Judaism; The Anti-Religion

"Alice laughed: "There's no use trying," she said; "one can't believe impossible things."
"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
Alice in Wonderland.

Nineteen Letters by Rabbi S.R. Hirsch pg 36:

"Man gives names to things, not like G-d, Who sees things objectively as they truly are, but subjectively, from his own viewpoint... All our knowledge of things is such a name-giving. What things really are, the true nature of things in themselves, no human eye sees."

"Judaism is not afraid of science"

Religion- “the belief in a god or in a group of gods,” “an organized system of beliefs.” Synonym- faith

A Letter in the Scroll by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks pg 99:

There are universal features of language, but there is no universal language. All languages contain sentence structures, subjects, predicates, nouns, verbs, and so on. But to be able to speak, we need to possess one particular language-- one, not all. And to believe that one language is true, and the others false, is absurd. So, too, to believe the idea that one religion is true and the others false is equally absurd.

"Duties Of The Heart," by Rebbeinu Bechaye (11th century Spain):

• Are you to accept [Jewish ideals] on the authority of those (rabbis) learned in Torah and tradition ― and exclusively rely on their traditions?
• On the contrary! The Torah expressly bids you to reflect and exercise your intellect on such themes. After you have attained knowledge by the method of tradition, which covers all the precepts of law, you should investigate with your reason, understanding, and judgement until the truth becomes clear to you and false ideas are dispelled; as it is written, "Know this day and lay it on your heart, that the Lord, He is God" (Deut.4:39). This statement refers to everything in which rational methods of investigation can be used.

Nineteen Letters by Rabbi S.R. Hirsch: A word here about the proper method of Torah research. Two revelations are before us: nature and Torah. The same method of investigation must apply to both. In studying nature, all phenomena confront us as a given data, and we can only endeavor to find the laws applying to them, and their interrelation, posteriori --by starting from these phenomena themselves. The proof of the truth of your theory, or rather of the probability of its correctness, can be provided only by nature itself, since you will have to test your theory against nature's phenomena in order to be able to state with the highest possible degree of certainty that the facts indeed confirm your assumptions, (i.e. that every phenomenon observed can be explained according to your theory). In nature, one single contradicting fact can invalidate your theory, and you must, therefore, make sure to obtain as much information as possible about the phenomena that you are studying, so that, as far as possible, you will have all the facts at your disposal. Moreover, even where we are not able to ascertain the laws and interrelations governing any given phenomenon, the phenomenon itself remains the fact.

All this applies equally to the study of Torah. Just as heaven and earth are facts, so, to us, are the Torah and its Commandments. In the Torah, just as in nature, no fact can be denied, even though we may comprehend neither its cause nor its relation to others; Instead, we must persevere, in the Torah as in nature, to trace God's wisdom which manifests itself in them. And studying the Torah, then, we must begin by excepting the tour is Commandments in their entirety as given facts; we must study them and their relationship to each other and to the aspects of life that they govern. Then we must test the soundness of our theories by their conformity with the provisions of the Law; and, here too, the highest possible degree of certainty is obtained if everything fits our theory. Moreover, just as the phenomena of nature remain facts even though we may not have found their causes or into relationships, and just as their existence does not depend on the results of our investigation – rather, The reverse is true – so, too, The Commandments of the Torah are law even if we have not uncovered the cause and interrelationships Of even a single one, and our fulfillment of the Commandments in no way depends on the results of our investigation.

A Letter in the Scroll by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks pg 173:

No unified field theory will ever finally settle the question of whether or not the universe was created by a personal God. No historical investigation will ever resolve the question of whether, at Sinai, the voice the Israelites heard was real or imagined. No political theory will ever determine whether or not a just and compassionate society is possible. That is not because these things are irrational. It is because they represent truths that can only be made real in life. I can believe that love exists, or I can believe that it is an illusion. Both views are consistent and coherent. I must choose, and that choice will shape my life, leading me to marry or to stay aloof, perhaps having "relationships" but not a total commitment of one life to another. Believing in love, I find it. Disbelieving it, my world is without it. Faith is neither rational nor irrational. It is the courage to make a commitment to an Other, human or divine, It is the determination to turn "ought" into "is." It is the willingness to listen to a voice not my own, and through hearing, find the strength to heal a fractured world. It is truth made real by how I live.

​sacks pg 210:::

The Rebbe wrote me back an answer in the form of a parable. Imagine, he said, two people, both of whom have spent their lives carrying stones. One carries rocks, the other diamonds. Now imagine that they are bosh asked to carry a consignment of emeralds. To the man who has spent his life transporting rocks, emeralds too are rocks—a bur-den, a weight. After a lifetime, that is how he area what he is asked to carry. But to the man who has spent his life car-rying diamonds, emeralds too are precious scones—differ-ent, to be sure, but still things of value and beauty. So it is, he said, with different civilizations and faiths. To the person for whom faith is just a burden, so too are other faiths. He does not value his own. How then can he value someone else's? But to the person to whom his own faith is precious, so too are others. Because he cherishes his own, he values someone else's. His may be diamonds, the other emeralds, but he sees the beauty in each. So, the Rebbe ended, in most cases if not all you will find that your attachment to Ju-daism will heighten your appreciation of the gifts of other cultures. In other words, the more deeply you value what is yours, she more you will value the achievements of others.