At the beginning of 2015, Ridley Scott’s new film “Exodus: Gods and Kings” was released on the country’s screens - the story of the Old Testament times about the liberation of the Jewish people from Egyptian slavery. “Historical Truth” decided to answer seven of the most popular audience questions about how much everything shown in the movies corresponds to historical reality?
1. How did the Jews end up in Egypt?
It all started when around 1700 BC. Egypt was conquered by the Hyksos tribes - Semitic nomads. The country of the pharaohs was at that time in a state of ruin and torn apart by civil strife. Therefore, Asian fighting forces easily took possession of the Delta and established their power there. Josephus in his writings cites the story of the Egyptian priest Manetho about this conquest: “God, unknown why, became angry, and from the eastern countries people of inglorious origin, full of courage, suddenly attacked our country, and took possession of it easily, without a fight and by force. They conquered all the princes who were in it, then mercilessly burned the cities and destroyed the temples of the gods. They treated the residents in the most cruel way, killing some and enslaving others, along with their wives and children. After all this they chose a king from among them, whose name was Salitis. The latter founded his residence in Memphis, imposed tribute on the upper and lower lands..."
The Hyksos pharaohs ruled for about a hundred years. Although they adopted Egyptian culture and customs, they were hated and called “cursed” and “lepers.” Apparently, the rise of Joseph at the court of Pharaoh and the resettlement of the Sons of Israel to Egypt date back to this time. Not trusting the native Egyptians, the Hyksos willingly patronized the people from Canaan.
But in 1580 BC. The Hyksos were expelled from Egypt, their fortress of Avaris was destroyed and power passed to the native dynasty. The city of Thebes became its center. The pharaohs' successful campaigns in Nubia, Palestine, Syria and even the Euphrates lead to the creation of the Egyptian Empire. All this time, the clans of the Sons of Israel live in the region of Goshen in the east of the Delta, where the vengeful Egyptians turn them into slaves.
2. Who was the evil pharaoh?
At the beginning of the 13th century, having ended the wars with the Hittites in Syria, Pharaoh Ramesses II moved his residence to the Delta and began extensive construction work. On the site of the old capital city of Avaris, he erects a new city, Pi-Ramses - “House of Ramses”. Prisoners of war and slaves, as well as foreigners, were involved in the work. The walls of Rahmire's tomb depict Syrian workers making bricks, and one document from the time of Ramesses II contains an order to "distribute food for the warriors and aperu who bring stones for the great pylon." The term "Aperu" corresponds to the word "Khabiri" - that is, Jews.
Consequently, Ramses II could be the pharaoh who made the Jews state slaves. The calling of Moses took place under his successor Merneptah. However, the question of the Pharaoh of the Exodus still remains controversial in biblical scholarship. According to the biblical Book of Kings, the exodus occurred 480 years before the construction of Solomon's Temple. Since construction of the Temple began around 958, the time of the exodus falls to 1440. But at this time and later, the pharaohs reigned supreme in Palestine. The capital of the Empire was then located in the south, in Thebes, and Ramesses was still a pile of ruins. Meanwhile, from the stories of Exodus it is clear that the pharaoh’s headquarters was located near Goshen, “the land of Rameses,” i.e. in Delta. Apparently, the number 480 is a rounded sacred number (40 is the period of testing, multiplied by 12 - the number of chosen ones). The stele of Merneptah, discovered in 1896, presents a well-known difficulty for chronology. The stela dates back to the 30s of the 13th century. The victorious hymn of the pharaoh, who defeated his enemies, is inscribed on it. It ends with the following lines:
The enemies are defeated and begging for mercy,
Libya is devastated, Hatta is subdued,
Canaan is captive with all its evil,
Ascalon is captured, Gezer is full,
The tribe of Israel became depopulated,
His seed is gone...
3. Could Pharaoh's daughter have saved the baby?
The Book of Exodus tells us that the growing population of Goshen caused alarm at court. The region was on the border with hostile peoples, and in Egypt they were afraid that the forced Aperu would unite with the opponents of the Empire. Attempts to force midwives to kill male babies were futile: the Egyptians could hardly carry out the order to kill children exactly, since this would cause a rebellion and loss of labor, but for some time, apparently, they tried to carry it out. Wanting to save her son, one woman from the tribe of Levi laid him in the reeds near the bank of the Nile. The child was picked up by Pharaoh's daughter and given the name Moses. Jewish tradition connects this name with the word “to draw out.” However, it is more likely that the princess gave her adopted son the Egyptian name Mesu, which means son.
Similarities have been noticed between the story of Moses’ childhood and the tales of other ancient heroes: King Sargon of Akkad and Cyrus of Persia. But this in itself does not prove that the Exodus narrative is fictitious. Ramesses II was surrounded by many people of Semitic origin. In particular, one of his daughters was married to a Syrian named Bent-Anat. The daughter of one of Ramesses' many wives may have been of mixed descent and felt pity for the Israelite child.
There is a deep meaning in the story that Moses was taught “all the wisdom of Egypt.” Moreover, other Levites were closely associated with the Egyptians - their Egyptian names testify to this.
Also, according to Josephus, Moses was made a military leader and took part in a campaign against Ethiopia, and after the victory he married an Ethiopian princess. The reliability of this legend is not confirmed by anything, except for the mention of a certain “Ethiopian” as the wife of Moses.
4. Did the “10 Plagues of Egypt” actually happen?
The history of Egypt, documented in sufficient detail by numerous hieroglyphic texts, does not mention either the “plagues of Egypt” in the form as they are described in the Bible, or any other events that could be associated with these plagues. However, the absence of written evidence about the ten plagues of Egypt is often explained by the fact that, as stated in the papyrus of a certain Egyptian priest Ipuver, all the scribes of Egypt were killed, and their records were scattered to the wind. Some researchers believe that the events of the Egyptian plagues were so fresh in the memory of the Egyptians that they did not consider it necessary to write down their history and make public the humiliation of the Egyptian people and the Jews’ withdrawal from subordination to the pharaoh.
Many scientists have repeatedly made attempts to scientifically substantiate and explain the “10 Plagues of Egypt.” For example, the reddening of water is the well-known phenomenon of “red tides,” a bloom of Physteria algae that emits toxins and consumes oxygen, causing fish deaths and exodus of toads. In turn, dying toads and rotting fish cause the arrival of flies - carriers of infection, and this causes the death of livestock and ulcers. Thunder, lightning and hail of fire - hints at the volcanic theory.
Three days of darkness was a sandstorm that lasted not the usual 1-2 days, but 3 days. The cause of the prolonged storm could be the destruction of crops and flora by locusts (the winds were not restrained by leaves) or a possible volcanic eruption that caused climatic anomalies and a volcanic winter.
The death of the firstborns is explained by the toxins of the fungus Stachybotrys atra, which multiplied only in the upper layer of grain reserves, got there from water or locust excrement, and its fermentation into a very strong poison - mycotoxin. Contagion could have been the result of a combination of a number of cultural factors. According to Egyptian tradition, the eldest sons ate first in the family, receiving a double portion; Cattle also feed - the strongest, oldest animal makes its way to the feeder first. The firstborns were the first to be poisoned, receiving a double portion from the upper contaminated grain reserves. The Jews did not suffer from this execution, because they settled far from large Egyptian cities and had independent food supplies. In addition, they were shepherds, not farmers, and a significant proportion of their diet was not grain, like the Egyptians, but meat and milk.
It is clear that the Jews saw in this epidemic the revenge of the “destroyer” - the desert demon Azazel, who sent a pestilence that threatened people and livestock. The biblical account of Exodus establishes that the coming of the “destroyer” did not affect the Israelites, allowing them to leave the country. So the old holiday of sacrifices takes on a different meaning: it becomes, as it were, the birthday of the people of God. From now on, it will be celebrated in every family on the 14th of the spring month of Nisan.
5. How many Jews went on the campaign with Moses?
The Bible states: “And the Children of Israel departed from Rameses to Succoth, six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children. And a multitude of people of different nations went out with them... And the time in which the Children of Israel dwelt in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years.” If we take this number literally, then the total number of Israelites at the time of the exodus exceeded a million people. Meanwhile, according to historians, the population of all of Egypt barely numbered several million. Renowned biblical archaeologist Flinders Petrie noted that the Hebrew word "elef" (thousand) also means family or "dwellers of one tent." In this case, according to Petrie's calculations, there were about five thousand Israelis.
Also, rebels from other tribes joined the Israelites and joined their stream. Subsequently, these foreigners were called "gerim" (strangers), and the Mosaic Law protected their rights.
6. Did the Red Sea part?
The closest route to Canaan was the road that a hundred years later received the name Philistine. It led northeast along the Mediterranean Sea. But it was precisely along it that the troops of the Syrians and the “Sea Peoples” who rebelled against Egypt (among them the Philistines), who had recently invaded the Canaanite coast, were moving. Therefore, Moses led crowds of fugitives to the southeast, to the area of what is now the Suez Canal. On their way there was a body of water called in the Bible Yam Suf - “Sea of Reeds”. This is what the Egyptians called the chain of salt lakes that adjoined the Red Sea in the south (but in the Greek and Latin translations, Yam Suf is simply called the Red Sea).
7. Did the Jews wander in the desert for 40 years?
In the diplomatic archive of Pharaoh Akhenaten, letters were found from the kings and rulers of Canaan - proteges of Egypt, who complained about the hostile actions of the wandering clans of Jews who then lived in the desert. Thus, a certain Abdhiba, the ruler of Jerusalem, writes: “Let the royal archers come here. The king does not own the country: the Khabiri devastate the entire royal region. If the troops had arrived this year, the country would have remained with the king, but they are not there, and the land is lost... Let the king know: all the lands are perishing, there is enmity against me; the region of Gezer, Askelon and the city of Lachish gave them food, oil and everything they needed. This is the work of Milkiel and the sons of Labai, who betray the royal land to the Khabiri... Let the king know: I cannot send a caravan to the king... The king has imprinted his name on the land of Jerusalem forever, therefore let him not leave the land of Jerusalem.”
