I love listening to Rabbi Friedman. It is so inspirating. I am a Christian who has so many questions. Here I get answers. However, I still cannot understand the „I do not have needs“ because I experience it as needs: I feel hungry, thursty, tired … .
Hi Rabbi I just wanted to let you know that I was just talking to God and I told him this is how I know you are God : because you gave us free will and men are pretty controlling ,at least most men that I know,. That takes God to be able to create a whole world then give it to somebody and give them the free will in it. That is true love! that takes God. God you are so great and I am very thankful that you gave us free will but let me be a better person by doing your will amen
I love these videos. I found the rabbi 2 months ago. I may never fully understand the Jewish faith. But these glimpses are priceless. I only wonder if I need a second opinion from another rabbi or if Rabbi Friedmann's words are general thought?
Hey John! Rabbi Manis is great, no? 😅 He is a very spiritual Chabad Rabbi, if you want to do research into what Chabad is, feel free. Unfortunately, I wouldn't categorize this as general thought, but that's only because many don't think the way he does.....yet! I wish more people did. He speaks with a passion and clarity like no other, and he speaks truth. Listen, learn, and live. So glad you're a part of this journey! 🙏
I've always looked at free choice as to our first choice to accept God and his laws. Once we've done that our choices are made for us by his commandments and laws. Even a choice between two evils is weighed by which is less offensive to God.
The human is created good! - They only have the "Free-Will" choice to be other than good. As you said - G.d designed the human with certain attributes; this is the "limitedness{the non-free will/non-choice)" of one's free-will of choice. Going against one's human design/attributes/nature, is the "Free-Will" of choice that the human has if & when they actually choose to act upon/apply their "Free-Will" freedom of choice. ירושלים, רוח הקודש אהבה: לב יהוה
Making decisions is the reason we exist. Will we make choices to serve Ha’Shem and one another? Or will we be only self-serving? By this He knows our character and if we are becoming the kind of person He wants to live with forever.
Man has free will. But access to free will comes with the understand who you are, a “calibration of your moral compass”. If an individual does not have this understanding- they will easily becomes intoxicated by fads, celebrity or media- they see the world through the lens of these intoxication’s and their motivations become shifted. The wrong motivating factors can drive sinful behavior, but the individual justifies this behavior because of the extrinsic benefits. This problem is why I denounce “prosperity preachers” in Christianity. Understand who you are (let god tell you, not your peers) identify your relationship with your community and then allow your intuition to guide you, if your soul is aligned with god- your intuition will be calibrated to point you in the right direction.
God did make us "good". He created Adam and Eve sinless, and after Creating all of this creation He rested when He saw it was good: Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Over the last six months or so as I have been listening to a few different Rabbi's, I get the distinct feeling that the Jewish people feel responsible for teaching mankind the laws of God, as well as for not having taught them thus far. As if somehow they are at fault for the condition of the world because they have been scattered and not "done their part". As if following the laws taught in the Torah are what is missing in society and somehow they have to find a way to make those laws relevant to everyone. That would be a pretty heavy burden to bear. Especially in today's society. But again, we were created to be sinless… It was Adam and Eve who stepped outside of the boundaries they weren't even aware of at that time. The only boundary they were given was, "don't eat of this one tree". Adam and Eve did not have the same process of growth that we experience. They were not infants who needed to be taught every single thing, from feeding themselves to dressing themselves, to walking and talking, and so forth. Their mind was literally a clean slate in the body of someone considerably older, but they obviously were given enough comprehension to know what the words "do not" meant, yet were also very naive because their innocence had not been tampered with through the knowledge of good and evil, which seared their conscience towards God. Think about Adam… The searing of the conscience is shown most clearly in Adam's response to God after having eaten from the tree of Knowledge. He went from being completely fine in God's presence to suddenly being afraid when He heard His voice. What is it that changed? Adam now had KNOWLEDGE of God's anger, without having ever experienced it for Himself. Knowledge without Wisdom is what causes irrational fear. God did not strike them down with lightning, He didn't immediately turn Him back into dust, or even come looking for Him in an angry manner screaming, "Adam! Where are you, you sinner! You come explain yourself right now young man!"… But knowing somehow that God could and should was "knowledge enough" to become afraid and hide. That is why Knowledge without Wisdom doesn't work. It is only half the equation. It is like trying to make orange juice from just the peels. What a bitter, chunky "drink" that would be. But what if your WHOLE life you had been given that and TOLD it was orange juice? Which was true in Adam and Eve's case… Their short lives had now been tainted by knowledge without understanding, because understanding cannot be achieved by knowledge alone. Understanding is obtained through Knowledge + Wisdom. So, if you requested a cup of orange juice, a chunky bitter drink is what you would expect to be given because you sincerely wouldn't "know" any better. But what a pleasant surprise it would be to taste the real thing for the first time... If you didn't reject it just because it doesn't look like what you have been used to. 🤷♀️ A satisfied soul loathes the honeycomb, But to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet. So the cycle of sin and evil began in the Garden for mankind through the seared conscience of the two "first born", not through people not choosing to follow the 10 commandments. We perpetuate this cycle in the world through making the same mistake they did… Believing that knowledge alone is enough to "know" God, because of a seared conscience that doesn't "know" any better since half the equation is still missing. Wisdom. We talk about "free will" as if that can determine our physical or eternal destination… The choices we make with that free will… But, that "free will" actually comes at quite a cost. If Adam and Eve had not chosen Knowledge before Wisdom there would not be a need for written laws to follow, because God's laws would be written on our hearts through His Wisdom. We wouldn't just "know about" sin and evil… We would actually understand sin and evil, *as well as* the goodness of God. Because our hearts and minds wouldn't be riddled with the emotional and spiritual weight that sin and evil puts on us all. Guilt, shame, irrational fear, and everything of the likes… We would be able to govern ourselves as we were created to do, because we wouldn't be trying to do it based on Knowledge without Understanding. Our conscience would be able to lead us in the right way because we would actually be listening to it and not guilt, shame, irrational fear, and everything of the likes. Because those things work like a veil, clouding our vision of ourself and God when there is no true Understanding of what we "know".
"See, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil." (Gen 3:22 ISR) It's not a tree of knowledge, its a tree of knowing good & evil; a tree of (knowledge of) morality. You talk about knowledge verses wisdom as if there was any possibility of them eating from a supposed tree of wisdom. The only other tree mentioned is the tree of life. They were not permitted to eat of the former, yet did. They were not restricted from eating of the latter, yet did not. IMO, this is the real dichotomy of the story, not knowledge-wisdom. You also say, "He created Adam and Eve sinless." If you are correct, then God (seems to have) punished the good/innocent and thus cannot be called just. And the punishment isn't only meted out to them, but to all their descendants. Few would desire to praise such a deity. So there must be a flaw in this interpretation of the story. It's common to interpret the story as one of moral choice and consequences, but as established-they were morally ignorant until after the choice had been made. Instead I think it does a couple other things. One, it shows the human proclivity to be curious about what is forbidden (tree of morality) despite there being better options (tree of life). Two, I don't believe YHVH Elohim punished them for doing what was forbidden, but the suffering was the natural consequences of the choice they made. They come to understand suffering because they ate something which caused them to suffer-not because suffering is divine punishment. _Mitzvot_ are in English called commandments which is a fundamental misunderstanding of their purpose. They are not commands that require punishment when disobeyed. They are advice given to us from the divine for our own sake. God doesn't punish the sinner, we punish ourselves by sinning. For example, "don't touch the stove, it's hot." The choice of whether or not to touch it is ours, but God would prefer we not hurt his creation-ourselves-by touching it. And so, "but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, Elohim has said, ‘Do not eat of it, nor touch it, lest you die,’" (Gen 3:3 ISR) is a safety warning, not a threat. But why would God give that warning when they did not (immediately) die? They died in several ways. There had not previously been any mention of death or childbirth. But upon eating the fruit of the tree of morality, they became aware that they must suffer to eat, they became aware that they must suffer to have children (and thus achieve life through progeny rather than immortality), they became aware that they would die and return to the earth as dust. The difference between pain and suffering is awareness. You must dwell in your pain to suffer from it. When seen objectively & dispassionately, pains are just a thing which happens-and the same with pleasures. This is the Stoic approach. "Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional." (Haruki Murakami, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running) They could have eaten of the tree of life and lived long. They didn't. They were too curious about the forbidden. And so it is with us every day. "To sin," _chata,_ means "to miss the mark." It comes from archery. Why use this term specifically? Because it takes practice to hit the mark consistently. We must keep our eye on the target and practice. Otherwise we miss. How can we find the target? Mitzvot. In the story God never said, "Look, here is the tree of life, you should eat of this." Instead they were told what not to do and the rest they were to puzzle out on their own. It is the same with any game: Here are the boundaries you cannot cross, here is what you are restricted from doing. Use your creativity within those bounds and you will suss it out. Were we directly shown what to do at all times, we would be robots, programming. By being shown the boundaries we are human.
