[Avodah] Faith and Doubt

[via Avodah]

From: Micha Berger via Avodah  <avodah at lists.aishdas.org>

>> R' Riskin repeated a brilliant  observation by R Moshe Besdin. (H/T
Mosaic Magazine.) I think it says a lot  about what it means to have
a life of faith despite having periods of  doubt.

Quoting from <http://j.mp/2ekffiv> (on  blogs.timesofisrael.com):

...
Noah didn't  enter the ark until the water literally pushed him in.
Rashi's  phrase that "he believed and he didn't believe" is really
another way of describing an agnostic who remains in the state of  his
uncertainty; he believes and doesn't believe. Noah is  therefore
described by Rashi as the first  agnostic.

The second Biblical agnostic appears in the guise  of Haran.....

....   Is it not strange that  the fate of the two agnostics should be so
different? We read  how Noah was a man of little faith, and yet not only
does he  survive the Flood, he turns into one of the central figures of
human history....

In contrast, Haran, father of Lot, brother  to Abraham, hovers on the
edge of obscurity, and is even  punished with death for his lack of
faith. Why is Haran's  agnosticism considered so much worse than Noah's?

Rabbi  Moshe Besdin, zal, explained that while Noah and Haran shared
uncertainty about God, there was a vast difference between them. .......  <<

-- 
Micha  Berger              
micha at aishdas.org         






>>>>>
 
The difference between them was that Noach never was an agnostic.   This 
whole clever vort falls apart right from the beginning.  When Rashi  says that 
Noach did and did not believe, he is OBVIOUSLY talking about the Flood  -- 
Noach doubted whether Hashem really would carry through on his threat to  
destroy the world.  Not for a moment did he doubt the existence of the One  
who was talking to him and giving him instructions!  The premise is  absurd.
 
Let's say a kindly father threatens his young child, "If you play with my  
lulav again I am going to potch you!"  The little boy doubts that his  
father will carry through on his threat. "I wonder if Abba really will potch  me? 
 He's always given me so many chances before."  Maybe he takes a  chance 
and plays with Abba's lulav and maybe he's really scared and leaves it  alone. 
  But in any case he does not doubt the existence of his  father!
 

--Toby  Katz
t613k at aol.com
..
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