Rabbi Ezriel, thank you for replying.

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Continue reading on. The answer becomes quite clear.

As I have mentioned, I did read all the way through the given links. The answer has not become clear at all. I believe that my question is not being understood. So I will try again.

You said: "The changes in society are cosmetic, to say the least. So today people do not worship idols such as Ba'al, Ra, Zeus, Apollo, and Pharoh. Instead they worship Media, Technology, Popular Culture, Consumerism, and the ever popular Mammon."

Agreed, idolatry still exists today. Throughout time, idolatry has been practiced by wayward Jew and Gentile alike. The Torah provides mitzvot that apply to these ongoing situations.

However, there were only seven societies/cultures - existing only in the past - only in a specific place - which God singled out for complete and utter annihilation - men, women, children - with no mercy.
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1 When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and shall cast out many nations before thee, the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; 2 and when the LORD thy God shall deliver them up before thee, and thou shalt smite them; then thou shalt utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them;

~ Deuteronomy Chapter 7


specific time = "WHEN the LORD thy God shall bring thee."

specific place = "into the LAND whither thou goest to possess it"

specific society/culture = "the HITTITE, and the GIRGASHITE, and the AMORITE, and the CANAANITE, and the PERIZZITE, and the HIVITE, and the JEBUSITE"

the commandment = "thou shalt smite them; then thou shalt utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them" The text is clear. Utter destruction is the commandment for these SEVEN SOCIETIES/CULTURES only, in that specific LAND only, in that specific TIME only.

To further illustrate, here are two more examples of commandments that applied only to specific PEOPLE in specific PLACES in specific TIMES.
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The instruction to knock on the next door neighbor's door on erev Pesach of the exodus and to ask for gifts was an obligation only once in the history of the world.

The instructions regarding not leaving over the mohn only applied during those forty years while traveling in the midbor.

www.torahweb.org/torah/20..._tzav.html


As a third example, there were commands specifically connected to the demonstration at Sinai - commands that were binding only that one time in history - a situation never to be repeated (ie, a voice never heard again). All of these Torah commandments were given only for a specific time / place / people.

I am asking for your position that reconciles these facts with your previous comment: "Things done for a specic time / place can be enacted by the Rabbis in times of need, but the Torah is eternal." How are the above commandments (now totaling four) eternally binding, as opposed to applying only to the specific time / place / society / culture.

Thank you in advance for your time.