National Revelation: A Proof of Torah's Truth
In these excerpts from their article, two rabbis provide indisputable
proof of Torah's revelation at Sinai from HaShem. The fact of the unique
claim of Divine Revelation to a whole nation in wide open spaces and not
to just a single prophet in private. Also that HaShem tells us in Torah
(D*bariym 4:32&33) no others throughout history will ever be able
to make the same claim. Read, enjoy, and be strengthened!
- Yafeu bar Ya`aqob haLewi -
Did God Speak at Sinai?
by Rabbi Nechemia Coopersmith and Rabbi Moshe Zeldman
Who did God give the Torah to at Mount Sinai? Most people reply, "God gave
the Torah to Moses."
And what were the Jewish people doing while Moses was receiving the Torah?
"Worshipping the Golden Calf."
Correct answers -- but NOT according to the Bible.
The above answers come from Cecil B. DeMille's classic film, "The Ten
Commandments." Amazing the impact one movie can have on the Jewish education
of generations of Jews. It's a great film, but DeMille should have read the
original.
The Torah claims that the entire Jewish nation heard God speak at Sinai, an
assertion that has been accepted as part of their nation's history for over
3,000 years.
HISTORY AND LEGENDS
History, however, is comprised of events we know actually happened. It is
reliable because we can determine if the claimed event is true or false
through a number of ways. One key to verification is the assertion that
large numbers of eyewitnesses observed the specific event.
SINAI: AN IMPOSSIBLE HOAX
Let's imagine the scene. Moses comes down the mountain and claims, "We all
today heard God speak, all of you heard the God's voice from the fire..."
Assuming Moses is making it up, how would the people respond to his story?
"Moses! What are you talking about?! Boy, you sure had us going there for
awhile. We may have even believed you if you came down and claimed that God
appeared to you personally. But now you blew it! Now we know you're lying
because you're claiming an event happened to us that we know didn't happen!
We did not hear God speak to us from any fire!"
If the revelation at Sinai did not occur, then Moses is claiming an event
everyone immediately knows is an outright lie, since they know that they
never heard God speak. It is preposterous to think Moses can get away with
a
claim that everyone knows is lie.
REVELATION CLAIMED LATER IN HISTORY
Perhaps a hoax such as this could have been attempted at a later period in
history. Perhaps the claim of national revelation did not originate at
Sinai, but began, for example, 1,000 years after the event was said to have
occurred. Perhaps the leader Ezra, for example, appears on the scene,
introducing a book purported to be written by God and given to a people who
stood at Sinai a long time ago.
INTRODUCED LATER?
Let's assume for the moment that the revelation at Mount Sinai is really a
hoax; God did not write the Torah. How did the revelation at Sinai become
accepted for thousands of years as part of our nation's history?
Imagine someone trying to pull off such a hoax. An Ezra figure shows up one
day holding a scroll.
"Hey Ezra - what are you holding there?"
"This is the Torah."
"The Torah? What's that?"
"It's an amazing book filled with laws, history and stories. Here, take a
look at it."
"Very nice, Ezra. Where did you get this?"
"Open up the book and see what it says. This book was given thousands of
years ago to your ancestors. Three million of them stood at Mount Sinai and
heard God speak! God appeared to everyone, giving His law and instruction."
How would you respond to such a claim?
The people give Ezra a quizzical look and say,
"Wait a second, Ezra. Something is a little fishy here. Why haven't we ever
heard of this before? You're describing one of the most momentous events
that could ever happen, claiming that it happened to our ancestors - and we
never heard about it?"
"Sure. It was along time ago. Of course you never heard about it."
"C'mon Ezra! It's impossible that our grandparents or great-grandparents
would not have passed down the most significant event in our nation's
history to some of the people! How could it be that no one has heard about
this up until now?! You're claiming all my ancestors, the entire nation, 3
million people heard God speak and received a set of instructions called the
Torah, and none of us have heard about it?! You must be lying."
....one
cannot pull off a hoax to convince an entire people that their ancestors
experienced the most unique event in all of human history.
Everyone would know it's a lie.
For thousands of years, Sinai was accepted as central to Jewish history. How
else can this be explained?
Given that people will not fall for a hoax they know is a lie, how could
national revelation have been not only accepted -- but faithfully followed
with great sacrifice by the vast majority of Jews?
