Latest / In the Valley of Giants / Ask Rabbi Dorfman #1: On location at the Temple of Poseidon

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Ask Rabbi Dorfman #1: On location at the Temple of Poseidon · In the Valley of Giants

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  Hello everyone. Today we're in the temple of
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  Poseidon and we're going to have AQ and A.
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  I'm undercover and for sure you don't recognize me.
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  And this is my good friend and we're here to answer your
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  questions. So without further ado, let's do
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  it. OK, why don't why don't you read
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  them to be easier with your voice?
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  Sure. OK.
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  So one question that we have is, is that, and I'll read it here,
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  does Isaiah 53 refer to the Christian Messiah?
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  Since there are different interpretations of these verses,
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  I'm interested in learning more about how they are understood
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  from your point of view. The anointed 1 suffers and dies
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  from the sins of many, according to this chapter.
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  A quote from verse 4. Surely it took up our pain and
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  bore our suffering. Yet we consider him punished by
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  God, stricken by him, and afflicted.
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  Verse 5. He's prayers for our
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  transgressions. He was crushed for our
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  iniquities. The punishment that brought us
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  peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
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  So I'll begin by answering this question by saying that prophecy
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  is a very difficult thing. So for example, my mom and he
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  says in his introduction to God to the perplex the morning of
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  him that when Moshe or Moses gives a prophecy over, it's as
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  if someone walks into a field in the middle of the day.
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  Everything's really clear like the sun is right now.
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  You can clearly see the winds behind me.
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  You can clearly see me. He Blues the iron includes
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  everything. But when one of the minor
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  prophets with later prophets into the field, it's like a
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  crack of lightning and becoming a hamam are just like coals that
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  are very faintly glowing. So to fully understand what
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  Isaiah is saying is going to be very, very, very difficult.
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  That's number one. Number 2 is that I think that if
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  you look at the messianic age that we're supposed to, some
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  would be in after the coming of the Messiah, I don't really see
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  that. I don't see swords being stabbed
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  into plowshares. In fact, I see swords being
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  stabbed into innocent people during the Crusades.
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  So there's a lot missing from that.
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  And furthermore, if we're going to save the Messiah, someone
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  that's suffered and has been pierced.
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  So I had surgery, I had back surgery once.
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  I have certainly suffered. Perhaps I'm the Messiah.
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  I don't really think I am. So it's just not enough in order
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  to establish who the Messiah is. Looking at this chapter, I'm
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  really not convinced that Isaiah 53 is referring to Jesus as the
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  Messiah. What do you think, Aaron?
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  Well, just flowing from that thought, you know, there's,
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  there's a lot of suffering and there's a lot of death in the
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  world and suffering and death makes you human, doesn't
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  necessarily make you or give you a particular purpose, but it
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  makes you human, you know, and I think that's a place to start in
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  terms of looking at interpreting what this, what this means.
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  And, and it's like you said, it's very difficult to attribute
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  meaning and understanding to, to prophecies.
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  We, we, we weren't there and we weren't given the code to unlock
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  it. That's right.
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  And it's, it's a good question just to ask, well, then what are
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  we supposed to do with this? Right.
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  We're not given the code to unlock these, but but it's but
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  we're still meant to hold on to them, you know, and it is a
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  difficult question to answer. What are we supposed to do with
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  these prophecies? I almost wonder if if it's part
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  of a of a bigger plan and God's almost like dangling a carrot
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  and saying you're going to find out what this means one day when
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  the time is right. And it's going to be more
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  incredible than if I hadn't given you this thing that
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  tantalized you and made you wonder for so long.
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  It's going to be even greater and it's finally revealed than
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  if I had never given you that in the first place.
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  Absolutely. I completely agree.
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  And furthermore, I would say that just because we have
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  something we don't fully understand doesn't mean that we
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  don't gain greatly from it even in the moment.
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  The Torah is infinite and has a lot to offer us.
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  So having those passages are really critical in our faith.
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  Let's do another question. So the next question is there is
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  a passage in Hagai chapter 2 verse 9 where Hagai is and at
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  least in the question describing the second temple that it was
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  going to be longer and greater in its glory than the first
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  temple and that there would be peace.
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  But how is this so? We noted during the second
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  temple era, no peace is granted and only evil decrees followed.
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  We have a dilemma since the guy spoke the words of the Avisner
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  God directly and it was a positive prophecy of priests and
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  we all know the positive prophecies have to come true,
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  right? It would appear to be so.
