Post by Rabbi Neil on Nov 29, 2019 18:44:03 GMT
How was Torah written down? An obvious way to answer this question would be to consult Biblical scholarship, which clearly suggests that the Torah was written down by the Jerusalemite priests. But let’s not go that way of modern inquiry and instead ask what our Rabbinic tradition says about how Torah was written down. We may be tempted to think that the answer is simple – God told Moses and Moses wrote it down. But while many Jews today will say that’s our tradition’s response, it’s actually more complex than that. The Torah says on a number of occasions that Moses wrote down “this instruction,” in Hebrew, this “Torah.” While Biblical scholars suggest that this relates to the laws around it, the Rabbis took this as an indication that Moses wrote down the whole thing that they called Torah – that is, the five books of Moses.
The most common Rabbinic view on how that happened is expressed by Rabbi Meir who said “Moses wrote whatever the Holy Blessed One told him.” That is to say, the Torah was dictated by God to Moses who wrote it down as a faithful scribe. Rabbi Shimon in the Talmud agrees, saying (Bava Batra 15b) “The Holy Blessed One spoke and Moses wrote.” This would certainly accord with a phrase in our liturgy – al pi adonai b’yad moshe – from the mouth of God to the hand of Moses. There is an important thing to add here which is that this would mean that Moses wrote down the details of his own death to come, in the past tense, something which Rabbinic legend picks up on and suggests he did with tears in his eyes. Others suggest, however, that Moses wrote up to the point of his death, and Joshua finished the Torah afterwards.
Essentially, though, the idea that God spoke to Moses carries with it a two-fold instruction according to our tradition – that Moses should pass on the Torah to the people verbally and that Moses should also write it down. Rashi, it should be noted, says that there wasn’t a two-fold commandment, but rather “after all the portions of the Torah had been spoken to him, they were ordered in his memory until he wrote them down.” That is to say, Moses heard, arranged, and then wrote it down in order to transmit it to the people. A subtle but important difference.
There is another theory that appeared in Rabbinic writings, though, which is interesting to explore. The medieval commentator Nachmanides said that Moses was like a scribe copying from a book, a view which Heschel calls the Transcription Theory as opposed to the Narration Theory. In this viewpoint of Nachmanides, Moses saw the written Torah in front of him and copied it from one scroll to another. This viewpoint is based on a saying by Shimon ben Lakish in the Midrash, who said that the “Torah which was given to Moses had parchment of white fire and letters of black fire. While writing it, Moses wiped the pen in his hair, from which he got his radiant face.” Historically speaking, it is very interesting that Resh Lakish puts a pen in Moses’ hand despite the fact that such things were not around in the area at the time, but we ignore that for now. The idea of transcribing Torah from an original text brings us strongly into the Midrashic tradition. At the very beginning of Genesis Rabbah, we learn the idea that there was a primordial Torah – a Torah that pre-existed creation, that, according to the Midrash, God consulted in order to create the universe. It’s quite extraordinary when we stop to think about it that even God studied Torah in order to create the universe.
The idea of a primordial Torah troubles some commentators, though. If the universe had not yet been created, how could there pre-exist a Torah? Two answers are given – one says that it wasn’t physical but spiritual so the fact that the physical universe didn’t exist yet isn’t a problem. The other opinion says that it was written in fire and only God knows how it could have existed before the universe existed!
Rabbi Akiva suggested that when Moses was in heaven, all the laws and details of Torah were given at one time. Rabbi Ishmael, however, thought that the Torah wasn’t given at one time but was given to the Israelites gradually so that they could learn them better. The suggestion here is that God gave the Israelites some commandments on the Tablets at Sinai in the Book of Exodus and then later completed giving them the Torah in the Book of Deuteronomy. However, the viewpoint that the Torah was all given at one time is prevalent, and some Sages suggest that the Ten Commandments had all the other commandments implicit within them. As such, the entire Torah was given on Sinai.
