Sunday, November 11, 2018

History vs Torah part 1 2010-08-17

11 comments:

  1. Good Sichah Rabbi Bechofer,
    If you want to learn about the reasons historians see those numbers as reflective of certain meanings see https://www.jstor.org/stable/41541653?read-now=1&refreqid=excelsior%3A977ff7243888e057147410d5a3959a9d&seq=8#page_scan_tab_contents

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  2. Here's an example of what's probably mystical numbers relating to Moshe's lifetime. 40 represents an epoch
    Moshe was 80 when he went to the Yisraelim (Shemos 7:7) the makkos lasted a year(https://he.wikisource.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%A9%D7%A0%D7%94_%D7%A2%D7%93%D7%99%D7%95%D7%AA_%D7%91_%D7%99) and then 40 years in the midbor = 121 years but the pasuk says he was 120!(Devarim 31:2) obviously at least one of these numbers must be to convey a message.

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  3. You're thinking like a Modern Westerner. The Jewish system is the ancient one. No zero.

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    Replies
    1. In which of these numbers is 1 a placeholder for zero? (The Mishna says twelve months which I summarized as 1 year)

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  4. 80 and 40? The text says ben shmonim, shmonim is the tens form of 8.

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  5. Where exactly does it say 1 in the absence of zero?

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  6. Where is a 1 used in the absence of a zero? Here the pasuk says eighty years and a hundred and 20 years and the Mishna says "The Din of the Egyptians:12 months."

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  7. What? The numbers are expressed as multiples of ten not of zero. I really don't understand what you're saying, can I have some more clarification please.

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  8. When a child is born, from the Jewish perspective, he is 1. When he turns what we call 1, from the Jewish perspective he is 2, etc.

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  9. I get it so the pasuk number 80 is from a Jewish perspective which doesn't include a year zero. Thanks Rabbi Bechofer for clarifying.
    My being a computer person to celebrate the resolution here's 120 in binary:01111000

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