understanding that there is a Creator of the world is something even a small child can comprehend; there is no need to be Einstein or a philosopher to grasp this. However, attempting to understand Hashem and His ways is beyond our capacity in this world.

"Maaseh Mechacham VeTam" is a famous tale by Rabbi Nachman of Breslov ztz"l. It tells of a wise man who, due to his wisdom and deep investigations, began to doubt the existence of the king in his state. With clever excuses, he convinced others to deny the king and accused the state's ministers of inventing the king from their imagination. Eventually, the 'wise' man was brought to trial and was saved from death only thanks to his childhood friend, a simple man who lived his life with straightforward and simple thinking.

The moral of the story is clear: everything in this world is beautiful and useful only in moderation. Eat in moderation, and you will be healthy; eat too much, and you will harm your health. The intellect is healthy in moderation and can become harmful when it tries to cross its limits.

To illustrate the point, let's examine one of the famous paradoxes and see how human thinking can mislead a straightforward person.

The Sorites paradox, also known as the heap paradox, poses the following question:

People agree that there are heaps of sand in our world. But if a heap of sand truly exists, at what stage was it created? If we take one grain of sand, we agree it is not considered a heap. Now, let's add another grain, and still, it is not considered a heap. We continue adding grain by grain but will not find a single stage in the process where adding one grain suddenly makes it a heap. Hence, the 'proof' that heaps of sand do not exist in reality!

The Sorites paradox is an excellent example of how 'philosophizing' distorts simple reality. A straightforward person immediately understands that no paradox can challenge observable reality; it merely confuses the definitions of concepts and human language. However, not everyone can easily identify the error hidden within. And what is the error? The paradox presents only two choices: no heap or a heap of sand. But in reality, there are many shades of gray between black and white. If we truly add grain by grain, we reach an intermediate stage where some people might be uncertain if there is or isn’t a "heap" of sand. We can call this stage "doubtful heap of sand." This stage proves that the heap is not created all at once or by a single grain of sand.

For explanation's sake, let's suppose that what separates a "doubtful heap of sand" from a "definite heap of sand" is the addition of a quarter-million grains. In such a case, it will be proven that a quarter-million grains of sand together create what we call a "heap of sand," similar to a clock composed of parts working together. We must view the quarter-million grains as a single unit (otherwise, one could also challenge the concept of a "grain of sand" and demand only a half grain, or a quarter grain, or a tenth of a grain, or a hundredth of a grain). Incidentally, a matter that might remind us of the mentioned paradox is discussed in Tractate Bava Kamma (27a).

The heap paradox is an example of unnecessary philosophizing, akin to discussions that attempt to draw erroneous conclusions about Hashem by arguing about His capabilities or attributes, which, like the sand paradox, only indicate a lack of human language and definition. But reality exists, and it is true, whether we can describe it in human language or not. All the world's philosophies, paradoxes, and questions cannot erase the fact that heaps of sand exist in the world.

Those who understand this will not be troubled by "questions" and will not see them as challenging simple reality. This serves as a warning to the intellect: "Do not rely on your understanding." The intellect has its limits; anyone who tries to "philosophize" will ultimately confuse and deceive themselves with false ideas and illusions.

And a nice joke:

A philosopher was looking for a job at the university and demanded a salary of 10,000 shekels.

They asked him, "Would you settle for 9,999 shekels?"

The philosopher replied yes, he wouldn't make a big deal out of a single shekel.

They asked him, "Would you settle for 9,998 shekels?"

Again, he said yes. After all, he already agreed to 9,999, so why make a fuss over a shekel?

They continued asking him, shekel by shekel, until he finally agreed to work for free.