The Great Sources with Rabbi Shnayor Burton

In this conversation, Zev and I discuss what role the Torah plays in the pursuit of knowing Hashem00:30 Why do we require the Torah for the pursuit of da'as Hashem?9:00 Can a person achieve da'as Hashem without the Torah?16:30 Is the Torah the exclusive method that brings to da'as Hashem?18:00 What is the Torah and to what genre does it belong?21:45 It is impossible to disentangle Jewish values from the Torah30:30 The Torah's words, narratives and practices anchor a person in da'as Hashem40:00 Does all da'as Hashem trace its roots to the Torah?51:00 Torah as Law and its difference from the Prophets: https://www.ebay.com/itm/364132946794...https://open.substack.com/pub/shnayor/p/ee-and-r-3_1-between-the-torah-and?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web52:00 Da'as Hashem is absent from the Torah; Moshe is higher than the prophets by virtue of his recognition that Hashem is actually unknowable53:30 The Law as guardrails against absolute freedom of thought54:45 We cannot and will not contemplate infinity, and therefore we need the finitude of the Law56:00 Paradoxically, restrictions allow for freedom of thought1:00:00 The Jewish People is the greatest mitzvah1:05:00 Summary of how the Torah serves da'as Hashem

In this conversation, Zev and I discuss the 1000-year era of prophecy, how the perfectly righteous man bends the world to the perfect good, and the challenges of the new prophecy.1:45 Summary of the lecture "How to Reclaim Prophecy":    • The New Knowledge of Hashem: How to Reclai...  6:00 Prophecy 1.0 is the guide to prophecy 2.08:20 Why we consider the era of prophecy to begin with the Exodus despite the great prophets who preceded it10:00 The one thousand years of Jewish history recorded in Tanach stand as the paradigm of Divine Providence, when nothing occurred that lay outside its order12:30 On public and private prophecy; why widespread public prophecy requires the Ark of the Covenant and the Mikdash20:00 How the perfectly righteous man bends God's will to what is good in his eyes26:15 Tefillah is the absolute commitment to what is right32:30 The perfectly righteous man is the one who cannot abide any evil38:30 Those who forgive some evil in themselves will forgive some imagined evil in God42:30 Are we living in prophetic times?44:15 Between the Rambam and R' Yehudah HaLevi48:00 How come the great books don't discuss the new prophecy?52:45 Would someone be able to do the original kind of prophecy today?1:01:45 Today, even the greatest righteous person will accept the impersonal laws of nature as being righteous1:07:00 The challenges of the new prophecy

