Truthful Sayings

By: Jonathan Seidel

post-truth good v evil and the need for value over truth   

Rabbi Sacks in a press conference belied the state of the post-truth world. Arguing if there is no truth there is no trust. Yet is this genuine? What does Judaism say about truth and is there a solution?

Post-truth defines as disputes over truth claims. It has become popular in politics surrounding fake news. Is Trump lying? Are democrats on a witch hunt? These debates hound the public uncertain of who to trust. Is Trump telling the truth or are the democrats? Is Trump a fascist or are the democrats fascists? The wave of fake news and the political divisiveness surrounding the genuine claims is alarming to the public. Is Trump really evil, is Biden evil? Each candidate attacks the other. Each side strawmans the other side. There is no debate just jargonist volatile attacks. While post-truth has finally been recognised in the dictionary it is not a new concept. It is one that haunts back to Nietzsche. A philosopher who challenged the erosion of religiosity and the sluggish annoyance of modernity. 

Nietzsche is the forebear of the progressive social constructionism. The idea that humans manipulate reality into a method they desire. There are no absolutes solely what man believes them to be. Nietzsche railed against the metaphysical claims of old whether from science or religion. Truth is a creation for serenity. To cope with the ever shifting world. Yet what Nietzsche is arguing is rather different to how he is being parlayed against Trump. Nietzsche isn’t talking about lying or deceiving others but deceiving oneself. Nietzsche is talking about narratives. Narratives that are wrongheaded. The human nature is falsehood concocted by religious idiots to control or meld their reality. It isn’t about whether Trump is a liar or a saint. It is rather whether the ideas that are communicated are genuine. This is the so-called postmodern critique. The disillusionment not with individuals but with society. Society promised liberation but did not follow through. Nietzsche’s polemic rings in the French philosophers bemoaning the broken rewards. 

Post-truth politics, post-truth sayers and even Rabbi Sacks are focusing on the wrong issue. They are focusing on cases not narratives. The difference between Trump lying and credible traditional values are two different questions. Whether Trump is a liar or politicians are liars is analogous. The debate of post-truth is not as some journalists have taunted Trump since it has been exposed that much of the polemics against him were falsely concocted. Take the lies of Covid, Fauci and Whitmer’s failed kidnapping by feds. Even the January sixth insurrection has come under fire since it seems that not only did the commission illegally destroy evidence but the evidence we do have shows some murky fed involvement. None of these are cases but narratives. Covid came from a lab but since Trump said it, it must be a Russian coup. Even the use of Russia as a proxy boogeyman has gone too far. Post-truth has little do with lying and more to do with liars. With agenda driven narrational deception. 

If post-truth is rather about narratives, what does Judaism say about them? Judaism does not hold truth in the highest regard as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the brothers all lie. Straight up lie. Yet they lie for a reason. There is a deeper purpose beyond their lying. To Rabbi Sacks even the forefathers lie egregiously. Truth by case is not even the highest motto in Judaism. Two examples of “This is the Torah that Moses placed before Israel via God in Moses’ hand” and “I am hashem your God who took you out of Egypt” are truth claims with value underpinnings. These narratives are more concerned with value than truth. The Gemara does point out the merit of oaths. How seriously they are taken. While oaths are to ascertain truth they are by case not narrative. It isn’t about a historical claim or an ideological position but who owes who. The Torah on case level finds truth imperative but not so with regard to narratives. Truth is a big factor but is second to the value that it complements. 

Maimonides notoriously sought truth in the face of despair. Science is truth and thus the Torah is to be interpreted in such a manner. This scientific view led him to denounce mystical encounters, mythological creatures and divine emotions. Anthropomorphisms are figurative lessons. Maimonides sought to explain the Torah in a rational manner but in the end provided a more fruitful discussion. Maimonides employed the earliest iteration of mythological symbolism. The stories and figurative stories are ethical lessons to the reader. Many believed he took it too far. The Torah says it therefore it must be true. Maimonides did not invent this rational style and is part of a legacy dating back to the Geonim. French rabbis and mystical thinkers were unhappy with such lack of literalism. The literal translation is the truth which is itself a complicated saying since there are numerous talmudic texts and midrashim that interpret the Torah away from the biblical text. It was the French thinkers who sought to grapple with the halakha and the Torah’s differences, while the Andalusian tradition kept them separate. Truth need not be deduced by literal encroachment. 

Mystics did not enjoy Maimonides’ view but it provides a profound reading of the text. It is not to say that Maimonides is correct but that his de-mythologising brings incredible value to the narrative. The story of creation and eden have little care for their historicity and more for what the text can teach. The phrase, “The actions of the forefathers is a sign for the children” is ingrained in the educational prose of the biblical stories. The stories are valuable more than they are truthful. Did Abraham eat with the angels? Maybe, does it matter? Not really. Taking Maimonides’ logic believing Abraham’s meal does not take away from the value. If anything the uncertainty ought to brew the message more than the history. Yet unfortunately, much of the rabbinic camp was preoccupied with procuring truth. Halevi tried to prove that Sinai happened from mass revelation, Maimonides of metaphysical jargon and Gersonides the eternity of matter. The goal of Judaic science was find truth in the same way mystics sought their truth. Each vying for supremacy. 

