Biblical Hebrew Forum

[belaga AT math.u-strasbg.fr]

Being greatly impressed by the depth and loving attention to the  
miniscule and yet always pertinent historical and ethnical details of  
the Patriarch's narratives of the last contributors, I would be like  
to add, without going into details this last evening before the Great  
Holidays, the inspirational and psychological features of these  
narratives which, in my opinion, testify not only to their historical  
authenticity but also to the extraordinary intensity and paradigmatic  
force of reported encounters, -- so much that a few hundred  
generations of Jews and non-Jews have been culturally (religiosity  
including) and psychologically inspired, one could even say, defined  
by these encounters.

The cultural and moral possibilities, as well as the will to dismiss  
this authenticity are coming only much later, and the way in what  
directions and how such dismissals develop speak volumes about the  
Western civilisation of the XIXth and XXth centuries and almost  
nothing about the subject which still animates many of us.

Happy holidays, dear colleagues!

Edward G. Belaga
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Institut de Recherche en Mathématique Avancée
Universite Louis Pasteur
7, rue René Descartes, 67084 Strasbourg Cedex, FRANCE
tel.: 333 90 24 02 35, FAX: 333 90 24 03 28
e-mail : edward.belaga AT math.u-strasbg.fr
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