{"id":34078,"date":"2018-07-16T14:37:25","date_gmt":"2018-07-16T11:37:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=34078"},"modified":"2022-02-07T14:37:12","modified_gmt":"2022-02-07T12:37:12","slug":"of-snakes-and-evil-inclinations-two-reactions-to-adam-mintza-audio-lesson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/of-snakes-and-evil-inclinations-two-reactions-to-adam-mintza-audio-lesson\/","title":{"rendered":"Of Snakes and Evil Inclinations: Two Reactions to Adam Mintz\u2019s Audio Lesson"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[373],"acf":{"old_id":"34078","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":false,"related_cahpter":"3","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":" Readers Respond: Two Reactions to Adam Mintz\u2019s Audio Lesson\r\nWhen is an Allegory? \/ Head over Heart?","content":"

When is an Allegory?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rabbi Mintz, in your podcast description of Eve\u2019s encounter with the Serpent<\/span> suggesting that the Serpent is really the <\/span>yetzer harah<\/span><\/em>, you blithely edge toward, maybe lapse into, the idea that Eve never really spoke to a snake \u2014 snakes don\u2019t speak to humans (and likely never did). \u00a0Rather you almost argue that the story is merely allegorical. Just as Balaam never actually spoke with his donkey; this too was clearly allegorical. What does this mean? <\/span><\/p>\n

Does it mean that the Bible chooses to use allegory only where a story is obviously fabular on its face \u2014 those two Biblical encounters, but also, for me at least, the story of Creation, the Ten Plagues and the Splitting of the Sea of Reeds too? \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If we are willing to accept the notion that the Bible sometimes dispenses allegorical content which may be understood as such, can we arrive at a reasonable construct that the Bible may properly be viewed<\/span>,<\/span> when it tells stories, as allegorical? In this way, we could see<\/span> Biblical events as having occurred in some sense, but maybe view them in a totally different light \u2014 more as teachable moments, parables if you will, to promote morality and proper human behavior.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe the Serpent was right after all \u2014 we should engage with \u201cKnowledge\u201d in all kinds of ways in order to open our eyes wide!<\/span><\/p>\n

Joel Cohen is a white-collar criminal defense lawyer, a former state and federal prosecutor, and an Adjunct Professor at Fordham Law School. He has published three works of Biblical fiction.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Head over Heart?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rabbi Mintz mentions that human nature is such that even when we know that there are negative consequences, we still acquiesce to the evil inclination within each one of us. In his Tanya, the seminal work of Chabad Chassidism, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi states: “By its very nature, the mind rules the heart.” This axiom, known as the ‘Aleph of Chassidus’, forms the cornerstone of the Chabad-Chassidic approach to life. <\/span><\/p>\n

While it is not necessarily easy, we know that each individual has the ability to control his desires by allowing his rational self to manage and control his physical desires. While Eve lived many millenia before the formulation of this principle, her sin rested on her inability to allow her rational sense to control her physical temptations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eli Popack, <\/span>Spiritual leader of the Beach Minyan in Westhampton Beach<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":101681,"id":101681,"title":"-620111deb3b12--620111deb3b13gen3-feedback response.png","filename":"620111deb3b12-620111deb3b13gen3-feedback-response.png.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620111deb3b12-620111deb3b13gen3-feedback-response.png.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/of-snakes-and-evil-inclinations-two-reactions-to-adam-mintza-audio-lesson\/620111deb3b12-620111deb3b13gen3-feedback-response-png\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"620111deb3b12-620111deb3b13gen3-feedback-response-png","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":34078,"date":"2022-02-07 12:34:38","modified":"2022-02-07 12:36:43","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620111deb3b12-620111deb3b13gen3-feedback-response.png-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620111deb3b12-620111deb3b13gen3-feedback-response.png-300x200.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620111deb3b12-620111deb3b13gen3-feedback-response.png-768x512.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620111deb3b12-620111deb3b13gen3-feedback-response.png-1024x683.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620111deb3b12-620111deb3b13gen3-feedback-response.png.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620111deb3b12-620111deb3b13gen3-feedback-response.png.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620111deb3b12-620111deb3b13gen3-feedback-response.png-1200x800.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620111deb3b12-620111deb3b13gen3-feedback-response.png-630x420.png","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":" Readers Respond: Two Reactions to Adam Mintz\u2019s Audio Lesson","main_caption":"Of Snakes and Evil Inclinations","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"When is an Allegory? 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