quick notes

[cellio]

Wednesday's talks: Donniel Hartman "Do I have to believe in God to be a good Jew?" was very interesting and thought-provoking; more to come. And Yitz Greenberg "The nature of faith in an age of absolute divine hiddenness and total human responsibility" was a little hard to follow; I'll see what I can distill later maybe.

Thursday morning: "Faith and reason", Donniel Hartman and then chevruta study. He talked a lot about the Rambam (with a little Ramban in the later study). I plan to write more about this, but some tidbits: reasoon is not the same thing as rationality, and (per Rambam) if religion seems incompatible with rationality you don't understand Torah (not "science is wrong").

The program so far is suitably intellectual for me (perhaps even a bit too much). There will be other experiences too, so it'll be a nice blend.

Comments

[dragonazure.livejournal.com]

So in spite of an aggravating trip over, the time you are spending there is working out nicely. Good!

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

My newly minted cousin (he just married my first cousin) should be there at some point and I told him to look out for you. His name is Yossi and he's over on the rabbinical side of things.

[cellio]

Yossi K-H (don't remember where from) or Yossi G from St. Paul? Or another?

Edit: dratted auto- correction! Names are hard...

[chaos-wrangler.livejournal.com]

(per Rambam) if religion seems incompatible with rationality you don't understand Torah (not "science is wrong").

Interesting. My standard response has been that science is in progress (and always has been) so we can't assume that we've gotten to the final answers yet. The Rambam's take seems rather more biting in that calls the questioner's knowledge of Torah (and not science) insufficient.

[cellio]

I wonder if there is more nuance to the Rambam's position than I got in this brief introduction. Really it seems like a combination -- something in your understanding is off, but it could be anywhere along the spectrum. Why does it have to be one or the other?