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Kabbalah and Politics
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Rabbi Ginsburgh responds to the Israeli governments call to dismantle Jewish settlements
Q: How can you say that only the Jewish religion is the "true religion." I was taught that there is truth in every religion.
A: Our Sages teach that we can accept the wisdom of non-Jews on the condition that we do not accept the belief system of that particular wisdom. Clearly, there are sparks of wisdom in every belief system. However, the question that must be asked here is if there is an absolute truth, or if truth itself is relative. God, the Absolute, gave the Torah, which is His absolute truth. If we accept this premise, this then precludes the truth of any faith system outside the Torah. Admittedly, this is not the accepted thinking in the western world, where we have been taught to accept that each person has his own narrative, and sees the truth through his own prism of reality. When taken to its extreme, this moral relativism allows for even the most immoral acts–terrorism, murder, adultery–as we have seen in the very recent past. However, it is clear and simple to all those who believe in God and His Torah – the faith of Israel – that Moses is truth and his Torah is truth.
It is the responsibility of the Jewish People to be a "light unto the nations–"to love the nations of the world and to help them come close to God. This can only be accomplished if it is first clear what is true and moral, and what is not. Our sages addressed moral relativism by teaching that a person who has mercy on a cruel person will ultimately be cruel to a merciful person.
Clearly, we must respect those people who still subscribe to faith systems outside the Torah (not including respect for those who wish to harm the Jewish people or any other God fearing people). This, however, does not mean that we accept their faith systems as true.
Ideally, all the people of the world should worship the One God of Israel according to the seven commandments that God gave to the non Jewish world. These commandments ensure love, peace and prosperity for all. (For more on these commandments, see the section on "Jews and Non-Jews on the Inner Dimension website.
We anticipate the fulfillment of the verse in Tzefania 3:9, "Then I will turn to the nations in clear language, to unanimously call in the Name of God, to worship Him with one shoulder." In the final redemption, all the non Jews will renounce their unclarified belief systems, and will recognize the true faith with joy and happy hearts, as is explained at length at the end of the Mishneh Torah of Maimonides.
