What kind of uncertainties are you facing in your life right now, or have you recently?
The above image was sketched by Carl Richards for "The Behavior Gap" and is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0.
The Reality of Uncertainty
תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: שְׁתֵּי שָׁנִים וּמֶחֱצָה נֶחְלְקוּ בֵּית שַׁמַּאי וּבֵית הִלֵּל. הַלָּלוּ אוֹמְרִים: נוֹחַ לוֹ לְאָדָם שֶׁלֹּא נִבְרָא יוֹתֵר מִשֶּׁנִּבְרָא, וְהַלָּלוּ אוֹמְרִים: נוֹחַ לוֹ לְאָדָם שֶׁנִּבְרָא יוֹתֵר מִשֶּׁלֹּא נִבְרָא. נִמְנוּ וְגָמְרוּ: נוֹחַ לוֹ לְאָדָם שֶׁלֹּא נִבְרָא יוֹתֵר מִשֶּׁנִּבְרָא...
The Sages taught the following baraita: For two and a half years, Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel disagreed. These say: It would have been preferable had man not been created than to have been created. And those said: It is preferable for man to have been created than had he not been created. Ultimately, they were counted and concluded: It would have been preferable had man not been created than to have been created...
The above image is the book cover of "Living Waters: The Mei HaShiloach" translated and edited by by Betsalel Philip Edwards (2001) and published by Jason Aronson, Inc.
נוח לו לאדם שלא נברא משנברא וכו'. ודייק אאזמו"ר הגה"ק זצללה"ה למה לא אמרו ז"ל טוב לו לאדם וכו' אלא נח לו וכו', משמע מזה שבאמת טוב לו יותר לאדם שנברא, כי כיון שרצונו ית' שתהיה הנפש בגוף האדם בוודאי הוא טובה גדולה להנפש, כי בטח יודע השי"ת שהנפש יגמור בכי טוב את רצון המשלחה לעולם הזה. רק כל הפחד הוא מצד האדם שמתיירא מאוד לכנוס במקום ספק נח לו שלא נברא משום שהנפש היא במקום טהרה, כמאמר אלקי נשמה שנתת בי טהורה היא, לכן אין ברצונה לירד לעולם הזה שהוא אילנא דספיקא שהוא מסופק במציאות השי"ת, לכן הנפש אינה בנייחא ויש לה צעקה גדולה מאוד, כי תתיירא פן תפסיד ח"ו מסיבת הספקות והסתרות.
(סוד ישרים ראש השנה כ"ח)
...Why didn't Chazal say, "it's good/better that the human would not have been created" etc., but rather they sad, "it's preferable (נוח, literally easier/more comfortable/simpler)" etc. We can infer from this that, in truth, it would be better for the human to have been created, for since it's God's will that the soul be in the human's body, it's certainly better that the human would have been created (lehinafash, 'to be en-souled'), for God certainly knows that the human would fulfill God's will in this world (?). But the fear/anxiety from the human is that they are so afraid to enter into the realm of the safek (doubt), that it would have been more comfortable not to have been created, for the soul is pure, as the saying goes, "My God, the soul you've given me is pure." Therefore, the soul does not want to descend into the world of Olam Ha-Zeh (this world), which is "The Tree of Doubt," which is in doubt the reality of the Blessed One...Therefore, the soul is uncomfortable/is not content and has a great, loud cry, for she is afraid let she lose out, God forbid, because of the uncertainties and the hiddenness.
(translation: LB)
This image is of the ghetto in Izbica and is from the Holocaust Education and Archive Research Team.
The Opportunity of Uncertainty
God spoke all these words, saying: I (Anochi) the LORD am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage:
אַחַ֤ת ׀ דִּבֶּ֬ר אֱלֹהִ֗ים שְׁתַּֽיִם־ז֥וּ שָׁמָ֑עְתִּי...
One thing God has spoken; two things have I heard...
(א) היא הצווי אשר צונו בהאמנת האלהות, והוא שנאמין שיש (שם) עלה וסבה הוא פועל לכל הנמצאים, והוא אמרו אנכי ה' אלקיך.
