There are a lot of comments already in this subthread addressing these issues already but I’m going to just comment on one other issue that’s worth bringing up. There’s a common belief among Orthodox Jews that the rule system reflects reality at some level. This is most common among certain chassidic groups, especially the Lubavitch, who believe that doing mitzvot (commandments from God) actively make the world a better place (less disease, fewer natural disasters etc.) and that doing bad things has the opposite effect. In the context of that belief, understanding the exact boundaries of the laws is similar to understanding the exact boundaries of the laws of physics. Whether a given mass of enriched uranium will go critical is complicated, a function of the exact shape, the U-235/-238 ratio, the presence and types of trace impurities and other factors. We don’t mind that because we all see the results. To some believers, whether religious Jews, or other highly legalistic religions such as some branches of Catholicism, this feels very similar. Caring about the minutia is an example of really acting like there’s a dragon in the garage.
This was very much not the case within the Orthodox tradition I was raised in.
Something similar was true for mishpatim (1), I guess—in the same way that secular communities frequently assume that their preferred policies make the world a better place—but chukim (1) were presented entirely deontologically.
Sure, one could make an argument to the effect that God was omniscient and benevolent, and wanted these rules followed, and therefore it was likely that the effect of following the rules would be beneficial… but mostly nobody did; the more common stance was that obedience to God was the proper terminal value, and God wanted these rules followed, and therefore compliance with the rules was a proper instrumental value. Likely consequences didn’t enter into it at all.
(1) Jewish tradition divides the commandments derived from the Old Testament, which are by tradition understood as coming directly from God (as distinct from the ones that are understood as coming from later rabbinical bodies), into two classes, chukim and mishpatim. Roughly speaking, mishpatim have a reason given and chukim don’t.
There are a lot of comments already in this subthread addressing these issues already but I’m going to just comment on one other issue that’s worth bringing up. There’s a common belief among Orthodox Jews that the rule system reflects reality at some level. This is most common among certain chassidic groups, especially the Lubavitch, who believe that doing mitzvot (commandments from God) actively make the world a better place (less disease, fewer natural disasters etc.) and that doing bad things has the opposite effect. In the context of that belief, understanding the exact boundaries of the laws is similar to understanding the exact boundaries of the laws of physics. Whether a given mass of enriched uranium will go critical is complicated, a function of the exact shape, the U-235/-238 ratio, the presence and types of trace impurities and other factors. We don’t mind that because we all see the results. To some believers, whether religious Jews, or other highly legalistic religions such as some branches of Catholicism, this feels very similar. Caring about the minutia is an example of really acting like there’s a dragon in the garage.
This was very much not the case within the Orthodox tradition I was raised in.
Something similar was true for mishpatim (1), I guess—in the same way that secular communities frequently assume that their preferred policies make the world a better place—but chukim (1) were presented entirely deontologically.
Sure, one could make an argument to the effect that God was omniscient and benevolent, and wanted these rules followed, and therefore it was likely that the effect of following the rules would be beneficial… but mostly nobody did; the more common stance was that obedience to God was the proper terminal value, and God wanted these rules followed, and therefore compliance with the rules was a proper instrumental value. Likely consequences didn’t enter into it at all.
(1) Jewish tradition divides the commandments derived from the Old Testament, which are by tradition understood as coming directly from God (as distinct from the ones that are understood as coming from later rabbinical bodies), into two classes, chukim and mishpatim. Roughly speaking, mishpatim have a reason given and chukim don’t.