An Axiom of Note

Definition:  an axiom is a proposition that is assumed without proof for the sake of studying the consequences that follow from it.

Thus I am going to state the following as axiomatic - i.e. assumed to be given truths for the sake of clarity and open dialogue. (This is based largely on Sefer HaMitzvos by the Rambam (Maimonides) (12 Century CE), the opening of the Mishneh Torah (Yesodei Torah, Perek 1), and the Derech Hashem, by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato (18th Century CE).

1. There is a first 'existence' that existed before time and space.  Such an 'existence' existed and has always existed. He is the Creator of all things.  Everything that exists is as a result of His creating that existence.  This Creator is called G-d.
2. G-d cannot really be defined, for such definitions would be positive attributions that His essence being non-definite cannot therefore be defined.
3. We have no ability to understand G-d in any manner of means.
4. We relate to how G-d wishes to relate to us, and has given us various expressions and details about how He wishes to relate to us.  These are descriptions of how He relates to us, and have nothing to do with His absolute essence - we cannot fathom it.
5. The following is a list of affirmations of G-d as we understand it.  They have been written here in the positive which is incorrect.  It should be rendered in the negative i.e. G-d is not dualistic, unknowing, non-finite, and G-d is not within time and space, G-d is not disassociated from the world.  But for the sake of clarity:
• G-d is said to be One (absolutely) (Deut. 6:4, 4:35, 4:39, 6:4)
• G-d is said to be all-knowing, all-perceiving and all-powerful.
• G-d is said to be infinite.
• G-d is beyond time and space.
• G-d is involved in the actions, thoughts and purpose of the world.
6. G-d is interested in giving the greatest possible good to the world, and hence wants His vision of the world to reach its completion and perfection.
7. To further this aim, G-d envisioned that the whole world should receive it.  Either through the world as a whole, or through a particular nation.
8. The world has within it righteous, selfless individuals that have helped to reach that perfection, to which G-d rewards those who reach this state and punishes those who cause the world to suffer and inhibit the ability to reach perfection.
9. The Jewish people is the nation in which G-d gave the Torah (the First Five Books of Moses), as a blueprint for how to live in this world.
10. He gave the Torah to the Jewish people to follow, obey and know it. (Deut 30:10-16).  It is easy to follow and accomplish (Deut 30:11-14), and G-d only expects what man is capable of (Psalms 103:13-14).
11. The status quo that has been in existence since this monumental event in world history - the giving of the Torah at Sinai.
12. This means that the entire nation (100%) men, women children, an approximate evaluation reads that there were 600 000 adult men from the ages of 20 to 60, which translates into about 3 million people total.
13. It thus behooves anyone wishing to change these points, to provide some reason as to why the status quo has some how changed - i.e. an equivalent revelation - at the equivalent maybe 80%-90% of the Jewish population to witness the same revelation.

I believe with perfect faith.....

I believe with perfect faith....

This is the standard phraseology that used in the fundamentals of faith as a summary of the commentary of the Rambam (Maimonides) on the Mishnah on Sanhedrin.  There is some debate among the early Medieval commentators whether these thirteen principles constitute the fundamentals of Judaism, or that there are only three, and the rest are not fundamental and essential, but are nonetheless central tenants of Judaism.

One of the central messages of Judaism (aside from the Mishnah in Sanhedrin - Chapter 10, Mishnah 1), is rooted in the 4th Chapter of Deuteronomy.  Here G-d lays out His perspective of what He expects His people to understand, know and accomplish:

The following is an excerpt from: The Judaica Press Translation of the Tanakh (Jewish Bible) with the commentary of Rashi (a Medieval Commentator) http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/9968
(The emphasis is mine)

Devarim Chapter 4
1. And now, O Israel, hearken to the statutes and to the judgments which I teach you to do, in order that you may live, and go in and possess the land which Hashem, G-d of your forefathers, is giving you.
2. Do not add to the word which I command you, nor diminish from it, to observe the commandments of Hashem your G-d which I command you.


[....]


6. And you shall keep [them] and do [them], for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of the peoples, who will hear all these statutes and say, "Only this great nation is a wise and understanding people. "


[....]


10. the day you stood before Hashem your G-d at Horeb, when Hashem said to me, "Assemble the people for Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.
11. And you approached and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire up to the midst of the heavens, with darkness, a cloud, and opaque darkness.
12. Hashem spoke to you out of the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of the words, but saw no image, just a voice.
13. And He told you His covenant, which He commanded you to do, the Ten Commandments, and He inscribed them on two stone tablets.
14. And Hashem commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, so that you should do them in the land to which you are crossing, to possess.
15. And you shall watch yourselves very well, for you did not see any image on the day that Hashem spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire.

