Q&A: Statements of the Sages
Statements of the Sages
Question
Hello Rabbi,
In the sayings of the Sages, quite a bit is said about the special, inherent influence of the Land of Israel—for example, that its air makes one wise, and that the Torah scholars there are gentler with one another compared to Torah scholars in exile.
1. Does this fall into the category of what Maimonides defines as statements of the Sages that are not to be taken literally, but are meant to convey an idea?
2. If not, why don’t we see this in reality? I understand that this is something spiritual and non-natural, but if in the end it affects the earthly plane, then seemingly we should expect to see some difference.
3. Even if we say that this is a weak influence that is hard to detect, is there some historical way in which one can actually see these things in reality?
By the way, this exists not only with regard to the Land of Israel, but also with regard to countless other special qualities and promises that supposedly exist but are not seen in reality.
I have to say that personally I connect more with the approach that all of these are some kind of metaphor or figure of speech meant to express the value of these things. For example, that the air in the Land of Israel does not literally make one wise, but that this is a kind of rhetorical praise for the Land of Israel. And likewise with all promises of this sort.
The same goes for the promises in the Torah in the portion of Bechukotai, etc., although there it is easier, because it is reasonable that it speaks about the Jewish people in general and not about private individuals, and indeed there it was relatively fulfilled after the sins, with the destruction of the Temples and so on.
I intentionally turned specifically to you, Rabbi Michael, because for some reason the “regular” rabbis accept all these things as established facts without asking at all where one actually sees them.
What does the Rabbi think about this?
Answer
There is another possibility: that they meant it literally and were mistaken.
I do not know how to answer what their intention was, only what I think the truth is. I am very skeptical of statements about special inherent qualities, though of course it is always possible that there is something to them. The skepticism is strengthened by the fact that others who claim there are such influences also have no way of knowing that.
Your assumption that such influences are not seen is not so simple. The fact is that in the Land of Israel a state was established, Torah study is flourishing, and so on. There are those who would attribute this to the special qualities of the land, although as I said, I do not think so. At the moment, the land’s “special qualities” mainly bring about the destruction of Torah and society, especially on the Haredi side (and then comes the excuse: because they do not believe in it).
Discussion on Answer
Because I am not persuaded that there is any special inherent quality here. Especially since there are opposite influences as well, so this is just a biased and tendentious interpretation.
Very easy indeed. Sages in all generations were influenced by the spirit and modes of thought of their times. I do not see them as anything beyond ordinary human beings.
The reward and punishment in the Torah do not appear in practice, at least not in our time. Either this is a change in policy by the Holy One, blessed be He, who has withdrawn from the world, or it is truly hidden. In any case, the Sages themselves already say that there is no reward for a commandment in this world.
1. Regarding the Torah, in my opinion one can say that everything speaks to the Jewish people as a whole, and therefore reward and punishment do still exist today. It’s just that no person can calculate the totality of the sins and commandments of all Israel, and therefore one also cannot expect any precise result. Certainly when there are also other systems that presumably do not subject the Holy One, blessed be He, specifically to the system of reward and punishment, as Ramchal says. It is clear that the destruction and the exile happened because of sins. Since then, because there is no prophecy, it is impossible to know what happened because of what.
2. Do you have any source for the idea that reward and punishment are temporary and not constant? Because nothing like that is written in the Torah.
As for “there is no reward for a commandment in this world,” one could ask the same thing about whoever said that.
1. Anything is possible. In a specific case, of course it may be impossible to diagnose. But statistically we should have expected to see average effects. It seems strange to me that you raise this possibility while at the same time asking about the special influences of the Land of Israel, regarding which you could have said exactly the same thing.
2. Of course not. It is a possible explanation for the difficulty posed by reality.
1. For a simple reason: it is much more reasonable that the Sages would be mistaken or would speak in rhetorical language than that the Torah—which according to my faith and yours is from Heaven—would be, and there one is sort of obligated to believe that this happens in reality.
And again, if these are promises to the Jewish people as a whole, then we should not expect to see any statistical effect, because it is about the Jewish people collectively, and again it cannot be weighed. So in my opinion there is no problem at all believing it.
So if I understood correctly, your view is that most likely there really is no inherent special quality here, and regarding what the Sages said, either they were speaking figuratively or they were mistaken.
1. You said that we see the Torah world flourishing in the Land of Israel and that one could attribute that to the “special quality,” so why not go in that direction? After all, if they meant it literally, then it is obviously something spiritual and not physical, and maybe the flourishing of Torah is thanks to that special quality. In any case, it would have to be hidden and not something obvious like “science,” in order to preserve free will…
2. Is it really that easy to say that the Sages were mistaken? That is a bold statement that not many rabbis dare to make…
What is your overall outlook on this?
3. You didn’t address reward and punishment as written in the Torah, where you really cannot say, “They were mistaken.”