Parashas Vaeschanan: The Place of the Proof of Torah mi'Sinai

This dvar Torah looks like it was inspired by the parashas ha'shavua, when in actuality, it was inspired by the fact that I am going over the proof of Torah mi'Sinai with a student, and have been thinking about the role that it plays, and ought to play. 

Disclaimer: Unlike most of my blog posts, in which I make every effort to explain everything so that every reader can follow every step, this post will assume that the reader is familiar with the proof of Torah mi'Sinai. If you are not familiar with the proof, then you might not be able to follow this post. I have included links to three presentations of this proof within the post. I encourage you to check them out, whether or not you read this post.

Parashas Vaeschanan: The Place of the Proof of Torah mi'Sinai

In this week's parashah Moshe Rabbeinu urges the generation that is about to enter Eretz Yisrael not to forget about what they and their ancestors witnessed at Maamad Har Sinai (the Revelation at Sinai): 

Only beware for yourself and greatly beware for your soul, lest you forget the things that your eyes have beheld and lest you remove them from your hear all the days of your life, and make them known to your children and your children's children - the day that you stood before Hashem, your God, at Horeb, when Hashem said to me, "Gather the people to Me and I shall let them hear My words, so that they shall learn to fear Me all the days that they live on the earth, and they shall teach their children." 

So you approached and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire up to the heart of heaven, darkness, cloud, and thick cloud. Hashem spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you were hearing the sound of words, but you were not seeing a form, only a sound. He told you of His covenant that He commanded you to observe, the Ten Declarations, and He inscribed them on two stone Tablets. Hashem commanded me at that time to teach you decrees and ordinances, that you shall perform them in the Land to which you cross, to possess it ... 

For inquire now regarding the early days that preceded you, from the day when Hashem created man on the earth, and from one end of heaven to the other end of heaven: Has there ever been anything like this great thing or has anything like it been heard? Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire as you have heard and survived? Or has any god ever miraculously come to take for himself a nation from amidst a nation, with challenges, with sings, and with wonders, and with war, and with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with greatly awesome deeds, such as everything that Hashem, your God, did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 

You have been shown in order to know that Hashem, He is the God! There is none beside Him! From heaven He caused you to hear His voice in order to teach you, and on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire, because He loved your forefathers, and He chose his offspring after him, and took you out before Himself with His great strength from Egypt; to drive away before you nations that are greater and mightier than you, to bring you, to give you their land as an inheritance, as this very day. You shall know this day and take to your heart that Hashem, He is the God - in heaven above and on the earth below - there is none other. You shall observe His decrees and His commandments that I command you this day, so that He will do good to you and to your children after you, and so that you will prolong your days on the Land that Hashem, your God, gives you, for all the days.

Why did Hashem reveal Himself through such a momentous, public spectacle, and why did Moshe Rabbeinu see fit to exhort Bnei Yisrael to teach their children about the revelation? The answer is explicitly stated prior to the Torah's initial account of this event. Although Bnei Yisrael "believed in Hashem and in [the word of] Moshe, His servant" (Shemos 14:31) after Moshe took them out of Egypt, he was still concerned that they didn't fully believe in his prophecy. In response to this concern, Hashem promised Moshe that the Revelation at Sinai would remove any doubt about the legitimacy of his prophecy:

Hashem said to Moshe, "Behold! I will come to you in the thickness of the cloud, so that the people will hear as I speak to you, and they will also believe in you forever" (ibid. 19:9).

In other words, the primary purpose of Maamad Har Sinai was to establish nevuas Moshe (Mosaic prophecy) as authentic, thereby proving the Divine Authorship of the Torah. 

If this sounds like a big deal, that's because it is. The Rambam cites the "proof of Torah mi'Sinai" as the basis for our belief in nevuas Moshe, and our rejection of any other prophet. [1] The Ramban maintains that the Torah obligates us to teach this proof to our children. The Kuzari wrote at length about this topic - so much so, that this proof is often referred to as "the Kuzari principle." Contemporary authors have also written presentations of this proof. In my opinion, the best presentations are:

• Torah from Sinai
• Living Up to the Truth: Chapter 6
• A Rational Argument for the Divine Origin of Torah

Much ink has been spilled about the validity of this "proof" (or "rational demonstration," to be more accurate). Some maintain that is valid; others disagree. This discussion is beyond the scope of this blog post. 

Suffice it to say, my position is that this proof is valid, and is compelling to those who understand it. Be that as it may, I have grown increasingly doubtful as to how prominent of a role it should play in Jewish education. 

When I converted to Judaism and began my Jewish education in 11th grade, my Mishlei rebbi was of the opinion that it was essential for all students to be taught the proof of Torah mi'Sinai as the foundation of their Judaism. He taught it to my class, and I gained tremendously from it. When I started teaching, I took the same stance - both because this was the way that I had been taught, and because it seemed to me that it is impossible to have true emunah (conviction) in the Divine Authorship of Torah without it.