@@RubelliteFae The "knowledge of"... morality? That is only half… Morality is good values, evil is a lack of values or morality… It was not one or the other. It gave them the "knowledge OF" good and evil both… Without a solution to either. Ok… Think about your line of thinking here… God created them sinless, they disobeyed His command which caused THEM to sin, and yet somehow God is the monster here in your version of what you think I believe? That is definitely how Christians believe. Being "sinless" means they had not had any EXPERIENCE with sin prior to eating of the wrong tree. If I remember correctly the Rabbi himself has taught that they were only technically "alive" for about 4 hrs before finding the tree they were told not to eat of. Christians believe that God was doling out punishment in the garden that day, which is where the concept of "hell" came from. But there is a difference between punishment and consequences. Punishment is punitive with no lesson behind it other than you upset someone. Consequences have a lesson that can be learned to avoid making the same mistake again. The consequences of gaining knowledge without Wisdom is everything that we see in the world today. Men trying to "fix themselves" to be good enough for God, or men not trying at all and saying "forget God". Because again… Knowledge of good and evil is only that. KNOWING it exists, without the power or wherewithal of HOW to function properly stuck in between the two. Which is what we are without Wisdom. Stuck. Fighting and arguing over what IS right, and what IS wrong… Believing somehow "our" opinion actually matters or affects the Truth in any way. For example… You can go your whole life being told, "Don't touch the stove, it is hot and will burn you". However, if you have never touched a hot stove or been burned, all that does for you is give you the knowledge that if you touch that, it is going to burn you… Which you may or may not even associate with pain, based on your level of understanding at that point. Meaning a 3 yr old has a much different concept of pain due to lack of experience than a 10 yr old. Knowledge of the fact it will burn you, without understanding what it means to be burned, or what the pain of a burn feels like will not prevent you from touching the stove. But I guarantee that if you did reach out and touch it, in response to our natural curiosity of wanting to understand what that means, you would then have zero doubt in your mind that touching a hot stove is a terrible idea. Well that is how it is supposed to work… Unfortunately with most things nowadays we don't even gain understanding by experiencing bad things. It is so much a part of society that instead we sit at home on our couches, shoving our faces full of crap food, while watching crime TV… Just as one example of the LACK of morality within society as a whole… So obviously just "knowing" these things are wrong is not enough to change it, wouldn't you say? Knowing something doesn't make you moral in any way. If anything it makes you immoral if you can just sit by and watch all this evil happening all around us, and be relatively unaffected or unconcerned about it to the point of being grateful and believing you are ok because that evil isn't being done BY you, or happening TO you. So you say they died in multiple ways… Which is a complete over spiritualization of the whole thing. The simple Truth is they DID die… Many years later… But they did in fact actually DIE when they didn't HAVE to if they had eaten from the Tree of Life which they actually had permission to eat of. But God kicked them out of the garden after eating from the wrong tree to prevent them from eating of the tree of Life and becoming eternal beings stuck inside a physical body in a state of "knowing about" good and evil without ever being able to reach understanding of how to actually BE one or the other... Look at how bad things are now... Just after a few thousand years... With generations of people being born, each generation with the opportunity to change the path humanity was on... Each generation succumbing to the idea that knowledge alone was enough to survive... And each generation now, standing there staring at each other.. Blaming each other for our self evident impending downfall. A few thousand years is all it has taken. So imagine an ETERNITY of never getting better... Death was not a punishment FROM God. It is proof of His Mercy. Knowledge is not Wisdom, and is useless without it, as society as a whole is a living demonstration of before our very eyes. It is sad to hear that you believe that having proper instruction about things we don't understand would make us like robots. That is not true. Is that the state our children walk out into the world after 18 yrs of instruction from us? Like little mind controlled robots, programmed to do our will only? Is that really what you believe the purpose of instruction is? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction. Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go; Keep her, for she is your life. For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, And He ponders all his paths. His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, And he is caught in the cords of his sin. He shall die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray. Hear instruction and be wise, And do not disdain it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, (Wisdom) Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoever finds me finds life, And obtains favor from the Lord; But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; All those who hate me love death.” He who keeps instruction is in the way of life, But he who refuses correction goes astray. He who disdains instruction despises his own soul, But he who heeds rebuke gets understanding. The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, And before honor is humility. We can gain Wisdom one of two ways in our current state of being... By touching a hot stove and burning ourselves... Or listening to the instruction of one who has already learned the hard way and avoid being hurt at all. That is our true choice in Life.
