First part, כדי לשבר את האזן, will be examples of everyday life being used as משל for the above mentioned distinction and second part will be actual Torah examples showing, hopefully persuasively, that the Torah (and particularly I would argue תורה שבכתב) talks in terms of existentialist perspectives of reality, not empirical/physical ones as we're accustomed.
I Common Comparisons as משל
- Every company in the stock market has a book value that can be determined based on the fundamentals of it's assets, liabilities, etc. Despite the fact that a company can go through an entire accounting period with absolutely no change in it's fundamental book value, that same stock price will fluctuate regularly and often wildly divergently from it's book value. From an "existentialist" perspective the stock value for quarter 'x' was maybe $2 throughout. From an "empirical" perspective the stock value will be a long list of each daily price transaction, maybe $1, maybe $10.
- Similarly Real Estate value. An "existentialist" will evaluate the home based on the value of the raw materials only (cement, wood, appliances, etc). Public sentiment and it's location in relation to the surrounding environment being irrelevant. The 'existential'/fundamental value of the building being the same whether situated in Beverly Hills or the Sahara. מה שאין כן viewing it empirically.
- A parent could often times argue and conflict with their child (say for example, refusing to allow the child to go on a class trip). Empirically we would say the parent is fighting with their child; 'existentially' we would describe the situation by the essence of it's dynamics and say the parent is protecting and showing love for the child.
- Music and Cinematography. In their fundamental essence, they are a large collection of successive, discrete, separate and static units of information but empirically we grasp them as fluid emergent "moving" phenomena.
- "A loves B" is a fundamental, 'existential' definition. It tells you what IS, but nothing of how it manifests physically. From the above statement you have no idea whether it means A gave B a kiss, donated his kidney, had sexual relations, yelled at, etc. In other words, an existentialist description is specifically removed from the gritty physical details of how existential phenomena ultimately manifest themselves into a physical world. From an existentialist frame of reference, those details are marginal.
- "You raped me!" from an existential viewpoint, could be true even if I wasn't physically raped but the underlying essence of what rape is was present i.e. you forced me to have a conversation with you against my wishes, you violated my sense of intimacy/trust, etc
II Torah Examples
- If קידושין is an existential bond (ויצאה והיתה) [and not what's commonly translated as marriage], then the degree of emotional connection or physical connection between the couple is irrelevant. A man could be מקדש a woman one moment and then move to the other side of the world and live there for the next 30 years and she'll remain the exact same degree an אשת איש regardless
- In wanting to convey a definition/description of a personality existentially, there is little need to give biographical detail as to the majority of his life. The Torah can give over the essence of who אברהם is by giving a few limited paragraphs of his life events-- the earliest one starting from when he was 70 years old! There is no need or desire from an existentialist Torah perspective to write an Artscroll biography book on any Tanach personality. (see example 5 above)
- as in example 6 above, an existentialist talks in terms of the essential essence of an act's meaning, even if not actually physically carried out-- וילך ראובן וישכב את בלהה. Similarly all of the examples חז"ל mention in כל האומר פלוני חטא אינו אלא טועה וכו
- Once a person has forfeited his purpose and justification to exist I can refer to him existentially as "dead" -יומת המת- even if he's physically breathing and functioning. Similarly, someone whose existential essence embodies universal eternal Truths of Creation and Existence is very much alive, even if physically dead. ובניהו בן יהוידע בן איש חי
- Existentially, a person exists starting משיצא ראשו ורובו של ולד even though from an empirical/physical perspective the fetus is very much alive with a beating heart seconds before birth as well. Similarly, on the other side of the life cycle-- physically, you may call someone dead the moment they cease bodily function whereas existentially, it's no different than killing a חתן בחופתו.
- Since דם נדה is defined existentially (יהיה, בהויתו יהא) it therefore is מטמא both לח ויבש, whereas otherwise we'd go by the physical parameter of moistness as a gauge for when it's considered to still be capable of impacting and affecting an external reproductive world.
- Existential perspective will see "Effect" as preceding "Cause". See here.
- Existential Truths will dictate eventual empirical events to manifest those said Truths inevitably, one way or another. אם החרש תחרישי בעת הזאת רווח והצלה יעמוד ליהודים ממקום אחר וכו. The empirical players are variables in an overall existential equation, see here.
- Existential perspective will not have gerunds in it's vocabulary. A physical action without an 'Existing Being' performing it does not exist. see here.
- As physical beings, our ultimate source of existential identity is hidden from us (אין), whereas empirically we are entirely defined sexually in regard to our interaction with the external world (אות). See here.
- If I tell you someone IS existentially evil -- הוא אחשורוש ברשעו מתחלתו ועד סופו it's irrespective of time (usually). I don't need to have documented the life of אחשורוש, from birth to death, to testify to the fact that he never helped an old lady across the street. Physical acts of good emanating from existential evil is ultimately evil. Similarly you see this derasha of הוא in many places in gemara. מס' ערכין being one example of many-- ר' יהודה אומר אפי' עני והעשיר וחזר והעני נותן ערך עשיר מ"ט דר' יהודה אמר קרא (ויקרא כז) ואם מך הוא מערכך עד שיהא במכותו מתחלתו ועד סופו
I'll stop here but there are many more examples in the Torah of this point. This Existential/Empirical distinction is fundamental to the Torah, as is the imperative to understand the interconnection and harmony between them in my opinion... ותן לחכם ויחכם עוד
