Q&A: The Witness Argument
The Witness Argument
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I listened to your lectures on faith and found them very convincing.
I accepted the fact that there is God, and the fact that He did not create us for no reason, but for some specific purpose.
But when it comes to the witness argument, I ran into a difficulty. From my perspective, the fact that the “telephone game” you explained could have changed the Torah from one end to the other, and we have no way of knowing, makes it hard to accept Judaism or any other religion on that basis.
I struggled with this and looked for answers, but I couldn’t come up with any.
I would be glad if you could give me an answer that is satisfying.
Thank you!
Answer
As I wrote, the witness argument joins the overall puzzle and does not stand on its own. Obviously, the telephone game distorted some of the words, and therefore it is clear that a significant part of what we have in hand is not authentic. So what? What matters for religious commitment itself is that there is an authentic core. From that point on, if you do not have better information, you do what is accepted under the legal presumption rules.
Discussion on Answer
It seems that Ran, in his Derashot, tried to answer this claim, though he fits the Kuzari completely.
So that’s exactly it… this is where it’s hard for me to agree with you. I think that beyond the authentic core, the actions matter too. I don’t know how much regard you have for the Kuzari, but I’ll still quote it:
“Your intention is desirable, but your deeds are not desirable.”