@@observeroflife0000 The below responses begin with quotes from your reply so that I may respond to them individually. "That is only half… Morality is good values..." "Morality" as in, "A system or collection of ideas of *right and wrong* conduct." How you going to tell me I only got it half right when your comment overlooked the good & evil part altogether? "good and evil both… Without a solution to either. " Solutions are responses to problems. Is a concept of morality a problem or not? "Think about your line of thinking here… God created them sinless, they disobeyed His command which caused THEM to sin, and yet somehow God is the monster here in your version of what you think I believe?" You said, "God did make us "good." If humanity were "good" then it wouldn't be possible for us to sin. Since it is possible, then he must have not made us good (or evil), but capable of both. That is to say, good & evil are not the qualities of a person, but the qualities of their actions. You see them as having disobeyed a command. I see them as having not followed good advice. "Christians believe that God was doling out punishment in the garden that day, which is where the concept of "hell" came from." Christians have that interpretation because they believe in a God who condemns people to hell, not the other way around. The concept of hell comes from paganization (Greek Tartarus, Norse Hel, etc). "But there is a difference between punishment and consequences." This was my point to you and you are making it back to me. Besides what you have said, consequences are the inevitable effects of a cause and require no conscious interference. "Knowledge of good and evil is only that. KNOWING it exists, without the power or wherewithal of HOW to function properly stuck in between the two." But I have already explained this. Where does the archer gain the power or wherewithal to shoot the arrow? Practice. And by keeping the eye trained on the bullseye. One cannot aim at what they do not see. "Believing somehow "our" opinion actually matters or affects the Truth in any way." Sure, opinions do not affect truth. However, opinions may help us (or stand in the way of) our seeing the truth. Thus, debate of opinion is still important. Good debate utilized mutually accepted axioms and sound logic. Which is why I responded to your post. "Knowledge of the fact it will burn you, without understanding what it means to be burned, or what the pain of a burn feels like will not prevent you from touching the stove." I do not debate this and apologize if I wrote so poorly that it seemed I had. People ignore mitzvot all the time. This is why we must practice aiming at the mark. Every miss is a lesson. But we do not always pay enough attention to even notice we are in class. "But I guarantee that if you did reach out and touch it, in response to our natural curiosity of wanting to understand what that means, you would then have zero doubt in your mind that touching a hot stove is a terrible idea." And this was what I argue the main point of the story is. "we sit at home on our couches, shoving our faces full of crap food, while watching crime TV" Yes. We have been conditioned (largely through advertising) to believe that, "comfort is happiness," and therefore, "instant gratification is paramount." We have become an instant gratification society, despite the practice of delaying gratification being the number one indicator of future success. "So obviously just "knowing" these things are wrong is not enough to change it, wouldn't you say?" Again, it was never my purpose to say otherwise. "But they did in fact actually DIE when they didn't HAVE to if they had eaten from the Tree of Life which they actually had permission to eat of." This was a major point in my response to you. They followed their curiosity into eating what was prohibited missing out on the chance to eat what was good for them. I.e., they harmed themselves by their choice. "But God kicked them out of the garden after eating from the wrong tree to prevent them from eating of the tree of Life and becoming eternal beings stuck inside a physical body in a state of "knowing about" good and evil without ever being able to reach understanding of how to actually BE one or the other." Of all the things you've said this requires the largest logical leap and is the least explained. You spent the majority of your reply repeating explanations from your first post and even telling me things I said in my reply to you. Yet here you present an interpretation without supporting it through quote or follow up logic. I would have been most interested to understand this interpretation. I posit that God did not "kick them out," but that upon gaining the knowledge of morality their rose-tinted glasses fell away and they saw the harshness in the world and forgot its beauty & bounty. Their perspectives changed to feeling cursed rather than having gratitude for providence. "Look at how bad things are now." This has been said at least since Ancient Greece (records don't mention such things further back, but I suspect people have been saying it much longer than that). It's because when we are young we see the world differently. The older we get, the more problems we have become aware of. Yet almost all measurable indicators show that the world has gotten better and better over the centuries. This goes back to your point about opinions and facts. "Each generation succumbing to the idea that knowledge alone was enough to survive." This again seems a very large leap to me. How did you find out that each generation had this idea? If we eschewed wisdom, then why have almost all cultures traditionally revered elders? "Death was not a punishment FROM God." Again, you tell me what I have already demonstrated as a belief. Are you actually talking to me, or are you talking to an imagined interlocutor? "It is sad to hear that you believe that having proper instruction about things we don't understand would make us like robots. That is not true. Is that the state our children walk out into the world after 18 yrs of instruction from us? Like little mind controlled robots, programmed to do our will only? Is that really what you believe the purpose of instruction is?" Is this what I said? If you re-read perhaps you can see what I was talking about. If we were told, "do A, then do B, then do C, then do D, etc." we would only be executing instructions. This is exactly what programming is. If God simply gave us instructions and we carried them out, then what would be the point of our existing? As Rabbi Friedman says in the video, loving because you are told to love, is not love. Instead we are told, "Always do X. Never do y. Watch out for Z." Mitzvot are guideposts in a foggy night, not programming. "He who keeps instruction is in the way of life, But he who refuses correction goes astray." Yes, exactly. And I said as much in my previous reply. You seem to have interpreted what I said somehow to mean "we should not follow instructions." I'm not sure how far this conversation can go with all of the miscommunications between us. I intuit that we believe largely similarly, but you interpret my critical analysis as saying, "all of your ideas are entirely wrong." I implore you to read the words and not try to interpret into them some additional intent of malice or strife. "We can gain Wisdom one of two ways in our current state of being... By touching a hot stove and burning ourselves... Or listening to the instruction of one who has already learned the hard way and avoid being hurt at all. That is our true choice in Life." Again, you restate my own thesis to me. Let me repeat what I said in the last reply: "One, it shows the human proclivity to be curious about what is forbidden (tree of morality) despite there being better options (tree of life). Two, I don't believe YHVH Elohim punished them for doing what was forbidden, but the suffering was the natural consequences of the choice they made. They come to understand suffering because they ate something which caused them to suffer-not because suffering is divine punishment." I'll attempt to reword this and maybe in your response you can tell me why you read this to mean something different. "The story shows that humans are naturally curious about that which is off limits and that we engineer our own suffering when we ignore mitzvot." To summarize how you've put it, "we can suffer the burn of the stove we were warned is hot, or we can believe what we are told." Can you see now how we are in agreement here? It may be the case that I have worded something poorly, and please tell me what so that I may improve my communications in the future. But, I think what has happened is that you are so used to the idea that when people on the Internet reply they must be coming against you, so you created the reality of your expectations. Perhaps there is a lesson here so that we may both hit closer to the mark.
@@RubelliteFaeOne of the things that I have come to understand is that not everyone understands things from the same angle, but that doesn't mean they both don't understand it. So to speak about it is actually a good thing because we are not the only ones who read the comments. So where one person might gain more understanding from your angle, another might gain more understanding from mine. There is no argument here, and I apologize if there is something I misunderstood. But again you talk about the tree of morality. It was not the tree of "morality". That was not its name. If it had been named that it would have GIVEN morality when eating from it, just as eating from the tree of Life would have given them eternal life: Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”- therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. If the tree had been the "tree of morality" there should not have been a problem big enough that God would tell them NOT to eat of it, then give them a consequence for eating from it, and finally kick them out of the garden to prevent them from eating of the tree of Life and becoming eternal. So that was my point in saying that is only half. The tree didn't give them or us a system or collection of ideas of right and wrong conduct. It gave them knowledge that there is right and wrong conduct in this world, without the true understanding of which is which or how to actually BE one or the other. Think about how they responded when they heard God walking through the garden after eating from the tree: And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Now, up to this point they had both been in His presence without an issue, so what changed? Knowledge without Wisdom seared their conscience towards God. They now knew OF God's anger without having ever experienced it for themselves, which caused irrational fear, so they hid. Knowledge without Wisdom is what causes irrational fear. God did not strike them down with lightning, He didn't immediately turn Him back into dust, or even come looking for them in an angry manner screaming, "Adam! Where are you, you sinner! You come explain yourself right now young man!"… But knowing somehow that God could and should was "knowledge enough" to become afraid and hide. That is why Knowledge without Wisdom doesn't work. It is only half the equation. It is like trying to make orange juice from just the peels. What a bitter, chunky "drink" that would be. But what if your WHOLE life you had been given that and TOLD it was orange juice? That is what you would expect to be given when requesting a cup of orange juice. But what a pleasant surprise it would be to taste the real thing for the first time... If you didn't reject it just because it doesn't look like what you have been used to. 🤷♀️ A satisfied soul loathes the honeycomb, But to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet. I only responded to this one part of the conversation because I think it would behoove us to discuss one topic at a time if we are going to continue this conversation because it is less to follow and keep track of, therefore easier to get to the bottom of "a" thing, instead of wading through multiple things at the same time which can be overwhelming... At least for me. Lol 🤷♀️ So you asked how I made the leap to believing Knowledge without Wisdom is incomplete… Reading the book of Proverbs, and looking at the things that happened in a logical manner. God is a God of perfect design. He never strays from His design. We do. ("We" as in mankind) And then we blame Him because we are angry that we don't understand.
