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Scene one: The Jewish Academy, Mainz.
A debate over the nature, status, and role of the Torah between
three rabbis: Aaron, a traditionalist, Isaac, a Jewish
philosopher, and Job, a Kabbalist.
Ryan Renfro
Aaron: Now, surly
you will both agree that the Torah, as the word of God, is the
central aspect of our religion and all of it’s mitzvot
should be followed wholeheartedly and studied. Can we all
agree upon this? The others nod their heads in
agreement. The Torah is central to Judaism as God’s
commandments and cannot be denied by a Judaist. Then
can we also agree that, being the direct word of God as revealed
to Moses, the ultimate purpose in life is to know God’s will
by studying his Torah and then to obey his mitzvot?
Isaac: I
agree that we should study the Torah and obey the commandments
therein, that goes without saying, but I don’t think that
that is the reason why we are here. Why would God create
such a fascinating world, such a wonderful creation if all he was
concerned about was memorizing law after law and then blindly
obeying them without giving thought to any of it. I think
that he created us and gave us the tools of his Torah and our own
reason so that we may come to know his creation and through it
know him. And when we know God, we will love him and obey
out of this love. Isaac disagrees, and thinks that the
purpose of life is to know God through reason instead of just
memorizing his mitzvot and living them out.
He sees reason instead of Torah as the center of what one should
believe, that is that through reason we can learn more about God
than through Torah alone.
Job: No, no,
you are both just scratching the surface! It’s not
enough just to follow his mitzvot. We must
experience God by communing with him through mystical means. If
we meditate and pray in mystical terms, we may achieve a special
relationship with God such as Moses had. A direct link with
God!
Aaron: Well,
I don’t think I would agree to that. Aaron does not
agree with the other two, believing that they have gone to far
and are doing things apart from what they are commanded by God to
do. He thinks that they are trying to reconcile other
traditions with the one given by God, and therefore are not
practicing or believing the faith as commanded by God. We
have all agreed that the study of Torah is an important aspect of
life. I think that these studies are important because they
allow us to obey God’s will for if we did not study
his Torah, how could we uphold his mitzvot? Plus it
is a replacement for the sacrifices, which we can no longer due
until the messiah comes and the temple is rebuilt.
Isaac: Ah,
the Torah should not be studied just so that we can obey, but so
that we may understand it. Since it is a part of God,
understanding it, along with an understanding of reason will lead
us to know God. If we study both the Torah and logic,
the sciences and metaphysics, all of which come from God at the
revelation at Mount Sinai, we can gain a faith based on the Torah
and proven through the mental faculties. We can also use
reason to see the allegories in the Biblical text to uncover the
deeper meanings. Isaac thinks that reason and revelation
both come from God and one can be used to reinforce the other.
Aaron: I
think that it is completely unnecessary to back up the words of
God as reveled to Moses with reason, and I would sincerely warn
you about partaking in these foreign practices. Aaron
also thinks that with revelation reason is unnecessary.
Job: I agree
with Aaron that we should look at both the peshat and derashah,
and with Isaac that there are also allegorical meanings in the
Torah or remez, but you both miss the sod or
mystical meanings in the Torah. We must go past the outer
garments of the first three meanings in order to gain an
understanding of the true nature of the Godhead. It is only
through this in interpretation that we can grasp the concept of
the sefirot or the ten divine manifestations. Job
now is using interpretations which go way beyond the literal
since of scripture and go even farther than Isaac did.
Aaron: Careful,
my friend, that you do not read too much into the Torah. We
should interpret the Torah through the teachings of the halakhic
Midrash and in their literal meanings. If we go beyond
these, we run a great risk of misinterpretation.
Isaac: I
agree with Aaron as far as the first two interpretations go, but
I also think that it is vital that we us allegorical and symbolic
interpretations as well, since they were clearly written with
that in mind. You don’t believe that God has physical
hands and feet, do you? It is clear to any rational human
being that this was not intended to be taken literally. Aaron
gives Isaac a bad look at this and shakes his head.
Aaron: Okay,
I’ve had enough about the study of the Torah. I would
like to hear your opinions concerning God’s reasons
for giving us the mitzvot.
Isaac: I
believe that God has given them to us because they are what is
needed to create moral virtues that will create a better society.
If we follow the laws given by God, we will cleans our souls and
bodies of sins and become closer to a moral perfection. The
mitzvot state and clarify God’s intentions on how we
are to live. Isaac see the mitzvot
in terms of its effects on both individuals and society in
general, almost as God’s instructions on how we should live
for our own sake and not just because it’s his will.
Job: Ah,
once again you have shown some understanding, but have failed to
see the larger picture. The Godhead has been split; and we
can repair it by obeying the mitzvot. The
commandments are a link between God and man, and they connect man
with his own soul and with the sefirot. The
commandments are so much more important because they serve God as
well as mankind and he is reliant upon us to help him as much as
we are upon him. Both Aaron and Isaac will strongly
disagree with this idea that God needs man to help him repair a
split within himself which is a hard argument to make where God
is believed to be one and omnipotent.
Aaron: The
proves it, you’re crazy! To think that God needs us to
help him! The mitzvot are just about obeying the
will of God, nothing more, nothing less. Aaron and Job,
frustrated with each other a usual, stop arguing at this time
before they loose their tempers and turn to other matters. Isaac
smiles at how irrationally they behave.