Sinai & Purim
This piece explores the role of coercion as it relates to religion
B Shab 88a makes the following well known & astonishing assertion
ויתיצבו בתחתית ההר א״ר אבדימי בר חמא בר חסא מלמד שכפה הקב״ה עליהם את ההר כגיגית ואמר להם אם אתם מקבלים התורה מוטב ואם לאו שם תהא קבורתכם א״ר אחא בר יעקב מכאן מודעא רבה לאורייתא אמר רבא אעפ״כ הדור קבלוה בימי אחשורוש דכתיב קימו וקבלו היהודים קיימו מה שקיבלו כבר
Perhaps the following explanation can be ventured:
As the Israelites experienced an extremely high level of exposure to God at the "the foot of the mountain" viz the revelation (the Torah describes them as being afraid of dying, the Talmud says that they actually died and were resuscitated, perhaps the meaning is that their physicality along with all of it's biases was no longer a factor in their decision making), they were for all intents and purposes "coerced" ie the veil that nature typically imposes on God was temporarily pushed aside allowing them to be confronted by the Shechinah.
Relieved of the coercive element, allowed to determine for themselves if the divine is detectable, they chose to view the many ostensibly disparate events as holistically interconnected and interwoven, as divinely guided and orchestrated.
They chose to peer beyond the "natural" interface that normally mediates between the terrestrial and the celestial.
They chose to see God.
They willingly chose to accept the God of the revelation along with all its implications.
B Shab 88a makes the following well known & astonishing assertion
ויתיצבו בתחתית ההר א״ר אבדימי בר חמא בר חסא מלמד שכפה הקב״ה עליהם את ההר כגיגית ואמר להם אם אתם מקבלים התורה מוטב ואם לאו שם תהא קבורתכם א״ר אחא בר יעקב מכאן מודעא רבה לאורייתא אמר רבא אעפ״כ הדור קבלוה בימי אחשורוש דכתיב קימו וקבלו היהודים קיימו מה שקיבלו כבר
Perhaps the following explanation can be ventured:
As the Israelites experienced an extremely high level of exposure to God at the "the foot of the mountain" viz the revelation (the Torah describes them as being afraid of dying, the Talmud says that they actually died and were resuscitated, perhaps the meaning is that their physicality along with all of it's biases was no longer a factor in their decision making), they were for all intents and purposes "coerced" ie the veil that nature typically imposes on God was temporarily pushed aside allowing them to be confronted by the Shechinah.
Ramban famously diffentiates between nissim mefursamim and nissim nistarim, with the former acting outside the bounds of nature and the latter acting within.
The hidden miracle that was the Purim story (הָרוֹאֶה מְגִלַּת אֶסְתֵּר – נֵס נַעֲשָׂה לוֹ), which transpired over approximately a decade, took place with the veil of nature firmly in place. אֶסְתֵּר מִן הַתּוֹרָה מִנַּיִן וְאָנֹכִי הַסְתֵּר אַסְתִּיר. HaShem's name does not appear in the Megilah. One could dismiss it all as coincidence and fortuitous timing, with a bit of well played palace intrigue thrown into the mix.
The hidden miracle that was the Purim story (הָרוֹאֶה מְגִלַּת אֶסְתֵּר – נֵס נַעֲשָׂה לוֹ), which transpired over approximately a decade, took place with the veil of nature firmly in place. אֶסְתֵּר מִן הַתּוֹרָה מִנַּיִן וְאָנֹכִי הַסְתֵּר אַסְתִּיר. HaShem's name does not appear in the Megilah. One could dismiss it all as coincidence and fortuitous timing, with a bit of well played palace intrigue thrown into the mix.
Relieved of the coercive element, allowed to determine for themselves if the divine is detectable, they chose to view the many ostensibly disparate events as holistically interconnected and interwoven, as divinely guided and orchestrated.
They chose to peer beyond the "natural" interface that normally mediates between the terrestrial and the celestial.
They chose to see God.
They willingly chose to accept the God of the revelation along with all its implications.
Perhaps the interplay between undeniable divine intervention and hidden intervention is that to be open to seeing God in nature one needs to have been exposed to God undeniably at some point to enable one to attribute even nature to God.
קיימו מה שקיבלו כבר
This is masterful!
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