2. Greater Responsibilities: Fears and Quests (Fragment)

Intensive Secular Studies

Having been well‑grounded in rabbinical studies, Leon could allow himself more time for the advanced secular studies; his keen intellect and diligence helped him not only to keep pace with the other students in the Rabbinical Seminary, but promoted speedy progress in other subjects. Leon liked history, geography and physics, and became much interested also in foreign languages. Naturally, these studies caused the sacrifice of many precious hours of sleep which were already much curtailed. “Toil with perseverance” became more and more his slogan.

Questions

The rabbis knew well the reason why they forbade certain questions on Bible subjects. The more one tries to exercise the ceremonial law according to Holy Scriptures, the greater the difficulties become, and less the spiritual satisfaction; the ceremonial substitutes become shallow and empty. The zeal for God, the longing to please Him with much prayer, fasting, good works and many other means of pleasing Him, leave the soul famished, the thirst unquenched — the hunger unsatisfied. The whole Jewish religion is based on past glory, with nothing to calm and assuage the anguish of the present. The poor religious Jew is deprived of the gist of his Messianic hopes.

Many questions became of earnest concern to Leon. Why would the Jew suffer as a nation without exception? Should not the righteous, the “Tzadikim,” the “Chasidim” be exempt and spared tribulation? Even the nation in its majority, in comparison with the time of the prophets of the temple, is more loyal to God than ever before. There is no actual idolatry in Israel. Why does the present dispersion of the Jewish people last longer than the previous ones? To these and similar questions Leon did not find an answer, neither from his rabbis, his father, nor from available rabbinical literature. The only reason given was: “We have sinned against God, and therefore we lost our homeland and our Sanctuary, and God is waiting until we become better Jews.” This is repeatedly expressed in the popular prayers of the “Umiphney Chalucinu” at the solemn festivals on New Year’s Day and on the Day of Atonement.

One day Mr. B., Leon’s seminary colleague, entrusted to him the secret that he was studying the writings of the “Kuri,” the “More Nerochim,” and other similar religious philosophical books, which to him were eye‑openers, revealing different aspects and giving more satisfaction. He invited Leon to join him. He urged him to study with him especially the Prophets.

While one could understand why the “pillars” of the Orthodox Jewry decreed to keep away from such books as were just mentioned, calling them “Sforim Chitzoim,” because they are of different nature, Leon could not understand why the prophetic books should be neglected or avoided. There is a warning not to meditate upon them because they DRAW — and to this warning Rabbi Solomon ben Yitzchak Rashi added the word M I N U T H — the Hebrew abbreviation of the words indicating that such meditation draweth towards the acceptance of the belief in Jesus, the Nazarene.

Knowing his colleague’s piety, his complacent nature and deep knowledge of the Talmud, Leon finally joined him in the studies, in which he found a new field of thought. Soon he absorbed the study of Prophets and the Messianic predictions, which flooded his mind with more and more questions.