ובסוף גמרא מכות (דף כ"ג:) אמרו תרי"ג מצות נאמרו למשה בסיני, מאי קראה תורה צוה לנו משה, ר"ל מנין תור"ה. והקשו על זה ואמרו תורה בגימטריא תרי"א הוי, והיה המענה אנכי ולא יהיה מפי הגבורה שמענום. הנה נתבאר לך שאנכי ה' מכלל תרי"ג מצות, והוא צווי באמונת האלהות כמו שבארנו. (בפרשת וישמע יתרו, מדע הלכות יסודי התורה פ"א):
1. It is the command, which we are commanded to believe in God, that we should believe that there is a cause to all of existence, and this is what it says "I am the Lord your God".
In the end of Talmud Makkot (23b) it says: 613 commandments were given to Moshe at Mt. Sinai. What is the verse [that teaches us this]? "Torah which Moshe had commanded us.." The numerical value of the word Torah. So they questioned: isn't Torah only 611? and they replied that [the first two of the Ten Commandments] Anochi and Lo Yihye Lecha where heard directly from God. [this makes us 613], so you can see that Anochi Hashem are part of the 613 Mitzvot, and that is a command in the belief of God as we explained.
אנכי ה' אלקיך. ולא נאמר אני, כי אילו היה כתיב אני, היה משמע שגילה אז הקב"ה לישראל את כל אורו בשלימות ולא יוכלו אח"כ להעמיק בדבריו, כי כבר גילה הכל, אך הכ"ף מורה שאינו בשלימות ורק דמות ודמיון הוא להאור שיגלה הקב"ה לעתיד, וכל מה שישיג האדם יותר עמקות בד"ת יראה שעד עכשיו היה בחושך. וע"ז מרמז היום והלילה, היום היינו שהש"י פותח שערי החכמה לאדם והלילה היינו שלא ידמה האדם שהשיג הכל בשלימות, כי כל מה שהשיג הוא כלילה נגד היום הבא אחריו וכן לעולם, וממילא הכל הוא לילה נגד האור שיפתח הקב"ה לעתיד. וזה שנסמך מאמר לא תעשה לך פסל ואיתא בזוה"ק (שמות פ"ז:) משום דכתיב פסל לך ע"כ נאמר לא תעשה לך פסל ולא תעביד לך אורייתא אוחרא. והענין בזה כי מלת פסל הוא דבר מחותך במדה וקצב ובהשלמה בלי חסרון שום דבר בעולם וזאת אינו נמצא רק בתורת מרע"ה, אבל בשכל אנושי אין באפשר לתקן דבר כזה בשלימות הגמור
The text does not say “Ani,” for if it had done so, it would have suggested that the Holy Blessed One revealed all of God's light to Israel, in its fullness, and that thereafter they would not have been able to go deeper in God's words, for God had already revealed everything. Thus the kaf [separating ani from anochi – ed.] teaches that it was not in its fullness, but rather an image, a likeness, of the light that God will reveal in the future. And all that a person will grasp in going deeper in the words of Torah will show that, until this point, they were in darkness. Day and night suggest this reality. The day is when God opens the gates of wisdom to people. The night is so that the person will not think that he has grasped everything in its entirety. For all that they have grasped is like the nighttime, when compared to the daytime that will come afterwards. And so it always is. Thus everything is nighttime in comparison to the light that God will open up in the future.
This is what is suggested by the conjunction of the verse “Do not make an idol (pesel).” The Zohar teaches that “this verse is taught on account of the [later verse], ‘Make for yourself (p’sol l’cha) [two tablets],’--therefore, do not make an idol, and do not make yourself a servant of another Torah.” The idea here is that the word pesel means something which is cut, delimited, finished and without anything missing. But this is only found in the Torah of Moses. In human thought, nothing can be finished and made completely whole.
-Certainty means no room for decisions we ourselves can own. Making guaranteed winning choices might be comfortable and feel good, but it doesn't enable human development (it also distorts revelation and flattens one's relationship with the divine). One could say lapum tzaara agra - that the painful struggle of theology/theodicy (or the feeling one gets after making a tough decision of their own) has its own unique rewards.
-While making decisions in a world of uncertainty can help us own our decisions, it can also help us remain humble. Vis a vis God, the Ishbitzer tells us that certainty is idolatry - we in fact end up projecting ourselves onto God. Making decisions with certainty in 'this realm' might not allow us to change course when other evidence suggests we are headed in the wrong direction or allow us to entertain other ideas to see a more complex reality. Assuming we need certainty will also paralyze us when we don't have it.
