tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-310633442210374868.post8753710295993925227..comments2023-03-29T09:40:29.908-04:00Comments on Frum Heretic: Our Dysfunctional Jewish FamilyFrum Heretichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17815538809825229710noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-310633442210374868.post-56608005584034474732008-12-16T19:59:00.000-05:002008-12-16T19:59:00.000-05:00I really don't buy the argument "God must have wri...I really don't buy the argument "God must have written it because it tells of the peoples' failures unlike other historical documents" but I do agree that we are supposed to learn from the successes and failures of previous generations. I guess my biggest issue is really what was expressed in my first comment to the post; that all too often the claim is made that we are simply on too low of a level to judge the actions of the tzaddikim of previous generations. This attitude seems to be a relatively recent phenomenon, since the earliest sources certainly didn't hesitate to criticize (although this is often mitigated by a "David didn't sin"-style of whitewashing).Frum Heretichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17815538809825229710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-310633442210374868.post-21146514347850225922008-12-15T12:17:00.000-05:002008-12-15T12:17:00.000-05:00If the primary reason isn't to learn from their mi...If the primary reason isn't to learn from their mistakes, at least from the POV of those who compiled the Torah, then it must be G-d's. How else can you explain so many horrible things being so graphically recorded or retold?<BR/><BR/>Only G-d could make a people like the human race use such a painfully unvarnished text as the central text of an entire religion instead of doing the usual human thing of totally glitzy marketing.<BR/><BR/>If you wanted to write a central text for a religion would you do anything but make all the chief people seem like angels? Of course not. You'd not record a story like that of Abraham and his descendants. It's embarrassing.<BR/><BR/>G-d had to be involved for that oversight to have continued for so many millennia.-suitepotato-https://www.blogger.com/profile/04567987879881511630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-310633442210374868.post-78469938986662217652008-12-15T09:13:00.000-05:002008-12-15T09:13:00.000-05:00Nah, I don't believe that "it's all about sex".Nah, I don't believe that "it's all about sex".Frum Heretichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17815538809825229710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-310633442210374868.post-38973577594953661672008-12-14T23:19:00.000-05:002008-12-14T23:19:00.000-05:00You are turning into the JP of the skeptic blogger...You are turning into the JP of the skeptic bloggers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-310633442210374868.post-43411665375476933582008-12-13T18:11:00.000-05:002008-12-13T18:11:00.000-05:00I wouldn't call it the primary purpose, but it is ...I wouldn't call it the primary purpose, but it is one of the purposes. On one hand we are supposed to learn from Yaakov how to deal with Esav (=the Gentile nations) and on the other hand we see that the Avot exhibited gross lapses in proper interpersonal behavior. And while Chazal occasionally criticize Biblical characters for their behavior (for example, in Vayishlach Yaacov is criticized for his subservient attitude towards Esav, for locking Dinah in a trunk, etc.), more frequently do we encounter the attitude that the Avot and the "Shiftei Kah" were on a madreiga that we can't even comprehend, that they were on the level of melachim. <BR/><BR/>It's strange dichotomy.Frum Heretichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17815538809825229710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-310633442210374868.post-67453052036274080492008-12-12T10:59:00.000-05:002008-12-12T10:59:00.000-05:00The primary purpose of Biblical stories is to demo...The primary purpose of Biblical stories is to demonstrate what mistakes earlier generations made and to learn from that.jewish philosopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17987540457195983665noreply@blogger.com