The world of the medievals was a search for truth. Rationalising God and devising all sorts of proofs for his existence. The deadly battles between religions was rooted in truth. Whose truth is correct? There can only be one. Therefore all who reject are to be slain. This was the slogan of Christian Europe. The cause for the Inquisition. Ironically, even Jews who converted during the Inquisition were received poorly since they were once Jews, they were tainted (though each of them was once something else so it quite the superiority complex). Still, the pursuit of monistic religiosity caused destruction. If you didn’t follow Christianity or Islam you were a heretic. The infidels need to be swept. This monism because excessively tragic during the rise of communism and nazism. Both Stalinist Russia and Nazi Germany forbid pluralism. There was one method of living and anyone who sought to live a double life would face a severe penalty. The medieval version that sprung from antiquity cared only for truth. When truth was taken too far it murdered millions of Jews. Christian theologians of the 20th century blamed the Jews for the Holocaust. The pursuit of truth and the blatant disregard for human dignity. Justifying murder on truth. Such devilish tactics are the cause of fear. 

The world of truth is a dangerous game. The medievals may have played a theoretical game in their writing but it was a practical horror for those who were affected by the monolithic thinking. Stalinism and Nazism took it too far. Even the United States was falling prey to a monistic echo-chamber. The world has yet to concede truth. Despite post-truth world claims, people still hold to their truths. They may have abandoned some but found new ones. A secularist may have abandoned his religiosity because it wasn’t true to him and found naturalism to be more true. Even without his natural leanings, his liberalism is a truth claim. He believes the left is right and the right is wrong. The division between political parties in the United States is gradually drifting farther away. People have admitted they do not have friends on the other side of aisle. Not being friends with someone because of their political leanings. They think the other side is wrong. Everyone is shoved into a box, believes these archetypical things and is spited for something they never claimed. Truth continues to haunt. Unlike the claim of the supposed post-truthers, truth is very much alive and kindling. It isn’t a post-truth world but a cunning deceptive world. 

The post-truthers are right about one thing conceptually. Despite the rampant division, people are waking up to the nonsense. Trump’s election is a byproduct of disillusionment with the system. Since Covid those numbers have steadily grown. The independents are rising. More minorities have become more conservative. The shift is away from the establishment. Government is the problem and media is stoking the flames. It is not about Trump or Pelosi but all of them. An article came out about bipartisan insider trading. Half were democrats and half were republicans. The oscars and other award shows have plummeted. People are unhappy with the elitist preaching. Don’t push climate change and shame coal miners when your emissions are one hundred times greater in your private jet. Lyotard’s postmodern moniker is unveiling. The narratives of corporatism, universalism, media and sexuality are losing their ground. Trump’s election was the rejection of these meta-narratives, of these aspirations. Covid has only furthered suspicions. People are looking for change and it is not in political elites.    

Judaism has also found its footing in the post-truth world. A resurgence in orthodoxy. Yet this is a pivotal moment. How will orthodoxy react and cater to this jump. The wrong way would be to promote truth. Meaning the jargon of being Jewish because it is the only true religion is a dangerous play. It is the cause of strife and genocide. If you cannot be saved or considered good because you are not of that religion, there may be a problem with that religion. Doing something because you think it is true leads to dangerous thinking. Instead, orthodoxy ought to promote value. Is Judaism worthwhile. This is intentional since living by Judaism is a value choice not a forced choice. Why should I be Jewish because you enjoy it because it is your heritage. Not being Jewish out of fear but out of love. A valuational metric does not undermine the historicity of Judaism. Every religion claims to be true but Judaism claims to be valuable. It reminds of a scene in Mad Men: the government issued that tobacco companies must publicise health detriments of cigarettes. Don takes the opportunity to advertise Lucky Strikes as toasted. All other cigarettes are poisonous but Lucky Strikes is toasted. Drawing the same analogy from the secularist claim. All other religions are false but Judaism is valuable. This adds a critical dimension that overcomes the horrors of old. 

The difference between the post-truth definitions is one between faith and trust (emunah and bitachon). Faith is trust in the unknown. Does God exit? I believe that he does. There is no proof just hope. Trust is the known. Do you trust him? I believe that he will come through. There is evidence whether he is trustworthy. Faith hinges on humility in the unresolved while trust is in something that can be measured. A person is untrustworthy if they keep letting you down. You put your fate in their hands and they fail over and over again. You can put your fate in God’s hands but have no idea if he will come through or if he did come through. It is mere speculation. This is the difference between narratives and cases. Narratives cannot be measured. They can be speculated but they are generalisations. Are politicians corrupt some are but not everyone is yet pointing to a specific politician's corruption is a case based model. People have faith that the government has their best interest while they trust their representative will fight for them. The rejection of narratives in Lyotard’s formulation is cynicism of the seemingly problematic aspects. The case-based distrust is subverting the narrational faith. The institution seems troublesome. Scepticism is more speculative than pinpointed accuracy. A narrative can be flawed but it can’t necessarily be false. The meta-narratives Lyotard points out weren’t lies but failed projects. Cases demean narratives, tainting them to oblivion. 

