In his 2000 lecture on Numbers 19, Dennis Prager says that this is the area where he most differs with the tradition. I do not believe that there are any laws we can not understand. The traditional interpretation is that chukim (laws between man and God such as kosher) we can not understand.
Here are three reasons for not seeking out reasons so you understand the traditional antagonism for giving explanations for chukim:
* If you think you know the reason for a law, you can say, the reason no longer applies, so I can drop it.
* Israeli Orthodox thinker Yeshayahu Leibowitz said that people who looks for reasons for divine law are undermining God’s authority.
* It honors God to do it just because God said so.
Where do I differ then from the tradition? I don’t agree that God giving this law is all I need to know. It is critical to doing God’s will to know the reason and meaning of the law. It does not honor God to do it only because God said so. I do keep kosher because God said so, but I keep kosher also because I believe I understand much of the meaning of it.
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