Through the Light of Chanukah
In the blessings on the Chanukah candles, we say:
"for the miracles that you performed for our fathers, in those days - at this time."
The message of celebrating Chanukah today is that what was true then is still true (and perhaps even more so) today. Though the success of the Macabbees led to the formation of an independent Jewish state in the Land of Israel, a state that remained intellectually and ritually unique in a sea of Hellenism and Greek philosophy, ultimately, from a secular perspective, it was the message of Greek culture that was triumphant on the global scale.
Still, the miracle of finding a cruse of pure, uncontaminated oil calls upon us today to search for the ancient Jewish wisdom that can shed Divine light and rectify the seemingly endless volumes of philosophy and science whose source lies in the ancient Greek tradition. This mysterious and pure flask of Jewish wisdom has the ability to reconnect humanity's intellect with its faith. When utilized correctly it sheds new light on every topic.
To fully appreciate the importance of typing the two together we have to take a closer look at the downside of Western thought. What is so problematic about the mind space developed out of Greek philosophy that an entire festival of light is dedicated to the struggle against it?
Indeed, we can strengthen this aquestion by adding that modern science, perhaps the most important offspring of the ancient Greek tradition, has produced most beautiful fruit: from the enhancement of knowledge to the increase in life expectancy, science has affeted our lives profoundly. But science is much more than its products; purely scientific thought has most negative side effects, and it is because of these that we have been in constant struggle with it ever since the time of the Maccabees.
The main problem with scientific rationalism is that it dulls man's spiritual senses - senses that by their very nature function beyond the rational mind.
As a general rule, science is able to provide engaging answers to questions about how things work, but questions of purpose, i.e., for what purpose does something work in the first place; what is the reason for existence - these questions do not fall within the scientific framework.
The crux of the challenge that classical Western culture presents us with does not lie in science itself. To this day, the rational mind continues to be Western culture's unquestioned authority, and scientists have become the priests of a new religion. The result is scorn and disdain at any attempt to offer new and daring ways of thought that climb out of the box of rational thought to heights science cannot even dream of. For this reason, victory over the wisdom of Greece does not mean the end of science. On the contrary, it means placing science in its proper place as a tool of the intellect....
1 comment:
The main problem with scientific rationalism is that it dulls man's spiritual senses - senses that by their very nature function beyond the rational mind.
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