Read on Twitter
interesting idea, but in Judaism we start with the assumption that the original meaning of the biblical text is actually irretrievable without the oral interprative tradition which not only expands the textual meaning but sometimes overrides its literal meaning https://twitter.com/NGrossman81/status/1316028302696411142
One obvious case in point is the penelty for bodily injury, "an eye for an eye" (Exodus 21:24) is interpreted as payment of the value of a limb, rather than as amputation.
Here's the page from my son's chumash with Rashi's citation of the Talmudic discussion
Here's the page from my son's chumash with Rashi's citation of the Talmudic discussion
Seems like a good time to re-up my related article, beginning with these words:
"The passage of time seems to be a perennial problem for anyone who seeks to cling to unchanging truths, for time is nothing more than the demarcation of change."
https://thelehrhaus.com/scholarship/the-giving-of-the-torah-and-the-beginning-of-eternity-reflections-on-revelation-innovation-and-the-meaning-of-history/ @The_Lehrhaus
"The passage of time seems to be a perennial problem for anyone who seeks to cling to unchanging truths, for time is nothing more than the demarcation of change."
https://thelehrhaus.com/scholarship/the-giving-of-the-torah-and-the-beginning-of-eternity-reflections-on-revelation-innovation-and-the-meaning-of-history/ @The_Lehrhaus
The conflation of religiosity with conservatism ... rests on a metaphysical misconception: The conservative believes that the eternal is unchanging. The Rebbe believes that every change is already encompassed in eternity.
To move through time is not to lose touch with eternity but rather to participate in the unfolding of eternity. From this perspective, the quest for eternal truth does not devalue history, but rather vests it with ultimate meaning.
Historic change is not a threat to the Torah, it is the ultimate vehicle for the revelation of Torah.