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  This is a good question. So clearly from the Talmud we
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  know that even though the Pasuk, the verse is talking about the
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  base and Mikisha her own the last one.
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  So we know that ravaged schmo both discussed within the
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  framework of the Second Temple. So we're not going to have much
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  luck there saying that it's talking about the Third Temple,
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  at least not easily. And by Third Temple, I mean last
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  Temple, yeah, the final one. I would say though, that if we
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  are talking about, if we're going to talk about the Second
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  Temple, then I would say indeed, it did last longer.
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  It wasn't indeed greater. And in terms of everlasting
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  peace, what is 1 of Hashem's name?
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  You should know it because it's your last one.
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  Show them peace. And what is responsible for that
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  peace. I think Torah, we've created one
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  of the most amazing. It's not really a creation is
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  the wrong word, but we are, we are owners of the Torah.
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  And what that allows us to do is something incredible.
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  I had a professor once, philosophy professor, and on the
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  last day of class, she asked a whole bunch of questions about
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  Jews, but she didn't understand. So one of the most is like, I
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  don't understand. I walked past her study hall,
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  what we call Bates Madrich, and people are arguing with each
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  other and yelling at each other. They're yelling at each other
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  and arguing with each other and they look like they're about to
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  kill each other because they're arguing over Bible study.
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  And then a few minutes later they just say, OK, great.
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  Yeah, I don't know any other culture that that does that.
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  Torah has an amazing way of being fervently dedicated and
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  running after Hashem after the war.
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  So I don't think there's a bigger solemn on that.
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  And the second base of Memphis is the time when we had Torah
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  being propagated to the entire nation.
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  The first simple period, not so much.
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  So it was more about that, that fervor, that feeling, that
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  emotion and prophecy. But it wasn't so much it wasn't
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  so much of the Torah in its in its glory.
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  It's a. Different.
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  Face. Exactly.
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  It's a totally different face. So that's how to answer that
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  question. You have anything to add?
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  Well. Sure.
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  I can add on to that just kind of looking more into into the
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  verse itself and into the time of discussion on that verse like
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  like you, like you referenced, they're both Rob and Schmo.
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  I'll talk about this verse. What does it mean that this
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  second temple or this later temple was greater than the
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  first one? Like what is the what is the
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  word great mean in this context? And the two opinions that are
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  given are that it was the location itself, the building
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  itself was greater, or the number of years that it existed
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  was greater. Neither of them is talking about
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  the essence of the Bethea Mikdash or the, the holiness of
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  the Bethea Mikdash or the, the permeation of God's Spirit in
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  the Bethea Mikdash. At least the shot of the Gemara
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  there, That's not what they're what they're referring to.
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  So now their opinion is there. And so I, I would kind of go
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  back to the original question. The premise of the original of
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  the original question seems to be how, how can we understand
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  this verse if the, if we understand it to mean that the
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  essence of the second base of Megdesh was greater than the
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  first, which we know in reality it was not.
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  There's no way it was, it was greater.
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  There were so many things that were missing from it, and
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  they're enumerated in in the Khaza.
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  So I would say, looking at the Gemara, you see that they're not
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  even talking about the essence. So that that's the first thing
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  that I would say. And the second thing that I
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  would say on still at that level is that it's not always clear
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  what peace means, right? Is peace everlasting peace?
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  Is it a temporary peace? Is it a relative peace?
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  Is it more peaceful than it was when we were in the Babylonian
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  exile? Maybe.
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  Yeah, I think arguably it was meaning arguably there was more
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  peace during the second temple period than when we were exiled
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  and we didn't have a temple, right.
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  And in the verse, in the shadow of the verse, it doesn't say
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  everlasting peace. It says I'll give it peace.
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  I will give peace to that time, to that, to that, to that era,
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  to that temple on another level because you because often often
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  prophecy is interpreted on 2 levels on like the contemporary
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  level. And I've had an end of days.
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  Well, Akarisa Yeoman. So for example, a lot of a lot
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  of a lot of prophecies about, for example, King Khiskiyahu in
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  Yeshaya, right? Contemporaneously it's about
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  King Khiskiyo. But there's also an angle of
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  maybe this is the final, also the final Redeemer.
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  I think you can do the same thing here.
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  And going back to the lashon of Akharon, it it's not the, the,
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  the, the language in the verse isn't this second temple is
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  greater. It's this final temple is
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  greater. Akharon almost always means
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  final ultimate, the last one, right?
