Pantheism would be a great subject to into in detail because it is highly relevant nowadays. .
There has been a long progression in the attempt to change the Torah from Monotheism into Pantheism. It has only been Reform Judaism that has preserved the original faith of the Torah. I think this might be because Reform Judaism made the Guide of the Rambam to be a prime source of information about what the Torah is about.
I really have little against pantheism per se. Spinoza and the Upanishads have a lot to say about this subject.
But I object to presenting the Torah as pantheism.
How can I show this? Well for one thing the Guide of the Rambam goes into detail about the idea that God made the world something from nothing. Now what people do to get pantheism from this is they change the meaning of those words. The problem with this is that words mean what they mean, not what you choose them to mean. Redefining a term with widespread understood usage to a specialized usage that is quite different doesn't make the usage legitimate scholarship. It marks the user as an incompetent scholar.
The path from Monotheism to Pantheism started in innocence. The Ari [Isaac Luria] got popular and from there it was a short step from the idea of emanation into pantheism. Pantheism comes when stupid people learn the Ari.
But to change Torah from Monotheism into Pantheism is not innocence. And you can see why the Gra would have signed the Cherem [excommunication.](His name is the very first signature on that document.)
I guess this makes me the Grinch. For Pantheism has become in the minds of many people the most essential doctrine of Torah today. Speaking against it is like speaking against the deepest article of faith for many people.
People can get their feeling of numinosity [purpose and meaning] from all kinds of different places- many times not from good places. People can find their purpose and feelings of holiness in life from ideas that are from the Dark Side. They can believe so strongly that they can do even miracles from the Dark Side.
There has been a long progression in the attempt to change the Torah from Monotheism into Pantheism. It has only been Reform Judaism that has preserved the original faith of the Torah. I think this might be because Reform Judaism made the Guide of the Rambam to be a prime source of information about what the Torah is about.
I really have little against pantheism per se. Spinoza and the Upanishads have a lot to say about this subject.
But I object to presenting the Torah as pantheism.
How can I show this? Well for one thing the Guide of the Rambam goes into detail about the idea that God made the world something from nothing. Now what people do to get pantheism from this is they change the meaning of those words. The problem with this is that words mean what they mean, not what you choose them to mean. Redefining a term with widespread understood usage to a specialized usage that is quite different doesn't make the usage legitimate scholarship. It marks the user as an incompetent scholar.
The path from Monotheism to Pantheism started in innocence. The Ari [Isaac Luria] got popular and from there it was a short step from the idea of emanation into pantheism. Pantheism comes when stupid people learn the Ari.
But to change Torah from Monotheism into Pantheism is not innocence. And you can see why the Gra would have signed the Cherem [excommunication.](His name is the very first signature on that document.)
I guess this makes me the Grinch. For Pantheism has become in the minds of many people the most essential doctrine of Torah today. Speaking against it is like speaking against the deepest article of faith for many people.