@@observeroflife0000 The name, "The tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil" is extracanonical. I called it the Tree of Morality because it is more to the point than "Knowledge of Good & Evil" which many people confuse for "Tree of Knowledge Period" as you seemed to have done in your first post. Also, you seem to think "morality" only means "goodness" and not "ethics." I already quoted the dictionary, but let me try again: "Recognition of the distinction between good and evil or between right and wrong" (Wiktionary), "moral quality or character" (where 'quality' can be good or bad, Dictionary.com), "1. beliefs about what is right behavior and what is wrong behavior; 2. the degree to which something is right and good : the moral goodness or badness of something" (Merriam-Webster), "the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong)." (Wikipedia) I already explained that "morality" means more than what you thought it meant in my previous post. I'm not sure if you didn't understand what I wrote, couldn't accept a fact that didn't already conform to your expectations, chose to ignore it, or something else I haven't considered. Either way it does seem to be a trend in this conversation. You have your thinking and are set in it. As for what the tree _is_ called: "the tree which is in the midst of the garden" (Gen 3:3 ISR) "a tree desirable to make one wise" (Gen 3:6 ISR) "the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat" (Gen 3:11 ISR) Yet the other is specifically named, "tree of life" (Gen 3:22 ISR) In light of all of the above, what is your objection with me calling it "the tree of morality?"
"It gave them knowledge that there is right and wrong conduct in this world" Yes. And I have not said otherwise this entire time. You have interpreted that I did. If you cannot be trusted to interpret my own words in this conversation, how can I trust your interpretation of scripture? "without the true understanding of which is which" I disagree with this. We have an intuition when something just seems wrong, even absent cultural influence. It is easily ignored because it "speaks" with a very small voice, but it is there. Paying attention to that is key. In premodern times, if you ventured too far off a road, the dangers of the wild would indicate we should return to the road for safety. God has laid out a road (mitzvot), but we are free to wander in the wilderness as long as we can tolerate. Once we recognize that we are responsible for our own suffering it's up to us to return to the path. There are many distractions along the way, but God with loving patience for us at the end. The more time and effort we spend on mindfulness (purposeful awareness of our thoughts, speech, actions, & habits) the easier it is to notice we have traversed off the path. The more we understand scripture, the more illuminated the path becomes. "or how to actually BE one or the other." This is the purpose of scripture. As explained above, it illuminates the path. "Think about how they responded when they heard God walking through the garden... knowing somehow that God could and should was "knowledge enough" to become afraid and hide. That is why Knowledge without Wisdom doesn't work." This is direct evidence for why your statement, "without the true understanding of which is which," cannot be correct. It doesn't say they hid for fear of punishment or retribution, but "I was afraid because I was naked." (Gen 3:10 ISR) He gained an intuitive understanding that it is improper to be naked in the presence of others. How do we know this was the point? Because the response wasn't about fear, it was about nudity. You keep going on about knowledge vs wisdom. I don't disagree at all that the two are only useful in concert. What I'm saying is that this isn't the point of the story and you have not been able to demonstrate that it is the point of it. "But what if your WHOLE life you had been given that and TOLD it was orange juice?" This ignores that we _have_ been given mitzvot. God has provided direction since before humanity even understood right & wrong. The first being, "Elohim said to them, 'Bear fruit and increase'" (Gen 1:28) "I only responded to this one part..." Fair enough. I reply with comments in order to keep track of multiple points in one post, but I'm adaptable. "So you asked how I made the leap to believing Knowledge without Wisdom is incomplete." No. I said the leap was believing that, "each generation succumb(ed) to the idea that knowledge alone was enough." If this were true we wouldn't even have the word wisdom. How can you judge the entire history of humanity as not having valued wisdom? Why didn't you respond to my point of most (known) past cultures having revered elders for their wisdom? Again, it very much seems you are arguing against a strawman and not me or what I have actually said. And besides, you have already explained how we gain pieces of wisdom through experience: when you touch the stove despite parental warning. So, I'm not really sure what it is you think needs to happen that isn't already with regard to knowledge and wisdom.
People are so afraid of not having a free will. God has given it to us though others try to take it away. That is where the concern might be better applied.
If you do not respect your mother and father, is it freedom of choice? But on the ten commandments their is written "Respect your mother and father."⏬↕↔🚻⏩✡🚹✡➕🕎🛐☮🔯⏩🔯⏬✡✝⏸☮🔯⏬⏫ OWER KINDS' FATHERS GOD, GoD of Abraham, GoD of Isaac, GoD of Jacob, let Give US our government His Strength & let give us mercy and let give us peaceful mind for the world Elders, adults and young children!!!
That honput unlike button: please to vrhite Why(?) (Big ignorance for same people,for God's carakter attribute and Beeing, Rabby Freedman us so Acured here that I'm Amazed and listen couple of times, unforchent I'm from Balkan-macedonia I can't afford the book bit I will find way) +(plus I'm christian) but God is gliryfaid true M.r Freedman Blesings Lord bless you and ceap you ... ..let the Lord Shine his face Upon you In Meshiah Name
To speak of Freedom of Choice as a binary function does people a great injustice and does not dignify freedom of choice. Freedom of choice is not an all or nothing matter. Our freedom of choice exists on a gradient. Paradoxically, as our will approaches the Will of HaShem our freedom of choice increases even as it no longer strays, because all straying is only into foolishness. Shlomo HaMelekh teaches this magnificently. Freedom of Will is very low for those for whom HaShem is an object of worship. Any object of worship, no matter how abstracted, exalted, awesome and removed is still an object, and thus idol worship. Abstract, exalted and removed are qualities, and so cannot apply to HaShem. Awesome is pretty cool though. :0) Idol worshipers have little choice. Yes, most Rabbis are idol worshipers. We cannot do Tshuvah until we can admit that we are idol worshippers, realize how subtle and sophisticated idol worship is and be sincerely regretful and committed to becoming Monotheists.
If God askes the Israelites to serve Him and be a light to the souls over there would they choose to go to hell for Him? As hell might be the sulfur lake of fire that will turn into the new earth.
@@EdHelwig Sorry, did not know that, but i linked it to the ressurection of the dead, i think that is in the Torah, thought i use the word hell so everyone can understand, but now i know not to with the Jewish belief, thanks for letting me know. Btw i do not follow any believe, nor reject any believe. My believe is that all on this earth is based on Truth, but misunderstood through freedom of choice.
So what Brother, this is very True for God character , Rabby Freedman have Revaletion and wisdom for God's carakter and principle Ho God is! MESIAH Truth I give In God hands for him and Israel, But Israelite have knoweleg for God carakter mercy Love, century That are choisen people,we are just addet fir short Time thanks to Yehusuah Ha Mashiah But thay are whit God loong before Us I LEARN SO MUCH TRUE THUS MAN: not doktrins But nature,principles Jarakter of God ho wase SECRET FOR ME! GOD TO BLES HIM AND ISRAEL !
@@martinjanev1705 brother please pray for me I live in Hostile environment weapons are here I am afraid of guns I don't like Violence Torah is not for violence thou shalt not kill
He gave me freedom of choice so that i could lovingly give it back to Him as to let His will, not mine, be done!
Yes, it's wonderful
@@Hnrcckl yes, YAHsome❤️🔥💯
Always enjoy and more!!!!!!
Thanks
I love listening to Rabbi Friedman. It is so inspirating. I am a Christian who has so many questions. Here I get answers. However, I still cannot understand the „I do not have needs“ because I experience it as needs: I feel hungry, thursty, tired … .
Thank you dear Rabbi
thank you
Shalom Thank you Rabbi 💙🙏
Rabbi friedman thank you for another wonderful video..
Hi Rabbi I just wanted to let you know that I was just talking to God and I told him this is how I know you are God : because you gave us free will and men are pretty controlling ,at least most men that I know,. That takes God to be able to create a whole world then give it to somebody and give them the free will in it. That is true love! that takes God. God you are so great and I am very thankful that you gave us free will but let me be a better person by doing your will amen
Thank u for Ur wisdom dear Rav
Thank you for this lovely teaching Rabbi ☺️
Beautifully articulated!
