values – The Tree of Life

The Importance of Transcendent Values

“Whoso loveth knowledge loveth correction.”

– Proverbs 12:1, JPS 1917 Tanach

The knowledge acquired from kitvei kosdesh (holy scripture) shows us how to conduct our lives, and leads to improvement in the areas of our lives that need to be brought into alignment with G-d’s will. Yet, by way of contrast, the current zeitgeist of the world advocates for subjective experience, thoughts, and feelings over and against any kind of objective, authoritative, or transcendent knowledge.

Moreover, when an individual person is regarded as the soul arbiter of truth, self raises itself above all else, and closes one’s mind toward correction from any other source. The result being that a wayward freedom reigns in the heart, instead of a higher calling of responsibility. We are not only responsible to ourselves; we are also responsible to others and to G-d. Even if we are unable to steer the world in a direction that is in accord with truth and knowledge, let us, at least, reclaim whatever parts of ourselves need to be brought under the directive of G-d’s will.

The adage, “to they own self be true,” not only falls short of the mark (an archery metaphor); the adage also furthers the subjective self-indulgence of the heart that leads to confusion. As the world spins, metaphorically, in the wrong direction, those who seek to uphold objective truth and values, must be true to a transcendent calling.