… the perfection, in which man can truly glory, is attained by him when he has acquired, as far as this is possible for man, the knowledge of God, the knowledge of His Providence, and of the manner in which it influences His creatures in their production and continued existence. Having acquired this knowledge he will then be determined always to seek loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, and thus to imitate the ways of God. – Maimonides, The Guide for the Perplexed

 

THE QUEST

 

Stuart Fickler, Ph.D.

 

"Go to yourself ("Lech Lecha") - away from your country, your relatives, and your father's house." – Genesis 12:1

 

These are the words God spoke to Abraham that set him on the journey to become the father of Judaism.  The above translation is a little different from the ones that appear in most biblical translations, but it is a valid rabbinic translation of the biblical Hebrew.  I chose it because the first three words contain a powerful lesson concerning the quest for truth.  It was a lesson that took a long time for me to learn.

 

Jewish mysticism teaches that, just before a soul joins a body at birth, God gives that soul a specific purpose and the capacity to fulfill that purpose.  However, since we also have the freedom of choice, at birth we forget that purpose and must discover it and choose to apply it in our lives.   That is the lesson of "Lech Lecha”. 

 

*****

 

“… a God of truth …” – Deuteronomy 32:4

 

My life has been defined by a search for truth.  As far back as I can remember, I have considered knowledge, and ultimately truth, as the most valuable currency that a human can possess.  Knowledge is relatively easy to acquire, but truth, that is an entirely different matter.

 

I am a Jewish theoretical physicist.  Those three words pretty much form my identity.  For most of my life the “Jewish” and the “theoretical physicist” represented two separate components of my identity.  During that time the theoretical physicist was dominant. Then the two merged into one inseparable unity.  That was when I discovered that the quest for truth was my purpose.

 

*****

 

Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is present in this place, and I did not know it!” Shaken, he said, “How awesome is this place!”  — Genesis 28:16-17

 

I was raised in what I would call a minimally religious environment.  My family observed the High Holy days and the Passover Seder.  My religious education was something less than a thimbleful.  I lived most of the first half of my life on the very fringes of Judaism.

 

My quest for my purpose was further complicated by the fact that I am a child of the Holocaust, insofar as I grew up during the time of the discovery and shock of that vile outrage against humanity.  Its toll extended beyond the murder of innocent humans.  The Holocaust destroyed the Enlightenment, and came very close to “murdering God”.

 

The Age of Enlightenment of the previous three hundred years, had created a new faith, a faith in the power of human reason.  All of the problems of humanity were to be resolved by the application of reason.   Before World War II, Germany was viewed as the very center of the Enlightenment.  Then Nazi Germany became the paradigm of evil.  It descended below the bestial.  And, its followers included some of the most creative minds of the day.

 

I remember seeing the graffiti on the walls of subway stations: “God is dead!”  Indeed, there were many who were prepared to declare God dead.  They simply could not conceive of a deity that would permit the abomination that they had witnessed.

 

The world of my youth was one that was suspect of reason and religion.  It was the time of Jean-Paul Sartre, and the beginning of the age of “if it feels good, do it”.  The dominant themes were cynicism and self-indulgence.  It couldn’t last.

 

The human mind is designed to seek order and purpose.  This design characteristic drives humanity to search for truth.  Even the onslaught of the Holocaust could not extinguish that drive.  But, the price of the Holocaust was the need to redefine our very existence, as rational beings and spiritual beings.  For me, the path to scientific truth led to the path to religious truth.  These two paths often come very close.  So close, in fact , as to create what to many seem to be a paradox: “the rational mystic”.

 

 

 

Click to continue the conversation with Science and Judaism: A Personal Preface.

 

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