Heavenly Torah As Refracted through the Generations

by Heschel, Abraham Joshua; Tucker, Gordon

• ISBN13: 9780826418920
• ISBN10: 0826418929
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-11-29
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

Heschel's great insight is that the world of rabbinic thought can be divided into two types or schools, those of Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Ishmael, and that the historic disputes between the two are based on fundamental differences over the nature of revelation and religion. Furthermore, this disagreement constitutes a basic and necessary ongoing polarity within Judaism between immanence and transcendence, mysticism and rationalism, neo-Platonism and Aristotelianism.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Susannah Heschel	xvi
Preface and Acknowledgments	xx
Genesis of This Translation	xx
Formal and Structural Characteristics of Torah min Hashamayim	xxii
Notes on the Content of Torah min Hashamayim	xxvi
Notes on Translating Torah min Hashamayim	xxx
The Structure of This Edition	xxxii
Acknowledgments	xxxii
1 Introduction	1
Human Ways and Divine Ways	1
Observe God's Works	4
Beyond the Boundaries of Halakhah	6
Do You Desire to Know the One Who Spoke and the World Came into Being?	9
Desist from Aggadah	12
The Fashion of Babylonia and the Fashion of the Land of Israel	1
The Small Matter: These Are the Debates of Abbaye and Rava	17
We Do Not Regard the Aggadah as Authoritative	21
This Aggadah Is Pleasing, and This Aggadah Is Not Pleasing	22
Like Poetic Metaphors	29
Superior Aggadot—Mystifying Aggadot	27
A Profile of Rabbi Ishmael	29
Two Philosophical Methods	32
Rabbi Akiva's Victory	42
2 Two Approaches to Torah Exegesis
Translator's Introduction	46
The Torah Speaks in Human Language	47
Things Not Revealed to Moses Were Revealed to Rabbi Akiva	50
Two Approaches to the Essence of Torah	54
The Exoteric and Esoteric Personalities	56
A Restrained Faith—And a Gaze through the Heavenly Lens	59
Could There Be Anything That Is Not Hinted At in the Torah	61
3 Miracles	65
Translator's Introduction	65
Marvelous Deeds	66
Miracle of Manna	68
4 The Tabernacle and the Sacrifices	71
Translator's Introduction	71
The Imperative That Undergirds All the Mitzvot	73
The Command Concerning the Tabernacle Followed the Sin of the Golden Calf	76
Why Sacrifices?	82
The Value of Sacrifices	86
The Advantage of Sacrifices	87
Worship in the Temple	88
The Debate over the Purpose of Sacrifices	90
5 The Abode of the Shekhinah	93
Translator's Introduction	93
The Shekhinah in the West, or Everywhere?	94
From Where Did the Shekhinah Speak to Moses?	98
The Cherubim	100
6 Teachings concerning the Shekhinah	104
Translator's Introduction	104
Redemption Is Mine and Yours	105
The Exile of the Shekhinah	108
Ani Va-Ho Hoshi'a Na	110
We Need Each Other	111
Does God Really Need Support?	114
If My People Does Not Enthrone Me on Earth	116
Heavenly Afflictions	118
Make Atonement for Me	121
A Defect in the Work of Creation	123
7 Afflictions	127
Translator's Introduction	127
Let a Person Rejoice More in Affliction Than in Fortune	130
All That the Holy and Blessed One Does Is for Good	133
Who Is like You, Who Sees the Humiliation of Your Children and Remains Silent?	135
The Advantage of Afflictions	138
Can This Be Torah and Its Reward?	140
8 Torah and Life	144
Translator's Introduction	144
They Loved You—Unto Death	145
That One May Live by Them—And Not Die by Them	148
Between the Extremes	149
The Torah Speaks of Worldly Ways	153
They Neglect Eternal Life and Busy Themselves with Temporal Life	155
The Pleasures of This World	160
Happy Is the World over Which the Holy and Blessed One Rules	165