But over time, my Mishlei rebbi changed his tune. He argued that although the proof might be convincing on an intellectual level, it is unlikely to actually change any student's mind. Since the proof hinges on a clear categorization of how people assess secondhand knowledge, and since most people don't think in these terms (and don't rigorously analyze secondhand knowledge before accepting it), then this proof will not be real to the average student's mind, and will not affect him or her on an emotional level. 

When I first heard my rebbi express this objection, I disagreed. I dismissed his opinion as overly pessimistic, and chalked it up to the dim view of human nature that he has been trending towards over the past ten years. 

But the more experience I have had teaching this proof to students, the more I am inclined to agree with my rebbi. Although I have had some students who claim that Torah mi'Sinai changed their lives, this is definitely not the norm. Most students have never even been exposed to a philosophical proof, so the whole exercise feels artificial to them. Others have a difficult time thinking about hypothetical scenarios, which interferes with their ability to follow the proof. Many high school students are poor judges of how plausible or implausible a hypothetical scenario is, which leads them to lend undue weight to unlikely possibilities. And some students just don't have the patience to work through each step of the proof and get each step clear. 

The biggest problem with the proof is that at the end of the day, most people just aren't motivated by logical arguments. Even students who accept the proof and have no objections tend to go about their lives in the same manner as they did before they heard the proof. It simply doesn't affect them.

Being that this has been my experience, I find myself wondering: Is there a benefit in teaching the proof of Torah mi'Sinai? If so, what is that benefit?

As present, I believe that there are two benefits which make Torah mi'Sinai worth teaching, despite these difficulties. The most important reason for teaching Torah mi'Sinai to students is to show them that Judaism is fundamentally different from other religions. Whereas other religions demand blind faith, Judaism demands proof. It was not enough for Bnei Yisrael to merely have faith in Moshe's prophecy; they needed proof, and so should we. The Rashba identifies this need for proof as a hallmark of our nation:

Yisrael are the inheritors of the true religion; they are the children of Yaakov, the man of truth; they are all offspring of truth who are willing to endure the yoke of exile and that which befalls them, rather than to believe anything until after they have subjected it to intensive analysis - analysis after analysis - in order to remove all impurities from that which is said to them … Even the Jews who were enslaved with the harshest labor doubted Moshe when Moshe was commanded to bring them good news [of their imminent redemption]; in spite of this, he said, “They will not believe me,” and it was necessary for him to bring many signs [of his prophecy]. This is the true sign of our nation, the Nation of Hashem: that we do not allow ourselves to be seduced by anything until after we have arrived at its truth by way of intensive, complete analysis.

Even if students aren't moved or motivated by the proof, it is important for them to know that Judaism claims something that no other religion claims, namely, that our God spoke to our prophet in front of the entire nation, leaving no room to doubt the legitimacy of his prophecy. 

The second benefit of the proof of Torah mi'Sinai is that it takes away the excuse of "Judaism has no basis." There are many Jews who justify their turning away from Judaism by telling themselves that the whole religion is baseless. I believe that it is important to at least attempt to show these Jews that this assumption is false. Of course, not everyone will heed this point, but those who understand the proof and are intellectually honest will be forced to confront the fact that their excuse for abandoning Judaism isn't valid. Even if the proof doesn't emotionally motivate them to embrace Judaism, at least it will negate the intellectual basis of their rejection of Judaism.

That is where I stand, as of now. I suspect that my view will continue to change the more I teach and review the proof of Torah mi'Sinai. I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic!

[1] See Rabbeinu Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam / Maimonides), Mishneh Torah: Sefer ha'Mada, Hilchos Yesodei ha'Torah Chapter 8. The secondary purpose of Maamad Har Sinai is to prevent people from being taken in by a navi sheker (false prophet), as the Torah states in Parashas Re'eh:

The entire word that I command you, that you shall observe to do; you shall not add to it and you shall not subtract from it. If there should stand up in your midst a prophet or a dreamer of a dream, and he will produce to you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes about of which he spoke to you, saying: "Let us follow gods of others that you did not know and we shall worship them!" - do not hearken to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of a dream, for Hashem, your God, is testing you to know whether you love Hashem, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul. Hashem, your God, you shall follow and Him shall you fear; His commandments you shall observe and to His voice shall you hearken; Him shall you serve and to Him shall you cleave. And that prophet and that dreamer of a dream shall be put to death, for he had spoken perversion against Hashem, your God - Who takes you out of the land of Egypt, and Who redeems you from the house of slavery - to make you stray from the path on which Hashem, your God, has commanded you to go; and you shall destroy the evil from your midst (Devarim 13:2-6)

We do not believe in Moshe Rabbeinu's nevuah (prophecy) because of the miracles he did. We only believe in it because of Maamad Har Sinai. Furthermore, we only believe the nevuah of another (alleged) navi based on the criteria outlined by Moshe Rabbeinu in the Torah. Thus, if someone else comes along, performs miracles, and claims to speak words of prophecy which contradict the Torah of Moshe, then we know that this prophet is a navi sheker. 

I am including this in a footnote because it is implicit in the primary purpose of Torah, but is worthwhile to mention as a separate point nonetheless.

[2] Rabbeinu Shlomo ben Aderes (Rasha), Shailos u'Tshuvos 1:548