This one seems to come out of left field, but I don’t have a sense of the big picture yet. He makes an intriguing point that, in some ways, Torah was revolutionary (belief in one God); and in other ways evolutionary (polygamy is ok, but all referenced polygamous relationships are unhappy leading to an eventual ban on polygamy).
Again, slavery which was universally accepted in ‘those’ days, was accepted in Torah with caveats. Importantly, however, runaway slaves were not to be returned to their masters. Indeed, the Ten Plagues were to ensure the freedom of the Israelites. This, according to Telushkin, demonstrates that the Bible’s “ideal hope is for human beings to live in freedom.” I don’t think this is a metaphorical freedom, I think this is political freedom.
So far we have read about hearing sirens, another person’s money, trading in stolen goods, being kind, being generous, not cheating, making contact with the beggar, not playing favorites, not frightening your family and supporting freedom. All solid qualities, and certainly ideals around which a society might be based. But there seems to be some randomness to this. Let’s see where this continues….
No comments:
Post a Comment