He also gave me love so I'd be equipped to give that back as well!
Thank you Rabbi. A looking forward to buying your book. The first of yours in my library. Will not be the last though.
I love these videos. I found the rabbi 2 months ago. I may never fully understand the Jewish faith. But these glimpses are priceless. I only wonder if I need a second opinion from another rabbi or if Rabbi Friedmann's words are general thought?
Hey John! Rabbi Manis is great, no? 😅
He is a very spiritual Chabad Rabbi, if you want to do research into what Chabad is, feel free. Unfortunately, I wouldn't categorize this as general thought, but that's only because many don't think the way he does.....yet! I wish more people did. He speaks with a passion and clarity like no other, and he speaks truth. Listen, learn, and live. So glad you're a part of this journey! 🙏
I was just watching the hunchback of Notre Dame when he tells the woman
I didn’t know how ugly I was until I saw your beauty
I've always looked at free choice as to our first choice to accept God and his laws. Once we've done that our choices are made for us by his commandments and laws. Even a choice between two evils is weighed by which is less offensive to God.
It's pretty good when you get me to press that like button before i even hear your first sentence! That's, pretty good, no?!
The human is created good! - They only have the "Free-Will" choice to be other than good.
As you said - G.d designed the human with certain attributes; this is the "limitedness{the non-free will/non-choice)" of one's free-will of choice. Going against one's human design/attributes/nature, is the "Free-Will" of choice that the human has if & when they actually choose to act upon/apply their "Free-Will" freedom of choice.
ירושלים, רוח הקודש אהבה: לב יהוה
Thank you very much, 'freedom of choice' , it might also be the biggest responsibility that he gave his creation.
Making decisions is the reason we exist. Will we make choices to serve Ha’Shem and one another? Or will we be only self-serving? By this He knows our character and if we are becoming the kind of person He wants to live with forever.
Man has free will. But access to free will comes with the understand who you are, a “calibration of your moral compass”. If an individual does not have this understanding- they will easily becomes intoxicated by fads, celebrity or media- they see the world through the lens of these intoxication’s and their motivations become shifted.
The wrong motivating factors can drive sinful behavior, but the individual justifies this behavior because of the extrinsic benefits. This problem is why I denounce “prosperity preachers” in Christianity.
Understand who you are (let god tell you, not your peers) identify your relationship with your community and then allow your intuition to guide you, if your soul is aligned with god- your intuition will be calibrated to point you in the right direction.
God did make us "good". He created Adam and Eve sinless, and after Creating all of this creation He rested when He saw it was good:
Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Over the last six months or so as I have been listening to a few different Rabbi's, I get the distinct feeling that the Jewish people feel responsible for teaching mankind the laws of God, as well as for not having taught them thus far. As if somehow they are at fault for the condition of the world because they have been scattered and not "done their part". As if following the laws taught in the Torah are what is missing in society and somehow they have to find a way to make those laws relevant to everyone. That would be a pretty heavy burden to bear. Especially in today's society. But again, we were created to be sinless… It was Adam and Eve who stepped outside of the boundaries they weren't even aware of at that time. The only boundary they were given was, "don't eat of this one tree". Adam and Eve did not have the same process of growth that we experience. They were not infants who needed to be taught every single thing, from feeding themselves to dressing themselves, to walking and talking, and so forth. Their mind was literally a clean slate in the body of someone considerably older, but they obviously were given enough comprehension to know what the words "do not" meant, yet were also very naive because their innocence had not been tampered with through the knowledge of good and evil, which seared their conscience towards God.
Think about Adam… The searing of the conscience is shown most clearly in Adam's response to God after having eaten from the tree of Knowledge. He went from being completely fine in God's presence to suddenly being afraid when He heard His voice. What is it that changed? Adam now had KNOWLEDGE of God's anger, without having ever experienced it for Himself. Knowledge without Wisdom is what causes irrational fear. God did not strike them down with lightning, He didn't immediately turn Him back into dust, or even come looking for Him in an angry manner screaming, "Adam! Where are you, you sinner! You come explain yourself right now young man!"… But knowing somehow that God could and should was "knowledge enough" to become afraid and hide. That is why Knowledge without Wisdom doesn't work. It is only half the equation. It is like trying to make orange juice from just the peels. What a bitter, chunky "drink" that would be. But what if your WHOLE life you had been given that and TOLD it was orange juice? Which was true in Adam and Eve's case… Their short lives had now been tainted by knowledge without understanding, because understanding cannot be achieved by knowledge alone. Understanding is obtained through Knowledge + Wisdom. So, if you requested a cup of orange juice, a chunky bitter drink is what you would expect to be given because you sincerely wouldn't "know" any better. But what a pleasant surprise it would be to taste the real thing for the first time... If you didn't reject it just because it doesn't look like what you have been used to. 🤷♀️
A satisfied soul
loathes the honeycomb, But to a hungry soul every bitter thing is
sweet.
So the cycle of sin and evil began in the Garden for mankind through the seared conscience of the two "first born", not through people not choosing to follow the 10 commandments. We perpetuate this cycle in the world through making the same mistake they did… Believing that knowledge alone is enough to "know" God, because of a seared conscience that doesn't "know" any better since half the equation is still missing. Wisdom. We talk about "free will" as if that can determine our physical or eternal destination… The choices we make with that free will… But, that "free will" actually comes at quite a cost. If Adam and Eve had not chosen Knowledge before Wisdom there would not be a need for written laws to follow, because God's laws would be written on our hearts through His Wisdom. We wouldn't just "know about" sin and evil… We would actually understand sin and evil, *as well as* the goodness of God.
Because our hearts and minds wouldn't be riddled with the emotional and spiritual weight that sin and evil puts on us all. Guilt, shame, irrational fear, and everything of the likes… We would be able to govern ourselves as we were created to do, because we wouldn't be trying to do it based on Knowledge without Understanding. Our conscience would be able to lead us in the right way because we would actually be listening to it and not guilt, shame, irrational fear, and everything of the likes. Because those things work like a veil, clouding our vision of ourself and God when there is no true Understanding of what we "know".
"See, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil." (Gen 3:22 ISR) It's not a tree of knowledge, its a tree of knowing good & evil; a tree of (knowledge of) morality. You talk about knowledge verses wisdom as if there was any possibility of them eating from a supposed tree of wisdom. The only other tree mentioned is the tree of life. They were not permitted to eat of the former, yet did. They were not restricted from eating of the latter, yet did not. IMO, this is the real dichotomy of the story, not knowledge-wisdom.
You also say, "He created Adam and Eve sinless." If you are correct, then God (seems to have) punished the good/innocent and thus cannot be called just. And the punishment isn't only meted out to them, but to all their descendants. Few would desire to praise such a deity. So there must be a flaw in this interpretation of the story.
It's common to interpret the story as one of moral choice and consequences, but as established-they were morally ignorant until after the choice had been made. Instead I think it does a couple other things. One, it shows the human proclivity to be curious about what is forbidden (tree of morality) despite there being better options (tree of life). Two, I don't believe YHVH Elohim punished them for doing what was forbidden, but the suffering was the natural consequences of the choice they made. They come to understand suffering because they ate something which caused them to suffer-not because suffering is divine punishment.
_Mitzvot_ are in English called commandments which is a fundamental misunderstanding of their purpose. They are not commands that require punishment when disobeyed. They are advice given to us from the divine for our own sake. God doesn't punish the sinner, we punish ourselves by sinning. For example, "don't touch the stove, it's hot." The choice of whether or not to touch it is ours, but God would prefer we not hurt his creation-ourselves-by touching it.
