Why Judaism Does Not Require Investigations into Faith

Zohar asks: "Hello. I wanted to know if Jewish education recommends investigating the truth. If an Orthodox child is not aware of other perspectives, how can they be sure that our way is the right one?"

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Hello and blessings, Zohar, and thank you for your question.

Indeed, great and important rabbis have recommended that yeshiva students study the Kuzari by Rabbi Yehuda Halevi to understand the fundamentals of faith. Even today, books on faith and science are published and available in most bookstores in Orthodox cities, like the "Revolution" series by Rabbi Zamir Cohen. Thus, books on faith and science are accessible to anyone who seeks them.

However, the truth must be said: even without in-depth study, basic common sense suffices to grasp such an apparent truth in our world. One does not need to be an "Einstein" or possess hidden insights to understand that there is a Creator of the world. Any child can look honestly at the world we live in, observe the design of the world and the human body, and come to the natural conclusion that there is a Creator. Without the Creator, no reality would exist, and without His wisdom, there would be no design in our reality. The divine intellect is evident even from the smallest particle, all the more so in the entire universe.

And so is the evident truth about the holy Torah, whose publication and influence have reached all corners of the globe. Is there a book more famous than the Torah? It was the Torah that taught the entire world about Hashem, the Creator of heaven and earth. And who hasn't heard about the Jewish people and their extraordinary miracles, unparalleled by any other religion?

It is enough to read the Torah to recognize its truth, for nowhere else in the world has there been another divine revelation before an entire nation, as Hashem revealed Himself to all of Israel during the Exodus and at Mount Sinai. In Deuteronomy (Chapter 4), the Torah teaches the difference between Judaism and every other faith and religion in the world:

"For ask now of the days past, which were before you, since the day Hashem created man on the earth, and from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing has ever happened or has been heard of (?!), has a people ever heard the voice of Hashem speaking from the fire as you have, and survived (?!), or has Hashem tried to take a nation for Himself from another nation, with tests, signs, and wonders, with wars, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terrors, like all that Hashem your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes (?!). You were shown to know that Hashem is God; there is none else besides Him, from heaven, He let you hear His voice to teach you, and on earth, He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words from the fire..."

Every Orthodox child is already educated in the most correct faith, and every year participates in the Passover Seder, hearing about the great miracles that Hashem performed before all our people, miracles unlike any other nation. Therefore, all eyes look towards us. Every Orthodox child knows the holiday of Shavuot, recognizing it as a memorial to the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.

Every Orthodox child knows that only the people of Israel have a mass history of revelation, of the Ten Plagues of Egypt, of the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, of the revelation at Mount Sinai, of forty years of miracles in the Sinai desert, of the miraculous conquest of the land, and of prophecies that have been fulfilled throughout history.

Every Orthodox child knows that other religions are based on the tales of individuals like Jesus or Muhammad, who came and told personal stories of hidden revelations, unlike us - where the entire nation of Israel witnessed Hashem’s hand and His tremendous wonders that proved His Torah.

Every Orthodox child knows that the world’s largest religions, Christianity and Islam, not only acknowledge the miraculous history of the Jewish people but also tried to base themselves on our Torah and emulate it - because the biblical revelation is the most historical and astonishing event the world has heard of.

Every Orthodox child is aware of the Jewish people’s miraculous history, the fact that the people of Israel have always been at the center of history, persecuted by the greatest nations and survived them all - the Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Christians, Germans... Who can claim that the people of Israel do not receive divine providence in history? The world's great empires envied and persecuted them yet failed to annihilate them.

And who thinks of anti-Semitism as a natural phenomenon? Even today - whom does President Obama dislike and attempt to harm, and whom does the UN condemn with irrational demands? The Syrians? The Indonesians? The Sudanese? The Iranians? The French? The Australians? No, none other than the people of Israel. Everything is focused only on us, one nation among seventy wolves - on one side, the Ismaelites, on the other, the UN of Edom, all wishing for our destruction. Who could think this is a coincidence?

Every Orthodox child knows that the people of Israel were exiled from Israel, dispersed to all corners of the world, and returned as foretold in the scripture - prophecies that came true both about the exile and the return to the land in the latter days before the redemption. Who will not notice the unique divine providence throughout history? Is there another history like the supernatural history of the people of Israel?

Every Orthodox child knows that the people of Israel have always been the most critical and wise among nations, and have never been foolish or gullible. They know that the sages of Israel through generations were incredibly righteous, honest geniuses, admired and learned from their wisdom, and unquestionably trusted for the tradition they faithfully transmitted. Every Orthodox child understands that no other religion has a Mishnah, a Talmud, sages, or ancient and recent poskim, who revealed their genius in the wisdom of the Torah.

Every Orthodox child knows that many of the sages of Israel throughout generations were also scientists and philosophers who knew external wisdoms, debated with Christian and other philosophers, repeatedly proving the principles of our faith (in books like the Kuzari, Guide for the Perplexed, Beliefs and Opinions, the Book of Principles, Duties of the Heart, and others), and after all investigations, informed us that there is no other truth besides our holy Torah. So why should the prince on the royal throne doubt the crown of his kingdom and look to the drunkards in the tavern?

A true Torah scholar knows that there is no other Torah like that of Israel, no other religious sages like the sages of Israel, no other miraculous history like that of the people of Israel, and in general - no other nation like the people of Israel. So what would they seek in foreign fields, when all the eyes of the world are still upon us?

Studying the principles helps define in beautiful and accurate words what simple intellect already knows: that there is a Creator of the world and the Torah of Israel is truth. But even without in-depth scientific study of the solar system, is there a wise person who would deny the existence of the sun?