Kol hakavod that you stuck with it! I think the beauty of the Torah is that there is always more to learn.
I don't know if mythology is necessarily correct but I think a morality book is very much appropriate. More evidence to this theory is the fact that the torah sometimes discusses events out of order, and the lyrical prose that is used to tell us about things.
I'm going to finish with my 2 cents on the 10th plague. Without even looking at commentary, the Egyptians have committed a great evil in enslaving a nation and murdering their sons when that didn't work fast enough. They had the entire time from Moses's birth to repent and they didn't. They chose continuing slavery over and over. A normal person would have had remorse after the first plague. I mean compare it to the king who kidnapped Sarah (also Egyptian). That king repented immediately and even gave Avraham gifts.
The general if slave holder Egyptians was so depraved with "capitalist greed" that they couldn't care less. They were given chances over and over.
You might say, well the Egyptians argued with Pharaoh that he should let the Jews go. Sure, but in the night of the 10th plague they also had the choice to abandon idol worship and paint their doorways in blood like the Jews did. In fact, we know that some non Hebrews left Egypt with the Hebrews. Those who were affected by the 10th plague cared more about their animals than about enslaving, torturing and murdering human beings.
So the punishment was just but at the same time, it is Gd who gives this punishment. And when he drowns the Egyptians that still haven't learned after all this, he tells the angels they shouldn't celebrate as those Egyptians are his children too.
And as you said, Ashkenazim remove drops of wine for every plague. Our Sephardic tradition is to pour out sips for every plague. We're not happy about the plague but at the same time, I think it's important to remember that the Egyptians had many choices.
Thank you for your insights! What Abby and Dov were questioning was the punishment of Egyptian babies. Even if the plague was morally justifiable, those affected didn’t do anything wrong. Thanks for clarification that it’s an Ashkenazi custom! I shall edit that.
I took a class in college that examined that very topic of determining which parts of the Torah were actually backed up by historical evidence. It got heated at times! I saved the nicely illustrated textbook at my parents' house that I'll have to share with you sometime.
Kol hakavod that you stuck with it! I think the beauty of the Torah is that there is always more to learn.
I don't know if mythology is necessarily correct but I think a morality book is very much appropriate. More evidence to this theory is the fact that the torah sometimes discusses events out of order, and the lyrical prose that is used to tell us about things.
I'm going to finish with my 2 cents on the 10th plague. Without even looking at commentary, the Egyptians have committed a great evil in enslaving a nation and murdering their sons when that didn't work fast enough. They had the entire time from Moses's birth to repent and they didn't. They chose continuing slavery over and over. A normal person would have had remorse after the first plague. I mean compare it to the king who kidnapped Sarah (also Egyptian). That king repented immediately and even gave Avraham gifts.
The general if slave holder Egyptians was so depraved with "capitalist greed" that they couldn't care less. They were given chances over and over.
You might say, well the Egyptians argued with Pharaoh that he should let the Jews go. Sure, but in the night of the 10th plague they also had the choice to abandon idol worship and paint their doorways in blood like the Jews did. In fact, we know that some non Hebrews left Egypt with the Hebrews. Those who were affected by the 10th plague cared more about their animals than about enslaving, torturing and murdering human beings.
So the punishment was just but at the same time, it is Gd who gives this punishment. And when he drowns the Egyptians that still haven't learned after all this, he tells the angels they shouldn't celebrate as those Egyptians are his children too.
And as you said, Ashkenazim remove drops of wine for every plague. Our Sephardic tradition is to pour out sips for every plague. We're not happy about the plague but at the same time, I think it's important to remember that the Egyptians had many choices.
Thank you for your insights! What Abby and Dov were questioning was the punishment of Egyptian babies. Even if the plague was morally justifiable, those affected didn’t do anything wrong. Thanks for clarification that it’s an Ashkenazi custom! I shall edit that.
I took a class in college that examined that very topic of determining which parts of the Torah were actually backed up by historical evidence. It got heated at times! I saved the nicely illustrated textbook at my parents' house that I'll have to share with you sometime.
Fascinating! Please! Meanwhile in college I took a class on East Asian religions 😄
Not sure why a soldier grabs a girl leaves his post and takes her home but what sayers the good book on keeping slaves?