Our rabbis teach us that the path of the Torah is a very narrow path with fire on the right side and ice on the left side. Whoever follows the Torah must always be well focused and balanced, to avoid going off the path and falling in either direction, ice or fire.

On the right is fire, the fire of religious passion that has lost control of itself. This is the fire of religious zeal that slides into extremism, fanaticism and exaggeration. Turning to the right implies giving up a person’s ability to reason in favor of a transcendent and mystical relationship with God. However, with the suspension of the use of reason, one has the possibility of following false gods and superstitious beliefs.

On the left is ice, the ice of skepticism, of crazy rationalism. The warmth of the Torah is lost, its inner beauty and power are denied. Moving to the left means giving up one’s spiritual sense in favor of a cold philosophical view of life. With the rise of ice comes the possibility of living without ever having been able to confront and experience God.

We live in a time when it is increasingly difficult to walk the path of Torah in a focused and balanced way. The intensity of the fire on the right has created a religiosity characterized by extremism, obscurantism, and authoritarianism. We witness a comfortable conformity in thought, behavior, and even dress. Thousands of people stop thinking in favor of following the dictates of their «rebbes» or other halachic authorities. Kabbalists and pseudo-Kabbalists take advantage by giving out amulets, red threads, and magical blessings.

The threats from the left are equally dangerous. Widespread secularism and agnosticism create a huge vacuum. Sociologist Peter L. Berger refers to this modern condition as «spirituality in a vacuum.» To live without feeling the presence of God is to miss a vital and meaningful aspect of life.

Is it possible to maintain a balanced, intellectually sound vision of Judaism? Is it possible to avoid falling into the anti-rationalism of the right or the super-rationalism of the left? Of course. We can walk along that path of the Torah that rests, on the one hand, on the classical foundations of Divine Revelation and on the other on the premise that we have the right and responsibility to question ourselves intellectually, in a spirit of freedom and using our reason. Maintaining that balance is the secret.

By Marcos Gojman

Bibliography: Maimonides, Spinoza and Us, by Rabbi Marc D, Angel.