THE PARABLE OF THE PALACE, EXPLAINED

Last week, we summarized Rambam's presentation of the palace parable, but did not discuss the levels he thought were included. Let's turn to that section of the chapter (beginning on the bottom of page 618). As we begin, what we need to pay attention to is Rambam's focus on thinking about God (after proper intellectual preparation) as the central endeavor for those who wish to be close with Him. That means that, aside from coming to correct conclusions about God, there is a need for continuing attachment to Him in order for any closenes to becreated or sustained.

Rambam says that those who are outside the city are those who have no doctrinal belief, by which I believe he means have no concept of a God whatsoever. They are not wrong on this question, they simply do not entertain it. He notes that such people, in his view, are not quite human, a belief that does not necessarily involve any abrogation of their rights, but makes his priorities perfectly clear. This belief also fits well with his view that our intellects are the godly part of ourselves, our tselem elokim, and that it is in devloping those powers that we earn a share in the World to Come.

It is not enough, in Rambam's view, to use one's intellect; to be considered human means to use that intellect to develop true understanding of God. That would mean that someone who simply ignores the Divine and thinking about God should fit into this category, such as an agnostic. Someone who cared only about business and never bothered with religious ideas or ideals would possibly, according to Rambam, qualify for this category of those who are outside the city, who have not even understood the fundamental task of being human.

THE SECOND GROUP-- DOCTRINAL ERROR

While the second group is more sophisticated than the first, they are also more problematic. They are those who "turned their backs on the ruler's habitation," by which Rambam refers to those who have made some kind of error in their analysis of God and c ome to some kind of false opinion (such as, perhaps, the notion that God has a body or that there are several gods). Rambam includes in this category those who have erred by virtue of following a tradition. In counting someone as a member of this category, in other words, Rambam does not differentiate between those who committed the error themselves-- the originator of a false form of-worship-- and the later generations who follow that belief. Following family tradition is no excuse in this instance, and all those who continue to follow that tradition are part of this category, and may be liable for death. Having been born to a Baal-worshipping family and adhering to that family practice as an adult still means that that person has his back to the ruler's habitation, constantly getting farther from God rather than closer.

Rambam adds in this paragraph the belief that under some circumstances it will be necessary to kill members of this class (a reference to the requirement to kill idol-worshippers, and perhaps also the seven Canaanite nations and Amalek), to prevent them from leading others astray with their opinions. Someone who believes in idols will need to be put to death, according to Rambam, because he might lead others astray as well.

A couple of interesting points come out of this paragraph. First, Rambam equates the original error with later error-- sincerity is not a factor for him, nor is the ability to claim that one was simply following the tradition within which he was raised. Second, Rambam recognizes the possibility that we woud need to kill a perfectly nice person, who lived a simple life following the traditions of his family and people, because that culture makes terribly wrong claims about God.

In our nonjudgmental world that seems incredibly harsh, but it is a firm belief of Rambam's-- there is a great deal at stake in the human endeavor, the attempt to spread correct monotheism around the world. Those who get in the way of that goal, regardless of motive, must be pushed aside in whatever way necessary (For some counterbalance, recall that in the Mishneh Torah it is Rambam who asserts the novel claim that members of the 7 nations or even of Amalek could escape death as long as they agreed to a life of servitude to the Jews, the standardberers pf monotheism. Rambam was not insistent on death itself, then, he was concerned that the Jewish version of monotheism be the controlling doctrine of the world).

DON'T EVEN SEE THE PALACE

Rambam defines this category as the ignoramuses who observe the commandments, by which he means people who perform mitsvot as required, but no more than that. In our day, that might include the majority of Jewish laypeople, who do as told but do not invest much time or thought into their religiosity, and certainly not into the nature of the Divine.

WALKING AROUND THE PALACE

This group is interesting, in that Rambam defines it as consisting of "jurists who believe true opinions on the basis of traditional authority and study the law concerning the practices of divine service, but do not engage in speculation concerning the fundamental principles of religion…[or] the rectification of belief." These people (Talmudists, in the contemporary word) are actively Jewish, in that they both believe what tradition tells them to believe and also study the laws. Their flaw is that they do not also contemplate God, belief, the nature of religion, and other such fundamental questions.

A couple of paragraphs later, Rambam adds that as long as one is studying logic or math, that person is still a member of this group. It is not only within Torah that this category applies, then. Rather, it seems to indicate those who are still involved wholly in matters that are preliminary to the central issues, people who spend all their time on important subject--matter, but make it the end when it was supposed to be a means.

IN THE ANTECHAMBER

The next group, who Rambam saw as having gained access to the antechamber, are those who have begun to analyze matters of religion. Obviously, there are different ranks within this group, since people will differ in the extent to which they have understood the basic principles of religion. The highest rank is one who has (to paraphrase) proved all that can be proven about these matters (God, religion, etc.); gotten whatever knowledge (whether it can be proven or not) is available, and has come as close to certainty about these matters (God's existence, unity, and rule over the world) as possible. The investigation of Godly matters, then, is not a never-ending search for ideas about God, it is a limited discussion of cetain subject matter, with a new step to follow its completion. Rambam refers to this rank as being in the ruler's court.

Among the people in the ruler's court, some have turned their thoughts totally towards God, renouncing everything other than He, and spend their intellectual energies toward "an examination of the beings with a view to drawing from them proof with regard to Him, so as to know His governance of them in whatever way it is possible." We'll come back to this in a later chapter, so Rambam's formulation is worth noting. The source of added information about God (after the study of religion) is watching the world and God's governance of it. That examining the world is a central part of learning more about God is worth remembering.

MOSHE RABBENU

The final level Rambam discusses (really a subcategory of the ruler's council, the previous category) is the one person who managed to get rid of all distractions from his thoughts, and to focus solely on God, Moshe Rabbenu. In doing so, Moshe achieved the ability to speak and be spoken to, a notion of prophecy that did not define earlier prophets. In recording those words of Rambam's, I would note that his view of prophecy, at least in Moshe's case, allowed for give-and-take, which strikes me as being at odds with the common notion that Rambam's view of God as unchanging would prevent any real interaction between Him and man. It suggests that prophecy is more complex for Rambam than just the belief that certain people can hear what a Divine voice. At least Moshe asked questions and got answers as well.

We'll continue with this chapter next week, be"H. I look forward to sharing my thoughts with you then. Shabbat Shalom.