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  So on a higher level, or on a on a level that's more zoomed out
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  to the end of days, we might interpret this exact same verse,
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  which the Gemara doesn't do. But we might interpret this
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  exact same verse as talking about the final one, which will
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  be greater in all ways, and it will have everlasting peace.
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  Holy words, good points. Let's do a couple more.
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  Unfortunately, amongst many communities have children that
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  go off the Derek assuming that such a thing has to happen.
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  Is a better that that happens in America or in Israel?
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  I think this one's an easy 1. The Talmud in Suvas tells us
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  that someone who lives in a city full of Jews outside of artsy
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  straw is doing the wrong thing if they have the opportunity to
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  live in a town in artsy straws full of pagans right now.
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  It's pagans then. It's not like pagans now where
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  Rabbi Dorfman and Sean can come over and go to some ruins and
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  bring some Torah and light to the world.
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  I mean Pagan pagans. There's a tremendous importance
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  to heir to Shaw Avira, Dad, the song Markham, the air makes one
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  wise. It's God's house.
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  The whole land is his house, right?
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  The access to the Torah, the special mitzvahs, the special
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  commandments that we have that are tied to the land, the fact
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  that Hazel tell us that just by walking on the stones our sins
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  can be forgiven. There's so much religious
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  significance. One doesn't have a God outside
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  of Eros Israel that even says that.
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  That's right, that's right. The Kumar does say that for
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  religious or I shouldn't say religious, but for deep
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  spiritual reasons, the answer is clear, definitely to be an Eros
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  Israel. On a more practical level or a
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  little far more easier to understand, let's say is is that
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  if you're an artist song you fall off of there, you're
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  probably marrying a Jew, right? If you're hungry, you're
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  probably going to eat something kosher, right?
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  Because there's buffers, right? A lot of buffers.
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  Right. And if you're sitting on a bus,
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  the person next to you may indeed be learning to.
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  So I mean even the school systems, I mean, I, I, I
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  remember it was such a beautiful moment.
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  I was in Tel Aviv years ago. And so on the bus, there's a
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  rule that you have to stand up for your elders, allow them to
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  set, which I'm sure almost every country has.
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  So the announcer, the announcer on the buses said in a very
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  deep, impressive voice, lift news about Takum.
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  It was exactly like that, by the way.
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  And that's the pasta, right? So I think I think that that
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  makes it, that makes it quite clear, in my humble opinion.
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  OK. And Shabbos Makata of Pincus
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  thinks about how regarding the food aspect of owning Shabbos,
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  it's not like during the week and we prepare feast for Hashem
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  and that Yosur Vyosur Tanak is a greater mitzvah for Onic Chavez.
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  But one is Onic Chavez a beautiful mitzvah, and one does
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  it become gluttony. I think that everything that we
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  do in this world is supposed to be forgotten.
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  And the same is true for what you're doing on Jabbas.
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  The second that you're adding another piece of cake, even
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  though your wife's watching you and wagging a finger shouldn't
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  either Everyone listen to your wife?
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  OK, but when you do it for yourself, on a more serious
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  note, and you're not doing it for God, that's gotten it.
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  Doesn't have to be a feel of God, doesn't have to be a
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  disgusting amount of eating to read the wrong thing.
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  If you're forgetting God in that moment when you're beautifying
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  something, just know that you're not doing it for Him.
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  Yeah, and, and I could be wrong, so take this next one with a
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  grain of salt, but I, I, I wish I would have checked this.
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  I think there's a there's a language of own egg having
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  something to do with gun aid. I could be wrong.
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  Even Ghan Eden is is delight, right?
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  So it could be that there's a connection with that.
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  If we roll with that, then Ghan Eden is, is a structure, right?
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  It, it, there's, there are parameters around Ghan Eden, the
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  lighting within parameters. And I think that's what Shabbat
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  is all about. There are parameters to Shabbat
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  and you're supposed to delight within those parameters.
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  So if you're not grounded in what those are, you're
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  definitely going to coincide glutton.
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  All right. If you're grounded in the
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  parameters and you know why you're doing what you're doing,
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  because we're in a relationship with God, he rests, we rest, we
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  all just want to jam together, then you're probably going to be
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  OK. So it's I think it requires a
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  little bit of a of a reckoning of a phegebon to determine what,
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  where the lines. Absolutely.
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  Let's do two more. Someone had a concern around the
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  prophecy in denial 9. So in denial or Daniel 9.
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  Many Christians contend that the prophetic timeline outlined in
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  this chapter points directly to the rival of their Messiah,
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  often supporting their position through chronological
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  calculations and historical timelines.
