Sunday, May 17, 2009

Ramban- What is The Greatness of The Torah- Toras Hashem Temima perek 1 siman 4

The Ramban asks a very intriguing question. He has spent the first 3 simanim of his book describing how great the Torah is and how every revers the Torah. However, where does this reverence come from? What is it about the Torah that makes it so great? He says,

"We need to ask and explain what is this value and honor [everyone is showing the Torah]? What is this wisdom and greatness of the Torah? [Everything that it contains] seems obvious, even a student can read and know what it says. Also, even the nations of the world that treat it as an ancient text can learn it. Furthermore, they themselves can come up with civility and statutes that compare to the rules of the Bible and its laws."

The Ramban is pointing out the seemingly obvious morals that the Bible points out. It seems like most of the ideas contained within it are simplistic and easy to understand. However, if this is true then what is the greatness of the Torah that the three previous simanim talk about here.

It seems hard to tell what the specific features of the Bible are unique to Judaism. The specifics are obvious, but the overall idea of the Bible seems common. In the upcoming simanim the Ramban will discuss the uniqueness of the Bible from all other moral codes and books of law.

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