And so, "but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, Elohim has said, ‘Do not eat of it, nor touch it, lest you die,’" (Gen 3:3 ISR) is a safety warning, not a threat. But why would God give that warning when they did not (immediately) die? They died in several ways. There had not previously been any mention of death or childbirth. But upon eating the fruit of the tree of morality, they became aware that they must suffer to eat, they became aware that they must suffer to have children (and thus achieve life through progeny rather than immortality), they became aware that they would die and return to the earth as dust. The difference between pain and suffering is awareness. You must dwell in your pain to suffer from it. When seen objectively & dispassionately, pains are just a thing which happens-and the same with pleasures. This is the Stoic approach. "Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional." (Haruki Murakami, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running) They could have eaten of the tree of life and lived long. They didn't. They were too curious about the forbidden.
And so it is with us every day. "To sin," _chata,_ means "to miss the mark." It comes from archery. Why use this term specifically? Because it takes practice to hit the mark consistently. We must keep our eye on the target and practice. Otherwise we miss. How can we find the target? Mitzvot. In the story God never said, "Look, here is the tree of life, you should eat of this." Instead they were told what not to do and the rest they were to puzzle out on their own. It is the same with any game: Here are the boundaries you cannot cross, here is what you are restricted from doing. Use your creativity within those bounds and you will suss it out. Were we directly shown what to do at all times, we would be robots, programming. By being shown the boundaries we are human.
@@RubelliteFae The "knowledge of"... morality? That is only half… Morality is good values, evil is a lack of values or morality… It was not one or the other. It gave them the "knowledge OF" good and evil both… Without a solution to either.
Ok… Think about your line of thinking here… God created them sinless, they disobeyed His command which caused THEM to sin, and yet somehow God is the monster here in your version of what you think I believe? That is definitely how Christians believe. Being "sinless" means they had not had any EXPERIENCE with sin prior to eating of the wrong tree. If I remember correctly the Rabbi himself has taught that they were only technically "alive" for about 4 hrs before finding the tree they were told not to eat of. Christians believe that God was doling out punishment in the garden that day, which is where the concept of "hell" came from. But there is a difference between punishment and consequences. Punishment is punitive with no lesson behind it other than you upset someone. Consequences have a lesson that can be learned to avoid making the same mistake again. The consequences of gaining knowledge without Wisdom is everything that we see in the world today. Men trying to "fix themselves" to be good enough for God, or men not trying at all and saying "forget God". Because again… Knowledge of good and evil is only that. KNOWING it exists, without the power or wherewithal of HOW to function properly stuck in between the two. Which is what we are without Wisdom. Stuck. Fighting and arguing over what IS right, and what IS wrong… Believing somehow "our" opinion actually matters or affects the Truth in any way. For example… You can go your whole life being told, "Don't touch the stove, it is hot and will burn you". However, if you have never touched a hot stove or been burned, all that does for you is give you the knowledge that if you touch that, it is going to burn you… Which you may or may not even associate with pain, based on your level of understanding at that point. Meaning a 3 yr old has a much different concept of pain due to lack of experience than a 10 yr old. Knowledge of the fact it will burn you, without understanding what it means to be burned, or what the pain of a burn feels like will not prevent you from touching the stove. But I guarantee that if you did reach out and touch it, in response to our natural curiosity of wanting to understand what that means, you would then have zero doubt in your mind that touching a hot stove is a terrible idea.
Well that is how it is supposed to work… Unfortunately with most things nowadays we don't even gain understanding by experiencing bad things. It is so much a part of society that instead we sit at home on our couches, shoving our faces full of crap food, while watching crime TV… Just as one example of the LACK of morality within society as a whole… So obviously just "knowing" these things are wrong is not enough to change it, wouldn't you say? Knowing something doesn't make you moral in any way. If anything it makes you immoral if you can just sit by and watch all this evil happening all around us, and be relatively unaffected or unconcerned about it to the point of being grateful and believing you are ok because that evil isn't being done BY you, or happening TO you.
So you say they died in multiple ways… Which is a complete over spiritualization of the whole thing. The simple Truth is they DID die… Many years later… But they did in fact actually DIE when they didn't HAVE to if they had eaten from the Tree of Life which they actually had permission to eat of. But God kicked them out of the garden after eating from the wrong tree to prevent them from eating of the tree of Life and becoming eternal beings stuck inside a physical body in a state of "knowing about" good and evil without ever being able to reach understanding of how to actually BE one or the other... Look at how bad things are now... Just after a few thousand years... With generations of people being born, each generation with the opportunity to change the path humanity was on... Each generation succumbing to the idea that knowledge alone was enough to survive... And each generation now, standing there staring at each other.. Blaming each other for our self evident impending downfall. A few thousand years is all it has taken. So imagine an ETERNITY of never getting better... Death was not a punishment FROM God. It is proof of His Mercy. Knowledge is not Wisdom, and is useless without it, as society as a whole is a living demonstration of before our very eyes. It is sad to hear that you believe that having proper instruction about things we don't understand would make us like robots. That is not true. Is that the state our children walk out into the world after 18 yrs of instruction from us? Like little mind controlled robots, programmed to do our will only? Is that really what you believe the purpose of instruction is?
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go;
Keep her, for she is your life.
For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord,
And He ponders all his paths.
His own iniquities entrap the wicked man,
And he is caught in the cords of his sin.
He shall die for lack of instruction,
And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
Hear instruction and be wise,
And do not disdain it.
Blessed is the man who listens to me, (Wisdom)
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at the posts of my doors.
For whoever finds me finds life,
And obtains favor from the Lord;
But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul;
All those who hate me love death.”
He who keeps instruction is in the way of life, But he who refuses correction goes astray.
He who disdains instruction despises his own soul, But he who heeds rebuke gets understanding.
The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, And before honor is humility.
We can gain Wisdom one of two ways in our current state of being... By touching a hot stove and burning ourselves... Or listening to the instruction of one who has already learned the hard way and avoid being hurt at all. That is our true choice in Life.
@@observeroflife0000 The below responses begin with quotes from your reply so that I may respond to them individually.
"That is only half… Morality is good values..."
"Morality" as in, "A system or collection of ideas of *right and wrong* conduct." How you going to tell me I only got it half right when your comment overlooked the good & evil part altogether?
"good and evil both… Without a solution to either. "
Solutions are responses to problems. Is a concept of morality a problem or not?
"Think about your line of thinking here… God created them sinless, they disobeyed His command which caused THEM to sin, and yet somehow God is the monster here in your version of what you think I believe?"
You said, "God did make us "good." If humanity were "good" then it wouldn't be possible for us to sin. Since it is possible, then he must have not made us good (or evil), but capable of both. That is to say, good & evil are not the qualities of a person, but the qualities of their actions. You see them as having disobeyed a command. I see them as having not followed good advice.
"Christians believe that God was doling out punishment in the garden that day, which is where the concept of "hell" came from."
Christians have that interpretation because they believe in a God who condemns people to hell, not the other way around. The concept of hell comes from paganization (Greek Tartarus, Norse Hel, etc).
"But there is a difference between punishment and consequences."
This was my point to you and you are making it back to me. Besides what you have said, consequences are the inevitable effects of a cause and require no conscious interference.
"Knowledge of good and evil is only that. KNOWING it exists, without the power or wherewithal of HOW to function properly stuck in between the two."
But I have already explained this. Where does the archer gain the power or wherewithal to shoot the arrow? Practice. And by keeping the eye trained on the bullseye. One cannot aim at what they do not see.
"Believing somehow "our" opinion actually matters or affects the Truth in any way."
