Questions tagged [literalism]
Questions regarding the literal interpretation of Biblical or Rabbinic texts.
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Is belief in Midrashim optional?
The Ramban in Sefer Havikuach (page 32, the bottom of the first column ) asserts with regard to Midrash:
מי שיאמין בו טוב. ומי שלא יאמין בו לא יזיק
Whoever believes in it, good, he who does not ...
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Avot keeping Mitzvot
How are we to understand the tradition that the patriarchs kept all of the mitzvot in the Torah (see for example: the last mishna in Kiddushin (4:14), Rashi on Bereshit 32:5, etc.) in light of the ...
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Does one have to take a Midrash/Aggadah literally?
Does one have to take a Midrash/Aggadah literally?
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Is there "Torah Inerrancy"?
Is there Torah inerrancy?
In other words, does the Torah contain no factual errors: the Noah flood did occur, Garden of Eden did exist, Adam and Eve did live there and were subsequently expelled, etc ...
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Is it heresy to read the Bible literally?
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in this debate with Richard Dawkins says:
Rabbis in the 10th century laid down the following principle: If a biblical narrative is incompatible with established scientific fact,...
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Non-literal Midrashim [duplicate]
Sometimes I'll hear a Midrash and sometimes people might say, "Well, I don't know if it's meant to be taken literally."
When do we know when Midrashim are speaking metaphorically or when they are ...
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Is there any precedent to read the first 11 chapters of Genesis as metaphorical?
I believe this will be related to a similar question about a statement by Rabbi Sacks. Rabbi Jeremy Wieder said in a lecture titled Non Literal Interpretation of Scripture in Jewish Tradition (and ...
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Which Rishonim viewed maaseh bereishit as an allegory?
I have often heard that many rishonim were comfortable with the idea that at least the first week of creation could be read allegorically, not literally. What are the specific sources that support ...
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Should we interpret the Torah literally or allegorically?
I had a question regarding how we should interpret the Torah. Should we interpret it literally, or if not how far can we abstract its teachings, or should we favour a mix of both approaches?
I have ...
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Does Judaism have a concept of holy text literalism?
Apologies if this is an ignorant, foolish or offensive question. I am not Jewish, and am asking to satisfy my curiosity.
Some time ago, on a political forum online, I was discussing religious ...
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Does Rambam take the 6 days of creation literally?
I was told in this answer to another question: "The Rambam did not take the '6 days' of Bereishis literally, as well as other details." The answer linked to Moreh Nevuchim (link) but I couldn't find ...
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Must we consider the gemara's conclusions literally true?
I have in mind gemaras such as Yoma 54b, which says, according to the interpretation of one of my rabbis, that the Even haShetiya -- the stone found under what is now the Dome of the Rock -- was the ...
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Did people ever place actual physical stumbling blocks before the blind?
I know that the prohibition against placing stumbling blocks before the blind has been understood to be a prohibition against misleading or causing people to sin, but the simple meaning of the text is ...
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Is the midrash about the moon and sun being the same size intended literally?
The Rambam in his introduction to perek Chelek discusses midrashic literalist, and classifies different approaches of different groups to midrash. He writes:
You should know that as to [...
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Age of Universe and Shabbat
If one believes that our world is billions of years old, i.e. accepting the idea of each day in Sheshis Imei Berieshit (the Six Days of Creation) as eras and not literal days, then how does one ...
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Praying for the Moon to "fill the defect"
During Kiddush Levanah, a brief prayer is recited:
וִיהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ ה' אֱלֹקי וֵאלֹקי אֲבוֹתַי לְמַלֹּאת פְּגִימַת הַלְּבָנָה וְלֹא יִהְיֶה בָּהּ שׁוּם מִעוּט.
וִיהִי אוֹר הַלְּבָנָה ...
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Did manna really fall from heaven according to Rambam or Gersonides?
What does the Rambam or Gersonides, who were both rationalists, have to say on the miracle of manna falling from heaven? Did they believe such an event took place?
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Adam and Eve as parable or literal
Was the story of Adam and Eve meant as a parable for the dawn of civilization after human species evolved for millennia or is Adam and Eve to be literally read as the first humans to ever be created.
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Sources for seeing the Exodus as metaphorical rather than historical
Recently, someone who presents himself as a religious member of Jewish society told me that he feels it doesn't matter if the story of the Exodus actually happened, and can be viewed as a nice ...