-We allow ourselves to be open to surprises.
The decision that uncertain impurity in the public domain is deemed pure, thus enabling those who take care to remain pure to be present in the public domain, is especially bold because it undermines the most basic meaning of the idea behind distinguishing purity from impurity. In biblical law, and in other religious traditions, the idea of distinguishing purity from impurity aims to enforce separation and segregation. The contagiousness of impurity prevents contact between the pure and the impure, and the duty to remain in a state of purity is of central significance in the formation of closed, sectarian environments that maintain rigid social castes and strata. The principle, shaped by the Tannaitic literature, that deems uncertain impurity in a private domain to be impure and in a public domain to be pure establishes that, in practice, the problem of impurity exists in the private domain, where people are segregated in any event. In a public domain, in contrast, one can walk without concern as long as he is careful not to touch a person or object known to be impure...These options [to control what enters/exits one's private domain] are not available in the public domain, and once it's established that uncertain impurity in the public domain is deemed pure, it becomes possible for someone who is meticulous about purity to participate in the public domain, where, by its very nature, pedestrians do not not know one another...
The impetus for these rulings is not the dread of uncertainty; rather, they are an attempt to enable continued existence even in the heart of uncertainty...
By distinguishing between the public and private domains in their rulings on uncertainty, the sages made room for meticulousness without incurring the cost of separatism.
דאמר מר למד לשונך לומר איני יודע שמא תתבדה
Moses spoke in accordance with the principle articulated by the Master: Accustom your tongue to say: I do not know, lest you become entangled in a web of deceit.
According to Dr. Aviva Zornberg, the story [of Jonah] can be read as a case for uncertainty. Contrasted with Jonah, who consistently uses the phrase “I know,” all the other characters in the book say things like “Who knows” (Mi Yodeah) and “Perhaps” (Ulai).
Zornberg writes:
“Perhaps” is a peculiarly Jewish response to the mystery of God’s ways… “Who knows?” speaks of humility and hope, and a sense of the incalculable element in the relation of God and human beings.
In other words, we cannot know what God has planned for us. That is a major theme of Yom Kippur. “Who will live and who will die?” Adopting an attitude of “Perhaps” or “Who knows?” is the key to unlocking this uncertain hope, allowing ourselves to dream while holding onto the possibility of disappointment. We shouldn’t give up hope, but we should temper it.
“If there is care in a person’s heart, let them quash it [yashḥena]” (Proverbs 12:25). Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi dispute the verse’s meaning. One said: They should forcefully push it [yasḥena] out of their mind. And one said: It means they should tell [yesiḥena] others their concerns.
דָּבָר אַחֵר, וַיְחַל משֶׁה, מַהוּ כֵן, אָמַר רַבִּי בֶּרֶכְיָה בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי חֶלְבּוֹ בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי יִצְחָק, שֶׁהִתִּיר נִדְרוֹ שֶׁל יוֹצְרוֹ. כֵּיצַד, אֶלָּא בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁעָשׂוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל הָעֵגֶל עָמַד משֶׁה מְפַיֵּס הָאֱלֹהִים שֶׁיִּמְחֹל לָהֶם. אָמַר הָאֱלֹהִים, משֶׁה, כְּבָר נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי (שמות כב, יט): זֹבֵחַ לָאֱלֹהִים יָחֳרָם, וּדְבַר שְׁבוּעָה שֶׁיָּצָא מִפִּי אֵינִי מַחֲזִירוֹ. אָמַר משֶׁה רִבּוֹן הָעוֹלָם וְלֹא נָתַתָּ לִי הֲפָרָה שֶׁל נְדָרִים...וְכָל זָקֵן שֶׁמּוֹרֶה הוֹרָאָה אִם יִרְצֶה שֶׁיְקַבְּלוּ אֲחֵרִים הוֹרָאָתוֹ צָרִיךְ הוּא לְקַיְמָהּ תְּחִלָּה, וְאַתָּה צִוִּיתַנִי עַל הֲפָרַת נְדָרִים, דִּין הוּא שֶׁתַּתִּיר אֶת נִדְרְךָ כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתַנִי לְהַתִּיר לַאֲחֵרִים. מִיָּד נִתְעַטֵּף בְּטַלִּיתוֹ וְיָשַׁב לוֹ כְּזָקֵן, וְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא עוֹמֵד כְּשׁוֹאֵל נִדְרוֹ...וּמָה אָמַר לוֹ דָּבָר קָשֶׁה, אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן דָּבָר קָשֶׁה אָמַר לְפָנָיו תָּהִיתָ אֶתָמְהָא, אָמַר לוֹ תּוֹהֶא אֲנָא עַל הָרָעָה אֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתִּי לַעֲשׂוֹת לְעַמִּי, אוֹתָהּ שָׁעָה אָמַר משֶׁה מֻתָּר לָךְ מֻתָּר לָךְ, אֵין כָּאן נֶדֶר וְאֵין כָּאן שְׁבוּעָה, הֱוֵי: וַיְחַל משֶׁה, שֶׁהֵפֵר נִדְרוֹ לְיוֹצְרוֹ, כְּמָה דְאַתְּ אָמַר (במדבר ל, ג): וְלֹא יַחֵל דְּבָרוֹ, אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן לָקִישׁ לְפִיכָךְ נִקְרָא שְׁמוֹ אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים, לוֹמַר שֶׁהִתִּיר נֶדֶר לָאֱלֹהִים, וְכֵן וַיְחַל משֶׁה.
