[Avodah] Was Lavan daft, dense or what?

[Micha Berger]

On Sat, November 17, 2007 12:46 pm, R Arie Folger wrote:
: Lavan benefited from an experience we all strive for, but know that,
: living in times of hester panim, we cannot expect: direct revelation.
: Before reaching Ya'aqov's camp, G"d appeared to Lavan...
: However, moments after relating that incident to Ya'aqov, he asks
: "lamah ganavta et elohai?!" Is Lavan out of his mind?...
: I believe that the answer is obvious: reshaim, afilu 'al pit'hah shel
: gehinnam einam 'hozrim bitshuvah. If Lavan wants AZ, he will justify
: AZ no matter what the proofs against it, including miraculous
: revelation.

I am not sure I agree. Yes, someone could explain away proofs. And
someone could after time (say, 40 days) start questioning the validity
of revelation.

However, beshe'as ma'aseh, it would seem that nevu'ah is an
incontravertably real experience. This is how a number of rishonim
explain Avraham's certainty that he was told by the RBSO to kill his
son, despite it being more likely to come from the Satan or being out
in the sun too long, or a dream of some other sort.

It is hard for me to believe that an experience strong enough to
convince Avraham Avinu that Hashem wanted human sacrifice -- despite
his knowing the beri'ah well enough to deduce all 613 mitzvos, never
mind something this big of an anathema -- was not strong enough to
convince Lavan. Especially since at the time of the retelling, Lavan
apparently still believed the experience was real.

I am therefore inclined to agree with the earlier posters who
suggested that to a polytheist or henotheist like Lavan, accepting
Yaaqov's G-d didn't have anything to do with rejecting his own
deities.

SheTir'u baTov!
-micha

-- 
Micha Berger             One who kills his inclination is as though he
micha at aishdas.org        brought an offering. But to bring an offering,
http://www.aishdas.org   you must know where to slaughter and what
Fax: (270) 514-1507      parts to offer.        - R' Simcha Zissel Ziv