Basics of Emunah #13 By Is Belief in the Exodus Story Irrational?

What’s said in this shiur

The opening of this shiur, in Rabbi YY Jacobson’s own words — taken from the captions, so names and Hebrew terms may be approximate.

that came in and are all connected to Pesach, the Passover. There were actually more than four questions, but I'm just categorizing them in four questions. Four very interesting questions. Some a little sharper than others. I'm going to read the first question. In my opinion, it is primitive to believe it is primitive to believe that the events that we will all commemorate the following Pesach actually occurred. Come on. Maybe for irrational ultra-Orthodox extremists, which I used to be one of them, who take the Torah literally, they believe the story. But not for rational graduates of elite universities, not for people who think. Come on. Do you really believe that the water Do you really believe that the water turned into blood, and then frogs came over all the came all over the place, and then there were lice, and then this what thing happened, and this thing happened, and all the slaves suddenly went out of Egypt, and then the sea split, and they walked through the sea, and they came to a mountain? Every nation tells its own stories. And this is the story that the Jewish people tell. The idea that the Jews actually emerged from slavery in Egypt as a people exactly 3,329 exactly 3,329 years ago, of course, is absurd. Then they were liberated by the creator of the world who emancipated them with a mission to the world to encourage it to be kinder, more just, more good, more holy, and aware of a single omnipotent deity that unites us all and expects us all to live in a certain way. You know, Rabbi, it's ridiculous. It's elitist, it's self-serving. It only alienates the rest of humanity. And the point is, it's simply not true and I don't believe it. I agree with a rabbi who stated a number

Jump to a moment

1. 0:32that came in and are all connected to Pesach, the Passover. There were actually more than…
2. 6:11work, nonstop pressure. And then the seder itself becomes the greatest pressure. Often people are in…
3. 12:20which is if the belief that Torah is min Hashamayim could be rational. If accepting Torah…
4. 18:29commandments, 40 years, 613 commandments, and here is a divine document. Let's take that option seriously…
5. 24:35365 negative prohibitions, and some of them difficult, including not a ounce, not a piece of…
6. 30:42it's a story about yourself, it's not difficult at all. But if it's a story about…
7. 37:17believed it and that's what's called Judaism. Why don't we have a record of who this…
8. 43:22going to say, "Really? What happened?" You can't make up these things. Moses Jefferson is not…
9. 49:30intelligent wise almighty sovereign of the universe, which I believe to be the great essential principle…
10. 55:33bemitsrayim. I mean the Egyptian dynasty of the pharaohs has been a relic of history for…

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