Articles by Hazal
Hello Rabbi
The Sages speak quite a bit about the special influence of the Land of Israel, such as the fact that its air is welcoming, and that the scholars there are gentler towards each other than the scholars in exile.
1. Does this fall into the category of what the Rambam defines as sayings of the Sages that are not literally meant to convey an idea?
2. If not, why is it not noticed in reality? I understand that it is something spiritual and not natural, but if in the end it affects the earthly plane, there is an expectation that we will see a difference.
3. Even if we say that this is a weak influence that is difficult to see, is there a historical way in which things are truly seen in reality?
By the way, this exists not only in relation to the Land of Israel, but to countless virtues and promises that are not seen in reality.
I must say that personally I am more inclined to the view that all of this is a metaphor and some kind of praise to show the value of things. For example, that the air in the Land of Israel is not really waiting, but rather it is a kind of praise for the Land of Israel. And so with all such promises.
The same applies to the promises in the Torah in Parashat Behukoti, etc., although it is easier to say that it is likely that we are talking about the people of Israel in general and not about individuals, and indeed this relative name took place after the sins with the destruction of the Temples, etc.
I intentionally turned to you, Rabbi Michael, for some reason the "regular" rabbis accept all of this as absolute facts without even asking where they see it.
What does the rabbi think about this?
There is another possibility: they meant it literally and were mistaken about it.
I don't know what they meant, only what I think is the truth. I am very skeptical of specific statements, although of course there is always something to them. The skepticism is strengthened by the fact that even others who claim such effects have no way of knowing.
The assumption that we do not see such effects is not so simple. The fact is that a state was established in the Land of Israel, where Torah study is flourishing and more. Some will attribute this to the virtues of the land, although as mentioned, I do not think so. In the meantime, the virtues of the land mainly lead to the destruction of the Torah and society, especially on the Haredi side (and then comes the excuse: because they do not believe in it).
So if I understood correctly, you think that most likely there really is nothing special, and as for what the sages said, they either said it in a recommendatory manner or were wrong.
1. You said that we see the world of Torah flourishing in the land and that we can attribute this to the "virtue." So why not go in that direction? It is clear that if we meant it literally, then something spiritual and not physical, and perhaps the flourishing of the Torah is due to the virtue? In any case, it must be hidden and not something obvious like "science" in order to preserve free choice...
2. Is it so easy to say that the sages were wrong? This is a bold statement that not many rabbis dare to say…
What is your perception regarding this?
3. You did not address the issue of reward and punishment, which is written in the Torah, and about which it is really impossible to say "wrong."
Because I don't get the impression that there is a specific issue here. In particular, there are also opposite effects, and therefore this is just a biased and biased interpretation.
Certainly easy. Sages in all generations have been influenced by the mindset and thinking of their time. I don't see them as anything beyond ordinary humans.
The reward and punishment in the Torah are not seen in practice, at least in our days. Either this is a change in policy by God, who is withdrawing from the world, or it is truly hidden. In any case, Chazal already say that the reward of the mitzvah is the same as the reward of the mitzvah.
1. Regarding the Torah, in my opinion, it can be said that everything speaks to the people of Israel as a whole, and therefore reward and punishment do exist today. Simply put, no one can calculate the totality of the offenses and commandments of all Israel, and therefore it is impossible to expect any precise result. Certainly when there are other systems that obviously do not subject the Blessed One to a system of reward and punishment, as the Ramchal says. It is clear that the destruction and exile happened because of offenses. Since there is no prophecy, it is impossible to know what is because of what.
2. Do you have any source for the fact that reward and punishment are temporary and not permanent? Because the Torah says nothing about this.
Regarding the reward of a Baha'i Alma mitzvah, the same can be asked about the person who said this.
1. Anything is possible. That in a particular case it is impossible to diagnose is clear. But statistically we should have seen average effects. It is strange to me that you raise this possibility and at the same time ask about specific effects of the Land of Israel about which you could say exactly the same thing.
2. Of course not. This is a possible explanation for the difficulty of reality.
1. For the simple reason that it is much more logical for sages to err/speak in malicious language than the Torah, which according to my belief and yours is from heaven, and there one must kind of believe that it happens in reality.
And again, if these are promises to the entire Jewish people as a whole, we shouldn't see any statistical impact, because it's about the Jewish people as a whole and again it's impossible to weigh. Therefore, in my opinion, there's no problem believing in it.
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