The Legitimacy of Torah

Question

Shadchan (rabbitzen) asked me why do I want to get married. I told her that G-d commanded this in Torah to Adam. She asked me a very legitimate question: “Who heard that G-d commanded it to Adam or who witnessed it, if there was no people? Who can prove that G-d ever spoke with him about anything? How do we know that G-d ever spoke to Moses, besides 10 commandments that 3 million people heard it?

I think this rabbitzen has a very legitimate questions. I don’t know how it relates to shidduch, its more like philosophical venue disscussion, But apparently this is very important thing to find out for shidduch process.

P.S. I don’t think there any real answers on questions like that…

Thank you. With respect.

David

0

Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    First, please accept my Bracha that you find your soulmate very soon!

    I am not sure exactly why the Shadchan though to ask you those questions, but the answers are definitely the bedrock of Jewish belief.

    I suggest that you try reading the following books:
    Living Up to the Truth by Rabbi D. Gottlieb (downloadable at: ohr.edu/explore_judaism/living_up_to_the_truth/living_up_to_the_truth/992)
    Permission to Receive by Lawrence Keleman
    Anatomy of Search by Rabbi Akiva Tatz

    I would also strongly recommend that you read one of the classic books of Jewish philosophy called the Kuzari which is a book written almost a thousand years ago by Rabbi Yehudah HaLevy in the form of a dialogue between a Rabbi and a Gentile king. It is theological debate between a Greek philosopher, a Christian, a Muslim and, finally a Jew. It is truly fascinating. There is an excellent new translation (with footnotes) by Feldheim Press that ought to be easily available over the Internet.

    Below is a brief outline summary of some of the arguments VERIFICATION OF THE TORAH”
    1. Why Torah?
    a. Accessibility and logic – contrast Christianity, Druze
    b. Claims to be truth – contrast Buddhism
    c. Not propaganda – contrast Sancheriv stele, Pharoah and the Hittites (Pritchard, Ancient Near East)
    d. Sins of leaders and people, humble origins – contrast other ancient and modern national histories.
    e. Only point of agreement of monotheistic religions is veracity of Torah (Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, Bahai – Kuzari)

    2. Archaeological corroboration –
    a. Most minute details of life in Biblical period accurate (Bronner, Albright) b. Joseph’s sale, Exodus, Plagues, Jericho, Invasion of Canaan, Jeremiah’s scribe, Kings and wars.

    3. Detailed descriptions and predictions –
    a. No explicit references to heaven and hell – contrast other world religions (Abarbanel, Kli Yakar – Bechukotai)
    b. Exile, dispersion, redemption, destruction, return (Roman exile, counter-intuitive predictions)
    c. Places, times – Deuteronomy 1:1 (Rambam, Moreh HaNevuchim)

    4. Survival –
    a. Not mere physical survival – culturally intact – contrast Greeks and African-Americans
    b. Duration of exile – 2,000 years
    c. Anti-Semitism – intensity, universality, irrationality (Telushkin and Prager – Why the Jews?)
    d. Assimilation – positive and negative pressures to assimilate
    e. No isolation, no physical barriers contrast Chinese and Indian cultures

    5. Ethical Quality of Life – in all socio-economic circumstances –
    a. Education, literacy
    b. Marriage, divorce, family life
    c. Low crime, low addiction
    d. Philanthropy

    6. Impact on civilization –
    a. Law, morality (Gavriel Sivan, The Bible and Civilisation)
    b. Monotheism and science (Einstein, Out of My Later Years. Whitehead)
    c. Philosophy, politics, art, literature

    7. Public Miracles – Kuzari
    a. Generations of believers in public miracles.
    b. Psychological principle: A possible event which, had it really occurred, would have left behind some enormous, easily available evidence of its occurrence. If the evidence does not exist, people will not believe that the event occurred
    c. Compelling eyewitness report: calm, repetition, corroboration, irrelevance of expertise, absence of self-interest.
    d. Belief in a public miracle based upon a compelling eyewitness report is strong evidence that it occurred
    e. Non-applications – dragons, Christian miracles, Buddhism, Mormons, Holocaust denial.
    f. Applications – Manna, revelation at Sinai g. No other religion claims public theophany or claims miracles that fit above criteria.

    8. Conclusions –
    a. Judaism is based on reasonable faith, not blind faith. Faith supported by logic and reason.
    b. Judaism is unique in that its principles may be investigated using scientific methodology.
    c. Enough evidence exists to take the claims of Judaism very seriously. Seriously enough to investigate further.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team