LSS Fall Beit Midrash - Shattered Vessels Session 2

8/10/2019 LSS Fall Beit Midrash - Shattered Vessels Session 2

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Shattered Vessels: Judaisms Encounter with the Postmodern

Session 2: Transhumanism Posthumanism Fall Beit Midrash Series @LSS

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Shane Willis, Hands Fixing Hands [2007]

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I. The End of the World Human as We Know It

1. 1st Humanist Manifesto, 1933

So stand the theses of religious humanism. Though we consider the religiousforms and ideas of our fathers no longer adequate, the quest for the good

life is still the central task for mankind. Man is at last becoming aware

that he alone is responsible for the realization of the world of his

dreams, that he has within himself the power for its achievement. He

must set intelligence and will to the task.

2. The Posthuman Manifesto [Robert Peperrell], 2005VI. Statements on uncertainty

1. The humanist era was characterised by certainty about the operation of the universe and

the place of humans within it. The posthuman era is characterised by uncertainty about theoperation of the universe and about what it is to be human.

2. Questions arise in the posthuman era that would have not troubled us in the humanist era

What is a human? Is there such a thing?

3. Historically, we could say the posthuman era, the age of uncertainty, was born in the period

leading up to World War I since this was the time we were introduced to quantum physics and

cubism. The consequences of both made one thing clear: in the words of Heisenberg, There

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are no things, just probabilities. 4. Uncertainty is becoming familiar. There is uncertainty

about lifetime employment, about political and economic theory, about what is happening to

the environment, about whether scientific progress is always beneficial and about where

technology is leading us. 5. What can we say is certain? Only that which we have to accept as

certain for some other reason. 6. In posthuman terms uncertainty is nothing to fear. The world

has always been as uncertain as it is now. What has changed is that it is now much harder toimpose authority since increased information flow diminishes authority: there is more

information, therefore, there is less false sense of certainty. Certainty, like belief, only arises in

the absence of full information. 7. Uncertainty is certain.

3. Ray Kurzweil, Interview with Rolling StoneMagazine; 2/19/09

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II. (de)Emphasizing Anthropocentrism in Jewish Thought

4. Genesis 1:26-7

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5. Mishnah Avot, 3:14

6. R. Moshe Cordovero, Tomer Devorah

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8. b. Sanhedrin 38a

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Our Rabbis taught: Man was created on Sabbath eve, in order that the heretics would not say

that [Man] was a partner with God in the creation of the world. Another thing is that if

someone would be inclined to let his mind soar, to him we would reply: a gnat preceded you in

the order of creation

9. R. Saadiah b. Yosef Gaon, Sefer Emunot ve-Deot[trans. Alexander Altman]; 4:1

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10.R. Moshe b. Gershom Hefetz, Melekhet Makhshevet(Venice, 1699)

I have no doubt that the whole universe, the heavens and their myriads were not created

for Man, as many, even of our own people believe. Rather, it is clear that whatever God has

created in the universe is only created for his own glory [purposes?], as is evident from our

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Rabbis. Even if from time to time there may be an indication otherwise, it is only to teach us

the other point of view, that we may be instilled with a love of God, thinking that the

universe has been created for usas we assume that we are at the center of the many

universes

This is the intention of the exhortation in the Talmud (b. Sanhedrin 37a) that every

individual must say: for me the world was created, and it is wise and good to educate themasses in this way.

However, the truth of the matter is that the world and all its creatures were created for a

purpose that is unknowable to us, hidden by God for His own devices and plans. Man was

created to work for the world, not the world to work for him, as Maimonides has ably

demonstrated in The Guide.

Do not be swayed by, nor pay attention to, the words of some of our thinkers who in their

self-righteousness claim that the entire universe was created for Man this is but vanity

and vacuity

11.Maimonides, Guide of the Perplexed [trans. Shlomo Pines]; 3:131

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Clearly anthropocentrism is a myth and a mirage. It is wishful thinking. Man is just another organism

within a whole ecology. He may have superior abilities, his survival skills are more developed, and he

therefore can make better use of his surroundings. He may be able to control his environment though not

always to his best interest. From a religious perspective we look at man as part of an infinite universe.

God created this universe to last forever and man is one little organism that is part of this infinite entity.

The first and foremost priority is for the universe to survive with or without man. Mans abilities, the

abilities that developed as part of Gods will at creation, allow him to actively partake in this greatsystem. He has the choice of being productive and eventually take control of his environment or destroy it

and himself. That is the meaning of the Passuk we will be reading in a few days:

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28 And God blessed them; and God said unto them: 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and

subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living

thing that creeps upon the earth.' [David Guttman, Believing is Knowing blog; 10/10/06]

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After this preamble, you should know that the final end of all that exists ought not to be

sought

It is likewise though that the finality of all that exists is solely the existence of the human

species so that it should worship God, and that all that has been made has been made for it

alone so that even the heavenly spheres only revolve in order to be useful to it and to bring it

into existence that which is necessary for it

Even if the universe exists for the sake of man, and the final end of man is, as has been said, to

worship God, a question remains to be asked regarding the final end of worship. For He, may

He be exalted, would not acquire greater perfection if He were worshipped by all that He had

created and were truly apprehended by them, nor would He be attained by a deficiency if

nothing whatever existed except HimNecessarily and obligatorily the argument must end

with the answer being given that the final end is: God has wished it as so, or: His wisdom has

required this to be so

12.R. Meir ibn Gabbai, Avodat ha-Kodesh [Ch. ha-Tahlit, pt. 1]

And Maimonides wrote in his famous book that the question of the purpose of

creation had been nullified and rendered moot, which is to say that one who would

entertain the notion that the purpose is humanity is mistaken.

And what the Rabbi (Maimonides) thought, namely, that he had much support from

the sources, is incorrect. In fact, these sources militate against his position, fightingGods war against it. His position fells the walls of Torah, and denigrates Mans tselem

Elokim, lowering the image of Humanity from its celestial form, as it is comprised of

the merkabah ha-elyonah. This is a wound in the edifice of that which is holy, and is

actually the damaging opinions of those who destroy the ramparts of truth. It seems

that our Rabbi learned this from the dark side of the ets ha-dat, as it is the position

of heretics and atheists

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III. Resurrection + The Image of God: Beyond the Physical

13.R. Pinhas mi-Koretz, Imrei Pinhas ha-Shalem [Bnei Brak: 2003]; p. 131-2, no. 340

14.b. Sanhedrin 65b

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15. R. Tzvi Hirsch b. Jacob Ashkenazi, Resp. Hakham Tzvi; no. 93

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16.R. Moshe Cordovero, Sefer Pardes Rimonim; Shaar he-Heikhalot [#24], ch. 10

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18. R. Abraham Isaac ha-Kohen Kook, Kevatsim mi-Ktav Yad Kodsho; vol. 2, 1:11

Tehiyat ha-Meitim is united, part and parcel of all of the advances of the elite

scientists. The value of evolution ad infinitum (=theosis) must also be fused with the

practice of the ethical and moral drives. The worry of pushing away The Makom

should not distress us, as we become aware of the infinitude of physical worlds, that

in light of our greatest advances it is no longer impossible that there should not be an

imagining of how to settle the myriad stars, and how to become used to the changing

conditions of the ways of lifeat the very least, however, that the conditions of the

advent of this resurrection can conform to the above...

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LSS Fall Beit Midrash - Shattered Vessels Session 2