But if that’s the case, if the whole Torah was given on the stone tablets, doesn’t Torah say that they were inscribed with the finger of God? That means that it wasn’t Moses who wrote down Torah, but God. True, after Moses breaks the first set, he is told to inscribe the second set. So, perhaps, God originally wrote Torah, but Moses’ act of anger at the Israelites for breaking the tablets meant that he had to write down Torah in the end. That would be the logical inference, but there is another Rabbinic opinion that says that just as the first tablets were inscribed by God, so the entire Torah was actually written by God. One Rabbi notes that just as with the tablets it appeared that Moses was writing them even though God was actually writing, so too with Torah it appeared as though Moses was writing, but in reality it was God. There are midrashim which support this theory, for example the midrash that describes Moses ascending to heaven and finding God writing letters in the scroll.
We therefore have a confusing array of traditions about how Torah was written down. Some point to Moses in entirety, some suggest Moses for most of Torah and Joshua for the end, some say that it was all God but it just looked like Moses was writing it down.
Why is it worth asking these questions about how the Torah was written down? It’s actually of fundamental importance because I believe it teaches us to recognize that every word in our tradition is open for interpretation. Even a seemingly innocuous phrase like “Moses wrote down this Torah” can be interpreted in a multitude of ways.
Shavuot, the festival that starts tomorrow evening, was ascribed by the Rabbis as the time of the Revelation at Sinai. We re-enact that moment of receiving God’s word. The image from the previous midrashim suggest one single unchangeable text, a primordial Torah that served as the basis for our Torah. But there is an essential midrash for us to remember at Shavuot. God spoke bekocho shel kol echad v’echad ¬– according to the individual ability of each and every listener (ExR 29:1). The Revelation was communal, but also deeply personal. Every person received their own Torah according to their ability. That means that even if there is one primordial set text, we all receive Torah in differing ways. It means that the way we understand Torah can change and grow, perhaps must change and grow. It means that we have a duty, just like God Almighty, to look into Torah to see what it means to us.
Receiving Torah on Shavuot is not just a passive thing – it’s not plonked in our laps for us to open only when we feel like it. Receiving Torah on Shavuot is an active thing. We receive Torah as a living, breathing document. We question its words, we explore them, we try to discover the consequences of them. Receiving Torah doesn’t mean acceptance, it means questioning. It means exploring. So, this year on Shavuot as we accept God’s Torah, let us plumb the depths of God’s word, let us explore and expound, and let us do so together. Amen.
The most common Rabbinic view on how that happened is expressed by Rabbi Meir who said “Moses wrote whatever the Holy Blessed One told him.” That is to say, the Torah was dictated by God to Moses who wrote it down as a faithful scribe. Rabbi Shimon in the Talmud agrees, saying (Bava Batra 15b) “The Holy Blessed One spoke and Moses wrote.” This would certainly accord with a phrase in our liturgy – al pi adonai b’yad moshe – from the mouth of God to the hand of Moses. There is an important thing to add here which is that this would mean that Moses wrote down the details of his own death to come, in the past tense, something which Rabbinic legend picks up on and suggests he did with tears in his eyes. Others suggest, however, that Moses wrote up to the point of his death, and Joshua finished the Torah afterwards.
Essentially, though, the idea that God spoke to Moses carries with it a two-fold instruction according to our tradition – that Moses should pass on the Torah to the people verbally and that Moses should also write it down. Rashi, it should be noted, says that there wasn’t a two-fold commandment, but rather “after all the portions of the Torah had been spoken to him, they were ordered in his memory until he wrote them down.” That is to say, Moses heard, arranged, and then wrote it down in order to transmit it to the people. A subtle but important difference.
