Soul & Mind

Since mind connects soul to body, it's not surprising that Maimonides considered Aristotle one step away from prophecy and Moses to be an even greater philosopher than Aristotle.

In the Maimonidean view, scholarly pursuits lead one to greater revelations from above, i.e. spiritual growth while occupying a body. And they lead one to a higher level of paradise; as one becomes more aligned with God, in the sense of His revelation as the universal mind.

However, it doesn't seem like Judaism, as a whole, has endorsed the Maimonidean view in this particular instance. It's true that Judaism has a strong scholarly component. However, for the most part, it does not view one’s spiritual growth or paradise as being entirely linked to intellectual mastery. There is room for other alternatives.

Consider the following story:

The Baal Shem Tov was shown in a dream the man who was destined to be his neighbor in paradise. Curiously, he set out to find the man and learn about him. When he finally met him, he discovered that he was facing a very tough, hefty butcher; the very opposite of the refined personality he imagined sharing his paradise.

In response to his utter surprise, the Baal Shem Tov asked the butcher a series of questions; hoping to tease out evidence that he was in fact a “hidden saint”. However, after exhausting all his questions, no such evidence was forthcoming. By saintly standards, the butcher proved to be rather ordinary.

The puzzled Baal Shem Tov struggled for fresh questions, until he was reduced to asking the obvious. In that society heft was associated with health. So, reminding someone about his or her weight was actually considered a compliment.

“Why are you so hefty?” the Baal Shem Tov inquired.

A proud smile broadly broke across the man’s face as he explained, “My father was a thin man, very thin. He was dragged from his home by the locals of another faith. They demanded that he worship an idol or face the stake. He chose to be burned alive at the stake to sanctify God’s Holy Name. However, he was so thin that when he burnt, he produced only a tiny, wispy flame. I fattened myself up, so that when they come for me, I will make a huge, roaring fire for God.”

Now, the Baal Shem Tov was satisfied. He had a legitimate basis to appreciate why this man was designated to be his neighbor in paradise.

This story demonstrates that mainstream Jewish thought does not necessarily link one’s spiritual growth or paradise as depending entirely on scholarly attainments. Clearly, the butcher was not a scholar in any serious sense of the word. He was considered an ordinary man who was tremendously devout in an extraordinary way.

There are several possibilities I could think of to explain why, broadly speaking, Judaism did not endorse the Maimonidean view as the only alternative to access spiritual growth and paradise.

    A) Who’s to say that every iota of scholarly information is true? Harboring a smattering of false notions among the true ones, may actually obstruct, rather than enlighten. To whatever extent the mind has been removed from harboring truth, it has been misaligned with the soul - whose whole essence is about truth. Under such circumstances there could be compromises in the mind’s ability to serve as a vessel to receive the illumination of the soul.

  

    B) One’s intellectual faculties can be swayed away from truth by one’s passions and urges. Regardless of claims to objectivity, personal bias can creep in. Therefore, a scholar whose passions and urges reign supreme may actually bear more falsehood than he or she is aware of. If weighed out in the net, such a mind may actually bear less “net truth” than the mind of a non-scholar.

    C) The logical faculties are just one part of the mind. There’s so much more to developing the mind than just scholarly pursuits. They include one’s morality, convictions, beliefs, sense of justice, free choice, practical planning, a sense of people, caring for others, spirituality, intuition, etc. As psychologists admit, there are many kinds of intelligence. Being scholarly is just one of them. So, one could have a mind which is very highly developed; just not necessarily in a scholarly way. This mind can actually serve as a very clear vessel for the illumination of the soul.

The latter notion, that the mind is a lot more than just the capacity for scholarship, is the reason I mainly identify with among the three listed above. The first two make sense to me as possibilities for consideration. I still have not worked out how sure I am about them. However, I feel comfortable enough with them to put them out there to be mused over. The third one, I find really compelling. I believe that the butcher had a certain kind of genius (though not scholarship). Otherwise, he wouldn't have been who he was.

Although, scholarship plays a large part in Judaism, Judaism is not just a religion of scholars or for scholars. Consequently, it makes sense that its system of spiritual growth and access to paradise would not be entirely dependent on scholarly attainments. There are other ways too!

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