As for 40 years, it should be remembered that 40 is a special sacred number in Judaism, denoting the period of life of one generation or a rather long period, the duration of which cannot be accurately determined. Thus, the Flood lasted exactly forty days, the prophet Moses spent 40 days on Mount Sinai, where he received the Tablets of the Covenant. And even today in Christianity it is often the forty-day period that is measured: forty-day fasts, forty-day commemorations of the dead, forty-day penances, truces or any civil (public) services, and the like.
Therefore, all the miracles described in the Bible, especially in the Book of Exodus - from the parting of the sea to the pillar of fire showing the way - should be understood in the light of the hyperbolic language of biblical and generally eastern poetry, which is characterized by colorful exaggerations and visual images that capture the human imagination. And therefore, all biblical miracles are manifested very selectively - so that they do not encroach on human freedom and do not impose faith on him. Let us remember that it was precisely for this reason that the risen Christ did not appear to His enemies and offenders. And in general, when the Savior died on the cross, the whole world slept, ate, drank, not noticing anything special. And even when darkness fell on Jerusalem, many townspeople did not notice any cosmic events, but saw only an ordinary cloud with lightning and thunder.
For the same reason, for the Israeli people, the escape from slavery took place in an atmosphere of fabulous miracles and signs; it was an unforgettable event that marked the beginning of a new era. But the Egyptians did not notice anything except the mass escape of slaves.
Gentlemen, believers, Christians and Orthodox Christians who call themselves such! It seems that the time has come for us all to open our eyes and see the world in all its diversity with all the good and bad that is in it, and then squint our eyes, as Kozma Prutkov recommended, so that we can even see spots on the Sun, if there are any. .
Today, unfortunately, even sincere, honest preachers of Christianity do not always notice the line between truth and subtle lies, which the Jews - the eternal enemies of the human race - palm off on us in the Goebbelsian proportion - 90% truth and 10% lies. But the truth, diluted by 10% lies, is no longer true. This is a big lie!
I was convinced of this today by a well-known Orthodox figure - writer Konstantin Dushenov, who has recently been releasing educational videos on Orthodox topics.
In the third episode of the “Orthodox Questions” program, he and other experts aimed to convince modern youth interested in ancient Slavic “paganism” and pagan cults that Christianity is no longer a Jewish faith, but our Russian one. The words with which Konstantin Dushenov tried to explain this to his viewers and listeners caused me great regret. It turns out that the enemies of Christ were able to play the “biblical card” so subtly that they misled even such an authoritative and informed person.
Let's try to parse his speech here and analyze the information he gives us. Here's what he said, in particular:
K. Dushenov: "By the way, those Jews, which Moses brought to Palestine, were redheads And blue-eyed People! This must be clearly understood! They have little in common and little similarity with modern Jews! This is well known inbiblical studies !
Reference: Biblical studies is a scientific discipline that studies various aspects of biblical literature. As a separate discipline, it emerged during the Reformation to promote the Protestant idea of "Sola scriptura", and since then has traditionally been present as a separate department in most universities in the Western world.
Modern centers of biblical studies are Germany, Great Britain, Israel, the USA and the Scandinavian countries. Nowadays Spain occupies an increasingly important place in biblical studies. Dozens of periodicals in German, English, Hebrew, French and other languages are devoted to biblical studies. Every year dozens of new books devoted to biblical studies appear. All these new products are closely monitored by five important catalogues: Elenchus, IZBG, OTA (Old Testament Abstracts), NTA (New Testament Abstracts), TA (Theological Abstracts).
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K. Dushenov: “Only in some small historical area were the Jews the guardians of Divine truths. When the Lord and God, our Savior Jesus Christ, who came to earth in the form of a slave, an humble man, was these Jews who perverted the knowledge given to them by God, he was crucified by them , then the cup of the crimes of the Jews overflowed and the Lord God rejected the Jewish people. Both the new Israel and the new custodian of Divine grace were chosen as the new people of God - Christians. There are Christians all over the world. And yet, for two millennia, the Lord God was pleased to trust storage of these Christian shrines primarily to one or another people. There was an empire of the First Rome, which kept these Christian shrines for some time. Then, when the First Rome fell into heresy, this ministry was transferred to Byzantium - the Second Rome, whose sovereign people were the Greeks. But when and they were unable to hold on to these shrines, the Second Rome fell, continuity, this ministry of the “God-bearing people” was, by the unthinkable providence of God, granted to the Russian people. And Moscow - there is a Third Rome, of the last times! What does it mean? This means that the Lord God has given us all the ministry to be the precious ark of these Truths, to preserve, protect them, to cover these truths with ourselves. We, Russians, are destined to preserve the shrines of Orthodoxy until the terrible times of the Antichrist, and until the Second Great, Glorious Coming of Christ."
Regarding this speech by Konstantin Dushenov, I, Anton Blagin, I will say the following: in general, globally, the message itself is correct, but in particulars, in details (where the devil hides), everything said is distorted by the lies that the Jews palm off on us. As a result, we have a dangerous confusion mixed with honest misconceptions.
The first thing that surprises in Dushenov’s speech is his statement: "Jews, which Moses brought to Palestine, were redheads And blue-eyed People! This is well known inbiblical studies ! They have little in common and little similarity with modern Jews!”
If it is well known in biblical studies that people "whom Moses brought into Palestine were red-haired And blue-eyed" then these were not Jews, but arias- ancestors of all Slavic tribes, Russov, ancestors of the white race!
Let's study the true history of Rus', written by the true guardians of Russian history.
Eduard Shure, 1913, quote from the book "Great Initiates": “If the black race matured under the scorching sun of Africa, the white race flourished under the icy blast of the North Pole. Greek mythology calls whites Hyperboreans. Theseredheads, blue-eyed people came from the north through forests illuminated by the northern lights, accompanied by dogs and deer, led by brave leaders, urged by the gift of clairvoyance of their women. Gold hair And azure eyes— predetermined colors. This race was destined to create solar cult sacred fire and bring into the world longing for the heavenly Motherland..."
Well, who was originally the keeper of Divine truths?
Jews or Aryans?
Judging by the characteristic external signs, These were arias, ancestors of all Slavic tribes, Rus, ancestors white race!
Majority modern people thinks that Palestine as a settlement was founded by Jews. Like, it was not without reason that when in the twentieth century the British government was faced with the question of where to establish a Jewish state, the choice fell on Palestine, which Jews consider their “historical homeland.”
This answer is not correct. Palestine was founded by the ancestors of the Russians and Slavs - the Aryans! And all Jews know this, but they “modestly” suppress this information. The truth is not everything and not always. During times Russian Empire some Jews holding high government positions under the Russian tsars wrote about this. And here is evidence of this. Read a short text from a book published in the Russian Empire almost 150 years ago.
This is a scan from a book "On the language of the Jews who lived in ancient times in Rus' and on Slavic words found among Jewish writers"(St. Petersburg, 1866).
The author of this text is Abraham Yakovlevich Garkavi, Russian orientalist and Hebraist, actual state councilor of the Russian Empire. Author of articles in the Jewish Encyclopedia and the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary. Awarded the hereditary title of nobility of the Russian Empire (1901). He was a member of the board of the St. Petersburg Jewish community, a member of the economic committee, and gabai of the Great Choral Synagogue of St. Petersburg.
We can say that this is our, Russian, correct Jew.
So, Abraham Yakovlevich Garkavi explained to us the following:
1. in the past Palestine (in Hebrew - Canaan) was inhabited by the ancestors of the Slavs. (Red-haired and blue-eyed - according to biblical studies). 2. In Jewish medieval writing, the Slavic language is called the Canaanite language, and the Slavs themselves are called Canaanites.
So WHAT people were originally the custodians of Divine shrines? And what should we understand by these Shrines?
Knowledge? Which?
I should note that modern Jews today they tell everyone that "Moses brought their ancestors out of Ancient Egypt", in which they say, for some time "were in slavery."
This is ancient geometry textbook, found in Thebes, the largest city of Ancient Egypt. Almost 4 thousand years ago, it was copied by a scribe named Ahmes onto a papyrus scroll 32 cm high and 199.5 cm wide from an even more ancient source. This papyrus was discovered in 1858 and is often called the Rhinda papyrus after its first owner. In 1887, this papyrus was deciphered, translated and published by G. Robinson and K. Shute (London, The British Museum Press, 1987). Most of this ancient manuscript is now in the British Museum in London, and the second part is in New York.
This is one of the pages of the Ahmes papyrus, two meters long. Historians date the time of writing this "manuals of arithmetic and geometry" to the period of the XII dynasty of the Middle Kingdom (1985 - 1795 BC).
As you can see, at a time when many peoples of the planet had only a spoken language, and writing was just in its infancy, exact sciences already existed in Ancient Egypt! Ancient Egypt gained particular fame thanks to the city of Alexandria, which had a large scientific library. It is known that it was founded at the beginning of the 3rd century BC during the reign of King Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt. This library was the largest in the ancient world and was more of an academy than an ordinary collection of books! According to ancient authors, the Library of Alexandria contained from 400 to 700 thousand (!) papyrus scrolls!
Even if these figures are greatly inflated by the chroniclers, this does not detract from the fact itself - Ancient Egypt was the center of world scientific thought. Another important detail is curious - in Ancient Egypt there were three types of writing - hieroglyphic, vernacular (demotic) and cursive script!
Unfortunately, almost all ancient manuscripts were destroyed by vandals. Only rare evidence of the once former power of the ancient human genius has survived to this day...
Think about it! Comprehend what you read!
Mathematics, geometry and perfect writing - aren’t these Divine shrines owned by ancient scientists, for whom Ancient Egypt was the center of world science? And if we add to this the secret knowledge possessed by the people who built the majestic pyramids in Ancient Egypt?
