Weekly Letter: The Authenticity of the Divine Revelation at Sinai
As we start a new cycle of the weekly Torah reading and learning – beginning with the creation of the world – we share a basic letter of the Rebbe in answer to one questioning the origin of the world and the authenticity of the Divine Revelation at Sinai.
By the Grace of G-d
14th of Tammuz, 5736
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Mr.__________
Miami Beach, Fl. 33139
Greeting and Blessing:
I am in receipt of your letter, referring to an excerpt of my writings on the subject of the truth of the Torah, and you raise various objections to some of the points mentioned there.
I am sorry to note from your letter that you have evidently not read the said excerpt carefully enough, since your arguments are irrelevant to the text.
To begin with, I did not say that the views expressed in my writing were an original innovation of mine. As a matter of fact, when the subject was discussed at length, I stated that they came from the Kuzari. Needless to say, where a logical opinion is expressed, it is not so important, whether it be original or secondhand, as long as, it is logical and consistent.
As for your citing various philosophical opinions that differ from mine, it is surprising that you should have recourse to various philosophical schools, knowing as you surely do that on the question of the origin of the world there have always been conflicting views among philosophers throughout the ages. The flaw in your argument is: Why belabor the point by seeking support from philosophers, when the statement (to quote you), “If there is a watch, there must be a watchmaker” – is no longer considered valid by present-day science? It is now universally held by all true scientists that it is possible for a watch to come into being before your very eyes without a watchmaker, for there is no such thing as “impossible”; only improbable or even most improbable, but nothing is considered impossible anymore from the viewpoint of modern science. As mentioned, the probability theory is now universally accepted by scientists everywhere.
Thirdly, your lengthy discourse on the authorship of the Bible is entirely irrelevant here, since it has no part in my argument.
Seeing that you evidently read my writing superficially and with preconception, I do not know how carefully you will read the above and what follows. Nevertheless, I will risk adding several points.
Although fully aware of the present unanimously accepted scientific view mentioned above I nevertheless explained my views in regard to the Creation of the world on the premise that we are dealing with normal people, and on the basis of normal human behavior, using the same criteria that motivates or Impels them to act as they do in their daily life and routine. I pointed out that if they truthfully and without prejudice applied the same criteria, there would be no escape from the logical conclusion that they ought to order their daily life in strict adherence to the Torah, and that they would unquestionably accept the Divine origin of Torah as given at Mt. Sinai.
With regard to the authenticity of the Divine Revelation at Sinai – If you will read again the said excerpt, you will see that there is no mention there at all about the authorship of the Bible. What was said there was that since in the present day there are millions of Jews who declare by their actions that they have been told by their parents, again millions of Jews who in turn heard it from their parents, and so on, going back uninterruptedly to the day of the Revelation at Sinai, and they all relate the event and the content of the Ten Commandments in identical terms, as heard and witnessed by millions of people – a normal person should take such evidence and proof seriously. To argue, as you do, that there are millions of Christians, Moslems, etc. , who also have traditions of their own will not hold, since those traditions go back to a single person (as in Islam and others) or a relatively small group of persons (as In Christianity), and these cannot by any stretch of the imagination be equated with the Jewish experience.
Your objection that if there Is a G-d, why is there injustice in the world, etc. , is again quite irrelevant to the subject under discussion. Besides, and this is the essential point, this question is altogether without foundation, since it would reduce the wisdom and knowledge of G-d to that of a created and limited human being,who presumes to know better how the affairs of the world should be conducted than the Creator Himself. This is clearly a contradiction in terms and absurd.
Much more could be said in regard to the above, but, by your leave, either the above lines should suffice, or anything more would make no difference.
With blessing,
