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26 June 23 2011
Truth Of The Torah
p
arshat Korach features a
rebellion by Moses' cousin
Korach. Korach, who had
been passed over for head of his clan,
felt that the positions of leadership
were doled out through
nepotism rather than merit.
Moses' response was that
these decisions were from
God, and Moses had no say
in the matter.
The Midrash describes
how Korach initiated his
rebellion. He approached
Moses with learned ques-
tions:
Does a garment made
entirely of blue wool
require tzitzits (the fringes
on the corners of a gar-
ment require one blue thread)? Does
a house full of Torah scrolls require a
mezuzah, which is a scroll of only two
paragraphs?
Korach missed the point. The Torah
was given to the Jewish people on
Sinai and is absolute truth. Korach
did not need any proofs of the Torah's
validity. He saw the plagues and the
Exodus from Egypt. He walked through
the parted water of the Reed Sea, ate
manna from heaven and witnessed the
giving of the Torah on Sinai.
We, however, must understand that
there is a logical progression to believ-
ing the truth of the Torah.
Maimonides said our beliefs must
have a basis in intellect. First, God
is the creator. All theories of cre-
ation begin with a starting point —
Maimonides calls this nothing — the
first cause. We call it God. Since this
cause is first, it always existed — it
never started. Something which never
started can never be stopped (How
can you turn off the car if you never
started it?).
Something that is not limited by
time cannot be limited by space either.
We must therefore conclude that our
first cause (God) is beyond time and
space — truly infinite.
Next, Maimonides posits that this
first cause is unified. The creation
does not displace God, as the creation
is totally insignificant qualitatively
and quantitatively. The universe is 13
billion light years across. Compared
to infinity, 13 billion is a very small
number. How small? Were HaShem to
create an infinite number of creations
— they would all be infinitesimally
small.
God created the world through
speech. The expression, "and God said,
`Let there be ... '" appears 10 times
in Genesis. The Kabbalah
explains that God's speech
involves an infinite amount
of steps to bring about a
physical world. How signifi-
cant can those few words
expressing the creation be
in comparison to God's
essence?
So now that we believe
that there is a creator, there
must be purpose to the cre-
ation. Jews believe that that
purpose was conveyed to
the world through various
individuals called prophets.
The greatest of these prophets was
Moses. Moses' message comprises the
first five books of the Bible — the
Torah. The Almighty's purpose in
creating the world is contained within
the five books. It therefore follows that
there is no need for another Torah to
be given, nor is there need for the one
we have to be changed.
The Torah says that God knows the
actions of man. We have the freedom
to choose right from wrong. God can
reward us when we choose the right
path.
The ultimate reward is when the
task of creation is complete. That will
be realized when Moshiach comes and
we experience the revival of the dead
and a world that requires no more rec-
tification. May we merit it soon.
Herschel Finman is a Chasidic rabbi
serving the Detroit Jewish community
and cyberspace. His weekly radio program
"The Jewish Hour" is on WQLV 1500-AM
11-noon Sundays. He can be contacted at
www.rabbifinman.com.
Conversations
•Does Judaism really require
rationale for its belief system?
•Why is blind faith not enough?
•If the Jewish belief system is
so logical, why don't more peo-
ple follow it?
•How should we act on our
beliefs and incorporate them
into our daily lives?