In those distant times, for the sages there was no mystery to the question that worries most people today - WHO created life on Earth?
The sages who lived in Ancient Egypt were literally convinced that the life-giving and creative force of the Universe is the invisible, omnipresent, all-pervading spirit , which is in the body of every living person and which is in every subject of nature, even in stone!
The knowledge that some stones can be concentrators of the energy of the Divine spirit was first discovered by the golden-haired and blue-eyed Aryans, when they still lived in their historical homeland - in the Far North. Such stones, concentrators of sacred energy, are still found in the Arctic. Local residents call them Seids.
Stone-Seyd.
It was the sacred Seids and the secret knowledge about the ability of stones to concentrate Divine energy in themselves that pushed the ancient sages (priests, brahmans) to build majestic stone structures - pyramids - everywhere on the planet (in Egypt, China... and even France).
For what purpose? Today this is hushed up in every possible way. Although modern scientists know very well that the word “pyramid” itself means “fire in the middle.” Piro - translated from ancient Greek. πῦρ — fire, root mid - in most languages of the world means average, middle. Consequently, the pyramids were built to create powerful sources of Sacred energy in various places on the earth.
For what purpose is another question.
Photo from Google. An ancient pyramid covered with earth.
So, the Jews were definitely not the keepers of Divine knowledge about Nature, about its secret powers!
The Jews themselves claim that in Ancient Egypt they were slaves! Consequently, by definition, they could not teach enlightened peoples mathematics, geometry, cursive writing, the secrets of the Holy Spirit, and other esoteric knowledge.
So who and what could the Jewish slaves teach?!
Let's now take a look for comparison in Jewish scripture, in order to understand how great the difference was between the true guardians of the Divine shrines - the Aryans and the Jews, who consider themselves “God’s chosen people.”
Look at this scroll, very similar to an ancient Egyptian geometry textbook. This is the sacred book of the Jewish people - the Torah, about which the Jews say: “The Torah is the law and, at the same time, it is the guide to life received by Moses on Mount Sinai from the hands of God himself.” You could say this Constitution so-called Jewish people.
Here is the explanation of a modern preacher of Judaism who popularly explains to Jews what the Torah is.
“What is the Torah? The written Torah (Torah shebikhtav) is the Pentateuch of Moshe [Moses]. Every synagogue keeps Torah scrolls - exact copies of the first scroll Moshe received on Mount Sinai. In a sense, the Written Torah is the constitution of the Jewish people, but proclaimed not by people, but by G-d.
Oral Torah (Torah shebealpe), “which Moshe received at Sinai and passed on to Yehoshua (read: Yehoshua), Yehoshua to the elders, the elders to the prophets, and the prophets to the men of the Great Assembly...” (Avot. 1:1 ), - explains Written. It contains “general rules according to which the sages can find correct solutions to constantly arising questions, based on what is said in the scripture briefly and hintingly” (Rebbe Joseph Albo). For example, the Torah prohibits working on the Sabbath. But what is work in relation to the Sabbath? Except for a few references to activities such as gathering wood, lighting a fire, and cooking, the Written Torah does not go into detail.
The answer is found in the Oral Torah. The book of Devarim (12:21) says: “...Slaughter (animals) from your herds and flocks...as I commanded you...” But in the entire Pentateuch there are no instructions on how this should be done. The Written Torah commands: “...And tie them (tefillin) as a sign on your hand, and they will be signs over your eyes...” (Shemot. 13:16). But Scripture does not explain how and from what tefillin should be made.
The written Torah prescribes the death penalty for certain crimes. What legal rules and procedures must be followed before imposing a death sentence, and what are the limitations?
The Oral Torah answers all these questions. Eventually the Oral Torah was written down. First the Mishna was written down, then the Gmarah, the purpose of which was to provide an in-depth commentary on the Mishna. The Mishnah and Gemara together make up the Talmud.
The Written and Oral Torah provide guidance for life. Although the Torah is addressed primarily to the Jewish people, it contains instructions for all humanity. It examines every aspect of human existence.
The rules governing the ritual side of religion constitute only part of the entire complex of commandments. The laws of the Torah cover the entire spectrum of individual and social behavior. She makes her judgment on such aspects of human life that in other religions are usually considered to be related to the sphere of ethics and morality or fall under articles of civil and criminal codes. Even in those parts of the Torah that are not directly related to law and justice, spiritual ideals are constantly proclaimed and the subtleties of ethical and moral standards are explained.
The Torah (in a broad sense) also includes the books of the Prophets (Neviim) and the writings (Ketuvim). They contain the teachings of the Prophets and the chronicle of the history of the peoples of Israel over a period of seven centuries. They tell about the Divine revelation that the Prophets received, about their continuous struggle for the true faith against numerous false prophets * (which, for example, according to the Levites, were Isaiah and Jesus Christ - commentary by A.B.), who tried to convince the Jewish people to stray from the path indicated by the Almighty.
The inspired Psalms included in these books reflect the deepest religious experiences of man.”
The five books of the Torah and the nineteen books of Neviim and Ketuvim are collectively called Tanakh (an abbreviation of the words Torah, Neviim, Ketuvim).
However, the study of the Torah is not limited to studying only the Holy Scriptures and the Talmud, but also includes familiarity with the entire heritage of the sages and rabbis accumulated over the centuries. Of course, the Torah itself provides that authoritative Jewish scholars will extract from it new and new grains of wisdom, develop and increase our heritage: “And do according to the word that they tell you... And do everything exactly as they tell you. .. according to the law that they will teach you, and according to the judgment that they will pronounce, do it...” (Deuteronomy 17:10,11). The Torah is the embodiment of the Jewish faith. It contains the conditions of union with the Almighty. It makes a Jew a Jew." (Chaim Donin, “Being a Jew”).
What the God-Given Torah teaches Jews, we we can learn from the Bible
In this “textbook for Christians,” its compilers considered it necessary to include a large fragment of the Jewish Torah, about which Rabbi Chaim Donin says that "The written Torah (Torah shebikhtav) is the Pentateuch of Moshe".
What else useful carried out of the land of Egypt by the Jews, except silver And gold?
“36 And the Lord struck down all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their strength.
37 And brought out Israelites with silver and gold and there was no pain in their knees."(Psalm 104).
When, after the Exodus from Ancient Egypt, the sages of the Jewish people created for the Jews religion, they included in it that sacred knowledge that they somehow adopted from the ancient Egyptian sages who built the pyramids. Or maybe they didn’t adopt them, but just stolen some ideas , which were then distorted in a monstrous way!
If the sages of Ancient Egypt had an idea of God, creating life, as spirit , which can concentrate its energy inside the Seids and pyramids, then the Jewish ( Sinai) the sages gave the Jews a completely absurd idea about God the Lord, depicting him as some very evil force! At the same time, they explained to the Jews that with this Lord God it is possible reach an agreement, if you appease him (make gesheft).
Here is the description of the God of the Jews as found in the Jewish Torah: “God is jealous, punishing the children for the iniquity of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.” (Deut. 5:9).
If the sages of Ancient Egypt had an idea of God as spirit , creating life with the help invisible "fiery energy", then from the sages of Sinai regular fire became a manifestation God's evil power, his in spirit , like the breath of a fairy tale fire-breathing dragon.
Since the religion created by the sages of Sinai for the Jews was based on the principle "you - to us, we - to you", then its most important component was the ritual of making a sacrifice to God. Moreover, sacrifices were certainly required burn with fire!
This pleases God! - the sages of Sinai said to the Jews. The food of the fire is a sacrifice to the Lord. The smell of burnt meat — it is a fragrance to God!
I can illustrate what has been said with excerpts from that part of the Torah that was included in the Bible.
I quote the Bible, Leviticus, chapter 9:
The fire became for the Jews, including important means of punishment fellow tribesmen who violated one or another religious law. It turned out that it was like The Lord God himself punishes them.
Here are two examples from the same Jewish teaching: “If anyone takes for himself a wife and her mother, this is iniquity; the fire must burn him and them so that there is no iniquity among you"(Bible. Lev. 20:14). “If a priest’s daughter defiles herself with fornication, she dishonors her father; fire must burn it" (Bible. Lev. 21:9).
I believe that now many will be greatly surprised when they learn that such a ritual sacrifice or such punishment of Jews for sins has been called the HOLOCAUST since ancient times (from the English holocaust, from the ancient Greek ὁλοκαύστος - “burnt offering”).
Let's sum it up.
The first thing we learned was Jews have never been the custodians of Divine shrines.
The second thing we learned directly from the Jewish Torah is during the construction of the pyramids in ancient Egypt THE JEWS were nothing more than TRIBE OF SAVAGES who have the intelligence of monkeys parodied actions of highly educated people and considered bonfire fire manifestation of the power of a certain Lord God, whom they considered “jealous and avenger”, “for the guilt of the fathers, punishing the children to the third and fourth generation” (Deut. 5:9).
Let us now consider two interrelated historical moments: "God-given commandments, decrees and laws" which the Jews received along with "God-given Torah"(this is the first historical moment) and Baptism of Kievan Rus by Jews in 988(this is the second historical moment that is presented by a number of historians as the greatest virtue).
Below is an extract from the Old Testament, which illustrates in all its glory what the Jewish Torah was and still is.
And to illustrate how it was carried out The baptism of Rus' by Jews, I will quote a book by a modern historian, which contains a significant amount of truth.
“Before baptism, people in Rus' were educated, almost everyone knew how to read, write, and count. Let us recall from the school history curriculum, at least, the same “Birch Bark Letters” - letters that peasants wrote to each other on birch bark from one village to another. Our ancestors had Vedic worldview and it wasn't religion, since the essence of any religion comes down to the blind acceptance of any dogmas and rules, without a deep understanding of why it is necessary to do it this way and not otherwise.
