Defending Rabbi Greenberg

Defending Rabbi Greenberg

Moshe Ben-Chaim

Reader: Yitz Greenberg is not wrong!!! You did not complete your own quotation of Rambam’s Laws of Kings, chapter 11. For Gentiles, it may be God’s plan that Jesus paves the way for a beginning for them, the Gentiles to know Ethical Monotheism and the One God. Of course Jesus is not Messiah, and was evil for the Jews. It was wrong of you to attack Rabbi Yitz Greenberg and only quote what you wanted to. Some forms of Christianity do not believe in a Trinity, or that Jesus is the Son of God. See the Meiri and Samson Raphael Hirsch. I read all this in Rabbi Joseph Grunblatt’s sefer, “Geulah and Golus”, who was the Jewish philosophy professor of Touro and yeshiva colleges.

Mesora: Do not base yourself on the words of your teachers, if you have not proven their teachings to be sound to your own mind. That is number one, and is addressed in this week’s cover article.

Number two; do you not hear yourself talk? How in one breath can you state Christianity paves the way to “Ethical Monotheism”, and simultaneously state, “Jesus was evil for the Jews”? God does not “pave the way” of redemption with idolatry, with a false religion bent on Crusades which murder the innocent en masse. Additionally, God does not care less for Gentiles than Jews, allowing them to falter, while incubating Jews from such flawed personalities as Jesus. This is faulty thinking.

You also accuse me of your own crime: you do not quote Maimonides, which explains your complete ignorance of what he says. Yet, you criticize me for not quoting Maimonides fully!

Personally, I did not feel it helpful last week to confuse the reader quoting more than necessary. Since Rabbi Greenberg himself did not quote Maimonides, I have no way of knowing which statement of Maimonides Rabbi Greenberg was corrupting into his false view that Maimonides had a “positive historical evaluation” of Christianity. But I will quote Maimonides in full now, displaying for you what you gravely distort:

Laws of Kings, Laws 11:10-12 (Capach Edition):

“[10] …Can there be a greater stumbling block than this (Christianity)? That all the prophets spoke that the Messiah will redeem Israel and save them, and gather their dispersed and strengthen their Mitzvot, and this (one, i.e., Jesus) caused the Jews to be destroyed by the sword, and scattered their remnants and humbled them, and exchanged the Torah, and caused the majority of the world to err to serve a god other than the Lord. [11] Nevertheless, the thoughts of the Creator of the world are not within the power of man to reach them, ‘for our ways are not His ways, nor are our thoughts His thoughts.’ And all these matters of Jesus of Nazareth and that of the Ishmaelite who arose after him are only to straighten the way of the king Messiah and to fix the entire world, to serve God as one, as it is stated (Zephaniah 3:9), "For then I will turn to the peoples (into) clear speech, to all call in the name of God and serve Him unanimously. [12] How (will this come about)? The entire world has already become filled with the mention of the Messiah, with words of Torah and words of mitzvot and these matters have spread to the furthermost isles, to many nations of uncircumcised hearts, and they discuss these matters and the mitzvot of the Torah. Some say: “These mitzvoth are true, but were already nullified in the present age and are not applicable for all time.” Others say: “Hidden matters are in them (mitzvot) and they are not to be taken literally, and the messiah has already come and revealed their hidden (meanings). And when the true Messiah stands, and he is successful and is raised and exalted, immediately they all will retract and will know that fallacy they inherited from their fathers, and that their prophets and fathers caused them to err.”

Maimonides is clear, as he says, “fallacy they inherited from their fathers, and that their prophets and fathers caused them to err.” We cannot suggest that God desired Christianity to arise. God desires no other religion than Judaism. God knew the future, and foresaw all future religions that would arise. Nonetheless, He publicly revealed Himself to man only once, instructing man in only one religion – Judaism.

Maimonides does not indicate that God desired Christianity’s existence. This is clearly in direct opposition to God’s Torah. All Maimonides says is that God’s plan will not be altered by the rise of other religions. The fact that Christianity spread the mitzvot is not equivalent to saying God desires Christianity from the outset. The spread of Christianity may have brought about awareness, but a false one at that, and one that all nations will ultimately see as false, as the quote says, “immediately they all will retract and will know that fallacy they inherited from their fathers, and that their prophets and fathers caused them to err.” Look at Maimonides’ opening words: “Can there be a greater stumbling block than this (Christianity)?” Also, “and this (one, i.e., Jesus) caused the Jews to be destroyed by the sword, and scattered their remnants and humbled them, and exchanged the Torah, and caused the majority of the world to err to serve a god other than the Lord.” Maimonides defines Christianity as evil. Don’t ignore his words. Rabbi Greenberg too distorts Maimonides to fit into his agenda.

What is preferable; that Christianity would never had existed, or actual history? God’s will is that Christianity would have never existed. However, now that Christianity exists, Maimonides indicates it cannot compromise God’s plan: “Nevertheless, the thoughts of the Creator of the world are not within the power of man to reach them, ‘for our ways are not His ways, nor are our thoughts His thoughts.” We cannot fathom God’s plan. Maimonides admits he fails to comprehend a positive goal in the spread of Christianity, but it can in no way compromise God’s ultimate plan, as these events were not thwarted by God. A negative may be utilized for a positive. But Christianity remains a “negative”.

