Sunday, February 13, 2011

Devarim 31:12, Question 3:

How does the Conservative movement use "lo bashamayim hi"? How can this be dangerous?

4 comments:

  1. the Conservative movement uses lo bashamain hi to mean that we need to work for what we want so if we want change such as having the land of Israel for the Jews we can't just wait around until God gives it to us. This could be dangerous because if people take it too far, they would take all matters into their own hands and not pray to God for help and then we would lose the Jewish religion.

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  2. The conservative movement sees lo bashamim hi to mean that we are able to interpret the torah as we choose to. We do not have to get answers from god anymore, nor do we need gifted individuals to acquire the answers for us. God gave us the Torah to interpret as we choose in order to make it easily accessable for all. They use this to justify their interpretations of the text, saying that we can interpret the laws of the Torah to fit modern times.

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  3. But by saying "we can interpret," the movement specifically states that "we" means the rabbis, not necessarily an uneducated Joe Schmoe who is likely to choose what's convenient over what's morally just.

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  4. Campchilovr says the Conservative movement uses lo bashamayin hi to mean "that we need to work for what we want." I guess this could be dangerous if people want dangerous things. I'm probably missing the point here, but if somebody desires something violent or criminal, the phrase calls for that individual to work toward that.

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