The Vedic worldview gave people precisely an understanding of the real laws of nature, an understanding of how the world works, what is good and what is bad. People saw what happened after the “baptism” in neighboring countries, when, under the influence of religion, a successful, highly developed country with an educated population, in a matter of years, plunged into ignorance and chaos, where only representatives of the aristocracy could read and write, and not all of them...
Everyone understood perfectly well what the “Greek Religion” carried, into which Prince Vladimir the Bloody and those who stood behind him were going to baptize Kievan Rus. Therefore, none of the residents of the then Principality of Kyiv (a province that broke away from Great Tartary) accepted this religion. But Vladimir had great forces behind him, and they were not going to retreat.
In the process of “baptism” over 12 years of forced Christianization, almost the entire adult population of Kievan Rus was destroyed, with rare exceptions. Because such a “teaching” could be imposed only on unreasonable children who, due to their youth, could not yet understand that such a religion turned them into slaves in both the physical and spiritual sense of the word.
Everyone who refused to accept the new “faith” was killed. This is confirmed by the facts that have reached us. If before the “baptism” there were 300 cities and 12 million inhabitants on the territory of Kievan Rus, then after the “baptism” only 30 cities and 3 million people remained! 270 cities were destroyed! 9 million people were killed! (Diy Vladimir, “Orthodox Rus' before the adoption of Christianity and after”).
But despite the fact that almost the entire adult population of Kievan Rus was destroyed by the “holy” baptists, the Vedic tradition did not disappear. On the lands of Kievan Rus the so-called DUAL FAITH. Most of the population purely formally recognized the imposed slave religion, and she continued to live according to Vedic tradition, though without showing it off. And this phenomenon was observed not only among the masses, but also among part of the ruling elite. And this state of affairs continued until the reform of Patriarch Nikon, who figured out how to deceive everyone... (N.V. Levashov "Russia in distorting mirrors", Volume 2.).
In this case, one could not trust Nikolai Levashov as a historian, but it doesn’t work! His words are confirmed in other sources, including in my article "Rus was baptized in the 17th century!" , where I talked about how Patriarch Nikon, together with Tsar Peter the Great, came up with how to on a large scale deceive the Russian people and finally destroy them in Rus' DUAL FAITH and Russian VEDIC tradition.
I would like to draw the reader's attention to some conclusions regarding DUAL FAITH in Rus' which I do in another article of mine
Briefly and succinctly the essence of DOUBLE BELIEF in Rus', which existed after its Baptism by the Jews, is well explained these three images.
First picture: blue sky with stars , which in the mythology of the Aryan-Slavs was called Mother of God.
Second picture: this is how everything existing in Russia has looked like since ancient times Temples of the Virgin Mary . Looking at domes Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary, painted so that they represent blue sky with stars, we understand that "The Vedic tradition has not disappeared" to this day!
The third picture shows the so-called Jewish Mother of God- the Virgin Mary. As you understand, her image has nothing to do with the architecture and coloring of the domes of the Temples of the Virgin Mary. Thus, even now we see traces (artifacts) DUAL FAITH, which arose in Rus' after baptism her Jews.
Well, so that the above information enters everyone’s consciousness as true information, here's a reference for you:
In Jewish theological books, pagan peoples, the Slavs in the first place, are called Akumami. This word is an abbreviation of the initial letters of three words: “Avde Kochavim Umazalot”, which translated from Hebrew means: "fans of stars and planets" . (Encyclopedic Dictionary of F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron). This is what we see in the example of the Orthodox Church. Our Lady of Heaven .
Another important evidence DUAL FAITH in Rus' - temples Holy Spirit, which are easy to recognize by their domes Green colour. Why green? I can assume that such an association arose among the clergy due to the fact that Gold leaf , which was widely used by them for decorative purposes, gave just green color to light. In other words, if you look at the Sun through the thinnest sheet of gold, rolled out to a thickness of several microns, then firstly, you will see that it, like paper, transmits light, and secondly, that it green light. Obviously, it was for this reason that the tradition arose of painting the roofs and domes of the temples of the Holy Spirit in green color.
The photo was taken in 1912 by photographer S.M. Prokudin-Gorsky in the city of Tobolsk.
Now look at the entrance to the temple and the images above the entrance. What do we see there? Right above the doors is some kind of painting on a biblical theme, and above that is an image of the very Holy Spirit, for whose glory this temple was erected. What do we see there?
We see the image Sun emitting rays, and profile pyramids- a structure that in ancient times was used by priests as a concentrator of the Holy Spirit.
Let's now discuss another extremely important issue: "What nationality was Jesus Christ?"
I outlined my thoughts on this topic in the article and I offer them to your judgment.
Please note that in America and Europe, enlightened people back in the 18th century knew the following:
After this REVELATIONS The tongue is already hesitant to talk about any “nationality” of the Messiah!
In connection with all this, I want to once again quote the words of the Russian patriot, famous Orthodox figure, writer Konstantin Dushenov: “We, Russians, are destined to preserve the shrines of Orthodoxy until the terrible times of the Antichrist, and until the Second Great, Glorious Coming of Christ.”
I have a question for all believers and for Konstantin Yuryevich Dushenov: which “shrines of Orthodoxy” should we preserve? "until the terrible times of the Antichrist"?
The Antichrist has long come to Holy Rus'! And his deeds are already clearly visible even to the naked eye.
Moreover. Some representative armies of the Antichrist even claim that we, Russians, are on their ancestral territory !!! Andrei Kadykchansky, disguised as a Russian patriot, gave a good rebuke to the Jew Solovyov about this:
(Read the full text, you won’t regret it!).
For my part, I also do not call for pogroms!
And so that people finally stop believing Jewish Jews, I write my articles and books.
How Jewish Jews natural sciences, I tried to tell in the collection “Physics textbooks will now have to be rewritten!” (PDF download).
How Jewish Jews brazenly deceived millions of people in the region religion, I spoke in a number of articles, from which I can highlight one special one: "How does a Jewish star differ from a Russian one?" .
How Jewish Jews brazenly deceived millions of people in the region stories, I spoke in a number of articles, of which I can highlight one: .
What can we even talk about if Jews, both believers and non-believers, annually celebrate theirmilitary victory over the Greeks and Slavswhich they call"HANUKKAH" ?
Lighting of the Hanukkah menorah by the Chief Rabbi of Russia in front of the Kremlin walls.
So if terrible times of the Antichrist have already arrived, then what we wait us now?
"The second great and glorious coming of Christ"?
Do you think Christ will come and do for you all what you all must do together?
This will not happen! God gives people great knowledge, He can open or, on the contrary, close the eyes of people, but He will never do for people what they themselves are obliged to do!
Have you noticed that people from other nations also came out of Egypt along with the Jews?
37 And the children of Israel departed from Rameses to Succoth, six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children;
38 And many people of all kinds went out with them, both flocks and herds, a very large herd.
Ref. 12:37-38
Counts, that the foreigners included the “God-fearing” Egyptians (Exodus 9.20), as well as Semites related to the Jews, who, according to scientists, had long lived on the eastern border of Egypt.
Famous cartoon "Prince of Egypt"(The Prince of Egypt) 1998 generally does not pretend to be a detailed and reliable representation of the history of the exodus of the Jews from Egypt. However, it contains a reference to the above-mentioned fact. First we are shown two Egyptian guards throwing down their spears and leaving their posts. Later you can see them among the Israelis leaving Egypt.
Remember this moment when the Egyptians chased the people of Israel right through the bottom of the Red Sea:
24. And in the morning watch the Lord looked upon the host of the Egyptians from a pillar of fire and cloud, and threw the host of the Egyptians into confusion; (Ex. 14:24)
During the morning watch (according to our reckoning, from 2 to 6 a.m.), something happened that threw the warlike Egyptians into confusion.
Divine action denoted by the word “looked up”, is conveyed in the Hebrew text by the verb “vayashkev” from “shakav” - literally: “bent down to look.” The resulting confusion of the Egyptians gives the right to think that the “view” was reflected in something visible. And indeed, Ps. 76:17-19, understands it in the sense of a fierce, thunderous storm that broke out over the Egyptians.
17 The waters saw You, O God; the waters saw You and were afraid, and the deeps trembled.
18 The clouds poured out water, the clouds made thunder, and Your arrows flew.
19 The voice of Your thunder in the circle of heaven; lightning illuminated the universe; the earth shook and shook.
20 Thy way is in the sea, and Thy path is in the great waters, and Thy footsteps are unknown.
21 You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. (Ps. 76:17-21)
Some More Bible Facts
But when Pharaoh sent the people away, God did not lead them along the road of the land of the Philistines, because it was close; for God said: lest the people repent when they see the war, and return to Egypt.
Exodus 13:17.
Why didn't God lead His people through the lands of the Philistines? After all, this is actually the shortest route to Canaan from Egypt.
The Philistines were not only a warlike people, but also possessed advanced technologies for their time. In the Middle East, only the Philistines and Hittites had the technology to smelt steel.
They were armed with iron weapons and iron chariots. But worst of all, the Philistines at that time were on friendly terms with the Egyptians.
Weakened long-term slavery , the Jews could not withstand the collision with them; they could prefer the severity of Egyptian slavery to the horrors of war and return to Egypt. Therefore, the Lord did not lead them to the land of Canaan, in a northeast direction, through the borders of the Philistine country.
The tribe that first attacked Israel.
8 And the Amalekites came and fought against the Israelites in Rephidim.
Ref. 17:8
The Amalekites, according to, are descendants of Esau through his son Eliphaz (Gen. 36:12). This nomadic people, living by robbery, occupied the space between Idumea and Sinai.
During the exodus from Egypt The Amalekites were the first people to attack Israel, which had barely left Egypt. Judging by the testimony of Deut. 25:18, they did not attack the main forces and masses of the people, but the last ranks, tired on the road and therefore lagging behind.
