Agreements and Disagreements with Dennis Prager

Maimonides said that the truth is the truth no matter what its source. Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine (1865-1935), wrote similarly that we can learn much even from atheists.

Dennis Prager (born 1948), an American conservative radio talk show host and writer, is a good example. He was trained in his youth as an Orthodox Jew but abandoned Orthodoxy. He states he maintains many traditional Jewish practices and is religious.

He wrote many books, including a series called The Rational Bible. I find much in them interesting, but I differ from him because he takes Bible stories literally and is usually convinced that the events really happened. I see many events as parables and read many statements as metaphors, hyperbole, and poetry.

I disagree, for example, with the following: He asks, “Who was the most tragic figure in the Bible?” He answers, “God, because of God’s disappointment in humans.” He feels that God has emotions. I do not think that God has emotions.

True, the Torah mentions that God becomes angry at times. But this is not done to reveal a fact about God but to frighten people who find it hard, if not impossible, to reason into thinking they will be punished if they misbehave with fierce divine anger and be prompted to act appropriately. The pagan Plato calls this a “Noble Lie.”  The Jew Maimonides named it “Essential Truths.” The Muslim ibn Tofayl wrote about it in his philosophical novel Hay ibn Yakdan. It is one of my favorite books. Everyone should read it.

Another example of Prager’s statements that I disagree with is his reply to the question: Why did God kill animals in the flood? He wrote animals were created for human use, and since only one family remained after the flood, there was no need for so many animals.

I agree with Maimonides in his Guide for the Perplexed 2:48 that the Torah ascribes natural events to God not because God performed the acts that were natural and caused by the forces of nature but because God is the ultimate cause since He created or formed the laws of nature.

I also agree with Maimonides, who wrote that animals have feelings, so why would God hurt innocent animals? I see the flood as a natural event; most likely, not all animals died, and fish weren’t killed. It is even possible that the flood only struck a small area.

Having said this, I still think Prager has much to offer. He raises good questions, and many of his explanations are good.

The following are his ideas about the buildings constructed for God and the priests who functioned in them.

He gives four reasons why it is wrong to say the Torah is filled with immorality because, among other of its teachings, animal sacrifices are immoral. First, Maimonides taught that God did not desire animal sacrifices. The ancient Israelites accepted the primitive notion of their pagan neighbors that God needed sacrifices, and the sacrifices of animals showed their love for God. The ancients even sacrificed their children.

Maimonides stressed that the Torah dislikes sacrifices and allows them only as concessions. Since the ancient Israelites felt so strongly that sacrifices were necessary, had the Torah prohibited them, they would have rejected the entire Torah.

Prager wisely adds that sacrificing children has not changed. We still send young men and women to war and on suicide missions.

Second, the majority of humanity that eats animal flesh has no legitimate or even logical reason to oppose animal sacrifices on moral grounds. They are eating animals without any consideration of the living being killed to satisfy their lusts and stomachs.

While being forced to allow the killings, the Torah took the murders and eating exceptionally seriously. The animals sacrificed were not subjected to the cruelties existing in modern slaughtering and the brutalities of how the animals are farmed.

Third, sacrifices were imbued with sanctity and given noble goals, such as atoning for destructive past behaviors and bringing people closer to God. The Hebrew word for sacrifice is korban, which literally means bringing one close (to God).

Fourth, sacrifice teaches that nothing worthwhile comes without sacrifice. Parents sacrifice a great deal for their children, spouses sacrifice for their marriage, friends sacrifice to maintain the friendship, and people desiring to improve their lives sacrifice years of fun and leisure to learn and improve their skills.

Prager addresses the traditional Jewish view that priests were males. Although others disagree, he contends that the Torah’s depiction of women was often remarkably egalitarian. He could have added, as he did above, speaking about sacrifices, that the Torah could not tell the somewhat primitive Israelites when it was given that women were equal to men, but he did not.

Instead, he notes that the first woman, Eve, is described as “a helper equal to Adam.” The matriarchs play a decisive role in determining the Israelite destiny. Rebecca, not her husband Isaac, guaranteed Jacob to become the third patriarch. A woman saved Moses when Pharaoh ordered all male children to be killed. Women also served as prophets.

Prager then explains that the Torah needed to give the priestly role to men and mandated that the priests wear modest clothing to de-sexualize religion. Female priests and their sexual activity in their temples were significant features of many primitive religions. The Torah stresses family, a world-changing role that benefited women and men, Jews and non-Jews.

Behaviors have changed, but not enough. People still focus on sex and other personal desires.

I think it is tragic that people still haven’t realized the benefits of a proper marriage. If they love their spouses and treat each other with mutual trust, their actions will train them to behave with others similarly and inaugurate a messianic era. It is terrible to hear that sociologists have found that fifty percent of marriages end in divorce, and a third of married spouses hide their income and spending from each other. The total of just these two behaviors shows that eighty-three percent of marriages do not function properly today.

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Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin is a retired brigadier general in the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps.  He is the author of more than 50 books.