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many layers to "we will do and we will hear"
some are:
" 'We will obediently do' (Sforno). On this view the words na’aseh and nishma are a hendiadys, that is, a single idea expressed by two words. The Israelites were saying that they would do what God asked of them, not because they sought any benefit but simply because they sought to do His will. He had saved them from slavery, led and fed them through the wilderness, and they sought to express their complete loyalty to Him as their redeemer and lawgiver.
" 'We will do and we will understand' (Isaac Arama in Akeidat Yitzchak). The word shema can have the sense of 'understanding' as in God’s statement about the Tower of Babel: 'Let us, then, go down and confound their speech there, so that they shall not understand [yishme’u] one another’s speech' (Gen. 11:7). According to this explanation, when the Israelites put ‘doing’ before ‘understanding’, they were giving expression to a profound philosophical truth. There are certain things we only understand by doing. We only understand leadership by leading. We only understand authorship by writing. We only understand music by listening. Reading books about these things is not enough. So it is with faith. We only truly understand Judaism by living in accordance with its commands.You cannot comprehend a faith from the outside. Doing leads to understanding."
Thank you to you both. I enjoyed reading the article.
I, too, have always enjoyed reading anything written by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. Sadly, the good rabbi passed away only a couple of weeks ago. May his memory be for a blessing.
You're roughly 6% through the 613. In general, what have you learned about Judaism ? I'm looking forward to when you reach the dietary laws, especially birds and creepy, crawly creatures.
You're roughly 6% through the 613. In general, what have you learned about Judaism ?
I'm looking forward to when you reach the dietary laws, especially birds and creepy, crawly creatures.
Thanks, but I think we can all do the math...
To answer you honestly and sincerely, however, I can tell you I have already learned a thing or two as noted in more than a few of my prior comments. I have also learned a thing or two about how some people react, support or object to my effort to learn what I can. Note the rather interesting comments about being an insider or an outsider and how one can or cannot learn what they choose to learn along these lines. Some even suggesting a deep sort of mystery that makes it very hard if not impossible for an outsider to understand what these commandments are about.
So far anyway, I don't find them so hard to understand.
I'd also say I have not yet learned all I would like having only considered 6% of all there is to consider when it comes to all these commandments. Also of course these commandments are only part of what there is to learn when it comes to Judaism. I'm in no way expecting to learn more than what this simple exercise will teach me about Judaism, but for now these commandments are my focus. Nothing more and nothing less when it comes to this thread. I've also learned what others have to add with respect to some background and context that helps to better understand these commandments in a way I would not be able if I simply just read them in one quick swoop.
More broadly, I have learned what I have about Judaism, added to what I have already learned about Judaism in the past, in much the same way I have learned (and continue to learn) about Christian religions, Mormonism, Buddhism, Islam. Not all there is to know of course, but enough about each one to recognize the differences and similarities. All part of what helps me to better understand some of my Jewish friends, my wife's uncle who is a bishop in the Mormon church, my Catholic friends, other people and faiths generally speaking.
To answer you honestly and sincerely, however, I can tell you I have already learned a thing or two as noted in more than a few of my prior comments. I have also learned a thing or two about how some people react, support or object to my effort to learn what I can. Note the rather interesting comments about being an insider or an outsider and how one can or cannot learn what they choose to learn along these lines. Some even suggesting a deep sort of mystery that makes it very hard if not impossible for an outsider to understand what these commandments are about.
So far anyway, I don't find them so hard to understand.
I'd also say I have not yet learned all I would like having only considered 6% of all there is to consider when it comes to all these commandments. Also of course these commandments are only part of what there is to learn when it comes to Judaism. I'm in no way expecting to learn more than what this simple exercise will teach me about Judaism, but for now these commandments are my focus. Nothing more and nothing less when it comes to this thread. I've also learned what others have to add with respect to some background and context that helps to better understand these commandments in a way I would not be able if I simply just read them in one quick swoop.
More broadly, I have learned what I have about Judaism, added to what I have already learned about Judaism in the past, in much the same way I have learned (and continue to learn) about Christian religions, Mormonism, Buddhism, Islam. Not all there is to know of course, but enough about each one to recognize the differences and similarities. All part of what helps me to better understand some of my Jewish friends, my wife's uncle who is a bishop in the Mormon church, my Catholic friends, other people and faiths generally speaking.
Among all those words i dont find even one sentence that answers the question what have you learnt about Judaism. I am really, really, curious what these commandments so far have added to your knowledge of Judaism.
Among all those words i dont find even one sentence that answers the question what have you learnt about Judaism. I am really, really, curious what these commandments so far have added to your knowledge of Judaism.
That's OK, because "What LearnMe Has Learned About Judaism" is not the topic of the thread.
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