What comes first, logic or faith?
Faith is often referred to as the place beyond logic. It’s what we access in a situation when our minds are inadequate.
It follows, then, that we approach most things with logic first and, only if that fails, resort to faith.
As we study this week’s parsha Mishpatim we might wonder about that theory. You see, Mishpatim means “rational laws.” This week’s parsha is all about laws that make sense to us – civil laws and basic ethical values. These are the type of laws that, absent a Divine command, we humans would likely institute some variant of.
Last week’s parsha Yitro, however, is all about Revelation at Sinai. The setting is drastic and miraculous. G-d appears. The Jews declare they will accept the Torah – even before it’s delivered. Now, that’s a display of faith! After Revelation, some unique, not-so-obvious laws about the altar are mentioned.
Doesn’t it seem backward?
Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to start with the parsha of Mishpatim, the rational laws and only then graduate to the supra-rational Revelation at Sinai? Isn’t that the way most of us approach life? We first want to understand something before we sign up for it. After we’ve explored it we can decide if want to embrace it.
Shouldn’t the Torah present that progression, from logical to unknown, from reason to faith and from mundane to sacred?
***
Someone once asked the Lubavitcher Rebbe why he insisted that Jews should do mitzvot (such as putting on tefillin). This fellow argued that he would be happy to do the commandments once he understood the meaning behind them. But, until then, he would decline.
The Rebbe’s response surprised him. The Rebbe challenged whether this was truly the way he lived life. Of course, he replied.
But the Rebbe begged to differ. While it might seem natural to you that you behave this way, it’s actually often untrue. When you go to the doctor and get a prescription for a necessary drug, you usually take the drugs. After all, you’d like to recover from the malady. But, it’s likely that you do not wholly understand how this drug works. You put your faith in the doctor – who has studied in medical school and has years of training and experience. Perhaps, after you have taken the medicine, you will be curious and research the drug. But, it would be ludicrous to postpone treatment until you fully understood the way the drug operates. The same would be true for numerous daily activities, from traffic signals to bank transactions.
Similarly, the Rebbe explained, we should fulfill the commandments of the Torah immediately, even if we don’t yet comprehend them entirely.
Now, this does not mean we will never comprehend them. It simply means that the order is to first act on faith and then to understand. If this is so regarding physical health and activities, certainly it is so regarding the spiritual health of the eternal soul, namely the mitzvot.
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Many of us will take the medicine and stop there. We won’t ever explore its properties and chemistry. We are content to benefit from the results. If it works, we are happy. Case closed.
By first introducing an unwavering and unconditional bond in Parshat Yitro, the Torah is emphasizing that faith is not the last resort. It is the foundation of our relationship with Hashem.
By continuing immediately with the rational laws in Parshat Mishpatim the Torah is teaching that faith is only the beginning of holiness. Logic is not merely a mundane endeavor, a prelude to sanctity.
Quite the contrary, the ultimate logic is one that succeeds faith, one that is built on belief. Reason need not be mundane. It can be sacred.
We may be studying common-sense, routine laws of property damages. But, after last week’s prelude at Sinai, these laws are no longer human laws. They are divine laws. And, we can also appreciate them with our minds, sanctifying not only the soul (faith) but also the body (reason).