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The following is from RSRH's essay Av II<br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>"But if you will not
hearken unto me and will not do all of these Commands and if<br>
you will scorn My Laws, and if your soul will spurn My Judgments so<br>
that all of My Commandments are not carried out, and so that you<br>
renounce My Covenant-" (Levit. 26, 14-15)<br><br>
This warning is commented upon in the Sifra as follows; "Many
do<br>
not study the Law, but they fulfill it. Concerning these men, this<br>
Scriptural quotation says: 'You will not hearken and you will not
do.'<br>
From this we learn that one who does not study the Law will also
not<br>
continue to fulfill it.<br><br>
"Many neither study the Law nor fulfill it; but they do not
scorn<br>
those who fulfill it. Referring to these men, these Scriptural verses
say:<br>
</font>'If <font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>you will scorn My
Laws.' We learn from this that one who neither<br>
studies the Law nor fulfills it will ultimately also scorn those who
fulfill<br>
it.<br><br>
"Many do not study the Law and do not fulfill it, and they also<br>
scorn others who fulfill it; but they do not hate the sages, who teach
it.<br>
Concerning them, these verses say: 'and if you will spurn My
Judgments-.'<br>
Here we learn that one who neither studies nor fulfills the<br>
Law, and scorns those who fulfill it, will also come to hate the
sages,<br>
who teach it.<br><br>
"Many neither study the Law nor fulfill it, and hate the sages,
who<br>
teach it; but they do not oppose the observance of the Law by
others.<br>
Concerning them, these Scriptural verses say: '-so that all of My<br>
Commandments are not carried out-.' From this we learn that one<br>
who neither studies the Law nor fulfills it, and scorns those who
fulfill<br>
it, and hates the sages who teach it, will ultimately oppose the
observance<br>
of the Law by others.<br><br>
"There are many who neither study the Law nor fulfill it, scorn<br>
those who fulfill it, hate the sages and oppose the fulfillment of
the<br>
Law; but they nevertheless acknowledge that the Law was revealed on<br>
Sinai. Concerning this category of people, this Scriptural passage
says:<br>
'all of My Commandments.' This is to teach that one who does not<br>
study the Law and does not fulfill it, who scorns those who fulfill
it,<br>
who hates those who teach it, and who opposes the observance of it
by<br>
others will ultimately deny the entire Revelation of the Law at
Sinai.<br><br>
"A man can have fallen into all of these errors, but so far he
might<br>
not have denied the existence of God. Concerning this, the
Scriptural<br>
passage concludes with: 'so that you renounce My Covenant.' This<br>
teaches that one who has fallen into all of these errors will
ultimately<br>
also deny the existence of God entirely!"<br><br>
Hence the tradition recorded in the Sifra perceives in the
individual<br>
verses of this Scriptural warning the outline for the history of the<br>
development of apostasy against God and His Law, an apostasy which<br>
began innocently but continually grew.<br><br>
This development passes through the following stages, as explained<br>
in the Sifra: the study of the Law is abandoned; the Law is no
longer<br>
fulfilled; those who live according to the Law are scorned; the
sages,<br>
who teach the Law, are hated; observance of the Law by others is<br>
</font>~posed; <font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>the Divine
Revelation is denied; the existence of God is<br>
denied.<br>
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