Rabbi Meir said: When the Jews stood before Sinai to receive the Torah, God said to them: "I swear, I will not give you the Torah unless you provide worthy guarantors who will assure that you will observe its laws."
The Jews responded, "Master of the world, our forefathers will be our guarantors!"
"Your guarantors themselves require guarantors!" was God's reply.
"Master of the world," the Jews exclaimed, "our prophets will guarantee our observance of the Torah."
"I have grievances against them, too. 'The shepherds have rebelled against Me' (Jeremiah 2:8)," G‑d replied. "Bring proper guarantors and only then will I give you the Torah."
As a last resort, the Jews declared, "our children will serve as our guarantors!"
"They truly are worthy guarantors," God replied. "Because of them I will give the Torah."
Midrash Rabbah, Song of Songs 1:4
The white-bearded sages and the erudite rabbis weren't sufficient to satisfy God's "need" for a guarantor. Why? Who can better guarantee the transmission of the Law than the intellectuals, philosophers, and theologians who devote their lives to developing it and teaching its wisdom to myriads of disciples throughout the ages? Why did G‑d prefer the Torah study of the child whose mind is constantly …show more content…
God doesn't want us to blindly accept His teachings, he wants us to use our intellectual skills to analyze, probe, and question. However, we must never lose sight of the fact that our minds are inherently limited, whereas God's wisdom is infinite. We are obligated to question, but at the same time to unquestioningly accept each word of Torah to be the absolute truth. Only this method of study ensures the eternal survival of the Torah, guaranteeing that its teachings won't be forsaken because of doubts which inevitably will arise (after all, that is the nature of intellect—it can always be questioned and
The Jews responded, "Master of the world, our forefathers will be our guarantors!"
"Your guarantors themselves require guarantors!" was God's reply.
"Master of the world," the Jews exclaimed, "our prophets will guarantee our observance of the Torah."
"I have grievances against them, too. 'The shepherds have rebelled against Me' (Jeremiah 2:8)," G‑d replied. "Bring proper guarantors and only then will I give you the Torah."
As a last resort, the Jews declared, "our children will serve as our guarantors!"
"They truly are worthy guarantors," God replied. "Because of them I will give the Torah."
Midrash Rabbah, Song of Songs 1:4
The white-bearded sages and the erudite rabbis weren't sufficient to satisfy God's "need" for a guarantor. Why? Who can better guarantee the transmission of the Law than the intellectuals, philosophers, and theologians who devote their lives to developing it and teaching its wisdom to myriads of disciples throughout the ages? Why did G‑d prefer the Torah study of the child whose mind is constantly …show more content…
God doesn't want us to blindly accept His teachings, he wants us to use our intellectual skills to analyze, probe, and question. However, we must never lose sight of the fact that our minds are inherently limited, whereas God's wisdom is infinite. We are obligated to question, but at the same time to unquestioningly accept each word of Torah to be the absolute truth. Only this method of study ensures the eternal survival of the Torah, guaranteeing that its teachings won't be forsaken because of doubts which inevitably will arise (after all, that is the nature of intellect—it can always be questioned and