When the yetzer for idolatry was abolished, prophecy vanished with it. The world, once speaking, went silent. In that silence, was born science: the study of a universe that follows law but no longer reveals purpose.We follow the transformation from the enchanted world of the prophets, through the impersonal age of universals, to the modern possibility of a renewed da’as Hashem. It asks whether we can once again see the world as personal — without falling back into idolatry — and what kind of self would make that possible.00:45 The abolition of the inclination to idolatry2:00 With the abolition of the inclination to idolatry, prophecy came to an end4:30 What conditions would favor the reawakening of the inclination to idolatry and prophecy?6:20 Why are sources and texts necessary for learning about ideas or reality? 3 models15:15 The connection between the abolition of the inclination to idolatry and prophecy — the world, once enchanted, lost its enchantmentOn the enchanted world: https://shnayor.substack.com/p/how-to...18:00 Is the world personal?20:00 The question of whether the world is personal hinges on the problem of evil23:45 To converse with God through His creation is completely natural for one who conceives of His good character manifest in His creation25:00 If the good divine character is manifest in only a part of reality, polytheism results28:30 What "good" means30:00 The problem of evil for the unified personal God32:00 Moshe's request to know Hashem was a quest to understand evil: https://open.substack.com/pub/shnayor...33:30 The denial of Moshe's request is the reason the Torah teaches Hashem's unknowability: https://open.substack.com/pub/shnayor...Between the Torah and the Prophets: https://www.ebay.com/itm/364132946794...35:00 The perfectly righteous man bends Hashem's action to the good he knows in his human soul: https://www.ebay.com/itm/364134646725...38:00 The prophets see God as good in their own image; why Moshe rejected that anthropocentric goodness43:30 Free will is central to the question of whether Hashem is good on the basis of human goodness44:15 The thousand-year era of prophecy when Hashem was known in His goodness: https://open.substack.com/pub/shnayor...48:00 Why the prophetic relationship with Hashem leads imperfect people into idolatry51:45 The end of prophecy and the beginning of science53:00 Science and the depersonalization of nature54:45 In the post-prophetic era, Israel didn't need to be independent, since Hashem's impersonal unity is universal and not particular to His revelation among Israel59:25 Can we yet make the world personal again?1:00:00 The shift in the sense of self from what is temporal to that which is eternal1:02:00 The eternal moral laws are purely good, without contradiction1:08:45 Are we ready for the shift to the new prophecy?1:10:00 Why do we require a particular nation in the era of universal knowledge of Hashem? https://open.substack.com/pub/shnayor...https://www.ebay.com/itm/3744777007721:11:30 The reality of Jewish sovereignty suggests it is time for the new da'as Hashem1:13:30 Q & AWhy would the new da'as Hashem be any safer?What would idolatry look like under the new paradigm?Would religion that requires such a shift in the sense of self be meaningful to people?1:18:00 Why the prophets took the easier path at first1:21:00 Where the notion of a self came from1:23:00 On the centrality of respecting parents and how that shifts our sense of self: https://open.substack.com/pub/shnayor...Why would a soul not care about the destruction of the body?Would the new prophecy be different?

conversation # 5 of the seriesIn this conversation, Zev and I discuss how Da’as Hashem collides with politics, and what steps must follow.0:00 How would we design a political system supportive of Da'as Hashem?5:00 People who appreciate what is good and right about the current order delay the Moshiach8:00 For individuals, the most important question is Da'as Hashem; for the nation, the most important question is what systems would support Da'as Hashem11:15 Is it possible to think about Moshiach while also appreciating and supporting the current order?13:30 The division of labor between those who dream up new worlds and those who support the current world17:20 What goes wrong when politicians do Torah; Abarbanel's problematic approach to monarchy24:45 Should the political theory of Da'as Hashem utilize existing political theory?29:15 The nation of Israel is where political theory breaks down36:00 What's the next move for the Da'as Hashem movement?44:00 Can we make Hashemists? 47:45 The last time Da’as Hashem went political, it became a Golden Calf52:30 Why we can't sell Da'as Hashem55:00 Prophet school1:03:00 The secret society that will meddle in world affairs to advance Da'as Hashem1:15:15 Why there is no Sanhedrin, Beis Hamikdash, or Korbanos1:19:00 The need for working out the political theory of Da'as Hashem1:23:00 The newsletter required for developing the political theory of Da'as Hashem1:26:00 To change the world, explain to them what you're capable of explaining

Conversation # 4 of the seriesIn this conversation, Zev and I analyze the first step of the prophetic path to Da’as Hashem – its logic, practice, and universal relevance.5:00 The four-step discipline of the prophets for reaching Da'as Hashem13:00 The doctrine of Da'as Hashem is universally intelligible and meaningful even without accepting Torah or Judaism16:45 The universality of Da'as Hashem as opposed to the particularism of the Torah22:30 The secret society of Da'as Hashem 24:30 Live demonstration of the first step of the Path43:25 Purifying the soul and serving Hashem circumvents the need for having a developed philosophy of morals 48:45 The connection between tefillah and Da'as Hashem52:00 The Jewish national experience as the training ground for achieving Da'as Hashem57:30 Why pure Da'as Hashem is impossible in exile1:01:45 Why Rabbi Chiya never had kavanah during davening1:06:30 Questions on the first step1:14:15 The stark difference between those who know and those who don't: https://x.com/shnayor/status/1950646482291347817