[Avodah] Fw: Sodom bed [was Torah Homeschooling|

[rabbirichwolpoe at gmail.com]

RTK
> Chazal took a commonly known Greek story floating around in the air
> of their time and used it to illustrate the kind of thing that went on
> in Sodom.

Actually I think Hazal were doing political comments regarding their
own time and used proxies just like Gulliver lhavdil

Attacks on Esav/Edom were veiled attacks on Rome

I'm guessing that attacks on Sodom were veiled attacks against hedonisitc
Hellenic culture.

That is why Hazal are saying truths but NOT peshat in passuk.
They are avoiding persecution by using meshallim from Tanach to make
social political and spiritual commentary about the ills of the local
civilizations.

And the amcha probably understood these veiled references but these
double entendres were forgotten.

There is a story about Netziv iirc that dovetails with this.

EG the Torah shows Esav to be impetuous but not so violent. Hazal made
him bloodthirsty. Clearly to me they were attacking Rome vicariously
via Edom.

Of sourse spiritually speaking Esav probably was their spiritual ancestor
and may be responsible on some spiritual genetic level. But it is
possible that Esav actually committed none of the violence attributed
to him yet Hazal WERE telling the Emes - IE the emes about the cruelty
of Rome and swapping the names so as to avoid wholesale martyrdom!

IMHO this approach is so basic that Hazal are saying the truth but not
necessarily the literal peshat in passuk!

KT
RRW
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