|
|
April 14, 2006
The biggest question
Rabbi, philanthropist debate existence of God.
DAVE GORDON
Discussions of intelligent design and evolution are in vogue, and
the latest verbal sparring match was about whether atheism has a
place in Jewish life.
This topic was hashed out recently at Manhattan's Congregation Ramath
Orah between a leading Jewish philanthropist and one of America's
most famous rabbis. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, author and lecturer,
debated Michael Steinhardt, one of the most successful money managers
in the history of Wall Street, in New York last week.
In front of around 200 observers, Boteach was charged with defending
the existence of God against Steinhardt's contention of the absence
of a Supreme Being.
"The Holocaust has shown us that a God could not exist,"
said Steinhardt bluntly, explaining he was brought up in a "Orthodox-type"
home, where he prayed regularly and celebrated the holidays. He
became an atheist later in life, but still believes in the importance
of perpetuating Jewish values.
Boteach retorted: "No, the Holocaust doesn't prove that God
does not exist. There is some confusion here. It would seem the
more appropriate argument would be in this case whether God is good
or bad, not whether he exists. OK, he could be a bad God, but that
doesn't prove he doesn't exist." He dismissed the notion that
God is a kind of celestial butler who can be beckoned at will to
help keep bad things from happening to good people. "God can't
be bribed by the way we act," Boteach said.
Steinhardt responded to Boteach's rejoinders with a disparaging
arched eyebrow, furrowed forehead or deep, impatient sighs. A long-time
friend of Boteach's, the avowed atheist has debated the rabbi many
times on this topic.
Despite his atheism, Steinhardt is widely known for his Jewish philanthropic
activities, most notably as co-founder with Charles Bronfman of
Birthright Israel, the organization that provides free trips to
Israel for Jewish youths. A decade ago, Steinhardt stunned the financial
world by announcing that he would close his lucrative hedge fund
and make different investments – in the future of the Jewish
world.
Steinhardt complained about the desecration of God's message, such
as extremism in radical Islam and the fanaticism of some ultra-Orthodox
sects in Israel – who, he contends, mistreat others who are
not like them.
"You're not religious if you act anti-religious," Boteach
responded. "Those people I don't consider to be religious.
The worst tragedies of humankind occurred when people act[ed] as
though there is not God, namely two of the worst homicidal maniacs
of the last century, whose names are Stalin and Hitler."
Steinhardt described his frustration with the disappearance of Jewish
identity in the Diaspora.
"The Reform and Conservative movements, they know they are
in very serious trouble, and they have to realize that demographically,
they are the ones dwindling," said Steinhardt. He advocated
an alternative, a "Common Judaism," where holidays are
marked without necessarily including God, such as Israel's Independence
Day, Chanukah and Purim.
But Boteach said that the idea of God is central to the Jewish people.
"Those movements first began as a direct response to secularization
and assimilation," he said, "and so taking God out of
the equation has obviously cost the Jewish people our numbers. What
do you do on Simchat Torah? Walk around carrying a scroll full of
lies?"
Boteach likened Judaism to a marriage. "Having a relationship
with God is integral," he said. "What if a man was going
to marry and there was no wife? He'd stand there under the chuppah
and exchange vows with who? On his wedding anniversary, who does
he celebrate it with, and who does he give gifts to? When it's her
birthday, he says, 'Happy birthday to you, but wherever you are,
I don't know!' You see, we as Jews need a relationship with God
or there's no Jewish people; there's no marriage."
Steinhardt questioned the traditional Jewish view of the world being
6,000 years old, asking Boteach about the existence of dinosaurs
and billion-year-old fossils. Boteach argued that he believes that
God is what influenced evolution, and that the days of creation
as explained in Genesis fuse with the theory of evolution.
"There are millions of optic fibres alone that connect to each
other in a two-month-old fetus – and how can that be merely
a random act of billions of years?" Boteach asked Steinhardt.
"You must have all kinds of things in your attic, Michael,"
he continued. "Do you think if you left that stuff there for
a billion years that it would suddenly spring to life? Only intelligence
can create intelligent life. There had to be something there before
to get it all started."
Dave Gordon is a freelance writer whose work has appeared
in the Baltimore Sun, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Ottawa Sun and
others.
^TOP
|
|
