Will knowledge of history affect religious perception?
Hello Rabbi
Every now and then I fantasize to myself. Suppose I had the opportunity to talk to our forefather Jacob, and to our Master Moses, and to King David, and to the prophet Isaiah and King Josiah and to the prophet Haggai and to Shimon the righteous – what would I hear from them? What kind of Judaism – theoretical and practical – would I see? It is clear to me that I would not find there awareness of small sections in the Magen Avraham that a sukkah made for the purpose of treasure and dwelling and not for shade is invalid, but what would? To what extent would what I hear shake my worldview? A fairly mainstream worldview (around me): God gave the Torah to the people of Israel so and so years ago, and there was always a select group of the people who carried the torch and preserved the traditions and studied and studied the Torah and were careful about the commandments, and in the process of application and development we essentially arrived at more precise rations of the laws of the Torah and the addition of many decrees and regulations of the sages.
But did King Saul hear about the idea of extracting heaps of ideas from the Torah based on slight hints in the wording? Did he see the center of his life or that of someone around him as serving God by contemplating the Torah and observing its not-quite-ritual commandments (to wear tefillin and send kenim and not eat the fruits of the foreskin. This is in contrast to always offering them on the altar and an arm for the cheek and stomach to the priests). I feel a hidden fear of the possibility of talking to him about this. This fear indicates to me a disbelief that is hidden beneath the surface and has probably been repressed. Well, let’s assume that a person like King Saul did not see the Torah as anything particularly different from the other collections of laws that were circulating in the area, even though he knew that this law came from heaven. Rather, he saw it as a collection of stories and laws that are easily interpreted and naturally understood and do not contain layers of layers and tedious subtleties. Does this assumption seem reasonable to you? How do you feel about the possibility of talking to King Saul? (Passionate curiosity? Indifference? Apprehension?) Assuming that Saul was unaware of the idea that the Torah is rich and profound, is there a problem with current Orthodoxy (or is the process sanctifying and what comes out I am satisfied with)? I would be happy for an answer.
You’ll have to ask them. Personally, I’m not bothered by these questions. For me, what we understand is what is required of us. Authenticity is not a condition for commitment.
I'm not sure what this connects to!
I really wonder what would have happened to today's ultra-Orthodox if they had met Moses!!
There would have been a beating to death!!!
If the Haredim are the Torah of Moses, I am a Negro.
Elchanan Rain, how do you know that Moishe was not Haredi?
It is clear that the people of Israel do not keep the Torah. Therefore, we are punished.
Rabbi, can you elaborate on such answers regarding these issues that come up quite a lot here? It is clear that these seemingly new things are more than just a half-line explanation. Maybe even a post?
I personally think this is better than writing at length about how incoherent or filled with holy lies for the gullible believing public and a host of other problems.
From a formal theoretical perspective, I also understand the explanations. In my opinion, they are based on a historical hypothesis that the change is not too dramatic. I also consciously assume so. That is why I ask about the initial feeling towards the possibility of talking to the heroes of history. With all due respect and appreciation, I cannot believe the claim that “these questions” are not disturbing.
It reminds me of the feeling when you think about some group that explains the Rashba’s short and obscure words in a new and acceptable way and are very pleased with it, and then you discover a new source in which the Rashba also deals with the subject. Immediately there is some kind of alertness and fear of what the Rashba might write there that will ruin the whole novelty for me. And then if you see that the Rashba did not write anything or wrote there in an obscure way, there is some kind of sigh of relief. This is perhaps a childish and problematic feeling, but I think every yeshiva student experiences it.
There is quite a bit in the trilogy and here too.
Suppose?
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