16. Lest you become corrupt and make for yourselves a graven image, the representation of any form, the likeness of male or female, 17. the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the heaven, 18. the likeness of anything that crawls on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters, beneath the earth. 19. And lest you lift up your eyes to heaven, and see the sun, and the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, which Hashem your G-d assigned to all peoples under the entire heaven, and be drawn away to prostrate yourselves before them and worship them. 20. But Hashem took you and brought you out of the iron crucible, out of Egypt, to be a people of His possession, as of this day. [....] 32. For ask now regarding the early days that were before you, since the day that G-d created man upon the earth, and from one end of the heavens to the other end of the heavens, whether there was anything like this great thing, or was the likes of it heard? 33. Did ever a people hear G-d's voice speaking out of the midst of the fire as you have heard, and live? 34. Or has any god performed miracles to come and take him a nation from the midst of a[nother] nation, with trials, with signs, and with wonders, and with war and with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great awesome deeds, as all that Hashem your G-d did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35. You have been shown, in order to know that Hashem He is G-d; there is none else besides Him. 36. From the heavens, He let you hear His voice to instruct you, and upon the earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire, 37. and because He loved your forefathers and chose their seed after them, and He brought you out of Egypt before Him with His great strength, 38. to drive out from before you nations greater and stronger than you, to bring you and give you their land for an inheritance, as this day. 39. And you shall know this day and consider it in your heart, that Hashem He is G-d in heaven above, and upon the earth below; there is none else.

We thus see that the fundamental point is that G-d has no form, and that no other nation, group, religion, cult or sect has ever or can ever claim that G-d Himself spoke out of fire, and did the miracles that were done to Israel, to take them out of Egypt - with all the signs and wonders and awesome deeds - to know that Hashem He is G-d and there is none else besides him.


The Jewish people are, as Rabbi Yisroel Blumenthal (Rabbi Blumenthal's 7th Response to Dalton Lifsey) so eloquently states, a witness nation, as G-d's chosen people, the Jewish people have a unique role in the world.


One need not overstate this point, but it is fundamental to any meaningful discussion on Judaism and  its relationship with the world as a whole.

Guidelines

Take Note!

A football game requires rules.  Rules are there to maintain and encourage positive interaction.  Without rules, life and interaction becomes haphazard, chaotic, and incoherent.  We lose sight of the goal. Rules maintain order structure and add meaningfulness to discussions.  With this in mind, I have presented guidelines that are focused on bringing out positive interaction between parties.  In this I hope will be a springboard for further, positive interaction.

