ON THE ‘PURSUIT OF
TRUTH’
‘Truth, Truth shall you
pursue’
Targum Onkeles on
Deuteronomy 18:20
People commonly speak about the ‘pursuit of Truth’, a phrase that, to
many, suggests that Truth is a limited quality or amount of information somewhere
out there, waiting to be discoved through a combination of time and effort. Although
this may be the case with ‘minor truths’ such as finding out who spilled juice
on the kitchen floor, what 6x6 equals, or what causes the heart to beat, here
I’m talking about Truth with a capital ‘T’ – the Holy Grail. Indeed, many philosophers have naively ventured
to discover the Truth: the hidden universalities that make life intelligible
and clear, reconciling all contradictions and solving all mysteries. And, though
some misguided scholars have professed to have found it, the vast majority find
that the further they pursue it, the more it eludes them. Like chasing one’s
shadow, the faster one runs after it, the faster it runs away.
On the verse, “If you will listen, listen to the voice of the L-rd your
G-d,”[1]
the Midrash comments, “Happy is the one whose ‘listenings’ are to Me, hovering
always at My doorways; door within door...”[2]
Rabbi Yehuda Leib Alter of Ger, the
author of ‘Sefat Emet’, in commenting on this Midrash explains how one must
never feel he has conclusively grasped a Torah teaching, for its depth is
limitless. This, he adds, is implied by the repetition of the word listen in the
original verse cited above. That is, even if you have already listened and
understood, listen again... and again - for a higher grasp forever awaits you.[3]
The Midrash’s metaphor of a door within a door is apt. The Hebrew word for
doorway is delet, denoting emptiness, for a doorway is merely an empty space.[4]
Yet, it is precisely this emptiness that allows movement from one room to the
next. In respect to Torah study, this implies that one who feels ignorant and
empty of a teaching’s true meaning is open to advance to a new level of
understanding, but one who feels he has already grasped the truth, closes the
passage before him.[5]
Herein lays one explanation for the mitzvah
(commandment) of fixing Mezuzot
on our doorposts. The Mezuzah, a
piece of parchment with Torah written on it, represents Torah study in general,
while the doorpost on which it is affixed signifies the openess prerequisite
for proper and penetrating Torah study.[6]
Rabbi Yehuda Leib’s commentary on the Midrash above suggests that even
when one has grasped truth, one must forever remain open to further or deeper
truth. In contrast, the Ben Ish Chai,
a 19th Century Sephardic mystic from Bagdad, takes the elusive nature
of truth a step further, defining it
as G-d’s perspective of reality which categorically transcends human grasp. Here
the Ben Ish Chai draws our attention to the blessing recited after the Haftarah reading, which concludes, “And
all His words are true and righteous”. He points out that the first and last
letters of the Hebrew word for righteous, צדק, are neighbours in the Hebrew alphabet, the Aleph-bet, while the first and last letters of truth, אמת, are at the Aleph-Bet’s opposite ends.[7]
This, he explains, signifies two different ways that G-d governs our lives. Sometimes
G-d reveals to us how the puzzle pieces of our lives fit neatly together, when
things make sense to us and Divine providence is evident. At these times we
refer to G-d’s as ‘righteous’. At other times, however, G-d distances the
puzzle pieces from each other, rendering us incapable of connecting them
together. Events then appear to make little sense and leave us asking ‘Why,
G-d, is this happening?’ In such instances we refer to G-d’s conduct as ‘true. Meaning that even though we cannot connect the puzzle
pieces of reality together as they are spaced too far apart, we still affirm
that from G-d’s perspective everything is cohesive, precise, and orderly. G-d can connect the furthest pieces of life together - the Aleph, א, with the Tav, ת. Truth, אמת, rests with G-d alone.[8]
The above two images of Truth (that there are eternally higher levels of
Truth to strive towards and that Truth is, by definition, reality beyond human
grasp) may dampen our enthusiasm to purse
Truth, as it appears to be a futile quest. In reality, the opposite is correct.
The fact that Truth is forever beyond our grasp is highly motivational: Truth charms us into an endless
adventure.[9]
The closest one comes to finding Truth is realizing its
endlessness. Before Truth one
stands empty and humble and from within these feelings a childlike
curiosity springs forth to explore and discover reality.[10]
And the stronger the curiosity, the more openly does Truth glow
within. Put in other words, the extent to which one is drawn to pursue the
infinite Truth, and the more deeply one feels the infinite journey of
discovery that lies ahead, is the extent to which one has found Truth. Perhaps the
Kotzker Rebbe put it most elegantly: “the pursuing is itself the finding!”[11]
[1]
Devarim, 28:1
[2]
Midrash Rabbah, Devarim 7:2
[3] Sefat
Emet, Sefer Devarim, Parshat Tavo, 5632
[4]
Wisdom of the Hebrew Alphabet, p.78, citing the Maharal
[5] For a
similar concept see Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Likutei Sichot, Vol.1,
p.129
[6] Sefat
Emet, ibid
[7] Ben
Ish chai, ‘Od Yoseph Chai’, Parshat Nosso
[8]Ibid
[9] Rabbi
Adin Steinsaltz, The Thirteen Petalled Rose, Basic Books, 1980, p.133
[10] Hence man’s Good Inclination is referred to
as a child, Kohelet 4:13
[11] Rabbi
Abraham J.Twerski, Rebbes and Chassidim, p.91
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