Perhaps this is due to my lack of familiarity of "Biblical Scholarship", but it seems to me this article is coming from a lack of clarity...
There are several points that don't sit well with me. For the sake of brevity, here are 2 big ones...
If I understood the article correctly, an underlying theme is the author's belief that the Torah is not literal and non-factual.
On the other hand, the author writes that the Torah is from G-d.
I have 2 questions:
1) Why doesn't the author feel comfortable telling the children that the Torah is true, factual and historical?
(especially considering the closing comments " VI. Be Honest We must be honest with our students about the limits of belief: there are no answers or proofs when it comes to religious life, and it is okay to live with doubt. Living a life of uncertainty can provide a dose of humility and the space for exploration and growth.")
2) To say the Torah comes from G-d and then say there are mistakes in the Torah, can only mean that G-d is imperfect, CH"V. (And if the answer is that G-d is perfect, but there was somehow human error in the transmittal of the text. To that I would say, G-d can create the entire universe with billions of creations, etc, but He can't ensure His Torah has an accurate text?!)
If that is the belief, then why keep Judaism at all? Either it is true or it is not. If it is not true, then why accept upon yourself all of the restrictions of Judaism? There are plenty of non-religious non-Jews living meaningful lives...
This seems to be an ideology that logically should lead the (thinking) learner to abandon Judaism entirely.
Shmuel Kaufmann
TorahGames.org
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/18/2018 07:02AM by mlb.
