Q&A: Every Product and Its Instruction Manual
Every Product and Its Instruction Manual
Question
Hello Rabbi,
The Rabbi surely knows the argument raised by those who bring people to repentance, namely that just as an electrical device has operating instructions, all the more so and logically a human being, who is more complex, has an operating system—and that is the Torah.
My question is: seemingly, were it not for the foundational fact of God’s revelation at Mount Sinai, where He gave the Torah, this “instruction manual” claim is a bit weak. Because according to the analogy, we would expect the Torah to be given immediately with the creation of man, and to all human beings! Just as an instruction manual is given with each and every product, and immediately upon purchase. (I am aware of the homiletic teachings of the Sages about how the seven Noahide commandments are hinted at in the portion of Genesis.)
And we can plainly see that most gentiles live according to human agreements among themselves and without a Torah from Heaven, seemingly proving that it is possible otherwise. We also plainly see distant gentiles to whom the very report of the seven Noahide commandments never even reached…
Does the Rabbi also see a weakness in this “operating system” argument?
Thank you
Answer
This argument does carry some weight. Essentially, what it says is that if the Holy One, blessed be He, created a world, then apparently He wants something from it. And if He wants something, it is reasonable that He would tell us what He wants so that we can carry it out. In that formulation, it sounds reasonable. Of course it is not absolute or necessary, but if a tradition arrives saying that such a book was indeed given, that joins the a priori consideration, and together it sounds fairly reasonable.
The question of the delay is not difficult. It is certainly possible that the Holy One, blessed be He, waits until the world develops and reaches the stage at which it can already be operated. There is a trial stage. Beyond that, we know that there was a long period of evolution until developed man arrived, capable of receiving the Torah. What sense would there be in giving the Torah to rocks or molecules?!
As for the gentiles who observe the seven commandments without faith, that is of course irrelevant. It is a result of their past, when they were believers and observed all this for religious reasons. True, it succeeded, and therefore in our time faith is no longer needed in order to behave like a human being. Precisely for that reason, it is reasonable that nowadays the main essence of religion is no longer faith, but rather the ritual/religious part of Jewish law.