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Question:

Why would it be illogic to believe in mass conspiracy? (regarding tora
misinai)
 
 
Response:
It's not a matter of being illogical, it's a matter of fact. Mass conspiracy cannot exist.
 
Conspiracy can only exist when there is a motive common to a few individuals to perpetuate a lie. It is however, against human nature to have more than a few individuals sharing a common motive. People are very diverse, and what motivates one to lie, will not motivate another. On a small scale you can get a group of people to lie. But try to get a few hundred people to lie. Why should they? For what purpose do they care to lie? Just because one person has a specific motive, this does not mean another shares his concern to fabricate something.
Hence, only very few can lie as a group, and the argument in favor of the veracity of Mattan Torah at Mount Sinai stands firm.
 
Based on this psychological truth, mass conspiracy cannot exist. It never has, and never will.
 
It is important to distinguish between mass conspiracy and mass belief. Hitler, y'mach shmo, was successful in getting many Germans to believe that they were a superior race. This is possible because Hitler was not dealing with an event. He could not get them to believe that they descended from a place which they didn't. But what Hitler did was to get them to believe in their status. This, people all share in common, i.e., an ego emotion.
 

Question:

In your response to the question about mass conspiracy, you write that it is impossible to get a mass to have the same motivation to lie.
Where did you get this from? Perhaps they were all promised a great reward which satisfied each and every one of them-perhaps, a paradise of some sorts
 
Response:
As I mentioned, a specific attraction is not possible to appeal to more than a few individuals. Try it yourself. See if you can get a few people to lie about an event as grand and miraculous as the event at Mt. Sinai. I doubt you will even get one. What will be the motivation, and even if one is motivated, do you think that 10, 100, 1000, 100,000 or even 2.5 million will be?
 

Question:

Why can't one get a mass to conspire by dealing with them as individuals- get each to lie for different motivations
 
Response:
Try the above. It is against human nature.
 
 

Question:

Your claim sounds good but you have yet to prove this. Is this based upon empirical evidence? If so, where is it? Is it based on pure thought? If so, then by saying that it is impossible you are implying that G-d could not have created such a situation. Is that true- G-d could not have created a world in which the few are more likely to lie than the many? Why not?
Thank you
 
Response:
Mass conspiracy is against human nature. This is based on how a person works, and is empirically proved, by witnessing the need for motivation in people. Without a motive, one does not do something. We also witness that what motivates one, will not motivate another. And so on for thousands of people.We conclude that one motivation might work for a few, but not much more than that.
 
Regarding your question, "can G-d create a world in which the few are more likely to lie than the many", the answer is as follows:
 
 
Can G-d do everything?
 
Judaism does not say so. Although this sounds like it goes against what our idea of G-d should be, allow me to explain. To say G-d can do everything, would include, G-d punishing a person who never sinned, or G-d rewarding a person who killed his entire life. This clearly is not how G-d operates. Understanding these examples, one will agree that G-d cannot do everything, meaning, He cannot do that which is imperfect or unjust. This is not a limitation, but rather, His perfection. Imagine a person who never gets lower than a 100 on his tests. Would it be an imperfection in this person that he can't fail? Of course not. This is the person's greatness.
The same applies to G-d. It is not a flaw in Him to keep to a perfected state of justice, which means that He punishes only one who has sinned, and not one wholly righteous. The Rishonim state this clearly.
 
When one says that G-d should be able to do anything, this statement stems from one's own feeling of what free choice would include, and projects it onto G-d. "I can do whatever I want, so G-d should be able to do so as well." To this, we must acknowledge that G-d does not operate as we do with freewill. This is a human trait, divorced from how the Supreme Being operates.
Additionally, when one thinks of G-d, they think of One who can do supernatural things. So if He can do miracles, He can do anything - and some incorrectly assume - even the impossible. This however stems from a false "superman" notion of G-d. Yes. G-d creates miracles. But it is not that simple. A miracle is not simply performed. There must be some important goal which it accomplishes. It even states that G-d does not desire to do miracles. This is because G-d desires that knowledge of Him should be what draws a person to Him, not emotional excitement. As Rambam says, miracles leave doubt in the heart. How many times did the Jews accuse Moses, even after witnessing G-d's miracles.
 
To say that G-d can do the impossible, ignores rational thinking. Can G-d actually make white equal black? Hot equal cold? Even this we can say with certainty is out of the realm of the possible. It is also a supposition which makes no sense from a standpoint of God's perfection to do so. It is impossible, and as such, there is nothing left to talk about. Once something is impossible, one is incorrect in continuing by stating , "but what if He really could do........" The words, "but what if" show that the questioner has not accepted the impossibility of the proposed act, and reflects his distorted thinking.
 
The Torah tells us many times that G-d is just, kind, merciful, and the like. This means by definition that He is not the opposite. Hence, G-d cannot do everything. He cannot be unfair, or unjust. This, again, is His perfection.
 
This may take time to digest, as this idea flies in the face of what we might have been taught to believe since youth. However, rational thought should lead one to realize that G-d functions with perfection, some perfections we see, many we don't. What we can see however, is that G-d has always worked with justice, charity and kindness. This should tell our minds that He works according to rules of perfection, rules which He admittedly won't break, as He stated in Malachi, 3:6, "Ani Hashem lo shanisi". I am G-d, I do not change".
 
Moshe Ben-Chaim
  


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