In the Rambam’s Mishneh Torah, the second halacha in the laws of idol worship recounts how Avraham Avinu lived in a world of spiritual darkness where everyone worshiped idols — including himself.
At a very young age, Avraham challenged the status quo and after decades of thinking and wondering about how the world works, at age 40, he arrived at the truth — there is One God that guides celestial activities and created everything.
In a sense, the post-Sinai world we live in is very much the same. We have the truth from the Torah and our sages, but beyond that many commonly accepted truths are questionable or even completely wrong.
Consider the following institutions generally, or historically assumed to be sources of the truth. (link are provided for examples)
- Science & Medicine : Science and medicine are continually revising theories and evolving. Theories are published and taught as the unequivocal truth! The amount of atheism resulting from science is tragic and the volume of lives lost or suffering through well-meaning medical practitioners is heartbreaking.
- History & Text Books : Writing and rewriting history goes back thousands of years and we can see it today with Holocaust deniers. Countries need feel-good stories and patriots and the school textbook is the ideal place for state propaganda. Historians may also have agendas based on their religion, beliefs, or maybe even on a personal level.
- Media : Most of the media are for-profit, agenda-driven entities and their news stories are commonly filled with distorted or partial truths to fit their agenda. In the USA most major media outlets are owned by 6 corporations.
On a more personal and social level consider the following…
- Personal Beliefs : Psychology, social work, and coaching all have the goal of stopping telling ourselves lies, and self-defeating, self-persecuting thoughts. If we only knew the truth about our potential and our awesomeness all these professionals would be unemployed. Anything you think is bad or wrong about yourself is not true.
- Beliefs about Others : How often is another’s behavior misunderstood? Too often! Friction, fights, and even divorces can result from misunderstandings. When in doubt — give the benefit of the doubt or ask. Nobody likes to be misunderstood.
I am sure there are other areas where the accepted “truths” are actually incorrect but these examples should be sufficient to prove my theory that most of what we believe is wrong. (I am not alone in this either, there is a TED Talk with a similar perspective. And since it is a TED Talk we know it must be valid and true…Right?)
Avraham Avinu put his mind to work using logic and common sense and disproved the false beliefs and accepted truths of his day. He came to the realization that if something exists, then there must be a creator.
Avraham taught his son Yitzhak and the people around him these truths. In turn, Yitzhak taught Yaakov and Yaakov taught his children and so forth until today.
The Avot brought the knowledge of G-d to the world and is the reason, according to Rabbi Avigdor Miller, we say in the first blessing of the Amidah — G-d remembers the kindness of our Fathers (וְזוֹכֵר חַסְדֵּי אָבוֹת)
It was a kindness to G-d that the Avot taught the world about Him.
It’s true, that we have the Torah, and a mesorah, and we know the truth however, during these difficult times we need to actively dispel and disregard the pervading darkness and cleave to the truth that G-d is managing and guiding our world to a wonderous geula, and on that day G-d will be One and His Name will be One.
We need to be like Avraham.
Yitzhak Sasson 