Wednesday, May 8, 2013
The 48 Ways to Acquire Torah: Directing him to Truth
10:43 AM | 
Posted by
Rabbi Chaim Coffman |
The next of the 48 ways to acquire Torah is directing him to truth. Why is getting to the truth so important and why should I search for it? Everyone needs meaning in life but most people never search for the truth either because they don't believe it is exists or because they are not interested and would rather live the life of fantasy.
This is because if they would come to the truth, it may obligate themselves to do things and change which is not on most people's radar! Not only that, they don't even want to get into a discussion because they are afraid of being brainwashed!
As I was learning with someone many years ago, he told me that even if you prove to me 99% that the Torah is true, I still have that 1% free will to say it is not true. I then asked if you were writing a term paper, would you leave your conclusion to a doubt? He said of course not.
The way you write a term paper is to pick a topic with a thesis and then spend the bulk of the paper of bringing proofs for that thesis. If I spend all that time trying to prove it and then leave my conclusion as a doubt, I will fail.
I then asked the million dollar question. If in real life you find the proofs for 99% of what the Torah tells us as being true, would you say that 1% is a doubt and I still have my free will? How far are you willing to take it?
At that point my trusted study partner looked at me and said, "What I am willing to do to prove my thesis for my term paper is not the same as I would do in real life if it meant I had to change my life!"
In essence this is really a sad way to look at things. Another person told me that they would rather not look for the truth and live fantasy because if I find the truth and I have to change my life, that is something I am not willing to do.
We get the character trait of truth from our ancestor Yaakov and the extent he was willing to sacrifice his life for it. The truth is something we should all strive for and try to live up to!
This is because if they would come to the truth, it may obligate themselves to do things and change which is not on most people's radar! Not only that, they don't even want to get into a discussion because they are afraid of being brainwashed!
As I was learning with someone many years ago, he told me that even if you prove to me 99% that the Torah is true, I still have that 1% free will to say it is not true. I then asked if you were writing a term paper, would you leave your conclusion to a doubt? He said of course not.
The way you write a term paper is to pick a topic with a thesis and then spend the bulk of the paper of bringing proofs for that thesis. If I spend all that time trying to prove it and then leave my conclusion as a doubt, I will fail.
I then asked the million dollar question. If in real life you find the proofs for 99% of what the Torah tells us as being true, would you say that 1% is a doubt and I still have my free will? How far are you willing to take it?
At that point my trusted study partner looked at me and said, "What I am willing to do to prove my thesis for my term paper is not the same as I would do in real life if it meant I had to change my life!"
In essence this is really a sad way to look at things. Another person told me that they would rather not look for the truth and live fantasy because if I find the truth and I have to change my life, that is something I am not willing to do.
We get the character trait of truth from our ancestor Yaakov and the extent he was willing to sacrifice his life for it. The truth is something we should all strive for and try to live up to!
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