Question:
How was anyone who did not receive the nevuah directly, able to authenticate that Hashem indeed gave a Mitzvah – before Sinai? For example -bris milah which became incumbent on Avraham uledoros immediately or Gid Hanashe acc. to R’ Yehudah who holds it began with Yaakov or the 7 mitzvos which were told only to Adam and Noach? There was no national revelation in which nevuah was authenticated to the masses?
Answer:
True, they didn’t know it from Sinai, they knew it because they trusted Avrohom, and Yackov who told it to them. They knew who they were and their level of integrity, and they trusted them.
How can one be chayav chenek for the 7 mitzvos if they didn’t trust there was a nevuah?
They did trust that there was a nevuah, and their bais din also did so. You have to remember that the Navi was their father or grandfather, which was a personality that was respected universally. Avrohom was world renown, as we see when he wanted to buy a place for Sarah, and Yackov was respected to the extent that he feared that they would make a idol out of him. If their integrity wasn’t immaculate these things wouldn’t have happened. Besides, his children certainly respected him tremendously.
Thank you. I’m sorry to keep asking- but if so why did we need a Sinatic experience to bolster the Torah’s authenticity?
Good point. See Rambam Hilcos Yisodei Hatorah 8-1 that belief in a prophet is not foolproof therefore H-shem gave us the torah in a way that all of the Jews were able to see it for themselves. Everyone together seeing it, and telling it tothier children that “I saw it”, and all the cildren saying “my father saw it”, and all of our father’s saw it, is much stronger than just one person.
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