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?
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So if I understood correctly, you think that most likely there is really nothing special, and regarding what the sages said, either they said it in a melica or they were wrong.
1. You talked about seeing the world of Torah flourishing in the land and it is possible to attribute the ”virtue” to this, why not go in that direction? After all, it is clear that if you meant it literally then something spiritual and not physical, and perhaps the flourishing of the Torah by virtue of the “virtue? After all, 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 view on this?
3. You did not address the reward and punishment that is written in the Torah, 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 influences, and therefore this is just a biased and biased interpretation.
Certainly easy. Sages in all generations were influenced by the mood and thinking of their time. I don't see anything in them that is beyond ordinary people.
Reward and punishment in the Torah is not seen in practice, at least in our days. Either this is a policy change by God who is withdrawing from the world or it is really hidden. In any case, Chazal already say that reward is a mitzvah for the sake of the world.
1. Regarding the Torah, in my opinion, it can be said that everything speaks to the people as a whole, and therefore reward and punishment do exist today. Simply put, no one can calculate the totality of the transgressions 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 Holy One specifically to a system of reward and punishment, as the Ramachal says. It is clear that the destruction and exile happened because of transgressions. 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 does not say anything about this.
Regarding the reward of a mitzvah, Baha'i Alma, the same can be asked of whoever 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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