[Avodah] Ta'am of eating matzah

[T613K at aol.com]

>>> Aside from this, many Torah laws are phrased  very
similarly to Hammurabi-ish laws (especially parshat  Mishpatim),
whether because of common idioms and style (see above), or in  order to
draw a contrast with what is different between the laws.... 


 
 

>>>>>Actually, this is in fact davka why Rav Hirsch says  we must learn
Canaanite, Egyptian, Babylonian, and Roman culture and history  - he
says we cannot understand the Torah's moral laws without knowing  what
they are polemicizing against. I will humbly suggest we extend  Rav
Hirsch's words to many ritualistic laws too.

Mikha'el  Makovi



>>>>>
1. How do you know the Code of Hammurabi came first? Maybe Torah came  first, 
and it was not they who influenced us (if only to prompt a  response), but we 
who influenced them?   For all we know, the Torah  laws being taught in the 
yeshiva of Shem v'Ever may have been widely known (and  changed, and distorted, 
with the passage of time) by the various Semitic peoples  of the Middle East. 
 The Avos knew and kept the Torah long before it was  given on Sinai.
 
 
2. Did Hirsch really advocate learning "Canaanite, Egyptian, Babylonian,  and 
Roman culture and history"?  Did he really say, "we cannot understand  the 
Torah's moral laws without knowing what they are polemicizing  against?"  Do you 
happen to remember where he says this? It's not  totally impossible but 
doesn't sound exactly like him.  
 
The Torah lists many forbidden sexual relationships, and says that the  
Canaanites did these things and that's why they deserved to lose their land, and  
we had better not do what the Canaanites did lest we get kicked out, too,  c'v. 
 But aside from the information that the Torah and Nevi'im themselves  
provide about the types of immorality that the Canaanites engaged in, does  anyone 
seriously suggest that we should study Canaanite religions and social  
practices in depth, from Canaanite sources, in order to fully understand what  the 
Torah forbids and why? 


--Toby  Katz
=============





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