“And Moses appeased God” (Ex. 32:11) But how? Rabbi Berachia said in the name of Rabbi Helbo in the name of Rabbi Yitzhak: Moses performed hatarat nedarim for his Creator.
How so? At the moment the Israelites made the Golden Calf, Moses stood up to appease God, so that God would forgive them. But God said to Moses, “I have already taken an oath about it!: “One who sacrifices to other gods shall be utterly destroyed! (Exodus 22:19),” and an oath which leaves My mouth cannot be retracted!”
So Moses said: Master of the Universe, didn’t you give me the Torah laws of permitting vows? … You are like an Elder who issues rulings: if he wants others to accept his ruling, he better first follow the law himself! And You who have commanded me about undoing vows, by law You should permit Your vow just as You have commanded me to permit for others!
Just then, Moses wrapped himself in his Tallit and sat like an Elder while the Holy One stood before him like a petitioner on a vow. …. And what did Moses say to God? Rav Huna, the son of Aha said: The answer is hard to talk about. Rabbi Yochanan said: Yes, the answer is hard to talk about. Moshe said before God: Are You very anguished? God said to him: I am very anguished about the horrible thing I said I would to My people!
At that moment, Moses pronounced: “It is permitted for you, it is permitted for you. There is no vow. There is no swear.” …
Rabbi Simeon, son of Lakish said: And that’s why Moses is called “a Man of God”. For he would make permitted the vows of God.
When two armies are locked in battle, fighting takes place only at the battlefront. Territory behind the lines of one army is under the army's control and little or no resistance need be expected there. A similar situation prevails in respect of territory behind the lines of the other army. If one side gains a victory at the front and pushes the enemy back, the position of the battlefront will have changed. In fact, therefore, fighting takes place only at one location, though potentially the line could be drawn anywhere in the territories of the two contending countries...
The situation is very similar with regard to bechira. Everyone has free choice –at the point where truth meets falsehood. In other words bechira takes place at that point where the truth as the person sees it confronts the illusion produced in him by the power of falsehood. But the majority of a person’s actions are undertaken without any clash between truth and falsehood taking place. Many of a person’ actions may happen to coincide with what is objectively right because he has been brought up that way and it does not occur to him to do otherwise, and many bad and false decisions may be taken simply because the person does not realize that they are bad. In such cases no valid bechira, or choice, has been made......
For example, one may have been brought up in an environment of Torah, among people who devote themselves to good deeds. In this case his bechirah point will not be whether or not to commit an actual sin but whether to do a mitzvah with more or less devotion and kavanah/intention. Another may be brought up among evildoers of the lowest grade, among thieves and robbers. For him, whether or not to steal does not present any bechira at all. His bechira point might be on the question of shooting his way out when discovered... this is where for him the forces of... truth and untruth, are evenly balanced....
It must be realized that this bechira point does not remain static in any given individual. With each good bechira successfully carried out, the person rises higher in spiritual level: that is, things that were previously in the line of battle are now in the area controlled by the yetzer tov (good, clear thinking)... giving in to the yetzer hara (impulse for immediate gratification) pushes back the frontier of the good, and an act which previously cost one a struggle with one’s conscience will now be done without bechira at all.
