Babylonian Talmud, rabbis defeat God in argument

As told 8

“You God did long ago write down in the law: You shall follow the multitude. And then God says my children have vanquished me”
16:23 Neurosciences and Freedom2014-11-11 · 2:11:34

“this is an old stupid man who screwed up creation we are here among learned men this guy doesn't have any right even to debate here and the surprise is that God accepts it”
20:27 Can One Really Tolerate A Neighbor?2006-11-19 · 1:50:41

“God's reaction is 'Oh my God you are right,' and God runs away.”
~0:13 On the Desert of Post-Ideology2012-10-02 · 1:59:31

What it carries

one story, many jobs: the ideas this anecdote is deployed to argue, one tally mark per use (an idea page shows the same relation from the other end, as its shelf of stories)

contents · one story, 4 jobsuses

the Other ×1 death of God ×1 the big Other ×1 superego ×1

Its cast and sources

populated by

Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer2 Franco Berardi2 Nicolas Malebranche3 Paul Auster1 Origen (Origenes)1 Helmut Reichelt1 John Kenneth Galbraith1 Karl Löwith1

alongside works

Annie Hall4 Gangnam Style2 Wild at Heart2 The Act of Killing2 The Thirteenth Floor1 New York Trilogy1 Wittgenstein on Rules1 The Gray Eminence1

Told together with

25% Gangnam Style as ideology 2 shared talks 13% Žižek's father dying, no deathbed reconciliation 2 shared talks 13% Darian Leader patient / 'Bed for two please' 2 shared talks 8% Book of Job as first critique of ideology 2 shared talks

Every retelling 8

16:23 Neurosciences and Freedom2014-11-11 · 2:11:34

Two rabbis dispute a theological question; a heavenly voice sides with one, but the losing rabbi invokes Moses's commandment 'follow the multitude,' telling God he has no say. God responds 'my children have vanquished me' and runs away., illustrating God decentered from the big Other,symbolic law exceeds God,Judaism's demystification of God

20:27 Can One Really Tolerate A Neighbor?2006-11-19 · 1:50:41

In a Kabbalistic story, Rabbi Eliezer loses a debate with other sages; God intervenes on his behalf, but a sage dismisses God as an 'old stupid man who screwed up creation' with no right to debate, and God accepts the rebuke., illustrating imperfect God,Judeo-Christian tradition,inexistence of the big Other

~0:13 On the Desert of Post-Ideology2012-10-02 · 1:59:31

In the Babylonian Talmud, two rabbis debating theology summon God to adjudicate; the winning rabbi shouts at God that He did his job poorly and should leave, and God says 'you are right' and runs away. Žižek reads this as Judaism's strategy to keep God at a distance., illustrating God of the Real,Judaism and the Real,keeping God at a distance

49:01 God in Pain2012-04-24 · 1:16:53

In a Talmudic story, two rabbis debate; the losing rabbi invokes God as final authority. The winning rabbi shouts at God that his creation job is done and he should leave them to debate the consequences. God laughs and says 'My children have defeated me.', illustrating God's retirement after creation,human autonomy,Jewish theology of divine withdrawal

~0:05 The Year of Dangerous Dreams2013-02-25 · 1:21:32

Two rabbis debate a theological point; one invokes God himself as judge; God appears but is shouted down and told to leave theological thinking to the educated, God concedes ('my pupils beat me but they are right') and runs away. Illustrates Jewish tradition's refusal of divine authority in interpretation., illustrating God and authority,Jewish intellectual tradition,the Big Other doesn't exist

10:58 Psychoanalysis and Philosophy2013-09-24 · 46:18

Two rabbis debate theology; the losing one invokes God to adjudicate, but the winning rabbi shouts God down ('you old idiot, you did your job, now leave us to debate'), and God meekly agrees and leaves., illustrating superego divinity,religion, permissiveness, and the superego