9 In Awe and Trembling	168
Translator's Introduction	168
Even to the Great Deep	169
Mitzvah's Reward	173
A Net Is Spread over All the Living	175
Repentance and Atonement	179
Did They Believe—Or Not?	184
10 Duties of the Heart	189
Translator's Introduction	189
Cleaving to God (Devekut)	190
Love of God (Ahavah)	193
My Beloved Is Mine and I Am His	195
Mitzvot Dependent on the Heart	200
Intention (Kavanah)	204
Study and Deed	205
11 Issues of Supreme Importance	208
Translator's Introduction	208
Decrees or Mercy?	209
Divine Foreknowledge and Human Choice	216
The Ultimate Wonder	219
12 Scriptural Language Not Befitting God's Dignity	223
Translator's Introduction	223
Can Such a Thing Be Said?	224
Were It Not Written, We Could Not Say It!	231
Hard to Say, and Impossible to Explain	235
13 The Language of Torah	239
Translator's Introduction	239
Does the Torah Lack Chronological Order?	240
"You Just Don't Know How to Interpret It!"	243
The Torah Uses Hyperbole	246
Human Beings Speak in the Language of the Torah	248
The Method of Plain-Sense Interpretation (Peshat)	251
Homily and Plain Sense (Derash and Peshat)	254
Plain Sense and Mystical Allegory (Peshat and Sod)	256
14 Transcendental and Terrestrial Perspectives	259
Translator's Introduction	259
The Doctrine of God's Image	261
Earthly Beings Have Supernal Prototypes	264
Transcendental and Terrestrial Perspectives	267
Reasons for the Mitzvot	270
Torah in Heaven and Earth	274
15 Go 'round the Orchard!	279
Translator's Introduction	279
Rabbi Akiva Was Worthy to See the Glory	280
The Way of Prophecy and the Way of Apocalypse	286
They Sought to Suppress the Book of Ezekiel	288
Did God Reveal the Heavenly Secrets to Abraham or Moses?	290
The Prophet Hears, the Apocalyptist Sees	293
God Showed Them with a Finger	295
16 Beholding the Face of God	299
Translator's Introduction	299
Your Face I Will Seek	300
"For No Mortal Can See Me and Live"	303
Did Moses Indeed See God's Image?	305
"He Saw God's Image Immediately"	307
Moses and the Angels	309
"We Wish to See Our King!"	309
At the Sea, the Handmaid Saw What Ezekiel Did Not	311
The Sin of Sinai	312
The Debate in the Period of the Amoraim	314
Did the Israelites See God's Glory?	315
Whoever Sees the Divine Presence Does Not Die	317
Moses' Request in the Perspective of the Middle Ages	318
17 The Torah That Is in Heaven	321
Translator's Introduction	321
Torah: Heaven's Daughter	322
Torah Was Brought Down from Heaven	324
Primordial Torah	325
Books in Heaven	328
Tablets Written and Set Aside since the Days of Creation	330
Torah Written in Heaven	331
The Torah Is Fire	333
Heavenly Tablets	334
The Idea of the Preexistence of the Torah in the Middle Ages	336
18 Moses' Ascent to Heaven	341
Translator's Introduction	341
Rabbi Akiva's View: Moses Was in Heaven	342
Moses Ascended to Heaven	343
"You Ascended to Heaven, You Took Spoils"	345
The Ascent of Enoch	347
Moses Did Not Ascend to Heaven	350
How Could a Person Ascend to Heaven?	351
Rabbi Ishmael: Moses Buried Himself	353
Elijah's Ascent	354
The Soul's Ascent	356
19 The Descent of the Divine Glory	358
Translator's Introduction	358
Did the Divine Glory Indeed Descend?	359
The Importance of the Question	360
The Controversy Continues	362
Descent of the Shekhinah in History	364
20 Torah from Heaven	368
Translator's Introduction	368
The Entire Torah at Divine Behest	369
Torah	370
Torah (Without Specification) Means Ten Commandments	371
"From Heaven"	373
The One Who Says, "Torah Was Not Given from Heaven"	375
Broadening the Concept	376
The Broadening of the Concept in Rabbi Akiva's School	378
"He Has Spurned the Word of the Lord"—Refers to Idolatry	380
An "Alternate Tradition" Extends the Concept Further	382
Maimonides' Ruling	384
