May one watch the “Patterns Of Evidence” series?
לכבוד הרה”ג הרב ברוין שליט”א,
“Patterns Of Evidence” is a heavily advertised series of videos and books. In short, it is ran by Christians who go on missions to present evidence for the episodes in the תורה. This includes, evidence for יציאת מצרים, קריעת ים סוף and the sinking of the walls of יריחו amongst other episodes. Filmmakers scoured the areas that יציאת מצרים and קריעת ים סוף are believed to have taken place, and they dig in the ground, dive in to water, collect earth, search for footprints etc. to present evidence for the occurrences that are recorded in the תורה.
For example; I have not watched any of the episodes, but I heard that they scoured the מדבר, and found in middle of the מדבר an area where there were twelve wells of water, and seventy palm trees. I cannot confirm this because I did not watch any of the episodes, but, from what I heard, this is the type of investigative research that they do.
Though it is led by Christians, they do not seem to present any “evidence” for anything that is recorded in the “new testament”. It seems to be purely films to provide evidence for the “old testament”. I could not find any mention of אותו האיש on their website. In fact, it took me some time to discover that it is even led by Christians.
In fact, in their “about us” page, they describe themselves as follows:
“Guided by curiosity and an unflinching desire to uncover the truth, documentary filmmaker Timothy Mahoney embarked on a search for evidence – archaeological, scientific, and even literary – that would shed light on whether the events chronicled in the Bible really happened or not. What do the world’s leading archaeologists and biblical scholars have to say about these questions? Were ancient Israelites really held in bondage in Egypt? Did Moses really lead them out to the Promised Land? Did the walls of Jericho really come tumbling down? Is there any truth to these stories?
The results of this amazing 12-year investigation may change the way the world will view history and the Bible”.
My question to the רב is;
Given that we live in an era when תורה in general, and the historical episodes in the תורה in particular are mocked and ridiculed in an unprecedented manner, and what more, we are all exposed to the mockery wherever we turn, would it be permissible for a איד to watch these films and / or read these books, to strengthen his אמונה and confidence in the תורה?
Thank you
Answer:
