Contradictions in the Torah

Found 18 Search results

1. Sefer Devarim - the most 'misunderstood' book in the Bible

   Rabbi Menachem Leibtag

   תאריך פרסום: תשסט | |

   Despite the popular assumption that Sefer Devarim is a ‘review’ of Chumash, our lecture will prove quite the contrary; showing how most of its legal content actually belongs in Sefer Shmot. Afterward, as we discuss the prophetic purpose of its composition, we will explain why its narratives appear to contradict what was recorded earlier in Shmot & Bamidbar – and why the two sections of daily “kriyat shema” have become so central in our daily prayers.

2. The Mission of the Spies

   Rabbi Yaakov Medan

   What was the reason Moshe was not permitted to enter the Promised Land? Was it the Sin of the Spies, Mei Meriva, or perhaps neither?

3. The Sin of the Spies, the Sin of the Nation and Moshe's Punishment

   Rabbi Amnon Bazak | 12 minutes

   Devarim, a speech to the nation from Moshe's perspective, is different in style than the rest of the Torah. Discrepancies between the story of the Sin of the Spies as presented in Bemidbar and Moshe's re-telling of the events in Parshat Devarim reveal a message specific to the generation entering the Land: They learn about themselves, as well as about the consequences to their leader and the generation that wandered the desert.

4. Peshat and Midrash Halakha

   Rabbi Dr. Martin Lockshin

   תאריך פרסום: תשע"ד | | Hour

   What are students of “pshat” (the “simple” reading of Tanakh) to do when one’s “pshat” reading of the Torah contradicts the “reading” of halakha? With examples from Parashat Emor and elsewhere, we explore the nature of pshat, and truth. We consider the potential for multiple levels of meaning. We find different views of the commentators on these issues, and various attempts of commentators to deal with the problem of halakha contradicting the “pshat.” 

5. Sefer Devarim: The Beginning of the Oral Law

   Rabbi Dr. Joshua Berman

   תאריך פרסום: תשע"ב | |

   This shiur will give us insight into the Mesorah and the way we think about Halakha. Sources from Rav Tzadok of Lublin and the Netziv which are not usually taught will help us understand very difficult questions that arise in Tanakh, about various commandments that contradict one another. We explore how we view our relationship, and the Written Torah’s relationship with the Oral Torah, and we find an evolution of the Oral Torah throughout Tanakh.    

6. The Mission of the Spies [audio]

   Rabbi Yaakov Medan

   תאריך פרסום: תשע"ו | | 16 minutes

   The details of the story of the spies in Parashat Shelachare notoriously difficult to understand. How can we make sense of the episode's various incongruities and shed light on Moshe's role in this historic disaster?

7. Duplication and Contradiction

   Part 1

   Rabbi Amnon Bazak

   The awareness that the Torah contains many instances of duplication, as well as contradictions between different sources, has always existed. Chazal address these phenomena in many places, and note them. Many contradictions have been debated over the generations and various explanations have been proposed. However, in many instances the solutions are less than satisfactory, since they interpret the text in a manner that does not sit well with the plain meaning; one who seeks to understand the literal meaning of the text has trouble reconciling the various explanations with the plain meaning. Additionally, it is necessary to address this phenomenon from a broader and more all-encompassing perspective and not merely answer each case individually.

   An overview of Documentary Hypothesis, a theory that views the authorship of the Torah as a combination of different sources, is presented. According to this theory, the Torah is neither Divine, nor authored by Moshe.

8. Duplication and Contradiction

   Part 4 - Breuer's Aspects Theory

   Rabbi Amnon Bazak

   A revolution in the attitude of Jews who believe in the unity of the Torah towards the research by biblical scholars was brought about by Rav Mordekhai Breuer who developed the "aspects approach.” The principal innovation of the approach was to acknowledge and utilize the claims of the documentary hypothesis which saw the Torah as made up of multiple and frequently contradictory texts, while maintaining that these differences and contradictions were nevertheless Divinely  authored and intended,  rather than a combination by a later editor of multiple human authors and traditions.

9. Duplication and Contradiction

   Part 5 - Breuer's Aspects Theory

   Rabbi Amnon Bazak

   Rav Breuer’s fundamental insight should be seen as highlighting the Torah's tendency to express the complexity of various concepts and narratives through repetition, ambiguity, and contradiction. 

   In light of this, there is no need to appeal to the "aspects approach" when discussing the contradictions between Devarim and other parts of the Torah, for it would be unwarranted to expect that a story told from an objective standpoint would be identical to a subjective account offered by someone who was part of that story.

10. Duplication and Contradiction

    Part 6 - Three Themes Unique to Sefer Devarim

    Rabbi Amnon Bazak

    Devarim has a special nature with its idiosyncratic style and unique ideas. Moshe, in his speeches, treats identical topics found in Devarim and in the other books of the Torah with different emphases utilizing specific themes.  This provides a convincing response to the questions raised by Biblical scholars from de Witte onwards regarding the disparities between Devarim and other books of the Torah.

    The expression "remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt", which occurs five times over the course of Devarim, is a motif that reflects the emphasis in Moshe's speech on the moral dimension of the commandments, in contrast – or in addition – to the religious aspect that is emphasized in the other books of the Torah. Moshe delivers his speeches as the nation is about to cross the Jordan and enter the land, undergoing a great transformation from a nomadic people to a nation living in its own land. For this reason, Moshe regards it as essential to emphasize the social aspect of the commandments, as a fundamental condition to sustain Israel’s presence in the land for the coming generations.

    Moshe's speeches are the only sources in the Torah that treat the relationship between God and Israel from a perspective of love and the reciprocal command for Israel to love God. Only in the Land of Israel can the relationship between God and Israel reach a level that may properly be called "love." For this reason, it is just prior to entry into the land that Moshe permits himself to mention this concept to describe the bond between God and the nation.

    The phenomenon of the sanctity of Israel appears so prominently in Devarim. It would seem that on the eve of the entry into the land, Moshe describes a utopian reality – the ideal situation of Israel. The whole nation was indeed supposed to be imbued with the same sanctity as that of the kohanim, but only if Israel were truly deserving of their status as a holy nation. This question – of whether Israel merit God’s benevolence and designation as a holy nation – is one of the central themes of Moshe's speeches throughout Devarim. On the one hand, he asserts that the people are indeed holy. On the other hand, this vision itself hints strongly that this holiness is not automatic; rather, it is contingent upon observance of the commandments. This idea, too, recurs in Moshe's speeches on the eve of the entry into the land. 

11. Duplication and Contradiction

    Part 7 - The Roots of the Aspects Approach

    Rabbi Amnon Bazak

    Although Rav Breuer was the first to apply his method in a consistent and specific manner, the roots of his approach are firmly rooted in generations of Jewish philosophy.

12. Authorship of the Books of the Prophets and Writings

    Part 3

    Rabbi Amnon Bazak

    Internal contradictions within the appointment of Shaul as king and the crossing of the Jordan in the time of Yehoshua are examined.  Bible critics over the generations have raised suggestions as to how the various verses represent different sources, without any such division successfully solving the issue. Here, too, it seems that the aspects approach may be utilized to show how the text endeavors, by means of overlapping descriptions, to convey the different aspects of the story.

    These examples demonstrate that the "aspects approach" represents an effective and practical way of understanding textual difficulties in the Books of the Prophets, just as it is in explaining similar difficulties that arise in the Torah itself.

13. Peshat and Midrash Halakha

    Part 6 - Contradictions between Different Parshiot

    Rabbi Amnon Bazak

    Chazal interpret even the verses in Shemot and in Devarim, which speak of the Hebrew slave serving "forever," as meaning "until the Jubilee." This is not meant as an interpretation of the word "forever" (olam), but rather as an interpretation of the parshiot in the Torah as a whole which deal with the topic, each of which expresses an independent value or ideal, and which together must be synthesized into a single coherent instruction on the practical halakhic level. This can be viewed as a model for many instances of contradiction between peshat and midrash halakha.

14. Kedoshim: No Mercy Here

    Rabbi Jay Kelman

15. Saadia Gaon

    Dr. Avigail Rock

    The person who had the most profound and wide-ranging influence upon the development of the Jewish tradition in the early medieval period, was Rabbeinu Saadia Gaon. Rasag was a revolutionary in many spheres.  In the discipline of linguistics and halakhic writing, his work marks a turning point and a paradigm shift in the Jewish tradition. In the realm of parshanut, he is one of the founding fathers and trailblazers of the Jewish exegesis of Tanakh.

    The historical background of Rasag’s Commentary is a response to the rise of Islam and to the Karaite movement that denied the Oral Law and its divinity.

    The main aim of Rasag in his short commentary was to translate the Torah into the spoken Arabic of his world, in order to make it approachable for everyone, without dealing with broader issues of exegesis. However, even in this simple version Rasag was guided by several principles:

    ·         Avoids the anthropomorphization of God

    ·         Commentative elucidations

    ·         The identification of places, nations, objects and animals

    ·         Clarifications in the sphere of faith and philosophy

    ·         Alterations to prevent the desecration of God’s name

    In his longer commentary, of which we have only small portions, Rasag’s modus operandi was to explain the verses according to their simple meaning, unless: the sensory perception of the world or intellect refute the peshat, the Sages’ tradition refuted the peshat or the existence of contradicting verses forced one to reevaluate the peshat.

16. Breuer’s Aspects Theory part 1

    Rabbi Amnon Bazak

17. Breuer’s Aspects Theory part 2

    Rabbi Amnon Bazak

18. Themes Unique to Sefer Devarim

    Rabbi Amnon Bazak