Sure, opinions do not affect truth. However, opinions may help us (or stand in the way of) our seeing the truth. Thus, debate of opinion is still important. Good debate utilized mutually accepted axioms and sound logic. Which is why I responded to your post.
"Knowledge of the fact it will burn you, without understanding what it means to be burned, or what the pain of a burn feels like will not prevent you from touching the stove."
I do not debate this and apologize if I wrote so poorly that it seemed I had. People ignore mitzvot all the time. This is why we must practice aiming at the mark. Every miss is a lesson. But we do not always pay enough attention to even notice we are in class.
"But I guarantee that if you did reach out and touch it, in response to our natural curiosity of wanting to understand what that means, you would then have zero doubt in your mind that touching a hot stove is a terrible idea."
And this was what I argue the main point of the story is.
"we sit at home on our couches, shoving our faces full of crap food, while watching crime TV"
Yes. We have been conditioned (largely through advertising) to believe that, "comfort is happiness," and therefore, "instant gratification is paramount." We have become an instant gratification society, despite the practice of delaying gratification being the number one indicator of future success.
"So obviously just "knowing" these things are wrong is not enough to change it, wouldn't you say?"
Again, it was never my purpose to say otherwise.
"But they did in fact actually DIE when they didn't HAVE to if they had eaten from the Tree of Life which they actually had permission to eat of."
This was a major point in my response to you. They followed their curiosity into eating what was prohibited missing out on the chance to eat what was good for them. I.e., they harmed themselves by their choice.
"But God kicked them out of the garden after eating from the wrong tree to prevent them from eating of the tree of Life and becoming eternal beings stuck inside a physical body in a state of "knowing about" good and evil without ever being able to reach understanding of how to actually BE one or the other."
Of all the things you've said this requires the largest logical leap and is the least explained. You spent the majority of your reply repeating explanations from your first post and even telling me things I said in my reply to you. Yet here you present an interpretation without supporting it through quote or follow up logic. I would have been most interested to understand this interpretation. I posit that God did not "kick them out," but that upon gaining the knowledge of morality their rose-tinted glasses fell away and they saw the harshness in the world and forgot its beauty & bounty. Their perspectives changed to feeling cursed rather than having gratitude for providence.
"Look at how bad things are now."
This has been said at least since Ancient Greece (records don't mention such things further back, but I suspect people have been saying it much longer than that). It's because when we are young we see the world differently. The older we get, the more problems we have become aware of. Yet almost all measurable indicators show that the world has gotten better and better over the centuries. This goes back to your point about opinions and facts.
"Each generation succumbing to the idea that knowledge alone was enough to survive."
This again seems a very large leap to me. How did you find out that each generation had this idea? If we eschewed wisdom, then why have almost all cultures traditionally revered elders?
"Death was not a punishment FROM God."
Again, you tell me what I have already demonstrated as a belief. Are you actually talking to me, or are you talking to an imagined interlocutor?
"It is sad to hear that you believe that having proper instruction about things we don't understand would make us like robots. That is not true. Is that the state our children walk out into the world after 18 yrs of instruction from us? Like little mind controlled robots, programmed to do our will only? Is that really what you believe the purpose of instruction is?"
Is this what I said? If you re-read perhaps you can see what I was talking about. If we were told, "do A, then do B, then do C, then do D, etc." we would only be executing instructions. This is exactly what programming is. If God simply gave us instructions and we carried them out, then what would be the point of our existing? As
Rabbi Friedman says in the video, loving because you are told to love, is not love. Instead we are told, "Always do X. Never do y. Watch out for Z." Mitzvot are guideposts in a foggy night, not programming.
"He who keeps instruction is in the way of life, But he who refuses correction goes astray."
Yes, exactly. And I said as much in my previous reply. You seem to have interpreted what I said somehow to mean "we should not follow instructions." I'm not sure how far this conversation can go with all of the miscommunications between us. I intuit that we believe largely similarly, but you interpret my critical analysis as saying, "all of your ideas are entirely wrong." I implore you to read the words and not try to interpret into them some additional intent of malice or strife.
"We can gain Wisdom one of two ways in our current state of being... By touching a hot stove and burning ourselves... Or listening to the instruction of one who has already learned the hard way and avoid being hurt at all. That is our true choice in Life."
Again, you restate my own thesis to me.
Let me repeat what I said in the last reply:
"One, it shows the human proclivity to be curious about what is forbidden (tree of morality) despite there being better options (tree of life). Two, I don't believe YHVH Elohim punished them for doing what was forbidden, but the suffering was the natural consequences of the choice they made. They come to understand suffering because they ate something which caused them to suffer-not because suffering is divine punishment."
I'll attempt to reword this and maybe in your response you can tell me why you read this to mean something different. "The story shows that humans are naturally curious about that which is off limits and that we engineer our own suffering when we ignore mitzvot." To summarize how you've put it, "we can suffer the burn of the stove we were warned is hot, or we can believe what we are told." Can you see now how we are in agreement here? It may be the case that I have worded something poorly, and please tell me what so that I may improve my communications in the future. But, I think what has happened is that you are so used to the idea that when people on the Internet reply they must be coming against you, so you created the reality of your expectations. Perhaps there is a lesson here so that we may both hit closer to the mark.
@@RubelliteFaeOne of the things that I have come to understand is that not everyone understands things from the same angle, but that doesn't mean they both don't understand it. So to speak about it is actually a good thing because we are not the only ones who read the comments. So where one person might gain more understanding from your angle, another might gain more understanding from mine. There is no argument here, and I apologize if there is something I misunderstood. But again you talk about the tree of morality. It was not the tree of "morality". That was not its name. If it had been named that it would have GIVEN morality when eating from it, just as eating from the tree of Life would have given them eternal life:
Then the Lord
God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”-
therefore the
Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.
If the tree had been the "tree of morality" there should not have been a problem big enough that God would tell them NOT to eat of it, then give them a consequence for eating from it, and finally kick them out of the garden to prevent them from eating of the tree of Life and becoming eternal. So that was my point in saying that is only half. The tree didn't give them or us a system or collection of ideas of right and wrong conduct. It gave them knowledge that there is right and wrong conduct in this world, without the true understanding of which is which or how to actually BE one or the other. Think about how they responded when they heard God walking through the garden after eating from the tree:
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Now, up to this point they had both been in His presence without an issue, so what changed? Knowledge without Wisdom seared their conscience towards God. They now knew OF God's anger without having ever experienced it for themselves, which caused irrational fear, so they hid. Knowledge without Wisdom is what causes irrational fear. God did not strike them down with lightning, He didn't immediately turn Him back into dust, or even come looking for them in an angry manner screaming, "Adam! Where are you, you sinner! You come explain yourself right now young man!"… But knowing somehow that God could and should was "knowledge enough" to become afraid and hide. That is why Knowledge without Wisdom doesn't work. It is only half the equation. It is like trying to make orange juice from just the peels. What a bitter, chunky "drink" that would be. But what if your WHOLE life you had been given that and TOLD it was orange juice? That is what you would expect to be given when requesting a cup of orange juice. But what a pleasant surprise it would be to taste the real thing for the first time... If you didn't reject it just because it doesn't look like what you have been used to. 🤷♀️
A satisfied soul
loathes the honeycomb, But to a hungry soul every bitter thing is
sweet.
I only responded to this one part of the conversation because I think it would behoove us to discuss one topic at a time if we are going to continue this conversation because it is less to follow and keep track of, therefore easier to get to the bottom of "a" thing, instead of wading through multiple things at the same time which can be overwhelming... At least for me. Lol 🤷♀️
So you asked how I made the leap to believing Knowledge without Wisdom is incomplete… Reading the book of Proverbs, and looking at the things that happened in a logical manner. God is a God of perfect design. He never strays from His design. We do. ("We" as in mankind) And then we blame Him because we are angry that we don't understand.
