September 4th: Nitzavim and Vayelech
THIS WEEK IN THE TORAH
Rabbi David E. Ostrich
In recent weeks—and in two sermons during our upcoming High Holy Days, I address the human element in Jewish Tradition. Though there is the ethos that our Judaism was revealed from Heaven on Mount Sinai, the evidence is overwhelming that whatever happened at Mount Sinai has been enhanced, augmented, crafted, and edited by generations of Jews who have worked with the Tradition they received.
Though some Jewish voices speak of an unbroken chain of tradition—that the words pronounced by Orthodox authorities are the exact words spoken by God on Mount Sinai (Torah miSinai), I think there are better ways to understand the Massorah: the chain of Jewish Tradition.
(1) One explanation focuses on the word Mitzvah. Though often translated as Good Deed, the Hebrew means Commandment. These commandments, issued by a Commander (God!), tell various commandees what to do. The imagery invokes a military-style chain of command, but things might not be as direct as one imagines. In the military, a General or Admiral issues orders, but they are general orders—orders that depend on a chain of interpretation and application. For instance, if a General were to command troops to invade a country, there are a lot of lower commanders who decide how the county is to be invaded: the various targets, troop deployments, weapons used, scheduling. While all the orders ultimately find their authority in the General’s rank and command, the actual details of the military action depend on the ways that the General’s or Admiral’s officers decide to follow the general orders.
So, though we Jews can trace Torah back to a revelatory encounter at Mount Sinai, the many generations of editing and interpretation—and application in a variety of cultural milieux—have resulted in a Traditional Judaism with a wide expanse of different standards and practices. All one must do is read the Torah or Talmud to see the many opinions and versions within Traditional Judaism. There is no unanimity—nor was there ever any unanimity. Ours is a continuing chorus of different voices working on a holy relationship with God.
(2) Another explanation, coined and described in the 19th Century, speaks of Progressive Revelation, the notion that God continually “speaks” to humans in various times, places, and formats. Whereas the traditional Torah miSinai view holds that Revelation stopped around 2500 years ago (when the Bible was completed), Progressive Revelation holds that the encounter with the Divine is not one limited to one time or place or group. Though the ancient narratives speak of God talking in words to various prophets, many believe that Divine communication is not necessarily in words. A close reading of Exodus 19 (the introduction to the Ten Commandments) bolsters this view: “Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke, for the Lord had come down upon it in fire…as Moses spoke, God answered him in thunder.” How does one understand thunder. Clearly the people who heard it needed to interpret it into words and cultural and religious institutions. And, when times and circumstances changed, the thunderous and still-resonating thunder of holiness, justice, and mercy called again for the human element to apply godliness to our cultural and religious realities. The notion of Progressive Revelation calls on us to revere our tradition and make the changes necessary to move us closer to God’s ideals.
And, lest one think that such thinking is modern and not well-founded in Tradition, here are two Talmudic stories that show that the Rabbis knew exactly what they were doing.
In Baba Metzia 59a-b, the Rabbis are discussing a matter of Kashrut—whether a particular kind of oven can be kashered. The details are less important than the dynamic of the argument. After the case is argued and the Rabbis vote, one Sage, Rabbi Eliezer, refuses to go along with the majority vote. Believing he is right, he invokes a series of miracles to prove that he is right. A tree jumps from one place to another; a stream reverses its course; and a wall begins to crumble at his word. To each miracle, however, the majority replies that such miracles are not acceptable arguments in a Rabbinic court. Finally, he invokes a Bat Kol, a voice from heaven, and a voice from heaven confirms that Rabbi Eliezer is always correct in his Halachic judgments. To this, one of the majority, Rabbi Yehoshua quotes Deuteronomy 30.12: “It is not in the heavens,” proclaiming that even heavenly voices have no power to overturn the decisions of a Bet Din (a Rabbinic court). Is God bothered by this seeming usurpation of authority? Not at all. As the Midrash continues, God watches the proceedings, approves of Rabbi Yehoshua’s prooftext, and chuckles, “My children have bested Me. My children have bested Me.”
Another Rabbinic admission of their Progressive Revelation comes in a Midrash about Moses descending from heaven and wandering the earth. In Talmud Menachot 29b, we read about a visit he makes to the academy of the great Rabbi Akiva (who lived some 1400 years after Moses’ death). Sitting anonymously in the back of the classroom, Moses is completely lost. Finally, he asks Rabbi Akiva where all of these teachings originate, and Rabbi Akiva answers, “This is the Torah that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai. All that we teach is what God spoke to Moses.” One can just imagine Moses scratching his head as he meanders back to heaven. Whatever he learned from God has been “interpreted” many times and ways.
There are some who see such analysis as an assault on Judaism. In fact, the Biblical Scholarship of the 19th Century known as Higher Criticism was sometimes called by the Orthodox Higher Anti-Semitism. To those who view the Bible as a monolith of immutable truth, anything that speaks of human participation impugns the whole command structure. However, those of us who embrace modern scholarship of the Bible and Talmud understand that such insights enhance our appreciation of and role in the continuation of Judaism’s efforts. Ours is a living religious tradition, and we are responsible for the continuing progress of Judaism as it seeks to help Jews live in a conscious relationship with the Eternal One. Each revelation and insight of modern scholarship can help us be better stewards of Torah.