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Plants before the Sun in the Order of Creation
Why does plant life precede the Sun in the order of creation given that plants need the Sun to do photosynthesis?
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Is the story of Gan Eden Literally true?
Could it be that the story of Gan Eden, Adam, Hava and the Snake is an allegory meant to teach us lessons but not a recording of an actual event?
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Moshe's Weapon Against Og
Is there anything particularly special about the weapon Moshe used against Og? The Gemara Brachos (54b) records
משה כמה הוה עשר אמות שקיל נרגא בר עשר אמין שוור עשר אמין ומחייה
בקרסוליה וקטליה.
...
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Does the story of R. Bena'a in the Cave of Macpelah imply that G-d has a physical form?
On Bava Basra 58a it says (from Sefaria):
כי מטא למערתא דאדם הראשון יצתה בת קול ואמרה נסתכלת בדמות דיוקני בדיוקני עצמה אל תסתכל הא בעינא לציוני מערתא כמדת החיצונה כך מדת הפנימית ולמ"ד שני בתים זו ...
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Is there a midrash that says all of the water in the world split at the time of the splitting of the reed sea?
Is there a midrash that states that all the bodies of water split during the splitting of the reed sea? If yes, I would think that such an event would be recorded in some secular history book? Are ...
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What causes a person to remain in this world as a ghost?
A baraita on Berakhot 18b relates a story where a pious man sleeps in a cemetery and hears two spirits talking. One of them suggests they wander the world, and the other says she can't because she ...
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Drawing my own conclusions from the Torah
I've always made my own inferences and interpretations from the Torah. Whether it's from a story, a Perashah or something from the Tanach. But I don't know how good/permissible that is. A problem ...
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Rashi and Corporealism
Shemos 7:4-
וְלֹא-יִשְׁמַע אֲלֵכֶם פַּרְעֹה, וְנָתַתִּי אֶת-יָדִי בְּמִצְרָיִם; וְהוֹצֵאתִי אֶת-צִבְאֹתַי אֶת-עַמִּי בְנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, בִּשְׁפָטִים, גְּדֹלִים
There, Rashi comments-...
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Was Rachav A Harlot (Prostitute)?
It specifically says several times in Yehoshua chapter 2 and chapter 6 that Rachav was a Harlot " וְאֶת רָחָב הַזּוֹנָה". Why is it that it is accepted that she wasn't a harlot but an innkeeper and ...
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What is the firmament?
In Genesis 1:6-8 the firmament and its creation are mentioned for the first time:
And God said: 'Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.' ...
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The snake slept with Chavah?
Chazal say (Avodah Zarah 22b) that the snake had relations with Chavah. Does the Gemara elsewhere ever fault her explicitly for this? If not, why not, as she was already commanded in it (Sanhedrin 58a,...
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What are the circumstances of the fulfillment of Ezekiel's vision of the temple?
Ezekiel (Yechezkel) 40 begins a section about a vision of a temple with priests and sacrifices and feasts. The detailed descriptions of this temple seem to indicate that a literal (as opposed to ...
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hints from verses that 6 days of creation is not literal
Are there hints in the verses of Genesis that the 6 "days" of creation are not literal, i.e. not 24 hour periods but rather some kind of "era".
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The Stones of Yaakov
the gemora in Chulin 91b comments on the pasuk in parsha vayetzei
Rabbi Yitzchak said: This tells us that all the stones gathered
themselves together into one place and each one said: 'Upon me ...
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Does וְאַל-תִּטֹּשׁ, תּוֹרַת אִמֶּךָ invalidate the Mitzvot-Exemption-for-Women: וללמדו תורה אבל לא האם and ותלמוד תורה and פריה ורביה?
How can Shlomo write in Mishlei 1:8b, וְאַל-תִּטֹּשׁ, תּוֹרַת אִמֶּךָ, "don't abandon the Torah of your mother" if the Mitzvah of teaching one's sons - וללמדו תורה אבל לא האם - and learning Torah -...
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Why do we bring a sin offering on rosh chodesh, given the midrash about changing the size of the moon?
We bring a sin offering as a 'kapara' for hashem for decreasing the size of the moon. The story goes that the moon said we cant have two 'kings' the same size so I want to be bigger. Hashem says no ...
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