Guno צְבִי
We fight, We win, Am Yisrael Chai
Judaism emphasizes action over belief. Discussions are essential to the goal of deciding what those actions should be.
Judaism begins with the 613 mitzvot (rules to live by), but does not end there. It says, “OK, we understand that we shouldn't work on Shabbat (the sabbath), but what qualifies as ‘work’?” One of the traditional answers is that lighting a fire is a form of work.
(That said, it would be a mistake to consider all this to be critical thinking in any logical or scientific sense. Living a life in accord with the mitzvot is the goal here; understanding the universe is not. Yet the habit of questioning can prepare the mind for more rigorous thought, and a Jew may become less religiously observant and more secular as a result.
Judaism begins with the 613 mitzvot (rules to live by), but does not end there. It says, “OK, we understand that we shouldn't work on Shabbat (the sabbath), but what qualifies as ‘work’?” One of the traditional answers is that lighting a fire is a form of work.
(That said, it would be a mistake to consider all this to be critical thinking in any logical or scientific sense. Living a life in accord with the mitzvot is the goal here; understanding the universe is not. Yet the habit of questioning can prepare the mind for more rigorous thought, and a Jew may become less religiously observant and more secular as a result.
- Because of our theology, or more accurately our lack of it. In Christian thought, belief is all important. Merely by having an errant thought that God might not actually exist, or that Christ might not be his son, or any other thought that contradicted Church doctrine (like thinking that the earth revolved around the sun), you were committing a grave sin. Since we do not and cannot control what goes through our minds, Christians (until the modern era, and for fundamentalist sects until today) are constantly in danger of sinning every time they indulge in critical thought. We have no such problems, since for us we only sin by actually doing something, not merely thinking about it. Judaism is an action based religion, not a faith based one. We have no original sin, and no state of grace. We have life, and a set of rules, beliefs and values as how best to live it. These have evolved over time, as life and circumstances changed. but however we interpret those values and beliefs, its what we do that matters, not what we think or believe. The only belief required from us is not to believe in the existence of more than one God. In Christianity being an atheist is, in itself a mortal sin. In Judaism it would only be a sin if your reason for not believing in God is because you believe in two or more gods. Bottom line, for centuries Christians avoided critical thought, which easily led to sinning, which leads to guilt feelings, and if you were unlucky, to being burned at the stake. We have never had that problem.
- Our history. Since Queen Salome Alexandra aka Shlomtzion (147–61 BCE) introduced compulsory education in Judea, Jews have had a high literacy rate. Whether in a Jewish state, or in the diaspora, literacy among Jewish males was always over 80%. No other Western society reached such levels until the modern age. Literacy promotes learning, which promotes critical thinking.
- Our history. Since the final defeat and dissolution of Judea (135 CE), when the center of Jewish life moved to the diaspora, we lived by our skills. Any population that is highly skilled (relative to its time) is going to have a greater propensity for critical thought.