1. Basic Model of Debate
• In any debate there is the claimant and attacker.
• The claimant makes a claim, he argues "X" is true.  In order for us to interact with the claim, the claimant has to agree that simply stating "X" is true is to simply state that this is his/her own personal preference.  Anyone is perfectly entitled to state it (with in reason, and doesn't impact on others), but as it stands; no matter how much embellishment, how much you believe it, no matter how many times you state it, it doesn't change its veracity.  It needs to be proved with logical deduction or some proof-text that both parties can agree on.
• If both parties disagree on the text, then the veracity of statement "X" is a moot point.  It remains unverified until both parties can agree on the proof-text in question.
• The proof text has to prove that "X" is true, if the proof-text simply states that "X" is true, it is the same as the person stating it.
• A majority of people stating that it "X" is true is not a proof that it is true, it simply shows that there are many like-minded individuals.
• The veracity of "X" can be an a priori statement, but this needs to be clarified.  Often a priori statements are not entirely a priori, only one aspect or one part is really a priori.  Simply stating that "X" is an a priori given, is not necessarily true, even if you think so.
2.  Definitions
• Debating effectively means that both parties have to agree on the same basic terms.
• There is no debate if two parties disagree on the fundamentals of the basis for "X".
• Definitions need to be spelled out clearly, or referred to on online dictionaries or philosophical dictionaries - out-dated, infrequent and non-standard definitions are unacceptable - this has to be for the sake of clarity, unless an alternative is offered that both parties can accept.
3. Standards of Evidence and Proof
• Agreeing on a standard of evidence is necessary to ensure clearly thought out logic and reasoning.
• Proof is not an absolute requirement.  Thus no-one expects to have 100% absolute proof, but we assume that was is reasonable, fair, most likely to be as the relevant assertion and if the evidence points to the most likely conclusion, one should be willing to accept it, even if it is not 100% absolutely known.
• However, if it is not known to the degree that it falls in the realm of 45-55% known, we have to reasonably assume that it is not acceptable as most likely, nor is it possible.  We have a right to reject the logical basis of such reason and proof when it falls into the 45-55% likelihood range.
4. Straw-man
• Presenting a position that the other side doesn't hold of is a straw-man, especially if you use that and then show why it is wrong.
• Let the other side present their view, or work out what their position is.  Don't make up a position and then knock it down since this is a logical fallacy and doesn't achieve anything except to strengthen the other position.
5. A Point of Logic
• People are built with an innate desire to seek the truth.  This maybe hampered by other considerations such as emotional, psychological, mental or physical needs, changes or effects that happen to us.  Normal, sane intellectually honest, emotionally stable, well-rounded people appreciate truth and reject falsehood.  People who are not emotionally stable or psychologically stable tend to have a warped sense of the truth for varying reasons and to varying degrees.
• We have an innate sense of logic. Ask someone why 1 = 1 or why this statement is false: 1 = 2, and they have a hard time proving it, but they nonetheless have an innate sense that these are axioms that are self-evident.
• Logic and reason - the standards of proof, evidence and logical deduction are functions of reality and how we live in society.  These should not deferred on the grounds that they don't apply in the realm of morality or spirituality.
• "Mysteries", illogical proofs, things we don't understand (at some level), are not relevant to the basis of proof.
6.  The Burden of Proof
• The burden of proof is always on the claimant's position.  He stated "X", thus it is his/her job to prove that it is true.
• If the attacker argues, he has to show why "X" is not true, given that the claimant has already made a reasonable case for "X".  The attacker doesn't have to provide alternatives.  When the Attacker necessarily makes a new position, then he has to present a good reason for why his position is true.
7. Circular Reasoning
• Circular reasoning occurs when the reason that is given for some claim "X" is predicated on the very fact that "X" is true.
• Sometimes however, if X is false then Y becomes false, and we already know that Y is true based on some other reasoning: this is not circular, because I'm using the external evidence of Y to show that if Y is necessarily true, then X has to be true, even though Y is predicated on X being true.
8. Relevance
• There is a topic, stick to it.  What you say has to directly relate to the topic/discussion at hand.  There is no point to add material, long textual treatises, long comments, long citations, quotes etc. that offer little except to distract the reader from the main point.
• It is better to quote a little, use a link if the reader requires more, and make the point clearly and succinctly.  Any comments etc. that are off-topic or veer off-topic will be deleted, without prior warning, at the discretion of the moderator(s).
9. Avoiding the Topic
• This is related to point 5. (Relevance).  The Topic is as stated, and the claimant in an effort to prove his/her position, points to another topic or discussion that is irrelevant or difficult to relate to the current topic.  This is avoiding the topic or avoiding the issue. This really does nothing to elevate the topic but rather simply obfuscates the point. 
10. Prejudice and Bias
• Prejudice and Bias are fact of reality.  We all have bias, it is the way we function and relate to the world.  Bias is not necessarily a bad thing.  We can approach a topic or discussion with our own views and be swayed against those views or shown that the views are indeed correct.  It is the weight of the evidence given that the evidence is logical, sound and relevant, that should warrant change.
11. Citation
• A link to a website (except a link to a Scriptural reference), need not require further analysis, however, websites often provide incomplete, irrelevant, out-of-date, inaccurate material (this includes Wikipedia and other informational sites).
• Biblical references require citation.  Readers should be aware that the same scriptural passage cited in one Bible, is not necessarily the same in another - the verse numbering is altered in various editions.
• Citations to books require the full title, author (and or editor), publication date, publisher, and page references (as is the standard in academia).
• Do not quote the full chapter or range of verses or lists of specific verses, rather summarize the main point, offer one or two key citations, and if the reader seeks more, provide a website or blog.
12. Ad Hominem
• Ad Hominem is an attack on the character or nature of a person, e.g. "John Doe is stupid." It belittles the person and detracts from the debate and point of discussion.  Ad Hominem is a serious breach of character and good faith, and will be dealt with strictly.
13. Language
• The use of language is our means to communicate, this is an online forum, and I like to approach it in a dignified, respectful manner.  Rude, hateful, coarse speech as well as curses, swearing and any inappropriate language (including language that incites others) will be removed without recourse, you maybe banned at the discretion of the moderator(s) without warning.
14. General Guidelines
• Links to other sites, advertising, spamming, trolling, inciting and goading will be dealt with on an ad hoc basis, at the moderator(s) discretion.  Obviously these kinds of approaches cause anger, and do not promote honest and fair dialogue.

The Meeting / אהל מועד

The Ohel Moed (Tent of Meeting) is a place where G-d and Jewish people connected as the Jews sojourned in the desert on the way to Eretz Yisrael (The land of Israel). When they entered the land, this became subsumed into the Beis HaMikdash (The Holy Temple), eventually finding a permanent dwelling on Har Moriah - the Mountain on which the Akeidas Yitzchok took place (The Sacrifice of Isaac), in Yerushalayim, עיה"ק (Jerusalem, the Holy City). This blog therefore focuses on this point - the interaction of Jews to G-d, and hence is about Judaism.

The blog is mainly aimed at polemics and discussions relating to it; however, anything and everything goes, within moderation.