There is another theory that appeared in Rabbinic writings, though, which is interesting to explore. The medieval commentator Nachmanides said that Moses was like a scribe copying from a book, a view which Heschel calls the Transcription Theory as opposed to the Narration Theory. In this viewpoint of Nachmanides, Moses saw the written Torah in front of him and copied it from one scroll to another. This viewpoint is based on a saying by Shimon ben Lakish in the Midrash, who said that the “Torah which was given to Moses had parchment of white fire and letters of black fire. While writing it, Moses wiped the pen in his hair, from which he got his radiant face.” Historically speaking, it is very interesting that Resh Lakish puts a pen in Moses’ hand despite the fact that such things were not around in the area at the time, but we ignore that for now. The idea of transcribing Torah from an original text brings us strongly into the Midrashic tradition. At the very beginning of Genesis Rabbah, we learn the idea that there was a primordial Torah – a Torah that pre-existed creation, that, according to the Midrash, God consulted in order to create the universe. It’s quite extraordinary when we stop to think about it that even God studied Torah in order to create the universe.
The idea of a primordial Torah troubles some commentators, though. If the universe had not yet been created, how could there pre-exist a Torah? Two answers are given – one says that it wasn’t physical but spiritual so the fact that the physical universe didn’t exist yet isn’t a problem. The other opinion says that it was written in fire and only God knows how it could have existed before the universe existed!
Rabbi Akiva suggested that when Moses was in heaven, all the laws and details of Torah were given at one time. Rabbi Ishmael, however, thought that the Torah wasn’t given at one time but was given to the Israelites gradually so that they could learn them better. The suggestion here is that God gave the Israelites some commandments on the Tablets at Sinai in the Book of Exodus and then later completed giving them the Torah in the Book of Deuteronomy. However, the viewpoint that the Torah was all given at one time is prevalent, and some Sages suggest that the Ten Commandments had all the other commandments implicit within them. As such, the entire Torah was given on Sinai.
But if that’s the case, if the whole Torah was given on the stone tablets, doesn’t Torah say that they were inscribed with the finger of God? That means that it wasn’t Moses who wrote down Torah, but God. True, after Moses breaks the first set, he is told to inscribe the second set. So, perhaps, God originally wrote Torah, but Moses’ act of anger at the Israelites for breaking the tablets meant that he had to write down Torah in the end. That would be the logical inference, but there is another Rabbinic opinion that says that just as the first tablets were inscribed by God, so the entire Torah was actually written by God. One Rabbi notes that just as with the tablets it appeared that Moses was writing them even though God was actually writing, so too with Torah it appeared as though Moses was writing, but in reality it was God. There are midrashim which support this theory, for example the midrash that describes Moses ascending to heaven and finding God writing letters in the scroll.
We therefore have a confusing array of traditions about how Torah was written down. Some point to Moses in entirety, some suggest Moses for most of Torah and Joshua for the end, some say that it was all God but it just looked like Moses was writing it down.
Why is it worth asking these questions about how the Torah was written down? It’s actually of fundamental importance because I believe it teaches us to recognize that every word in our tradition is open for interpretation. Even a seemingly innocuous phrase like “Moses wrote down this Torah” can be interpreted in a multitude of ways.
Shavuot, the festival that starts tomorrow evening, was ascribed by the Rabbis as the time of the Revelation at Sinai. We re-enact that moment of receiving God’s word. The image from the previous midrashim suggest one single unchangeable text, a primordial Torah that served as the basis for our Torah. But there is an essential midrash for us to remember at Shavuot. God spoke bekocho shel kol echad v’echad ¬– according to the individual ability of each and every listener (ExR 29:1). The Revelation was communal, but also deeply personal. Every person received their own Torah according to their ability. That means that even if there is one primordial set text, we all receive Torah in differing ways. It means that the way we understand Torah can change and grow, perhaps must change and grow. It means that we have a duty, just like God Almighty, to look into Torah to see what it means to us.
Receiving Torah on Shavuot is not just a passive thing – it’s not plonked in our laps for us to open only when we feel like it. Receiving Torah on Shavuot is an active thing. We receive Torah as a living, breathing document. We question its words, we explore them, we try to discover the consequences of them. Receiving Torah doesn’t mean acceptance, it means questioning. It means exploring. So, this year on Shavuot as we accept God’s Torah, let us plumb the depths of God’s word, let us explore and expound, and let us do so together. Amen.