17 Remember what Amalek did to you on the way when you came out of Egypt:
18 How he met you on the way, and slew behind you all those who were weak, when you were tired and weary, and he did not fear God;
19 Therefore, when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your enemies on all sides, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; Do not forget.
Deut. 25:17-19
Israel, as the holiness of the Lord, is inviolable; disaster overtakes all who offend him (Jer. 2:3). This general rule also applies to the Amalekites (1 Sam. 15:2,3).
Interesting fact
Imagine that you are a shepherd. The desert is the last place you will lead your flock. Why did Moses lead his sheep through the desert?
Moses tended the sheep of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. One day he led his flock far into the desert and came to the mountain of God, Horeb.
Ref. 3:1
Named Horeb also refers to the entire mountain range (Exodus 17:6) in which Sinai lay, which is why these two names are used interchangeably (compare Exodus 3:1 with Acts 7:30). Since Horeb is part of the mountains of the Sinai Peninsula, the desert into which Moses went deep apparently refers to the desert of the Sinai Peninsula (see Acts 7:30).
The reason why Moses moved in this direction was the pastures at Horeb, which were abundant in food and watering places, sufficient for small livestock.
How many Israelites were involved in the Exodus?
In the biblical text a specific number is indicated: “And the children of Israel went from Rameses to Succoth, six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children; And many people of all kinds went out with them, both flocks and herds, a very large herd” (Ex. 12:37,38).
At the time of the Exodus, the Egyptians numbered between 1.5 and 5 million people (41). The Jews were not part of Egyptian society; they lived separately from the Egyptians, like slaves.
Specified figure allows you to calculate how many people in total completed the Exodus from Egypt. So, we have the number of men - 600 thousand. If we assume that there was one woman for every man, then this figure should be doubled. Average life expectancy is 75 years. Let's assume that men were considered to be males who had reached the age of 20, and that the Israelites had an even distribution of age groups.
A simple calculation allows us to add approximately another 320 thousand people. The amount received exceeds 1.5 million people. To this figure should be added the number of those whom the Bible calls “people of various nations.” Let us assume that there were one such people for each Jewish family, which on average consisted of ten people. Summing up the received 150 thousand (most likely a very underestimated figure) and 1.52 million Israelis themselves, we end up with about 1.7 million people.
In support of the assumption That there were really a lot of Israelis is evidenced by the fact that Egypt, a superpower of that era, mobilized all its military power (about 250 thousand soldiers) to organize the pursuit of the Israeli people. This suggests that the Egyptians were not persecuting a handful of refugees, but an entire people.
Pharaoh with whom Moses Amenhotep II negotiated for him to release the people from Egypt. (1454-1418). History shows that under this pharaoh there was a significant weakening of Egypt. If you do not take into account biblical history, then the very fact of weakening looks more than strange. History also does not tell us about any significant military expansions directed against Egypt.
Even more incomprehensible is the autumn campaign of Amenhotep II. It is worth noting that kings usually went on campaign in the spring. Here is some information about that trip.
The tradition of Egyptian military conquest continued with Amenhotep I I, who in the main Asian campaign crossed the Orontes River and besieged the Syrian cities of that region. A stele from the Temple of Amada in Nubia records the sacrifice of seven Syrian rulers at Thebes. Six were hanged upside down on the walls of Thebes, and the body of the seventh was likewise put on public display in the city of Napata, a great city deep in the Sudan, downstream from the fourth cataract, where 71,000 captives were taken.
Worth paying attention also to the fact that Amenhotep suddenly captured so many future slaves. In none of the previous campaigns, neither Amenhotep II himself nor his father Thutmose III ever brought such a number of captives. This can only be explained by the fact that the pharaoh had lost before and did not have many slaves planned. This explains the haste and, most likely, unplanned nature of the autumn campaign itself, as well as the large number of prisoners.
There is another reason that makes us think that it was Hatshepsut who was the adoptive mother of Moses. After the death of Hatshepsut, the Egyptians showed an incomprehensible hatred towards her, if you do not take into account the story of Moses. Her name and images were carefully erased from all possible monuments.
If she was truly the Egyptian mother of Moses, then this defamation perfectly explains the reason for such an attitude of the Egyptians towards Hatshepsut. The Egyptians have every reason to consider Moses the greatest destroyer of their empire in the entire history of Egypt. But we will talk about this below.
In three months While crossing the desert, the Israelites reached Mount Sinai (Ex. 19:11). The mountain was also where a covenant was made between God and the Israelites. For a year, the Israelites lived at Mount Sinai (Num. 1:1). During this period, a census was taken, according to which there were 603,550 men capable of fighting among the Israelites (Num. 1:46).
Interesting Facts. Exodus of the Jews from Egypt.
- This is the holiday of all the Old Testament righteous people who were honored to become ancestors in the flesh of Jesus Christ. On this day we also remember the prophets who predicted the birth of the Messiah. And the first among them is the holy prophet Moses, the Seer of God, about whom it is said that “there was no more prophet in Israel like Moses” (Deut. 34:10).
It has long been a stumbling block for many scientific minds. Either archeology presents few facts, then rivers flow in the wrong places, or the sea behaves inappropriately - in a word, it is difficult to create a clear scientific picture of what happened. A church person may not need to carefully check the varied facts of church history if we believe that the Holy Spirit guided the writers of the Bible. And the holy Apostle Paul calls us not to go into the documentation of the presentation, but to benefit from what is written: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16). Indeed, if we believe that Christ the Savior rose from the dead, is it difficult for us to believe that the Lord parted the waters of the Red (Red) Sea for the Jews? And if you don’t believe in biblical events, then how can you call yourself a Christian?
However, it is also useful for us, who unconditionally accept the truth of the Pentateuch of Moses, to carefully read the biblical text, ask ourselves questions, learn from the examples of the saints - in a word, engage in what is called “contemplation.” And we ask questions not as idle onlookers who want to mock something sacred, but for the purpose of edification, and this is good and commendable.
There are a lot of questions for readers of the Pentateuch. For example, why did he lead the Jews not by a short route to the land of Canaan, but by a circuitous one? The short route along the Mediterranean coast takes less than 300 kilometers, and compared to twice the route that Moses took through the arid desert, it may seem like a cakewalk. On the one hand, we read: “When Pharaoh sent the people away, God did not lead [them] along the road of the land of the Philistines, because it was close; for God said, Lest the people repent when they see the war, and return to Egypt” (Ex. 13:17). On the other hand, what is impossible for God Almighty? He could have driven the Philistines so far that the Jews would not have seen a single one of them all the way to Canaan. But again: He could have won the heart of Pharaoh so that the Egyptian ruler would release God’s chosen people without any executions.
The Jews had to learn the most important thing: to trust their lives to God
Of course he could! But since he didn’t do it in the simplest way, it was only because from a moral point of view it would be useless. The Jews had to see at what price they were “bought,” to see the greatness of the Lord of Hosts and the insignificance of the Egyptian “gods.” They had to learn the most important thing: to trust their lives to God, to trust in Him. But, as we see, the Egyptian plagues taught them little. Just as the Jews had already grumbled in Egypt, their grumbling against God and Moses did not stop all the way. This is why the roundabout path was chosen - for a lesson in humility. This is how Moses said this to the people of Israel before his death: “Remember all the way that the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness for these forty years, to humble you, to test you and to find out what is in your heart, whether you will keep His commandments or not; He humbled you, made you hungry and fed you with manna, which you did not know, and your fathers did not know, in order to show you that man does not live by bread alone, but by every [word] that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord” (Deut. 8: 2-3).
It must be said that the Israeli people with enviable persistence failed every new exam, turning out to be ungrateful and lacking in faith. We see these murmuring blasphemies throughout the forty years of the Israelites' pilgrimage. This murmuring was the reason that the Lord Five times wanted fully destroy the rebellious people and produce a new one from Moses, but the prophet in prayer propitiated God to forgive the Jews. The Lord changed his decision, but even despite this, the Pentateuch describes several cases when defeat began in the Jewish camp and only stopped through the prayer of the God-Seer.
Who was this great intercessor for the people, who could change God’s decision? On many icons we see in front of us a formidable and stern old man, whitened with gray hair. Was he like that? He was about 80 years old when the Lord called him to free God's people from slavery in Egypt. God called to Moses from the burning bush and commanded him to return to Egypt. But Moses refused several times, first making the excuse that no one would believe that the Lord had sent him. When God immediately performed several miracles to demonstrate his power, Moses hesitantly pointed out his tongue-tiedness: “Oh, Lord! I’m not a talkative person.” But the Lord powerfully reminded him: “Who gave man a mouth? who makes one dumb, or deaf, or sighted, or blind? Am I not the Lord? therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what to say.” Then Moses timidly asked: “Lord! send another whom you can send” (Exodus 4:10-13) - for the work to which God called him was great and terrible. After these words, as the Bible says, the wrath of God kindled against Moses, and the Lord appointed his brother Aaron as his assistant.
In this place, Moses appears to us as a soft, indecisive man. But the Lord saw his inner courage and willpower, capable of bearing the cross of ruling a huge people. In addition, Moses was filled with ardent faith and the same prayer. The power of his prayer is evidenced by an incident while crossing the sea. When Pharaoh and his army began to catch up with the Jews and press them to the coast, the people began their usual business - they began to grumble. Moses calmed the people and began to pray internally. “Why are you crying out to Me?” (Ex. 14:15) - the Lord answered his prayer and commanded what to do next. God equated his silent prayer to a cry in terms of the power of spiritual tension!
Only such a fiery man of prayer could withstand the presence of God for 40 days on Mount Sinai with the sound of thunder and the flash of lightning. And while the other Israelites out of fear said to Moses: “Speak to us, and we will listen, but let not God speak to us, lest we die” (Ex. 20:19), Moses himself boldly turns to To the Creator: “Show me Your glory” (Ex. 33:18). So bold is the one who has already tasted Divine grace, and is filled with an insatiable desire to taste it again and again.
