[Avodah] Telling All of the Truth About Great Men

[Micha Berger]

On Tue, Oct 19, 2010 at 02:59:04PM +0200, Danny Schoemann wrote:
: Well, how do you explain that Terach's demise was conviniently
: mentioned at the end of Noach, in order to fudge the fact that he
: lived until Avraham was 130 years old? The correct location would have
: been around Chayei Sarah!

Similarly, Avraham failed to stop Migdal Bavel, but that failure is
also hidden from the reader.

Of course, no one claimed that Bereishis is a biography.

I have the same solution WRT modern bios -- just be up front and call
them hagiographies, and all the problems evaporate. All, except for the
shortage of noble people's mistakes to learn from.

The issue is one of chinukh. What is more useful -- inspiration and
awe, or being able to learn from how others successfully faced their
own shortcomings? Each has validity.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             A life of reaction is a life of slavery,
micha at aishdas.org        intellectually and spiritually. One must
http://www.aishdas.org   fight for a life of action, not reaction.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                            -Rita Mae Brown