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- (Note: To skip to section dealing with "G-d doing
All", click here)
Question:
- Why would it be illogic to believe in mass conspiracy? (regarding
tora
- misinai)
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- Response:
- It's not a matter of being illogical, it's a matter of fact. Mass
conspiracy cannot exist.
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- 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.
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- Based on this psychological truth, mass conspiracy cannot exist. It
never has, and never will.
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- 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.
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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
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- 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?
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Question:
- Why can't one get a mass to conspire by dealing with them as
individuals- get each to lie for different motivations
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- Response:
- Try the above. It is against human nature.
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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
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- 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.
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- 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:
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- Can G-d do everything?
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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".
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- Moshe Ben-Chaim
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