Such a fiery spirit also changes the flesh. Moses' face showed the radiance of Divine glory. Therefore, after the Epiphany to him on Mount Sinai, Moses put a veil over his face every time he went out to the people, and took it off when he entered the tabernacle. It would seem that such a perfect leader, through whom he speaks God's will, must enjoy unquestioned authority. But not among the Israelis! Many times the Jews grumbled against Moses, and once even attempted to challenge his right to rule. Aaron and Miriam - Moses' brother and sister - began to reproach him for not marrying an Israelite. They reproach him, although there is nothing to reproach him for - after all, they remember the wife that Moses had before the start of his public ministry. As Blessed Theodoret of Cyrrhus writes, Moses had one wife, Zipporah, and even let her go when God called him to liberate the people of Israel.
“Did the Lord speak to Moses alone? didn’t He tell us too?” (Num. 12:2) - say Aaron and Miriam, implying their spiritual equality with him. And this is what they dare to say to a person who covers his face for the sake of the unearthly radiance that overshadows him!
“Moses was the meekest man of all the people on earth” (Num. 12:3).
The word "meekest" appears here only once in the Bible
Here the writer of everyday life gives us another interesting characteristic of Moses: “Moses was the meekest man of all the people on earth” (Num. 12:3). The word “meekest” appears here only once in the Bible. Meekest Moses... Somehow this even sounds strange and does not fit with the image of the prophet, who in anger broke the tablets of the covenant at Mount Sinai, and with the image of the commander, with a sword in his hands, leading the Israeli regiments against the enemy. However, this stern prophet and commander responded to these envious accusations meekly is silent, becoming a prototype of the Savior who is silent during interrogation. When it came to the glory of God, Moses always showed himself to be a zealous servant of the Lord, not knowing fear or fatigue, but when it came to his own person, he preferred dishonor. This is how it was during the bush, and this is how Moses behaved now.
But the Lord himself stood up for his chosen one: “Listen to my words: if there is a prophet of the Lord among you, then I reveal myself to him in a vision, I speak to him in a dream; but not so with my servant Moses; he is faithful in all things at Mine: mouth to mouth I speak to him, and clearly, and not in fortune-telling, and he sees the image of the Lord; Why were you not afraid to rebuke My servant Moses?” (Num. 12:6-8) And the murmurers were punished for their insolence.
But Moses was also made of flesh and blood and could have stumbled. And perhaps it is precisely through mistakes that the image of the prophet Moses becomes closer to us than if we looked at him as an exceptional celestial being. Error is the seal of an earthly person; only the perfect do not make mistakes, and our earthly path is the path of eradicating our spiritual mistakes.
Somewhere Moses succumbed to weakness and lack of faith
Somewhere, Moses succumbed to weakness and lack of faith. After another indignation of the people, Moses, spiritually tired of the lack of faith of those around him, mournfully prays to the Lord: “Why are You tormenting Your servant? and why have I not found mercy in Thy sight, that Thou hast laid upon me the burden of all this people? Did I carry all this people in my womb, and did I give birth to him, that You say to me: carry him in Your arms, as a nanny carries a child, to the land that You promised with an oath to his fathers?<…>I alone cannot bear all this people, because they are heavy for me; when You do this to me, then [it is better] to kill me, if I have found mercy in Your sight, so that I do not see my misfortune” (Num. 11: 11-12, 14-15). Here we immediately remember the second great prophet - Elijah. After the appearance of the glory of the Lord on Mount Carmel, when fire from heaven consumed Elijah’s sacrifice, and all the idolatrous prophets were killed, the wicked queen Jezebel sent to kill him. The prophet Elijah went into the desert, into the same Arabian desert where 500 years earlier the prophet Moses wandered with the Israeli people, sat down under a juniper bush and, exhausted from such amazing unbelief of his fellow tribesmen, asked for death: “Enough already, Lord; take my life, for I am no better than my fathers” (1 Kings 19:4). Likewise, it sometimes becomes difficult for us to see around us a total apostasy from the faith, and if we are responsible for those around us, then this burden is simply unbearable. This same unbelief of the Jews forces, according to St. John Chrysostom, Christ himself to say: “Oh, unfaithful and corrupt generation! How long will I be with you? How long will I bear with you? (Matt. 17:17)
Lack of faith is like poison or concentrated acid. It corrodes everything it touches. That is why the Holy Fathers forbid people who are not firm in the faith from reading heretical books - the danger of contracting a spiritual disease is very great. From time to time we all fall into lack of faith. And the great Moses was also guilty of it. The Israelites found themselves in the desert of Sin, where there was not a drop of water for either people or livestock. There were only 600 thousand people, warriors over 20 years old. The entire people who came out of Egypt can thus be estimated at more than 2 million people. When the people began to complain about the lack of water, the Lord said to Moses: “Take the rod and gather the congregation, and speak to the rock in their sight, and it will give water from itself: and so you will bring water out of the rock for them.” gathered the people and said: “Listen, disobedient, should we bring water for you from this rock?”, but in his heart there was doubt that the Lord’s words would be fulfilled. And he didn't order in a word rock, as God commanded him, and he struck the rock with a rod, and water flowed out. Therefore, God said to Moses and Aaron: “Because you did not believe Me, to demonstrate My holiness in the sight of the children of Israel, you will not bring this people into the land that I am giving them” (Num. 20:8-12).
What a severe punishment for Moses! It is not for nothing that the prophet, before his death, prayed to the Lord: “Sovereign Lord, let me cross and see that good land that is beyond the Jordan, and that beautiful mountain and Lebanon” (Deut. 3: 24-25). But God wanted new wine to be poured into new bottles so that men of perfect faith would enter the Promised Land. Blessed Theodoret of Cyrrhus also points out that the Promised Land is a symbol of the grace of the New Testament, and therefore the law in the person of Moses ended before the Israelites crossed the Jordan. That is why Moses called his most faithful servant, Hoshea the son of Nun, Jesus, that is, savior (Num. 13:17). It was Joshua who led the Jews into the Promised Land, prefiguring how Jesus Christ would introduce his people into the Kingdom of Grace.
And just as the law was a “schoolmaster” to Christ (Gal. 3:24), revealing to man from afar the gracious commandments of beatitude, so Moses was honored to see the Promised Land from afar. Before his death, the Lord commanded him to ascend Mount Nebo and showed him there all the land promised to Abraham, even to the Mediterranean Sea. Moses died there.
Before he dies, the Lord your God will raise up for you from among your brothers like me; listen to Him” (Deut. 18:15). These words were fulfilled in full only in Christ the Savior, for, as Scripture testifies, “Israel no longer had a prophet like Moses.” And just as Moses was “the meekest” during his life, he did not seek glory for himself, but only the glorification of the Lord God, in the same way the meekest he remained even after death. Moses “hid himself” from the excessive veneration of his fellow tribesmen, as the Bible says: “No one knows [the place of] his burial even to this day” (Deut. 34: 6).
The Typikon on the day of the prophet Moses indicates a service “without a holiday sign”
Moses also avoided the veneration of Christians, because almost no one, even from the church and priesthood, could name the day of his memory without looking at the calendar. This day is September 17th according to the new style. And in the Typikon, on the day of the Prophet and Seer of God Moses, a service is indicated “without a holiday sign” - the most modest service possible. But he is truly great! And this is evidenced by the fact that at the hour of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, two of the greatest Old Testament righteous men, the prophets Moses and Elijah, appeared to Christ and “spoke about His exodus, which He had to accomplish in Jerusalem” (Luke 9:33).
The forty-year wandering of the Israeli people reminds us so much of our own life. What Moses says to his fellow tribesmen, we can safely apply to ourselves: God humbles us and tests us, torments us with hunger and feeds us with manna, so that we learn to rely solely on the Creator of Heaven. He always provides for us, even if it seems to us that we are abandoned. So Israel, although at times hungry and thirsty, but not without the Providence of God. No wonder Moses says to the people: “Your clothes have not worn out, nor have your feet become swollen for forty years” (Deut. 8:4). As a marching tabernacle-temple, we must carry constant remembrance of the Lord in our hearts. Let us listen once again to the words of Moses, which Christ the Savior repeated fifteen hundred years later, because by that time many had already forgotten them: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. And let these words which I command you today be in your heart; and teach them to your children, and talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up; And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as a blindfold over your eyes, and you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deut. 6:5-9).
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Material courtesy of Jewish Review of Books
The shocking story that Freud tells (or seems to tell) in Moses the Man and the Monotheistic Religion is well known. Perhaps the most concise and comprehensive summary of this book was given by Yosef Chaim Yerushalmi at the beginning of his brilliant work Freud’s Moses: Judaism Terminable and Interminable.
Cover of the first edition of Sigmund Freud's book Moses the Man and Monotheistic Religion. 1939 WikipediaI believe that the pure plot (but not the underlying drama) of Freud's Moses is now well known. Judaism is not a Jewish invention, but an Egyptian invention. Pharaoh Amenhotep IV proclaimed it the state religion in the form of veneration of a single deity - the Sun Aten. In honor of him, the pharaoh named himself Ikhnaton This spelling (contrary to the “Akhenaton” accepted in most languages) is preferred by Freud himself, and after him by his translators. See: Freud Z. The Man Moses and Monotheistic Religion (1939) / Rus. lane V. Bokovikova // Freud Z. Questions of society. Origin of religion. M.: Firma "STD", 2008. P. 473, note. 2.. The religion of Aten, according to Freud, is characterized by an unquestioned belief in a single G‑d, a rejection of anthropomorphism, magic and sorcery, and a categorical denial of the afterlife. However, after the death of Ikhnaton, his great heresy was quickly forgotten and the Egyptians returned to the veneration of traditional gods. Moses was not a Jew, but an Egyptian priest or nobleman, a convinced monotheist. To save the religion of Aten from destruction, he stood at the head of the oppressed Semitic tribe that then lived in Egypt, freed it from slavery and created a new people. He gave this people an even more spiritual form of monotheistic religion, devoid of all images, and introduced among them the Egyptian rite of circumcision as a sign of distinction. But the unfeeling masses of former slaves could not meet the harsh demands of the new faith. Moses was killed in a rebellion, and memories of the murder were repressed. The Israelites maintained an alliance with related Semitic tribes living in Midian, whose volcanic deity<…>became their national god. As a result, the god of Moses merged with [this god], and the deeds of Moses were attributed to the Midian priest, who was also called Moses. However, over time, the deep tradition true faith and its founder gained enough strength to re-establish itself and achieve success<…>and since the Jews suppressed the memory of the murder of Moses, it reappeared in a disguised form with the advent of Christianity.