21 The Sectarians	387
Translator's Introduction	387
Four Kinds of Unbelievers	388
The Denials of Japheth in the Tents of Shem	390
One Who Says, "There Is No Torah from Heaven"	392
So They Should Not Say, "These Alone Are from Sinai"	394
He Said, "He Ought Not to Have Written in the Torah..."	396
One Who Says, "Moses Said It on His Own"	399
Deniers of the Torah	402
"It Seems to Us That Moses Forged the Torah"	404
22 Moses Did Things on His Own Authority	407
Translator's Introduction	407
Sources of the Statement	408
He Separated Himself from His Wife	409
He Shattered the Tablets	411
He Added an Additional Day	411
He Separated Himself from the Tent of Meeting	412
Other Versions	413
"Thus Says the Lord: Toward Midnight..."	416
"The Holy and Blessed One Never Told Him"	418
"I Call Heaven and Earth to Witness for Me That the Holy and Blessed One Did Not Speak to Him So"	420
23 Two Methods of Understanding "Thus Says the Lord"	423
Translator's Introduction	423
The Meaning of the Phrase "Thus Says the Lord"	424
"Thus"—In the Holy Tongue	428
"And Where Did He So Speak?"	430
Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah and Rabbi Eleazar the Modaite	432
Philo' s Approach	435
24 Is It Possible That It Was on His Own Say-so	439
Translator's Introduction	439
Moses Acted on His Own Authority	439
Moses Acted on His Own, and the Holy and Blessed One Did Not Agree with Him	443
Continuation of the Polemics in the Period of the Amoraim	444
Prophets Drawing A Fortiori Inferences	447
In the Language of Prophecy	449
25 The Book of Deuteronomy	451
Translator's Introduction	451
Moses Delivered the Curses in Deuteronomy by His Own Mouth	452
Moses Spoke the Book of Deuteronomy by His Own Mouth	454
The Blessings in Deuteronomy	456
Whoever Says That Moses Admonished the Israelites on His Own Authority Is But a Sinner	457
He Admonished Them on Instructions from on High	460
"Not on My Own Do I Tell You This"	461
"They Were Trebled in the Steppes of Moab from on High"	462
"In the Steppes of Moab Nothing New Save the Terms of the Covenant Were Given to Him"	464
The Book of Deuteronomy—Moses' Words	467
"These Are" Excludes What Comes Before	469
Further Reflections on the Subject	470
The Shekhinah Speaks from within His Voice Box	473
The Book of Deuteronomy as "Writings"	475
The Story of Balaam Was Spoken as from His Own Mouth	477
26 Is the Prophet a Partner or a Vessel?	478
Translator's Introduction	478
As Clay in the Hand of the Potter	479
Each Person Is Addressed as Befits His Ability	481
A Partner in the Act of Prophecy	484
"You Have Spoken Well, You Have Taught Me"	489
"His Thoughts Agreed with God's Thoughts"	491
"See How Great Moses' Power Is"	493
No Two Prophets Prophesy with the Same Symbolism	496
A Partner in the Writing of the Torah	497
27 "See, How Great Was Moses' Power!"	502
Translator's Introduction	502
Moses' Stature	503
Even Moses Did Not Attain Perfection	505
The Righteous Govern God's Actions	507
"I Want You to Triumph Over Me!"	509
Elijah on Mount Carmel	510
Prophecy of the Sages	512
The Power of the Court	515
28 Moses' Prophecy	517
Translator's Introduction	517
"Mouth to Mouth"	517
From the Divine Mouth	519
Not through an Angel(?)	520
Moses' Prophecy and Balaam's Prophecy	524
The Supernal Glory Speaks to God's Self	528
The Shekhinah Speaks from within Moses' Voicebox	530
Did the Holy Spirit Rest Only on Moses?	532
Has the Holy Spirit Left Me?	533
For Thirty-Eight Years the Holy and Blessed One Did Not Speak to Moses	535
29 How the Torah Was Written	538
Translator's Introduction	538
The Dictation Theory and the Transcription Theory	538
All the Commandments Written on Tablets	542
The Torah Written on Stelas	544
