- Sinai-Questions III
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- Moshe Ben-Chaim
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- Reader: The difficulty I have is with your proposition that
Moses "required demonstrative proof." Nowhere in Exodus
preceding the Event, is there described a situation where Moses
demands that HaShem prove HaShem's existence. Moses required nothing
of HaShem; Moses simply accepted what was freely given.
- Mesora: If you are asking about
why Moses believed in the existence of God, that was through his own
proofs and certainly subsequent to God revealing Himself to Moses at
the bush.
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- Reader: Nevertheless, we only have Moses' word that HaShem
talked directly to him at Sinai.
- Mesora: Then why didn't the Jews
at Sinai confront Moses and claim that Moses had no proof?
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- Reader: Obviously, the people of Israel didn't have the same
perception of the events that Moses had. It's a situation similar to
Abraham's. Abraham heard HaShem's voice and followed his commands. No
one else heard HaShem. It was due to Abraham's strength of character
that he was able to convince his people to follow his developing
understanding of HaShem. Similarly, because the people saw Moses
accomplish many amazing things, Moses had the necessary cache to
influence them. Because Moses was able to do many great things, the
people accepted and followed him.
- Mesora: The people themselves
"believed in Hashem and in Moses His servant" . This is
written in the Torah, and if they didn't believe with clarity and
proof, they would have confronted Moses on this passage when the came
to it. No greater proof exists that the people were convinced of God's
existence than their own words. They understood man's (Moses') limited
capabilities and attributed all miracles and the splitting of the sea
solely to a supernatural force, God.
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- Reader: Now, if you accept the account in Exodus, it is clear
that even at the time of the event the people had difficulty
understanding what was happening, and in fact they did not believe
HaShem had come to Mount Sinai. According to Exodus 24:17, "the
appearance of the glory
of HaShem was like a devouring fire on the top of the mount in the
eyes of the children of Israel." The people apparently thought
they were witnessing a volcanic eruption. It is absolutely clear that
they did not recognize what was happening as a visitation from Hashem.
In fact, even after standing before the mount and seeing and hearing
what was happening, they requested that an idol be made. Exodus 32:1
indicates that "when the people saw that Moses delayed to come
down from the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto
Aaron and said unto him, Arise, make us a god who shall go before us;
for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of
Egypt, we know not what has become of him." And Aaron complied
with their requests. Apparently, even Aaron realized that the people
did not believe they had heard the voice of HaShem. The people would
not have demanded the creation of an idol within 40 days of witnessing
such an awesome event, if they had actually perceived that HaShem had
come to Mt Sinai. (It is my view that the people's inability to
perceive what had happened is the thing that drove Moses to such fury
when he became aware of what the people did.)
- Mesora: Perhaps your
interpretation is not the only one. Perhaps the people knew God
existed, from all that happened in Egypt, from their own words I
quoted above, and from Sinai. There was no doubt, again, as I
mentioned, they should have confronted Moses back then, when Moses
first introduced the idea of God. Their desire to make an idol stemmed
not from a disbelief in God, as they even uttered at that moment of
making the golden calf, "these are the Gods which took us out of
Egypt". They believed in God and in Moses His servant as they
said on the shore, but they had a problem relating to a non-physical
being. This is why they made the calf, and this is why they said,
"the man Moses......we don't know what has become of him"
Why did they say the "man" Moses? Do not all know he is a
man? The answer is that they were saying that they needed a
"man" , a physical being. So as long as Moses was alive (in
their minds), they had something tangible to relate to. But as they
miscounted the 40 days Moses was to be on the mountain, they feared
tremendously that they had no more physical, tangible relationship
with God, via Moses.
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- Reader: It was only because of the force of Moses' will that
the people were able to bring their hearts and minds back to HaShem.
Moses' awesome powers of persuasion led the people back to HaShem. But
the people clearly did not understand that they had witnessed an
actual visitation from HaShem. I wouldn't call it disbelief because it
is apparent that the people simply did not see or hear HaShem that
day. Yet, Moses was able to explain what happened and convinced the
people that HaShem had been on Mount Sinai. But you will recall that
the people were convinced only after Moses killed a very large number
of them. I think I might have been inclined to accept what Moses was
saying, if I had just observed the killing of thousands of people on
Moses' order. Israel's perceptions were immediate; they saw a volcanic
eruption. You are suggesting that now, thousands of years after the
event, there is stronger proof that the events at Sinai occurred. If
the people didn't accept or perceive it at the time, why should we
accept it today, other than through faith? Apparently, there was
insufficient proof then, and there is no greater proof today. It must
be faith that compels us to accept HaShem.
- Mesora: This is inaccurate, as
Moses told the people "aynechem raos", "your eyes have
seen". How could Moses have said this with the compliance of the
people had they not seen for themselves?
- You need to go over the story accurately and read for yourself what
transpired, and what exactly the Jews said themselves. There was no
persuasion. The people themselves attested that they heard God. There
is also no stronger proof today than back then. The proof we have
today is equal to what those eyewitnesses had.
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