We don’t accept miracles

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We don’t accept miracles.  Well, that’s not exactly true, of course.  The Torah is full of stories of miracles, and I believe that anyone who has an open mind can see miracles in their own life.  There are many miracles that we can point to in recent Jewish history, but that is for another time.

 

What do I mean by “we don’t accept miracles?”  We don’t accept miracles as proof that someone is speaking for Hashem, and we don’t legislate Halacha (Jewish law) based on miracles.  Well, what about all the miracles Moshe performed, you may ask.  Didn’t we believe in him as G-d’s messenger because of them?  Well, the answer is yes and no.  The miracles caught our attention and the people followed him into the desert, but that was not the ultimate proof that his words are the eternal words of Hashem.

 

As Rambam writes (Mishneh Torah, Yesodei Hatorah 7:1), the way we know that Moshe is truly Hashem’s messenger is because the entire Jewish nation, several million men, women and children at Sinai, my ancestors and yours, heard Hashem say to Moshe “go speak to the people.”  They faithfully transmitted this through the ages from generation to generation, parents to children.  This is a memory that cannot be implanted.  (What I am writing is the tip of the iceberg, but as always I will just stick to a few short points.)

 

It is this belief that has kept Judaism pure and safe from adulteration through the ages.  Moshe, who we know first hand is Hashem’s messenger, warns us in this week’s Parsha (Devarim 13:2-4) that “prophets” will come along and perform miracles, and tell us that the Torah has changed.  Moshe tells us clearly that we should not listen to them and not follow them.  Miracles can happen in many ways, but if they lead us away from Torah, this is, as Moshe says, a test. 

 

The Talmud (Bava Metzia 59b) tells a story about a debate among the Sages about the halachic status of a certain type of oven.  The Torah tells us how we determine the law in a case of debate – by following the majority of the great Sages of the Sanhedrin (supreme court that convened in the Holy Temple).  Rabbi Eliezer disagreed with the majority and performed several miracles to prove his point.  Even though he was a highly esteemed Torah authority, the Halacha was decided against his opinion.  While he was very convincing spiritually, he was not able to logically convince his colleagues of his reasoning, so they had no choice but to override him and ignore the miracles.

 

This has been our answer to every spin off religion that has claimed that they have a new truth that Hashem showed to a prophet.  As Moshe said:  “You shall observe all the Mitzvot that I teach you, do not add to them nor detract from them (Devarim 13:1).”   This includes the Oral Torah which was also transmitted faithfully from Moshe to all the generations, because the written Torah can only be understood properly when accompanied by its original Divinely given explanation, the Oral Torah.

 

We have a rich, beautiful tradition.  The original is real, meaningful, spiritual and life-giving.  As Jews we have always recognized that we don’t need to look elsewhere to outside prophets, miracle makers or revisionists to find truth.  It is right there in the Torah.  It is the pure, fresh water that satiates our souls, our minds and our hearts.  

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