Funeral statue of Pharaoh Akhenaten. Around 1353-1336 BC. e. Metropolitan Museum of Art.
As Yerushalmi notes, behind the “pure plot” of Freud’s “The Man Moses and the Monotheistic Religion” lies a “drama.” And to describe this and the psychological drama, let us again quote Yerushalmi.
First, the sons killed their ancestor. In the end, in polytheism he was completely forgotten and his memory was suppressed. Therefore, in essence, monotheism represented the return of this long-buried memory in the form of a single omnipotent god, who has no equal. It can be said that the great significance of the revelation that Moses brought to the children of Israel lies in the shock of recognition, in the deep sense of reunion and reconciliation with the long-lost Father for whom humanity has always unconsciously yearned. This is where the feeling comes from that they are the chosen people. But even then, the teachings of Moses failed to become a “tradition.” For this it was necessary that Moses should be sacrificed in a repetition of this ancient parricide, and that his instructions should be forgotten. Only after another period of oblivion, which lasted from five to eight centuries, did the religion of Moses return to the public consciousness and captivate the Jewish people for centuries to come.
From its publication to the present day, Moses the Man has been the subject of intense controversy. But among all the discussions and disagreements, criticism and defense, historical analysis and yes, psychoanalysis too - after all, Freud always identified himself with Moses - the only thing that did not change in "Moses the Man" was its "pure plot", history , outlined by Freud. But is it really as hard as is commonly believed? Scholars have always been struck by the unusual and clumsy structure of this work: prefaces that exclude each other, hesitations, apologies, discordant parts, repetitions, stops and new beginnings. Yet they tacitly assumed that throughout the three volatile, sing-song, and constantly off-topic essays that make up this text: “Moses the Egyptian,” “If Moses Were an Egyptian...” and “Moses, His People, and the Monotheistic Religion.” (the last essay consists of two parts) - the main idea, repeated several times, remains the same. But is it?
As Yerushalmi shows, in The Man Moses and Monotheistic Religion, Freud sets forth three mutually exclusive historical theories: Moses was an Egyptian, the Jews killed him, and there were in fact two Moses: Moses the Egyptian and Moses the Midianite. And yet, although Freud does not directly refute any of these theories, a careful reading of the text leads to the conclusion that he in fact rejects them all. Moses was an Egyptian - no. The Jews killed Moses - no. There were two Moses - no.
To understand Freud's intellectual biography, it is important to keep in mind that he wrote "Moses the Man" at the end of his life, after the Nazis had come to power, when he himself began to reread the Bible given to him by his father and rethink the essence of the Jewish soul. Therefore, any analysis of his famous theories must combine historical criticism and the context of the post-biblical debate about Moses, dating back to late antiquity. Jan Assmann, Richard Bernstein and many others have done this work, and they all believed that we understand the theory laid out by Freud. But do we really understand it?
Sigmund Freud on the cover of Life magazine. 1922. Max Halberstadt Wikipedia I will work backwards and begin with the two Moses thesis, then move on to the murder of Moses, and end with Moses the Egyptian.
First of all, two Moses. Freud puts forward the idea that there was first Moses the Egyptian and then Moses the Midianite in the second essay of Moses the Man.
Jewish tribes<…>in a place called Meribath Kadesh<…>adopted the worship of the [volcano] god Yahweh, probably from the Arab tribe of Midianites who lived nearby<…>Based on this religion, the mediator between God and the people is called Moses. He is the son-in-law of the Midian priest Jethro, whose flocks he was tending when he heard God’s call Right there. pp. 483, 484.
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However, in the historical sketch that opens the third essay, Freud writes that after the Jews came out of Egypt and killed Moses, they wandered through the desert, “and<…>In the spring-rich area of Kadesh, under the influence of the Arab Midianites, they adopted a new religion, the veneration of the volcano god Yahweh.” Right there. P. 510.. Here, as in the second essay, Freud speaks of the “Arab Midianites,” but at the same time of the Midianite Moses, who played such important role in the second essay, he doesn't mention it at all. The second Moses, Jethro's non-Egyptian son-in-law (Jethro), simply disappeared from the story and was never mentioned again. How can this be explained?
In fact, Freud does not need a second Moses. As we have just seen, all he has to do is claim that after the Jews killed Moses the Egyptian and rejected his religion, they later at some point, under the influence of the Midianite Arabs, adopted a new, more primitive form of this religion, which involved worshiping the sides of volcanoes . So why did Freud even need this second Moses?
To answer this question, you need to understand that the first two essays of “The Man of Moses and the Monotheistic Religion” take the form of a detective story or a quest. Freud keeps trying to tell the story further, but at key moments he reaches a dead end, faced with an insurmountable problem. Then he somehow manages to get out of the difficulty and continue the story, and the problem turns into a means of developing the plot. This is exactly what happened to the two Moses: in the second essay, Freud develops the motif of the Egyptian Moses. But he has a problem. The famous scientist Eduard Meyer, according to Freud, showed that this Moses was a Midianite, and it is in no way possible to identify him with Freud's Egyptian Moses, who brought to the Jewish tribes in Kadesh a rather primitive form of religion based on the worship of the volcano god. So who was the real Moses? “Unexpectedly,” Freud writes, “there is also a way out here.” Right there. P. 486.
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And Freud proposes a rather controversial theory, based on a very, it must be said, shaky hypothesis of the German biblical scholar Ernst Sellin that the Jews killed Moses the Egyptian. It turns out that Freud is right and Meyer is right, because in fact there were two different Moses. So Freud needs Meyer's thesis about the second Moses in order to formulate the problem of two Moses, and to solve this problem he will need a motive for the murder of Moses the Egyptian - and this was Freud's original goal.
However, in the historical review with which the third essay begins, Freud regards the murder of Moses as a given; he no longer needs the thesis of a second Moses for his history. Indeed, in June 1935, in a letter to Lou Andreas-Salom, Freud recounted to her the contents of “The Man of Moses,” without mentioning a word about the second Moses and saying only that the Midianite priests later introduced the Jews to a new god.
Why was it important for Freud to say that Moses was an Egyptian and was killed by the Jews? As we continue to read The Man of Moses, we see that its main purpose was to offer a historical scenario that would explain Jewish psychology. In a letter to an unknown “Herr Doktor” in 1937, Freud wrote: “Several years ago I began to ask myself how the Jews acquired their special character, and, as is my custom, I went back to the very beginning.” Specifically, he wanted to study the origins of that paradoxical, but, in his deep conviction, undeniable combination of Jewish self-esteem and Jewish guilt. The suppression of the memory of the murder of the savior was the cause of Jewish guilt. And the fact that this savior, Moses the Egyptian, chose the Jews helped Freud explain the emergence of Jewish self-esteem.
Continuing from the end to the beginning, consider Freud's reasoning about the murder of Moses. The murder, and even more the repression of its memory, are key elements of both the second essay of "The Man of Moses" and the first part of the third essay. Freud writes:
The Jewish people of Moses were equally little able to tolerate a highly spiritualized religion<…>Wild Semites took fate into their own hands and removed the tyrant from the road<…>The time has come when they began to regret the murder of Moses and try to forget about it<…>Successfully rejected the painful fact of his forced removal Right there. pp. 496‑497.
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But by the end of the book, Freud suddenly minimizes the significance of the murder and seems to express doubts about whether it actually happened. “And if they then killed this great man, they only repeated the crime which in ancient times, in the form of a law, was directed against the divine king and which, as we know, went back to a still more ancient pattern.” Right there. P. 556.. Freud is undoubtedly referring here to his theory, set forth in Totem and Taboo, that human guilt and religion can be traced back to the murder of one's father by a horde of jealous brothers. It is all the more strange that after the categorical statement that the Jews “killed this great man,” “if” they really did so, in the entire second part of the third essay there is not a single mention of the murder of Moses. It simply falls out of the story. It turns out that although Freud talks in the next few paragraphs about how the Jewish people rejected the religion of Moses, he makes no further mention of their killing Moses. Why is that?
First, as I mentioned above, Freud needed the thesis of the murder of Moses to justify Jewish guilt. It was the murder of Moses that partially led to the appearance in Jewish memory of the “original sin,” that is, the murder of the forefather, described in “Totem and Taboo.” The Jews repressed both memories, but as all faithful disciples of Freud know, repressed memories are the most powerful. Hence the “insatiable feeling of guilt” Right there. P. 579.
, which took possession of the Jewish people, and its neurotic force. But as Freud retells his story again, it becomes clear that the trigger for Jewish guilt was not the repressed memory of killing Moses, but something entirely different. But if the murder of Moses did not give rise to Jewish guilt, then what did? To answer this, we will have to put the question aside for a moment and turn to the third of Freud's controversial historical hypotheses, namely, the assumption that Moses was an Egyptian - which is where "Moses the Man" begins.