@@observeroflife0000 The name, "The tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil" is extracanonical. I called it the Tree of Morality because it is more to the point than "Knowledge of Good & Evil" which many people confuse for "Tree of Knowledge Period" as you seemed to have done in your first post. Also, you seem to think "morality" only means "goodness" and not "ethics." I already quoted the dictionary, but let me try again: "Recognition of the distinction between good and evil or between right and wrong" (Wiktionary), "moral quality or character" (where 'quality' can be good or bad, Dictionary.com), "1. beliefs about what is right behavior and what is wrong behavior; 2. the degree to which something is right and good : the moral goodness or badness of something" (Merriam-Webster), "the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong)." (Wikipedia)
I already explained that "morality" means more than what you thought it meant in my previous post. I'm not sure if you didn't understand what I wrote, couldn't accept a fact that didn't already conform to your expectations, chose to ignore it, or something else I haven't considered. Either way it does seem to be a trend in this conversation. You have your thinking and are set in it.
As for what the tree _is_ called:
"the tree which is in the midst of the garden" (Gen 3:3 ISR)
"a tree desirable to make one wise" (Gen 3:6 ISR)
"the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat" (Gen 3:11 ISR)
Yet the other is specifically named, "tree of life" (Gen 3:22 ISR)
In light of all of the above, what is your objection with me calling it "the tree of morality?"
"It gave them knowledge that there is right and wrong conduct in this world"
Yes. And I have not said otherwise this entire time. You have interpreted that I did. If you cannot be trusted to interpret my own words in this conversation, how can I trust your interpretation of scripture?
"without the true understanding of which is which"
I disagree with this. We have an intuition when something just seems wrong, even absent cultural influence. It is easily ignored because it "speaks" with a very small voice, but it is there. Paying attention to that is key. In premodern times, if you ventured too far off a road, the dangers of the wild would indicate we should return to the road for safety. God has laid out a road (mitzvot), but we are free to wander in the wilderness as long as we can tolerate. Once we recognize that we are responsible for our own suffering it's up to us to return to the path. There are many distractions along the way, but God with loving patience for us at the end. The more time and effort we spend on mindfulness (purposeful awareness of our thoughts, speech, actions, & habits) the easier it is to notice we have traversed off the path. The more we understand scripture, the more illuminated the path becomes.
"or how to actually BE one or the other."
This is the purpose of scripture. As explained above, it illuminates the path.
"Think about how they responded when they heard God walking through the garden... knowing somehow that God could and should was "knowledge enough" to become afraid and hide. That is why Knowledge without Wisdom doesn't work."
This is direct evidence for why your statement, "without the true understanding of which is which," cannot be correct. It doesn't say they hid for fear of punishment or retribution, but "I was afraid because I was naked." (Gen 3:10 ISR) He gained an intuitive understanding that it is improper to be naked in the presence of others. How do we know this was the point? Because the response wasn't about fear, it was about nudity.
You keep going on about knowledge vs wisdom. I don't disagree at all that the two are only useful in concert. What I'm saying is that this isn't the point of the story and you have not been able to demonstrate that it is the point of it.
"But what if your WHOLE life you had been given that and TOLD it was orange juice?"
This ignores that we _have_ been given mitzvot. God has provided direction since before humanity even understood right & wrong. The first being, "Elohim said to them, 'Bear fruit and increase'" (Gen 1:28)
"I only responded to this one part..."
Fair enough. I reply with comments in order to keep track of multiple points in one post, but I'm adaptable.
"So you asked how I made the leap to believing Knowledge without Wisdom is incomplete."
No. I said the leap was believing that, "each generation succumb(ed) to the idea that knowledge alone was enough." If this were true we wouldn't even have the word wisdom. How can you judge the entire history of humanity as not having valued wisdom? Why didn't you respond to my point of most (known) past cultures having revered elders for their wisdom? Again, it very much seems you are arguing against a strawman and not me or what I have actually said. And besides, you have already explained how we gain pieces of wisdom through experience: when you touch the stove despite parental warning. So, I'm not really sure what it is you think needs to happen that isn't already with regard to knowledge and wisdom.
People are so afraid of not having a free will. God has given it to us though others try to take it away. That is where the concern might be better applied.
I can’t find a link to get to your VIP program can you help me with it
Thx
There’s no link below, rabbi
Arrogance, as ignorance, is not a pretty thing in anyone on Eart-h that still has a locked door in his aching H-eart. Shalom
If you do not respect your mother and father, is it freedom of choice? But on the ten commandments their is written "Respect your mother and father."⏬↕↔🚻⏩✡🚹✡➕🕎🛐☮🔯⏩🔯⏬✡✝⏸☮🔯⏬⏫ OWER KINDS' FATHERS GOD, GoD of Abraham, GoD of Isaac, GoD of Jacob, let Give US our government His Strength & let give us mercy and let give us peaceful mind for the world Elders, adults and young children!!!
That honput unlike button: please to vrhite Why(?) (Big ignorance for same people,for God's carakter attribute and Beeing, Rabby Freedman us so Acured here that I'm Amazed and listen couple of times, unforchent I'm from Balkan-macedonia I can't afford the book bit I will find way) +(plus I'm christian) but God is gliryfaid true M.r Freedman Blesings
Lord bless you and ceap you ...
..let the Lord Shine his face Upon you
In Meshiah Name
To speak of Freedom of Choice as a binary function does people a great injustice and does not dignify freedom of choice. Freedom of choice is not an all or nothing matter. Our freedom of choice exists on a gradient. Paradoxically, as our will approaches the Will of HaShem our freedom of choice increases even as it no longer strays, because all straying is only into foolishness. Shlomo HaMelekh teaches this magnificently.
Freedom of Will is very low for those for whom HaShem is an object of worship. Any object of worship, no matter how abstracted, exalted, awesome and removed is still an object, and thus idol worship. Abstract, exalted and removed are qualities, and so cannot apply to HaShem. Awesome is pretty cool though.
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Idol worshipers have little choice. Yes, most Rabbis are idol worshipers. We cannot do Tshuvah until we can admit that we are idol worshippers, realize how subtle and sophisticated idol worship is and be sincerely regretful and committed to becoming Monotheists.
If God askes the Israelites to serve Him and be a light to the souls over there would they choose to go to hell for Him? As hell might be the sulfur lake of fire that will turn into the new earth.
The concept of going to hell is a non-Jewish belief.
@@EdHelwig Sorry, did not know that, but i linked it to the ressurection of the dead, i think that is in the Torah, thought i use the word hell so everyone can understand, but now i know not to with the Jewish belief, thanks for letting me know. Btw i do not follow any believe, nor reject any believe. My believe is that all on this earth is based on Truth, but misunderstood through freedom of choice.
Does God have free will?
Be
None of you know the real true this is just predictions only the creator knows everything
I am a Calvinist
So what Brother, this is very True for God character , Rabby Freedman have Revaletion and wisdom for God's carakter and principle Ho God is!
MESIAH Truth I give In God hands for him and Israel, But Israelite have knoweleg for God carakter mercy Love, century That are choisen people,we are just addet fir short Time thanks to Yehusuah Ha Mashiah
But thay are whit God loong before Us I LEARN SO MUCH TRUE THUS MAN: not doktrins But nature,principles Jarakter of God ho wase SECRET FOR ME!
GOD TO BLES HIM AND ISRAEL !
@Shabas Format, 1 Corinthians 1, read it all.
@@martinjanev1705 brother please pray for me I live in Hostile environment weapons are here I am afraid of guns I don't like Violence Torah is not for violence thou shalt not kill