Hannah M. Mecaskey/1 Hannah M. Mecaskey Philosophy 1010 Prof. A. Smith 9 April 2005 Homework #2 Assignment: 1. Kiddush Ha-Shem literally means “sanctification of the Divine Name of God,” or in other words, recognizing and paying homage to God’s Name. Kiddush Ha-Shem carries with it the implication of sacrificing oneself and what is dear to one for the sake ofretaining the honor due to God’s Name. Kiddush Ha-Shem has been linked to martyrdom by the fact that individuals would rather die than defame the Name of God. Jewish history contains many examples of this, like the incident of Masada. Unlike Isaac’s mere willingness to die in the Jewish Akedah,Kiddush Ha-Shem is both the willingness and the action of dying for the preservation of God’s Holy Name. Thus, dying forKiddush Ha-Shem essentiall y is martyrdom. 2. To Maimonides, the highest level of perfection attainable is intellectual perfection, defined as improvement of the mind. Intellectual perfection is the highest level attainable because it fulfills Maimonides’ qualifications of being beneficial to body and soul, unique to human beings to have understanding. Intellectual perfection is not derived from a social context, but is unique to each person. Maimonides places great emphasis on intellectual perfection because Maimonides believes that only through intellectual perfection can man gain cognition of God. Maimonides believes that only when reasoning individuals receive Providential illumination. Maimonides’ highest concern is intellectual perfection because only through obtaining Providential illumination can one truly have cognition of God. 3. The 614th Commandment states that the Jews are forbidden to give Hitler posthumous victories by denying the existence of God. Fackenheim saw that Hitler wanted to not only eradicate the Jewish people from the planet, but also the Jewish faith. As God’s Chosen People, Hitler sought to sway Jewish belief in God, who is the very core of theirtradition. Without God, the Jews no longer have purpose as a special chosen people. Fackenheim tells the Jews that to deny their faith because of what Hitler has done in the Shoah will ultimately be accomplishing for him what he could not do in life. Instead ofdenying their faith in God, Fackenheim encouraged the Jewish people with his 614th Commandment to affirm their faith in God- to believe in God despite any opposition to this belief, like the Shoah (absolute faith). The 614th Commandment is Fackenheim’s attempt to find the basis for the Problem of Evil with regard to the Shoah, to which he devoted the last thirty years of him life. Simply put, Fackenheim’s 614th Commandment demonstrates his belief that despite the Shoah, one should maintain absolute faith in God. Because of this hopeful approach to the Problem of Evil with regards to the Shoah, Fackenheim embraces a belief in God rather than denying His existence. 4. The Problem of Evil with regards to the Shoah asks how God can be all-powerful, all- loving, and allowed such terrible events like the Shoah to have occurred. Any two parts of this problem can stand alone, but it seems impossible for all three of these aspects to