The only way a people would accept such a claim is if it really happened. If
Sinai did not happen, everyone would know it's a lie and it would never have
been accepted. The only way one can ever claim a nation experienced
revelation and have it accepted is if it is true.
SINAI: THE ONLY CLAIM OF NATIONAL REVELATION
All
religions that base themselves on some type of revelation share essentially
the same beginning: a holy person goes into solitude, comes back to his
people, and announces that he has experienced a personal revelation where
God appointed him to be His prophet.
Would you believe someone who claims to have received a personal
communication from God appointing him or her as God's new prophet?
Maybe He did. Then again, maybe He didn't. One can never know. The claim is
inherently unverifiable.
A BOLD PREDICTION
Why would God establish His entire relationship with a nation through one
man, without any possibility of verification, and still expect this nation
to obediently follow an entire system of instructions, based only on blind
faith?
Yet, Judaism is the only religion in the annals of history that makes the
best of all claims -- that everyone heard God speak. No other religion
claims the experience of national revelation. Why?
Furthermore, the Author of the Torah predicts that there will never be
another claim of national revelation throughout history!
'You might inquire about times long past, from the day that God created
man on earth, and from one end of heaven to the other: 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
fires as you have heard and survived?'
(Deut. 4:32-33)
Let's consider the option that God did not write the Torah, and its author
successfully convinced a group of people to accept a false claim of national
revelation. In this book, the author writes a prediction that over the
course of history no one will ever make a similar claim. That means if such
a claim is ever made at some future time, the prediction will end up being
false and his religion is finished.
How could the author include in the book he is passing off as a hoax the
prediction that no other person will ever attempt to perpetuate the same
hoax when he just made that exact claim? If he could do it, he can be
certain that others will too, especially since it is the best possible claim
to make. If you are making up a religion, you do not write something you
know you cannot predict and whose outcome you would think is guaranteed to
be exactly the opposite.
However, aside from the Jewish claim of Mount Sinai, it is a fact that no
other nation has ever claimed such a similar national revelation.
Let's summarize two primary questions:
- Out of 15,000 known religions in recorded history, why is Judaism the
only one that claims national revelation, the best of all claims? Why do all
other religions base themselves on the inherently weak assertion of personal
revelation?
- If Judaism's claim is indeed an example of a successful hoax that falsely
asserts national revelation, the author just got away with passing off the
best possible claim, and others will certainly follow suit. Why then would
he predict that no one else will ever make a similar claim, a prediction he
knows he cannot foresee, and whose outcome is likely to be the exact
opposite?
There is one simple answer to both questions. A national revelation -- as
opposed to personal revelation -- is the one lie you cannot get away with.
It is one event you cannot fabricate. The only way to make this claim is if
it actually happened.
If the claim is true, the people will believe it because they are agreeing
to something they already know. Either they personally witnessed it, or
their ancestors collectively passed down the account as part of their
nation's accepted history.
If the claim is false, it's like trying to convince you that God spoke to
you or your parents and somehow you never heard of it. No one would ever
accept such a claim.
Therefore no other religion has ever made the best of all claims, because it
is the one claim that can only be made if it is true. One cannot pass
national revelation off as a hoax.
When inventing a religion, the originator must resort to personal
revelation, despite its inherent weakness, since it is a claim that is
unverifiable.
Only Judaism can claim national revelation since the Jewish people is the
only nation in the history of mankind who ever experienced it.
Furthermore, it is interesting to note that the other major religions of
the world both accept the Jewish revelation at Sinai, including the Five
Books of Moses in their Bible, and hold the Sinai revelation as a key
component of their religion.
When starting their own religions, why did they build upon the Jewish
claim? Why didn't they just deny the revelation ever happened?
The answer is that they knew that if
national revelation can never be
fabricated; so too, its validity can therefore never be denied.
Now it is understandable how the Author of the Torah can confidently predict
that there will never be another claim of national revelation in history.
Because only God knew it would happen only once, as it did -- at Sinai over
3,000 years ago.
Based on a segment of Aish HaTorah's Discovery seminar.
Copyright © 2000 Aish HaTorah
KEYWORDS Wellhausen documentary hypothesis pious fraud jepd