The Holy and Blessed One Wrote the Torah	545
How Many Torah Scrolls Did Moses Write?	548
30 The Maximalist and Minimalist Approaches	552
Translator's Introduction	552
Halakhot That Eluded Moses	553
A Halakhah Given to Moses from Sinai	558
Even What a Diligent Student Will Teach in the Future	563
The Scroll of Esther	568
More Than What Was Spoken to Moses at Sinai	571
They Did Not Say Even a Small Thing on Their Own	573
Things Not Revealed to Moses	576
Not All of the Torah Was Given to Him	581
All of Them Received Their Share from Sinai	584
Moses Uttered All of the Prophets' Words as well as His Own	587
31 The Maximalist Approach to the Principle "Torah from Heaven"	589
Even One Word, Even One Letter	589
Could the Torah Be Missing a Single Letter?	592
Changes in the Text of Scripture	595
Variants in "Ptolemy's Torah"	601
The Text Euphemized—"Scribal Emendations"	603
The King's Scroll, and the Words on the Stones	607
32 The Minimalist Approach to the Principle "Torah from Heaven"	610
The Last Eight Verses	610
The Last Twelve Verses	618
The Pericope of the "Cities of Refuge"	620
The Portion Ha'azinu	622
The Torah Given Scroll by Scroll	626
The Book of the Covenant	631
The Beggar's Wisdom	633
Individual Views	638
33 Lost Books	641
Translator's Introduction	641
The Prophecy of Eldad and Medad	642
Apocryphal Books	646
The Book of Genesis Prior to Moses	650
The Great Hallel (Psalm 136)	653
The Books of Balaam and Job	654
Moses Did Not Transmit Everything	656
34 It Is Not in the Heavens	658
Translator's Introduction	658
It Is Not in the Heavens	659
Without Sages There Is No Torah	663
The Sages Finish and Complete the Torah	666
The Heavenly in the Torah	666
Lest You Forget	669
On This Very Day	670
A Mighty Voice, and No More//A Mighty Voice without End	671
Timna Was a Concubine	672
The Entire Torah Has a Single Subject	675
The Unity of the Torah	677
35 Renewal of Torah	680
Translator's Introduction	680
Wisdom's Surrogate	681
Renewal of Torah	684
The Lord Releases Prohibitions	686
Changes in Halakhah	689
Will the Commandments be Nullified in the Age to Come?	693
Medieval (and Hasidic) Echoes of the Debate on the Renewal of Torah	696
36 Both These and These Are the Words of the Living God	701
Translator's Introduction	701
One Thing God Has Spoken, Two Things Have I Heard	702
One Who Is Blind in One Eye Is Exempt from the Pilgrimage	708
What Is Revealed and What Is Concealed	710
Disagreements among the Sages	711
Ad Hoc Rulings on Biblical Law	714
Happy Are Those Who Rule Stringently—Happy Are Those Who Rule Leniently	716
37 Against Multiplying Rules	720
Translator's Introduction	720
Whoever Adds, Detracts	722
Against Multiplying Rules	725
Tannaim and Amoraim	729
Against Those Who Are Stringent	731
Stringencies of Vigor	736
It Is Time to Act for the Lord	736
38 Stringencies and Leniencies	740
Beloved Are Prohibitions	740
I Have Imposed Many Decrees on Myself	744
In Derogation of Those Who are Lenient	745
Those Who Fear to Rule	748
Stringencies Proliferate	750
Against Breachers of the Fence	753
39 Former and Latter Authorities	757
If the Former Were as Angels...	757
The Dictum of the Master and the Dictum of the Student	759
Later Is Better	761
The Law Follows the Later Authority	766
40 Theology in the Legal Literature	770
41 Interpersonal Relationships	777
Between One Party and Another	777
Social Responsibility	779
Ways of Peace and Pleasantness	780
A Scoundrel within the Bounds of the Torah	782
Human Dignity	787
Appendixes	789
1. Abbreviations	789
2. Rabbinic Authorities of the Mishnah and Talmud (Tannaim and Amoraim)	790
3. Medieval and Modern Authorities	795
4. Primary Literary Sources	803
5. Glossary of Terms	808
6. Principal Secondary Works Cited	813