Chapter 16: The Product Corresponds to the Wisdom

The action or result of each wisdom must conform with the basic character of that wisdom. In any particular thought, the result or decision will conform to the creativity, comprehension and profundity exercised therein. In every type of wisdom and science likewise, the results will be determined by the character of that science. In the practical sciences, the effectiveness of a machine produced by the exercise of skill and mastery of a particular science, will verify that science's validity. Every wisdom will be substantiated and fulfilled by its particular results inasmuch as the consummate expression of every wisdom is in action. Since the results validate the wisdoms, the qualities and relative standing of such results will vary in accordance with their respective wisdoms in degree and sequence.

Now let us examine the practical effects of the three schools discussed above. In the case of the Musar school, the aim is the rejection and negation of the material. The practical effect is the repudiation of unseemly moral traits and the acquisition of the finer ones.

The aim of Chakira, religious philosophy, is the recognition of the virtue of intellectual pursuits, particularly of Torah. Its practical effect is occupation with study, and withdrawal from mundane affairs.

The aim of the third school is the recognition of the essential qualities of form and substance. It leads to the dominance of form to the extent that substance itself becomes form, viz., physical matter becomes a vehicle for G-dliness.