Other Related Texts
ת"ר כשחלה ר' אליעזר נכנסו תלמידיו לבקרו אמרו לו רבינו למדנו אורחות חיים ונזכה בהן לחיי העולם הבא אמר להם הזהרו בכבוד חבריכם ומנעו בניכם מן ההגיון והושיבום בין ברכי תלמידי חכמים וכשאתם מתפללים דעו לפני מי אתם עומדים ובשביל כך תזכו לחיי העולם הבא וכשחלה רבי יוחנן בן זכאי נכנסו תלמידיו לבקרו כיון שראה אותם התחיל לבכות אמרו לו תלמידיו נר ישראל עמוד הימיני פטיש החזק מפני מה אתה בוכה אמר להם אילו לפני מלך בשר ודם היו מוליכין אותי שהיום כאן ומחר בקבר שאם כועס עלי אין כעסו כעס עולם ואם אוסרני אין איסורו איסור עולם ואם ממיתני אין מיתתו מיתת עולם ואני יכול לפייסו בדברים ולשחדו בממון אעפ"כ הייתי בוכה ועכשיו שמוליכים אותי לפני ממ"ה הקב"ה שהוא חי וקיים לעולם ולעולמי עולמים שאם כועס עלי כעסו כעס עולם ואם אוסרני איסורו איסור עולם ואם ממיתני מיתתו מיתת עולם ואיני יכול לפייסו בדברים ולא לשחדו בממון ולא עוד אלא שיש לפני שני דרכים אחת של גן עדן ואחת של גיהנם ואיני יודע באיזו מוליכים אותי ולא אבכה
When Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Zakkai fell ill his students entered to visit him. When he saw them, he began to cry. His students said to him: Lamp of Israel, the right pillar, the mighty hammer, the man whose life’s work is the foundation of the future of the Jewish people, for what reason are you crying? With a life as complete as yours, what is upsetting you? He said to them: I cry in fear of heavenly judgment, as the judgment of the heavenly court is unlike the judgment of man. If they were leading me before a flesh and blood king whose life is temporal, who is here today and dead in the grave tomorrow; if he is angry with me, his anger is not eternal and, consequently, his punishment is not eternal; if he incarcerates me, his incarceration is not an eternal incarceration, as I might maintain my hope that I would ultimately be freed. If he kills me, his killing is not for eternity, as there is life after any death that he might decree. Moreover, I am able to appease him with words and even bribe him with money, and even so I would cry when standing before royal judgment. Now that they are leading me before the supreme King of Kings, the Holy One, Blessed be He, Who lives and endures forever and all time; if He is angry with me, His anger is eternal; if He incarcerates me, His incarceration is an eternal incarceration; and if He kills me, His killing is for eternity. I am unable to appease Him with words and bribe him with money. Moreover, but I have two paths before me, one of the Garden of Eden and one of Gehenna, and I do not know on which they are leading me; and will I not cry?
ויצמח ה' אלקים מן האדמה כל עץ נחמד למראה וטוב למאכל ועץ החיים בתוך הגן ועץ הדעת טוב ורע...ועץ הדעת היינו מי שהוא בספק תמיד איך הוא רצון הש"י והוא נגד כל האיבעיות שבגמ'...וכנגד כל ארבע אילנות האלו יש ארבע נהרות המשקים אותם...והנהר השלישי הוא חדקל הוא משקה את עץ הדעת טוב ורע, כי חדקל הוא לשון (בראשית רבה פרשה ט"ז,ז') חד וקל כאדם ההולך בגשר ונוטה לכאן ולכאן לפול, כעין הבעיות שבגמ'. הוא ההולך קדמת אשור היינו נגד התקופות כי אשור הוא לשון תקופות בעבור כי עומד בספק אם לעשות או לא וקיי"ל כל ספיקא לחומרא.
"The Tree of Knowledge," which alludes to one who is perpetually in a state of uncertainty as to God's will, and this condition is the source of all the questions/difficulties in the Gemara...And corresponding to the four trees are four rivers which feed them...and the third river is the Chideckel, which feeds the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, for the Chideckel is from the language of "chad ve-kal" (it flows rapidly and clearly) (Bereshit Rabbah 16:6) like one who walks on a bridge and leans in this direction and that direction to fall, like the questions in the Gemara...