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  How would I respond to the argument #1 Again, that's what I
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  was saying before. Prophecy is a really difficult
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  thing to fully understand. I'm not a prophet.
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  Daniel was a prophet, right? Let's look at the Simon he
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  gives. He's talking about weeks.
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  If you do the simple calculation that he's talking about, we're
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  talking so much more before Jesus start walking around.
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  OK, There was not 70 weeks between Cyrus announcing that
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  the basement is going to be rebuilt and then Jesus started
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  walking around. So we have major problems right
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  away. But again, deep esoteric
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  discussions about the coming of Messiah is a complex thing.
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  We don't really know what it means.
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  So the answer in my humble opinion is kind of what we said
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  before, which is we can't fully understand it.
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  Like I think what you said I'll steal is that we're going to
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  understand the end of days is just offer us something even
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  right now before the end of days come when we have more to run.
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  There is more what to talk about, but also in a very basic
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  level doesn't even fit at least in Isaiah 53.
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  It's like super, super basic and rudimentary.
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  So obviously just can't be that. But at least at least Jesus
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  didn't get pierced and at least he didn't suffer.
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  OK, so. It's like to correspond to the
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  to the prophecy. Exactly.
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  This one we got, we got 70 weeks and they're just like, they're
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  just completely off. And there's no reference point
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  as to when, what, what these numbers mean.
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  Does week mean a literal week? Does it mean a year?
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  Does it? I'm sorry, like 7 years, for
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  example. I was talking days as days, days
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  as years, centuries. There's there's no code.
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  There's no what's the word? Cipher?
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  There's no cipher. Good word or code to the cipher,
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  Yeah. Last question I was asked, what
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  is my outlook on the new deal between Iran and the US?
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  This is my opinion. I think that we have to respect
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  cultures for what they are. If someone were to sit down with
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  one of the most powerful leading rabbis of the past 50 years are
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  behind Kanyevski and said, listen, how much money is it
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  going to take for you to stop keeping the Sabbath?
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  I don't think it's going to make a deal.
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  And if you did, I don't think you should believe it.
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  We're sitting down at the table with the people that they just
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  hate the Western world. So you only got two options.
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  You either mow the lawn, which you have to do every once in a
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  while, or we stop teaching kids to hate us and if we have hate
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  with us for. Our kids, we make sure we deal
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  with that, too. That's right, But we don't hate
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  them. So to me, the deal is saving
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  face at best. I don't really think it makes
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  any sense. I think it only makes us lose.
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  If the goal is to mow the lawn, we should mow the lawn until we
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  feel that it's necessary to buy us another decade.
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  And if it's to get rid of that hate, then we had a topple that
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  regime. So in my humble opinion, I think
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  that this deal is predicated off the idea that either a Iranians
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  are Westerners and they're going to honor a complete different
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  orientation now in the world, which is not true, or it's just
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  a safe face, in which case, OK, a safe face, a CNN.
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  Yeah, I think there's, there's something to what you said, I
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  think. I think I wonder about the the,
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  the approach of mowing the lawn both practically and
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  spiritually. I think it's a very short term,
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  very limited vision approach. And so I think in in the big
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  picture, especially in our relationship with God, that
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  can't be the solution. What the solution looks like
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  perhaps is yet to be seen, but but it can't be upkeep of the
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  status quo or whatever arbitrary status quo has been established.
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  That can't be it because there's no forward progress there.
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  So something has to change I think on on multi levels.
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  Yeah, I would go back to something that I'd like to
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  always say there's a difference between discipline and
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  philosophical restructuring and harsh stuff.
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  Discipline's great. It's the Band-Aid, right?
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  You're bleeding. You want to get up for work, so
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  you have your wife pour water on you, you know 7:00 so you can
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  get on time. You need to get to morning
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  prayers so you reward yourself if you make it.
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  These are great, but they're low level, They're temporary.
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  They're not the real vote of. They're not the real work that
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  needs to be done, really needs to be done.
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  Things have to. Change things have.
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  To change. So I agree with you, I think
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  that LO and loan is a short term solution and since we're all
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  here to uplift the world, there needs to be a deeper a deeper.
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  Change circumcision of the heart.
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  That's right, That's right. And I firmly believe that every
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  single person, no matter who they are, if they're human, they
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  have the image of God. So anything's possible.
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  It's all about how we do it. Are they going to be receptive?
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  But we should certainly never stop trying that, I'll say.
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  Well, everyone, we hope you enjoyed our trek into making the
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  world a holier place and perhaps one of the most defiled ones.
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  We'll see you next time. Take care.