Next, Rebbe Nachman continues: “And not question at all and not look at the books of the philosophers.” This is another piece of advice. In addition to actively strengthening our emunah in Hashem and the Torah every day, we must also be careful to protect our emunah by not getting involved in questioning. During the times of Rebbe Nachman, the wicked philosophy of the “Enlightenment” was quickly spreading through Eastern Europe, causing a lot of damage to the simple emunah of the Jewish community. For the first time in history, Eastern European Jews began to mix with the non-Jews and assimilate. Many people fell completely. Others who stayed religious lost the holiness of their pure emunah and became more modern. All of this was the result of the books of philosophy that question the foundation of the Jewish faith.
Nowadays, we have an even greater test. Although the books of philosophy are no longer so prevalent and we have no interest in studying them, the opinions of these books are the basis for everything in the secular world. Nearly all of the articles in the newspaper and the information on the internet comes from the fundamental concepts of these heretical books. Modern culture attributes everything that happens to the “laws of nature” – the idea that encompasses all the main teachings of the Enlightenment movement. Everywhere we go, people speak about the world from the lens of the philosophical theories that question the very existence of Hashem.
Thus, even though we already know to stay away from the source of these wicked ideas, we have to be careful not to let their effects creep into our hearts. We have to be careful not to have any questions on our simple emunah in Hashem. We should remember that scientific studies simply reveal the wonders of Hashem. They show us the G-dliness that exists in every aspect of Creation. This approach is especially important for those of us who need to study these things for our work, or our health, and so on.