Maimonides differentiates between pre-sin and post-sin intellectually. Pre-sin there was truth and falsehood and post-sin good and evil emerged. It was false that Adam had a mate and it was evil that they were naked. Truth is subjected to the latter. They realised they weren’t wearing clothes and embarrassed they clothed themselves. The lies of the forefathers is subjecting truth to good and evil. Is lying in this case good or evil? Each of them decided that the truth was not worth the consequences. Truth is no longer a barometer of metaphysical relationships but good and evil. Truth in the name of good and evil intends to harm those who disagree. For Christians it was Jews for not accepting Jesus. Yet Maimonides takes his pre-sin v post-sin further in his anthropomorphism. Maimonides has been ridiculed heavily for this but it does cultivate an alternative approach. Maimonides did so in the name of science but what if it is done in the name of value. Creation, Eden and the flood have their literalists and allegorists. The allegorists are not rejecting the event but promoting a message. To a point that even if it isn’t literally true it is metaphorically true. It is valuable beyond the literal event. The “mythology” is powerfully inspirational. The post-truth world can have both the literalists and allegorists since both are in the pursuit of value. 

Post-truth Judaism can be aligned with constitutional systems or parenting norms. No one is following the law because they think James Madison wrote the constitution. Few know of John Jay's contribution. People care about its contents and how it affects their life. The halakha in the same way matters insofar as its hermeneutical continuity. Whether the Sages had superpowers or not does not change the legal aptitude. Cleaning dishes and taking out the trash may be a bore but it is a part of a cohesive family. Everyone has a job. It may always be painstakingly tedious but nonetheless important. Judaism has had its cry of rigid legalism. Yet it is just house rules. There are certain obligations. Whether they are done in joy or sorrow, they are completed. It is a value point not a truth point. You don’t do the dishes because your parent told you to and he is your parent. Had he not been your real father you wouldn’t do it. You help around the house even if you’re in someone else’s house or you are adopted. If a child found out they were accidentally switched at birth they would (I hope) still consider their parents who raised them their parents even if not biologically. It is about the value provided not the truth beneath.

The post-truth world is not one of deceivers. That is called humanity. The reason the rabbinic oath and judicial perjury exist is to place someone’s name on the record. For them to be ousted for their insolence and lost trust. People may lie but either from legal or social consequences will not lie under oath. Yet this is very different from a governmental coverup, bipartisan support and hurting the citizenry. It is not just one media outlet but dozens in the name of ideology. Not one politician but the entire institution. Trump’s victory was not because Obama lied but because elites lie, because the establishment lies. Trump is anti-establishment let’s vote for him. Mainstream media is not one station but the entire corpus so independent journalists on youtube and sub-stack have grown. Unfortunately, many of these new outlets like the Trump revolution have bred new ideologies. This is truth. The cycle will continue until truth is no longer the energy powering the narrative. Do not follow a narrative because you think this will bring some cosmic salvation. Do it because you think it is right. Do it because it is worthwhile. It is not falling in line to a political guru or submitting to a popular crew at school. Carve your own destiny, do not let others pave your path for you. 

Judaism is a religion of truth. Jews believe God gave the Torah to Moses at Sinai. There is nothing wrong with that. The claim of the post-truth world is not that the Jewish claim is false but that falsehood is second to value. Instead of ensuring people stay religious through fear it should be done through acceptance and understanding. Judaism is not to be coerced but revered. People who reject  religiosity do so not because they don’t think it is true, they just don’t care. Truth is meaningless. Without value truth is either a last-stitch hope to compel observance or it is abandoned entirely. People will reject truth they won’t reject value. Jews ought to hold onto their truth. It is their heritage and their mythos. Yet the most important aspect is not whether Moses was at Sinai but whether Sinai speaks to you. To give just one last example. The right to bear arms. For longest time the argument was due to originalists claims that the founders thought so. The new narrative is its protective clause. No concern for the truth narration of the founders. It is irrelevant. What is relevant is the law to everyday society. For pro-gun advocates to preach the value of gun over a history lesson of truth. The founders may indeed have felt this way for all time or maybe it was for their time but the advocate must make it relevant to current society. The object, the postulate is the same but the narrative changed. 

This is a little outside the box but it is an integral measure for the future of orthodoxy and the future of humanity. The world needs stop focusing on the truth of narratives. Truth in cases will persist. Trust is but the bedrock of human connection. The Rav’s Adam II seeks a community. Intersectionality and neo-stalinists have rebranded the model of community. Individualism is dead and monism is stronger than ever. No longer governmentally imposed but youthfully inspired. Trust will never die since it is a beacon of human necessity. Post-truth isn’t about trusting people but trusting institutions. Narratives not cases are at stake. Believe all women has been weaponised to hurt innocent men. Yet this narrative is being pushed back. It isn’t destroyed since women ought to be believed conceptually but not at the expense of pragmatic evidence to the contrary. Judaism in the same way can purpose the same old divisive truth narrative or seek a value narrative that provides an alternative view of the promising Jewish lifestyle. One of joy and courage. One of passion and humility.