Presence

I've got a new post up on Harry Potter Prognostications, dealing with truth in history. Two different approaches are presented; I'm not sure which, if either, I believe. I'm probably leaning more towards the subjective view (I generally don't do well with the correspondence theory of truth). But it does raise the question of how Judaism views history. I haven't the time or the inclination to tackle this one right now, but one source that comes to mind is Parshas Shelach (Num 13-16), the story of the spies, wherein the post-Exodus Israel doubts the historical promise of God to Avraham, et. al., that the Land of Israel will be a great place to live. As such, they appoint a group of spies to scope out the land. To make a long story short, big mistake (huge, in fact), and Israel spends the next thirty-eight years meandering in the Sinai Peninsula, waiting for the doubting generation to die off. The Torah's description of the method of reconnoitering employed by the spies relies heavily on the use of the word "li'roat," to see, and various conjugations thereof.

My basic understanding is that the spies used their "sight" to offer up their interpretation of the quality of the Land, taking advantage of the subjective nature of truth in a community setting. Their description became fact for their generation and turned the people away from the historical truth/promise given them. Of course, we end the parsha with the commandment of Tzitzis (fringes on garments), of which the Torah states, "And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it (u'reitem), and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye go not about ("taturu"; same word as used for spying in the beginning of Num 13, "la'tur") after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go astray," which seems to be telling us not to fall prey to the subjective historical explanations, and to remember the historical imperative of the Exodus.

So it would seem that history is really important to Judaism. Of course, my predilection for the subjective tells you how well I fit in with traditional Judaism. Hopefully I've quite a few years left to sort it all out ;)

Know of any books, essays, etc., that discuss this? Leave 'em in the comments.