{"id":68941,"date":"2022-08-12T05:23:54","date_gmt":"2022-08-12T10:23:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=68941"},"modified":"2022-08-12T05:23:54","modified_gmt":"2022-08-12T10:23:54","slug":"off-the-pulpit-the-seldon-of-jewish-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/off-the-pulpit-the-seldon-of-jewish-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Off the Pulpit: The Seldon of Jewish History"},"content":{"rendered":"

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE<\/p>\n

Isaac Asimov\u2019s science fiction classic \u201cThe Foundation Trilogy\u201d is about a man named Seldon who, envisioning the coming apocalypse, creates a haven to build a great encyclopedia of human knowledge. This seemingly simple task hides a much grander scheme, and the underlying message is his abiding faith that knowledge coupled with wisdom can save us from the abyss.<\/p>\n

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Like Asimov\u2019s fictional hero, Yohanan ben Zakkai had a greater aim in mind than Vespasian could imagine. He prepared for a time when there would be no more empire, but the Jewish people, its tradition intact, would bring the essential message of God to the surviving world.<\/p>\n

Through scientific wizardry, Seldon returns periodically through the novels to speak to posterity. So too Rabbi Johanan Ben Zakkai and his contemporaries speak to us through the pages of the Talmud, the encyclopedia of knowledge, and wisdom preserved in that fateful moment.<\/p>\n

Rabbi David Wolpe is the senior rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles.<\/em><\/p>\n

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