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The answer: Perhaps Pharaoh’s wise men would make a mistake in their reckoning of the time and then say: "Moshe is a liar."
This interpretation would seem to fly in the face of all reasonable thought. After all, Moshe had correctly predicted nine terrible and unusual events that had literally plagued the Egyptian people. He then predicted the most terrible of all - the death of Egypt’s first-borns. Imagine that he had said that this would take place exactly at midnight. Let’s assume that the palace clocks were inaccurate and according to their time all the first-borns died at midnight plus twenty seconds. What is the response of Egypt’s best and brightest?
"You see how Moshe is nothing but a liar."
The level of self deception and refusal to face facts is so mind boggling that we might well wonder at the sanity of such wise men or, alternatively, at what the Tamudic sages were trying to tell us in this seemingly odd interpretation.
Perhaps the lesson to be drawn from this discussion is that the Rabbis profoundly understood the true nature of man and the depths of his psyche:
1. We don’t like to face unpleasant truths.
2. The power of rationalization to substitute good reasons for real reasons is boundless.
3. Man will grab at the thinnest of straws to deny the reality which stares him in the face.
Should we be surprised by the ancient Egyptian think tank’s reaction? After all, modern Jewish history has seen its Egypts and their wise men, perhaps those Ph.D.s who met at Wansee or commanded Einsatzgruppen. It has witnessed the birth of a Jewish State in which Jews no longer have to live under non-Jewish rule, in which Torah flourishes, and in which we are called to help shape our destiny.
Is it possible there are yet those wise and many who are more than wise who are still waiting because they think that this great drama of reishit tzemichat geulateinu is but an illusion? Do their sojourns in the Egypts of Jewish History continue because the details of the reishit do not meet their redemption clocks?
May it be that those who dwell in Goshen’s darkness see a great light.
Moshe emet - it is we who may miss the mark.
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Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
Rabbis in Midrash
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Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 9 - "Seeing is Believing" (parag. 21-30)
These paragraphs elaborate on the theme that seeing and knowing is better than any attempt to prove logically, and begins explaining the difference between Israel and gentiles.
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Rav Kook examines the various stages of redemption, explaining how (in addition to the obvious oft-mentioned stages of ingathering the exiles, reviving the Hebrew language, army, state etc.) the messianic dream of world prosperity, the State of Israel and world unity can and are realistically and logically gradually coming true.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
How do we know that the "claim" of mass revelation to 2,000,000 witnesses at Mt. Sinai is really true? This important class answers all of the questions skeptics ask about this claim of the Kuzari.
Ein Aya Armies Still Necessary for Balance & the War Against Wars
Rav Kook explains why the world was originally divided into the various seemingly contradicting ideologies and cultures, in order to develop each one respectively. Swords or armies symbolize how each respective ideology defends themselves, as well as deters their opposing ideologies and cultures. On the other hand, the messianic era will be one of peace, and Rav Kook explains the transition to that stage, which mankind is already undergoing.
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Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
As a preparation for the Kuzari's classic proof of G-d from the mass-revelation at Sinai, we start here with 5 other directions to strengthen our belief which also contribute to what the Kuzari will present as well.
Ein Aya Muscle & Meaning: The Dual Nature of Gevurah (Physical Strength)
Is physical strength and fitness a necessity or an ideal? Although it if often totally overlooked among topics of Judaism, Rav Kook writes that it clearly is also a necessity to deter the many enemies of Israel, but even in Y'mot HaMashiach, in the Messianic era, to a certain extent, it's ideal continues even after our enemies will have been finished off.
