Faith, Intellect, Wisdom

very much true. it is my life experience.

Interesting that it was perceived that Rabbi was saying there is no faith nor intellect in wisdom. I don't believe that was his intent, for to gain wisdom, one must know G-d, for He IS truth, and that means exercising faith and intellect. Wisdom is like the culmination of these traits and "seeing" them, though not necessarily having started out wanting to know them or being able to say it was our knowledge that got us to that truth. Ex. Many christians do not *want* to believe Sabbath, but truth still remains,.. it is G-d's Holy day of worship.. Why, because Truth said it. It can't be believed away or reasoned away... not truly even in just the individual life, because eventually every soul will know The G-d of heaven and earth. Yet wisdom of Sabbath is to believe with our faith and practice and observe with our intellect... because like G-d, It is. That is why we can be secure and committed in our worship to the One True G-d, because He IS Truth. I AM the Way the Truth and the Light.

Yes, Gd can do anything, but, as the Alter Rebbe says in Tanya, He "wants", (rather than 'may') enter into the world only through what is subservient to H-m. This subservience is the power, the substance, of Chochma (koach ma), loosely translated as wisdom.

Though I don't understand why Rabbi excluded faith as a path of Gd's dwelling in our world. The Rebbe Rashab, who's yahrzeit was beis nisan, gave us 'Ayin Beis' which says plenty about faith. Of course, 'faith' is also a worldly term. We're not talking about the faith of folly. When we say faith, we mean what is the real faith. We're talking about a very deep part of the soul that is one with G-d. I wonder if the Rabbi would comment on 'pnimius atik, pnimius Abba'. The internal (part of) faith is identical to the internal of chochma. And thus faith is essential to G-d's presence in our world, and in fact, I think, a prerequisite (Rambam). As well, "that which it is told"? Yes, if Gd is the speaker.

The revelation of wisdom is gifted from the Light of Hochma. Its power strikes like a bolt of lightening to shift our perception to the true, complete picture.

Many scientists were given the 'out-of-the-box' answer in this way - for example - the benzene ring carbon structure, the laser, etc. - then they were able to figure the logic to explain the phenomenon.

Unfortunately, I do not think this is true. In my years I have learned that there is an intellectual life concerned with discovering truth using scientific method; faith that is reasonable and faith that is unreasonable; and wisdom that only the perspective of mature hindsight can give. These definitions differ from the ones you used, but it is your conclusion that is the most disconcerting- saying that wisdom is the only channel through which an infinite Gd will enter limits Him, obviously contradictory to His nature as infinite.

And because the world cannot pin it down in categories, it transcends the world and cannot be misused.

I love it that true Torah cannot ever be used to make money or to beget power. It is always some distortion of it that manages to become a channel of evil.

Wisdom is nuanced it cannot be taught and yet somehow we all recognize it. I recognize it here.

i thank you for this lesson, shalom