(1) I was looking at the Old Testament and I had just a few random thoughts that I just wanted to jot down.
Caleb the friend of Joshua, the disciple of Moses had more children from his concubines [girl friend] than he had from his wives. His family tree is spelled out in Chronicles I 2:46 (chapter 2 verse 46) and later on the chapter 4 of that same book. The Gra pointed out that this seems to disprove the idea that only a king can have a concubine.
(That is to say: The Gra used this fact as a proof against the Rambam and in support of the Raavad and the Ramban and most other rishonim.)
The fascinating thing here is that Caleb seems to be one of the only persons in the Old Testament that never a word of reproach is uttered against by God. He is declared "וימלא אחרי השם" "He went totally after God." Everyone else seems to get some words of critique.
(2) The snake when he wanted to get Eve to eat from the Fruit of the Tree said a true statement. "You will be like God knowing the difference between good and evil." Later when God threw them out of the Garden of Eden in fact it says He said to his angels "See tat man has become like us knowing the difference between good an evil."
He also said another half true statement.לא מות תמותון You will not die. As God had said on the day that they eat from the fruit they would die. Well again the snake won the debate. They did not die on that day. [But they did die eventually Adam 930 years later.]
Hegel also noticed that the snake at least in his statement, "You will be like God" did not lie. [The Talmud says any lie that does not have some truth mixed with it can not stand.]
(3) I also wanted to mention that it is not clear to me right now if the Rambam [טעון ונטען פרק ו' הלכה ג] hold by the idea of the Ketzot HaChoshen that I mentioned in my previous essays. I still need to do some thinking about that.
(4) Reb Shmuel Berenbaum noted that the same complain about mankind that was used to destroy mankind by the flood was the exact same argument used to save mankind. First it was "I will destroy mankind because his thoughts are only evil all day." Then it was "I will never destroy mankind again because his thoughts are evil (and therefore what would be the point)?"
(5) Who are the "sons of God" (in Genesis) that came on the daughters of men and gave birth to the great heroes of old?
Caleb the friend of Joshua, the disciple of Moses had more children from his concubines [girl friend] than he had from his wives. His family tree is spelled out in Chronicles I 2:46 (chapter 2 verse 46) and later on the chapter 4 of that same book. The Gra pointed out that this seems to disprove the idea that only a king can have a concubine.
(That is to say: The Gra used this fact as a proof against the Rambam and in support of the Raavad and the Ramban and most other rishonim.)
The fascinating thing here is that Caleb seems to be one of the only persons in the Old Testament that never a word of reproach is uttered against by God. He is declared "וימלא אחרי השם" "He went totally after God." Everyone else seems to get some words of critique.
(2) The snake when he wanted to get Eve to eat from the Fruit of the Tree said a true statement. "You will be like God knowing the difference between good and evil." Later when God threw them out of the Garden of Eden in fact it says He said to his angels "See tat man has become like us knowing the difference between good an evil."
He also said another half true statement.לא מות תמותון You will not die. As God had said on the day that they eat from the fruit they would die. Well again the snake won the debate. They did not die on that day. [But they did die eventually Adam 930 years later.]
Hegel also noticed that the snake at least in his statement, "You will be like God" did not lie. [The Talmud says any lie that does not have some truth mixed with it can not stand.]
(3) I also wanted to mention that it is not clear to me right now if the Rambam [טעון ונטען פרק ו' הלכה ג] hold by the idea of the Ketzot HaChoshen that I mentioned in my previous essays. I still need to do some thinking about that.
(4) Reb Shmuel Berenbaum noted that the same complain about mankind that was used to destroy mankind by the flood was the exact same argument used to save mankind. First it was "I will destroy mankind because his thoughts are only evil all day." Then it was "I will never destroy mankind again because his thoughts are evil (and therefore what would be the point)?"
(5) Who are the "sons of God" (in Genesis) that came on the daughters of men and gave birth to the great heroes of old?
