12 Vrydag 7 September, 2018 Many years ago, I gleaned from Abba Eban’s history classic text, My People, that every event in the history of the world must be viewed through the filter of historical context. Why did the sages of Jewish tradition create the...
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12 Vrydag 7 September, 2018 Many years ago, I gleaned from Abba Eban’s history classic text, My People, that every event in the history of the world must be viewed through the filter of historical context. Why did the sages of Jewish tradition create the Talmud at the same time that early Christians developed their New Testament? Why does Maimonides, perhaps the great- est Jewish scholar and philosopher in Jewish history, write in Arabic and reflect the theology of Aristotle? The answer to these questions is: “Look at the world and see history in context of what is happening in the world through the filter of our own time.” A legendary story tells of an interview in which David Ben-Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel, was asked what the worst problem facing the new state of Israel is. Ben-Gurion smiled and said, “Shalom”. The interviewer nodded, then responded, “I understand that peace may be a distant dream.” Ben-Gurion shook his head. “You un- derstand the word ‘Shalom’ as ‘pe
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