Lazer Beams

Recent floods - where's Hashem's promise?

Flood waves dwarf the sea wall, Winthrop, Mass., 2003

Dear Rabbi Brody,

I don't understand your post from earlier this week, "High and Dry", nor do I understand the predictions of the kabbalist rabbis concerning the earth's rising waters, namely, that large portions of the earth will soon disappear under water. Yet, both science and current events - from the Tsunami last December to global warming and the American hurricanes of recent weeks, seem to indicate that you fellows know what you're talking about. I'm perplexed, though - didn't The Lord promise that there would never again be another flood? Isn't this a contradiction to recent events, such as Katrina? Can you resolve the apparent mismatch between your Bible and what we see with our own eyes? Thank you for your kind attention. Yours respectfully, Raji Sandi, Calcutta

Dear Raji,

Thank you for your letter and your superb and timely question, especially since the flood is the subject of this week's Torah portion, "Noah". Let's see exactly what the Torah says (Genesis 9:11): "Never again shall all flesh be destroyed by flood waters, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." Rabbi Chaim ben Attar, the renowned Ohr HaChaim HaKadoesh from Morocco, one of our most prominent sages and Torah interpreters from the 17th Century CE, explains in his commentary on this week's portion that Hashem promised that He would no longer destroy all of mankind in a flood, nor would He destroy the entire planet earth in the flood, as He did in Noah's time. But, says the Ohr HaChaim HaKadoesh explicitly, "Hashem shall continue to punish those nations who do evil, sometimes with a flood. Yet, there shall be no more flood that destroys all of mankind or all of the earth."

As I wrote several days ago, quoting the Talmud, even if the rest of the earth will be submerged, the Land of Israel and the Jewish people will be high and dry. As such, even in such an extreme scenario, Hashem is keeping His promise not to destroy all of the earth and all of mankind.

So, you can clearly see that there's absolutely no contradiction between the Torah and current events. On the contrary - since the Torah is The Creator's blueprint for creating the world, the world functions exactly according to its principles. Best wishes, Lazer Brody

In this rare photo taken by a tourist Eric Skitzi from England, tourists watch from a safe lookout as tsunami waves smash the Malaysian shore at 1:00pm local time, Sunday, Dec. 26, 2004.

No, we don't have horns.

Michaelangelo was very close to Pope Julius II, who commissioned many of his works. Michaelangelo's biblical sculptures, paintings, and frescoes were based on the mainstream Vatican translation of the Bible. Exodus 34:35 says, "And the Children of Israel saw that rays of light emanated from the skin of the face of Moses." Having spent 40 days and nights in the Divine Presence, Moses' face reflected a brilliant divine light.

"Light rays" in Hebrew, our holy tongue that is the language of the Bible, is קרניים, or "karnayim" in transliteration. "Karnayim" also has an alternate meaning, namely, "horns" like the horns of a cow. Check your 15th - 16th Century Italian Bibles - they will tell you that Moses descended from Mount Sinai with "horns protruding from the skin of his face." From this faulty translation, Michaelangelo sculpted his classic Moses (see above photo) and untold numbers of people came to believe that Jews have horns.

How could the Papal Hebraic experts make such an error? Simple: The non-Jewish translations are literal, based solely on the translator's understanding and the limits of his or her human brain.

Traditional Jewish interpretation of Scripture is based on the original language, "Lashon Hakodesh" or the holy tongue, which Hashem spoke to Moses. For over 3,000 years, Jewish children have been learning this language from the age of 3. Not only do we learn the holy tongue, but we devote our lives to learning the Oral Law, G-d's explanation of the written law to Moses, which has been passed on in an unbroken chain from generation to generation by way of the Talmud and Kabbala. In addition, we have our holy sages from each generation who hold the responsibility of interpretating Hashem's holy word.

In the last 36 hours, I've received dozens of emails from people all over the globe who claim that Gog and Magog could not have happened already. I received links to several leading missionary sites that are doing 24-hour damage control trying to refute me. I really don't understand why; I'm not trying to argue with anyone's beliefs. I respect all people equally and will always fight for the G-d - given right of free choice. Judaism in general, and Lazer Brody in particular, do not proselytize.

As for the interpretation of Scripture, with all due respect to my non-Jewish friends, this is our home game. Since I published the post that the Melitzer Rebbe revealed to me in the name of the saintly Rebbe Aaron of Belz o.b.m. that the war of Gog and Magog is over (even though we'll still be fighting the fierce spiritual aftermath of the war until the coming of Moshiach, may it be soon, amen), I've received three letters from my esteemed colleagues in Chabad who told me that the Lubavitcher Rebbe had the same opinion, and particularly that Gog alludes to Hitler (pronounced in Russian "Gitler") and that Magog alludes to Moscow (pronounced in Russian Moskva). A consensus between Rebbe Aaron Rokach of Belz and Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson of Lubavitch, 2 of the 20th centuries greatest sages of blessed memory, is a tough one to beat.

Moses brought the Torah down from Mount Sinai. Moses received G-d's oral explanations of what's written in the Pentateuch. Without these explanations, we wouldn't know how to observe the Sabbath, produce tefillin, write a mezuza, or build a Succa (tabernacle). This oral tradition, codified by Maimonides in the 12th century, explains who and what Moshiach is, and the criteria for recognizing him. (G-d willing, I'll be elaborating on that in future posts from time to time). Non-Jewish translations and interpretations of our Torah and Prophets are not only face-value, they lack both the in-depth knowledge of the holy tongue and the oral tradition; that accounts for the differences in what Christians and Jews believe.

Habakkuk the prophet said, "A righteous man shall live according to his own beliefs." I suggest we take his advice. To paraphrase Henry David Thoreau, let each of us step to the drummer he or she hears. Pretty soon, anyway, the truth will be apparent for all to see. So meanwhile, let's stay friends and work together to make this world a better place to live. I'm easy to get along with, as both my Christian and Moslem comrades can attest - I don't have horns.