Faith or Reason? Which is the preferred path to create a relationship with G-d, faith or reason? Faith is powerful. It is simple. Pure. Not up for debate. Faith inspires commitment and brings comfort. Like a child who puts his trust in his parents, the believer puts his trust in G-d. Reason is complicated. We seek to investigate and understand G-d, in order to internalize our relationship. We study and explore in order to enrich our relationship. Reason however is complicated. To every claim there can be a counterclaim, to every perspective there is a counter perspective. One who seeks to understand and learn must be ready for the battlefield of ideas. Focusing on reason has none of the tranquility and comfort of pure faith. Which is preferable, the simplicity of faith or complexity of reason? In the opening portion of the book of Numbers we read about how G-d commanded Moses to take a census of all the Israelites who were fit for battle: From twenty years old and upwards, all who are fit to go out to the army in Israel, you shall count them by their legions you and Aaron. (Numbers 1:3) The Torah then tells us that the Levites should be counted separately from the other tribes, not from age twenty, as the Israelites were counted, but rather from thirty days old: Count the children of Levi according to their fathers' house according to their families. Count all males from the age of one month and upward. (ibid. 3:15) And finally, toward the end of the portion, we read about an additional census. This one was for the Levites who were thirty years old, who reached the age of performing the service of the temple: From the age of thirty until the age of fifty, all who enter the service, to do work in the Tent of Meeting. (ibid. 4:3) Why were the Levites counted twice, at thirty days old and again at thirty years old? The Chassidic masters explain that, like everything else in the Torah, the census has a spiritual meaning as well. The census of the Israelites going to battle, represents the study of Torah. The census therefore begins at age twenty, when a person reaches his full intellectual capacity. Logical inquiry is like battle, where every idea must be analyzed and challenged. The Levites represent faith. Faith does not require intellectual maturity, therefore the census of the Levites was from thirty days, because the child is capable of a deeper level of faith than the adult. Yet the Levites were counted not once but twice, because there are two levels of faith. There is the census of the Levites from thirty days old, which represents simple childlike faith. The census of the Levites at thirty years old represents the higher form of faith, one that follows intellectual inquiry and understanding. After the person studies and explores all that he can understand, he realizes the limit of human knowledge. Following intellectual exploration, the Jews reach a higher level of faith, a faith that follows reason. The reason itself leads to faith. In the final analysis, our relationship with G-d incorporates all three elements: we begin with simple faith (corresponding to the census of the Levites from thirty days old), this is followed by study and intellectual inquiry (corresponding to the census of the Israelites from age twenty), and finally the higher form of faith (corresponding to the census of the Levites from age thirty), the faith which follows study. (Adapted from the Kedushas Levi)
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