Salvador Dali. Moses' dream. Series "Moses and Monotheism". France. 1974
All scholars agree that the arguments that Freud puts forward in favor of the Egyptian origin of Moses are extremely weak. To the statement that Moshe is an Egyptian name, Yerushalmi replies: “What does the name mean? Both Philo and Josephus knew that the name Moses had an Egyptian etymology, but they did not conclude from this that Moses himself was an Egyptian. Discussing Freud's attempt to infer the Egyptian origin of Moses from the fact that he spread the supposedly Egyptian practice of circumcision among the Jews, Richard Bernstein counters that it can easily be assumed that “even the (Jewish) Moses, who led the Jews out of Egypt, adopted the Egyptian practice of circumcision to increase self-esteem among slaves." Continuing Bernstein's thought, it is easy to imagine that this is exactly what an assimilated, Egyptianized Jew would have done, just as the assimilated and Westernized Theodor Herzl insisted that the delegates of the First Zionist Congress appear at the opening ceremony in tailcoats in accordance with Western fashion, so that "people would get used to seeing the authority in Congress is high and worthy of respect.”
The question arises why Freud was so fond of this idea. After all, he begins the book with a startling statement: “To take away from a nation the man whom it glorifies as the greatest of its sons is not something one undertakes willingly or casually, especially if one oneself belongs to that nation.” Right there. P. 459.
. So why would Freud make Moses an Egyptian? My question now is not about psychological motives or what this meant for his identity as a Jew, but about what function Moses' Egyptian background serves in the book in general.
Freud repeatedly repeats that the source of the incredible self-confidence characteristic of the Jewish people lies in their belief in their chosenness by G‑d. But of course, for Freud, who did not believe in God and belonged to those whom he himself calls “poor in faith” Right there. P. 568.
, chosen by G‑d means chosen by Moses. For him, if G‑d is a great other, then Moses must also be different, not like his chosen people. And here we come to the meaning of Moses being an Egyptian. To begin with, the otherness of Moses for Freud is ethnic otherness. The Egyptian Moses chooses the Jews, a group of Semitic alien tribes ethnically different from himself, and makes them his people.
In the second essay, “If Moses Was an Egyptian...” Freud first sets out his hypothesis that Moses was an Egyptian aristocrat, “ambitious and active.”<…>a convinced adherent of the new religion [Aten]" Right there. P. 478., and then suggests that after the death of Ikhnaton and the subsequent abandonment of the worship of Aten, Moses decided to find “a new people to whom he wanted to bestow the religion rejected by Egypt.”
Perhaps at that time he was the governor of that border province (Goshen), in which<…>famous Semitic tribes settled. He chose them as his new people<…>He achieved mutual understanding with them, led them, and “with a strong hand” ensured their resettlement Right there. pp. 478‑479.
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It can be assumed that these Semitic tribes were subordinate to the Egyptian kingdom, but not a word is said that they were in slavery to him, much less that they were, in the words of Yerushalmi, “an unfeeling mass of slaves.” What is important for Freud here is that Moses, the Egyptian aristocrat, chose strangers as his new people. Indeed, it is striking that although Freud in Moses the Man repeatedly anachronistically refers to the biblical sons of Israel as Jews, here he describes them as “well-known Semitic tribes,” thereby emphasizing their ethnic otherness. That is why Freud's Moses had to be an Egyptian - after all, in order for him to choose the Jews as “his” people, they necessarily had to be not his people to begin with.
In a famous passage at the end of the book, Freud describes Moses' election of the Jews in a completely different way, although most scholars, including Yerushalmi, combine this description with the previous ones. He writes that Moses as "the image of the mighty father<…>condescended to the poor Jewish farm laborers to assure them that they were his beloved children.” Right there. P. 556.. There is no mention, as before, that the biblical Israelites were a group of Semitic tribes; Freud no longer needs to make Moses an Egyptian. The otherness of Moses is manifested here not in the ethnic sphere, but in the social sphere. Moses' choice of the Jews is expressed in the fact that he is an aristocrat who condescends to the level of Jewish slaves and calls them his children. Note that he does not choose them to be his people - they are already his people. Here Freud's Moses is similar, to return to my earlier point, to Theodor Herzl: an assimilated Jew who returns to his people to free them from persecution and oppression. (Freud admired Herzl, called him “a fighter for the human rights of our people” and gave him a copy of The Interpretation of Dreams.) Therefore, although in this section Freud claims that Moses borrowed monotheism from Ikhnaton, he never once calls Moses an Egyptian. Moses no longer needed to be ethnically different from the Jews in order to choose the Jews.
Now I can answer the previous question. If Freud believes that the trigger for Jewish guilt was not the repressed memory of the murder of Moses, then what is? Now I would answer that it was the fatherhood of Moses, the fact that he condescended to the poor slaves, calling them his "dear children" - and this at the same time was the source of both the enormous self-confidence of the Jewish people and their enormous feelings of guilt. The appearance of the father of Moses, along with the appearance of the father-god, which was the essence of his teaching, and the repressed memory of the ancient father behind them, are all manifestations of both love and hostility. Love for the father - Moses, God, the ancient father, or all three together - and the feeling of being chosen by him gives a feeling of self-confidence, and unacknowledged and suppressed hostility towards him gives rise to a feeling of guilt. In the last section of The Man Moses and Monotheistic Religion, Freud writes:
The first effect of meeting the one who had been absent for so long and who was missed was grandiose and just as the legend of the law at Mount Sinai describes it. Admiration, reverence and gratitude for the fact that there was mercy in his eyes - the religion of Moses does not know other than these positive feelings for God the Father<…>Thus, the intoxication of devotion to God is the immediate reaction to the return of the great father<…>
But<…>the essence of the attitude towards the father includes ambivalence; It could not help but happen that over time the hostility that once prompted the sons to kill their father, who was admired and feared, did not arise. Within the religion of Moses there was no place for direct expression of murderous hatred of the father; only a strong reaction to it could manifest itself, a consciousness of guilt due to this hostility, a bad conscience of those who had sinned and continued to sin before God Right there. pp. 578‑579.
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Note that the “consciousness of guilt” arises from “deadly hatred of the father,” and it does not matter whether this father was Moses, God or an ancient forefather - most likely, all three at once. It is true that this hostility “once moved the sons to kill their much-admired and feared father,” but there is no indication that it led the children of Israel to kill their much-admired and feared Father Moses. Of course, no repressed memory of an actual murder is needed to arouse guilt in the children of Israel; unexpressed hostility and murderous rage are more than enough. Because, as Freud taught us, in the depths of the subconscious, desire is as effective as action.
Salvador Dali. Continuity of traditions. Series "Moses and Monotheism". France. 1974
In fact, in this book, Freud constantly says that the memory of the father is the source of Jewish guilt and the subsequent “deep impression” that “the monotheistic idea was able to produce<…>on the Jewish people" Right there. P. 536.
. However, in the first part, Freud first describes Moses as a father at the moment of Moses' murder. “Fate brought close to the Jewish people the great deed and atrocity of primitive times, parricide, prompting it to be repeated with Moses, an outstanding father figure.” Right there.
. It is as if the murder of Moses by the Jewish people turned him into a “prominent father figure.” When Freud turns to this plot for the second time, it turns out that Moses from the very beginning appeared before the Jewish people in the role of a father. Let us quote in full the paragraph to which I already referred above:
This was undoubtedly the image of a powerful father who, in the person of Moses, came down to the poor Hebrew farm laborers to assure them that they were his beloved children. And no less exciting should have been the idea of one single, eternal, omnipotent God, for whom they were not too insignificant to enter into an alliance with them, and who promised to take care of them if they remained faithful to him. It was probably not easy for them to separate the image of the man Moses from the image of his god, and they guessed this correctly, for Moses apparently introduced into the character of his god his own personality traits, such as anger and inflexibility Right there. P. 556.
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True, immediately after this Freud declares: “And if they then killed this great man, they only repeated the atrocity that in ancient times<…>", but given that, as we have seen, the unexpressed hostility and murderous rage directed against the father was more than enough to instill guilt in the children of Israel, we now understand why he downplays the significance of the actual murder of Moses - "if “, of course, it “took place” at all - and therefore in the entire second part of the third essay we do not find a single mention of it.
Thus, in the first, well-known message, Freud says that the source of Jewish guilt was the repressed memory of the murder of Moses, who becomes a father only after the murder. But in the second message, the image of Moses the father, along with his teaching about G‑d the father and the ambivalent feelings that it gives rise to, simultaneously causes the Jews to feel both a sense of self-confidence and a sense of guilt. This claim rings true, at least within the realm of psychoanalysis, and so it does not require the historical pyrotechnics of Freud's more famous story.
So somewhere in the depths of “Moses the Man” lies a striking narrative irony. At the very beginning of the second part of the third essay, Freud writes: “The next part of this study<…>is nothing more than an exact, often verbatim repetition of the first part [of the third article], abridged in some critical studies and expanded by additions relating to the question of how the special character of the Jewish people arose." Right there. P. 550.. Readers take him at his word. However, in the course of discussing “how the special character of the Jewish people arose,” Freud radically changes the storyline, forgets about the image of Moses as an Egyptian nobleman, killed by his own people, which he liberated, and introduces in its place a new image of Moses - awe-inspiring and the horror of the “image of a powerful father”, rejected by his own “dear children” and served as the object of their “deadly hatred”, but in reality not killed by them.
When someone retells a story—especially a very important story—they never repeat it exactly, no matter how much the storyteller argues otherwise. The story changes without the storyteller realizing it. This lesson was taught to us by the teacher Freud himself, but this does not mean that he himself was an exception to this rule.
Amazingly, when the Jews sit down to retell the story of their exodus on Passover night, the story contained in the Haggadah is radically different from the biblical one. While the biblical story revolves around Moses' key role in liberating the people, the Haggadah does not mention Moses at all; all attention is turned to G‑d. But this turn in the retelling was not at all accidental or unconscious - it was made completely intentionally. The rabbis seemed to want to ensure that Moses' people would always be able to "separate the image of the man Moses from the image of his god" Right there. P. 556.. Because the rabbis, unlike Freud, were believers.