07-20-2015, 02:15 AM
(This post was last modified: 12-18-2019, 05:45 AM by Director Michael.)
Hi Reb,
I just have difficulty seeing the "command". I don't see conditional statements as commands.
In "The Divine Code," Part I, ch.1, in the first footnote under the subheading of "The Torah of Moses," it states that "[t]he commandment to believe in one God and no other is included in the prohibition against serving idols, based on one of the Oral Torah's Thirteen Rules for exegesis: 'from the negative, one can infer the positive.' " It also states in the same footnote, "[i]t is therefore obvious that all the nations of the world are commanded to believe in and recognize God."
Neither of these points are obvious to me. If I see a command "don't worship idols," I stick with what is said. I don't see a command to recognize God or to believe in him. Although I can understand it is important to do so, I don't see a "commandment."
I don't see this obviousness. It's obvious that there is a command not to worship idols [avodah zarah]. That's easy because it says so, as "the prohibition against avodah zarah". I don't see how an inference (inferring a positive from a negative) becomes a "command". I can understand how I can learn principles from a prohibition, but I would see it as wrong to add to God's commandments and turn an inference into a command.
Regards,
David
I just have difficulty seeing the "command". I don't see conditional statements as commands.
In "The Divine Code," Part I, ch.1, in the first footnote under the subheading of "The Torah of Moses," it states that "[t]he commandment to believe in one God and no other is included in the prohibition against serving idols, based on one of the Oral Torah's Thirteen Rules for exegesis: 'from the negative, one can infer the positive.' " It also states in the same footnote, "[i]t is therefore obvious that all the nations of the world are commanded to believe in and recognize God."
Neither of these points are obvious to me. If I see a command "don't worship idols," I stick with what is said. I don't see a command to recognize God or to believe in him. Although I can understand it is important to do so, I don't see a "commandment."
I don't see this obviousness. It's obvious that there is a command not to worship idols [avodah zarah]. That's easy because it says so, as "the prohibition against avodah zarah". I don't see how an inference (inferring a positive from a negative) becomes a "command". I can understand how I can learn principles from a prohibition, but I would see it as wrong to add to God's commandments and turn an inference into a command.
Regards,
David