Contradictions between Faith and Reality in the Rabbinic Literature

Abstract

In the following study, I examine the attitude of the Rabbis to reality on the basis of the parables told in the Rabbinic literature. I would like to answer the following question: how did the Rabbis react to attempts by gentiles to introduce substantial changes to the basic spiritual principles in Judaism in wake of the Destruction of the Second Temple? The paper reveals that the Rabbis ignored reality in order to preserve the fundamental concepts in of Judaism and rejected any attempt to introduce changes therein in light of changes in actual reality. They accepted positively only those ideas that strengthened the traditional principles of Judaism. Thus, when pagan sages called the Rabbis’ attention to aspects of reality that contradicted their traditional approach, the Rabbis ignored the pagans’ provocative questions. The Rabbis rebuked any attempts by gentiles to engage them in a dispute intended to prove that the Jewish God is wrong or has decided to forego His covenant with the Jewish people. However, when the Rabbis they feel that the pagans are truly asking how to fulfill Judaism in the best possible way, the Rabbis respond to them gladly, with focused and substantive answers. The Rabbis are unwilling to forego Judaism under any circumstances, even in wake of the catastrophe which befell the people of Israel upon the Destruction of the Second Temple which was the most terrible catastrophe in the Jewish history in that period.