Q&A: Head-to-Head: The Revelation at Mount Sinai
Head-to-Head: The Revelation at Mount Sinai
Question
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUtrunmq8JQ&t=4851s
There’s a very polite debate here with an atheist. In my opinion, the rabbi answered and explained things in a relatively sloppy and unconvincing way… he didn’t respond to the arguments rationally. Do you think one shouldn’t go to a debate like this if the person isn’t sure he has good answers?
Answer
This isn’t a question of prohibition. It’s just not wise.
Discussion on Answer
The host wrote in the comments that he tried to contact various rabbis, but they didn’t want to come.
How much did he offer to pay?
As a former atheist, I can say that even if the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself to them personally, they would dismiss it with the argument that it was a hallucination, temporary insanity, or some such emotional thing.
The real question is how we define an event as historical, and whether the revelation at Mount Sinai meets those criteria.
Therefore, as Rabbi Michi wrote above, this whole discussion is not wise—not out of fear, but because there is no sincere and genuine interest on either side.
I suspect the host specifically brought someone who wasn’t good enough to represent Judaism