To distort Maimonides as saying Christianity “contributes” to God’s plan, is opposite what he did say, that it “does not compromise” God’s plan. The former suggest it is an inherent good, while the latter retains Chritianity’s true status as one of the worst evils in world history. Maimonides does not say it contributes to God’s plan. He writes: “And all these matters of Jesus of Nazareth and that of the Ishmaelite who arose after him are only to straighten the way of the king Messiah and to fix the entire world, to serve God as one.” After he openly states that Christianity is the “greatest stumbling block”, Maimonides cannot turn 180°, suggesting in the same breath that it is a good. Keep all of the author’s words in front of your eyes.

So let us understand Maimonides words: “How (will this come about)? The entire world has already become filled with the mention of the Messiah, with words of Torah and words of mitzvot and these matters have spread to the furthermost isles, to many nations of uncircumcised hearts, and they discuss these matters and the mitzvot of the Torah. Some say: "These mitzvoth are true, but were already nullified in the present age and are not applicable for all time." Others say: "Hidden matters are in them (mitzvot) and they are not to be taken literally, and the messiah has already come and revealed their hidden (meanings). And when the true Messiah stands, and he is successful and is raised and exalted, immediately they all will retract and will know that fallacy they inherited from their fathers, and that their prophets and fathers caused them to err.” Maimonides suggests that God’s allowance of man’s free will, expressed in the rise of corrupt religions, has a benefit. Not a benefit in their ideas, but in another manner. I will explain.

Again, “immediately they all will retract and will know that fallacy they inherited from their fathers, and that their prophets and fathers caused them to err.” I believe Maimonides wished to convey the following lesson: a prior fallacy serves to validate a subsequent truth. This is the core idea of the entire quote. Let me explain.

If one errs, believing a fallacy as truth, and subsequently learns the truth, he then dismisses his previous error. Conversely, if the true Messiah arrives, and teaches Torah, others might then develop new, false religions, as was so during the rise of Christianity and all other religions, post Moses. Through their false interpretations of true Torah, Jesus and other false prophets deceived themselves and others, that they correctly interpreted new events as God’s fulfillment of His promise of redemption. But, as God plans, if their error in determining the Messiah is subsequently met with the arrival of the true Messiah, and they are then shown false by the true interpretation of Torah, then all previous errors are recognized as fallacy, “immediately they all will retract and will know that fallacy they inherited from their fathers, and that their prophets and fathers caused them to err.” This precise scenario prevents any future distortions of Torah and the Messiah, which would not be the case if there were no previous, false religions. The very existence of false religions, subsequently met with the arrival of the true Messiah, will eternally discount all religions, except for Judaism. In this manner, Judaism will forever remain as the true word of God.

I will give another example of this method of God instructing man, where a prior fallacy serves to validate a subsequent truth: Rashi (Num. 13:2) quotes this Rabbinic statement, “(God said) by their lives, I will give them an opportunity to err with the words of the spies so they don’t inherit the land of Israel.” This would seem like a vindictive statement, but as God is devoid of emotion, how do we understand it? I believe the meaning is this: Had God not permitted the spies to spy out Israel, they would have been harboring an incorrect notion in relation to God. That is, their desire to ‘send spies’ displayed their disbelief in God’s promise that they will successfully conquer Israel. If this disbelief was not brought out into the open, they would remain with this false notion, and this is not tolerable by God. What is meant by "God gave them an opportunity to err"? It means that God gave them an opportunity to act out this notion in reality so it can be dealt with. God’s goal was not their loss of Israel. Giving them “a chance not to inherit Israel” is God offering those Jews a generous chance to realize their emotional conflict: they were not desirous of inheriting Israel and denied God’s promise. In this manner, the Jews are enabled by God to face their mistake, and perhaps correct it.

I believe this is also the case with God allowing false religions to rise prior to His delivering the true Messiah. God certainly prefers that the false religions never existed, but He allows man free will, and history to run a course where the truth will ultimately be unopposed. Allowing false religions to rise prior to the Messiah, God secures man a future where all arguments against Torah have been addressed.

It is my belief that the Torah institution of a Messiah serves a primary goal: to unite all peoples in God’s worship. God knew how history would unfold, that Judaism would be fragmented into numerous branches, and deviations in levels of observance would arise. A cure to this problem was necessary. I believe that the Messiah is this cure. Upon Messiah’s arrival, who is accepted by the many Jewish factions other than authentic orthodoxy, Judaism will thereby be unified, and be followed in its original form. Since all members of Judaism accept the coming of Messiah, in contrast to all other laws, which are so compromised, the institution of the Messiah is the one institution that all Jews accept. All Jews will follow Messiah’s teachings. Judaism will return to its pure, original form, hopefully soon, to be taught by the Messiah, God’s true messenger.

This is not only true regarding various Jewish factions, but also on the world scale of all religions. Messiah has become the center of religious difference. Upon his arrival, not only will all Jews unite in one practice, but all other religions will also abandon their fallacies, accepting Judaism as the one, true word of God.

The institution of the Messiah serves to unite all Jews and all nations to serve God in one practice. All other religions will be dismissed as complete falsehoods. Such a dismissal of prior fallacy insures that no future deviation from God’s word will occur.

God preferred that man never deviated from Torah, be he Jew or Gentile. And even though man has deviated by creating false religions, his actions cannot compromise God’s plan, but God uses man’s error for an ultimate good. Better that man does not err, but thankful are we that God utilizes our errors and implements corrective measures for all humanity. Rabbi Greenberg completely misunderstood Maimonides. Maimonides viewed Christianity as an evil, and we must be sympathetic with Christians, teaching them their error, not hiding truths from them for any other goals. “Rebuke a wise man and he will love you”. (Proverbs, 9:8)

Remember what Maimonides said, “Can there be a greater stumbling block than Christianity?”