Should highly intelligent people observe Judaism?
I have been saying that the Torah recognized that its laws must change and that Maimonides articulated this idea clearly in his Guide of the Perplexed 3:32. I said also that Maimonides taught that the Torah has three goals: to teach some truths and to help people be all they can be by developing their intellect and help society improve. Since Rabbinic Judaism replaced Torah Judaism and since the goal of Judaism is to get people to improve, must intellectuals, people who are convinced they have reached the Torah’s goal observe Rabbinic Judaism. The answer is “yes.”
Intelligent people who are convinced that they understand the truth and do not need the aid of religion should still perform their religious practices because of three reasons, especially the last:
(1) They need to set an example for people who have not attained the intellectual goal.
(2) People who have not attained the intellectual goal will charge them with being impious.
(3) It must be understood that what we are talking about is an ideal; something we should strive for, but something no human is capable of achieving entirely. No one can achieve the goal or be continuously in a state of perfection, and keeping the religious practices aids people so that they do not lose control over their passions, and keeps them on the right track.
