Know It All

“Command Aharon and his sons…” (Vayikra 6:2)

Albert Einstein said: “The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.” Mark Twain said: “My father was amazing. The older I got, the smarter he got.”

Absolute knowledge eludes us. No matter how much we learn and experience, an ever-growing quantity of information remains beyond our reach.

The word “tzav” is the root of the word mitzvah — commandment. At times, we may partially comprehend the rationale behind a mitzvah, while other times we have no inkling whatsoever. Yet the very nature of a commandment is that it must be followed regardless of whether or not we understand it. (Rabbi Chanoch Kaplan, Chabad of Northwest Bergen County)

“Ma, what’s my IQ?”

I glanced over at Avi, who was sprawled on the couch reading some article that was apparently discussing IQ.

“I have no idea,” I answered him, gearing up to launch into one of my favorite topics of It’s not what you know, but what you do with it and IQ versus EQ, but he was already back into his article. Yet his question niggled at me, because I clearly remember asking my mother the same when I was his age and being frustrated that she didn’t have a tangible answer to offer.

Seven hundred years ago, Rabbi Yediah Hapnini wrote: “The ultimate purpose of knowledge is to know that we don’t know.” The more we know, the more we realize how much more there is that we don’t yet know. In the past century, there’s been an explosion of knowledge. But the greater and broader discoveries have become, the more the relative unknown keeps increasing.

I decided it was finally time to discover what my mental magical number was. I got ahold of some old IQ tests, first trying an abstract reasoning test. It felt like I was back taking the SATs, not a fun feeling. Besides, what use do I have for abstract reasoning other than explaining why Yitzi has to go to bed a full two hours before Binyamin even though they’re not two years apart?

When I finally finished using all my gray cells, I got to the disclaimer at the end. Apparently, this was a sample test and if I really wanted proper results, I could send in $19.99. It was a no-brainer to know that wasn’t a smart investment.