Development of Halakha - Part II - continued
RAV KOOKS LETTERS
By Rav
Lecture #20b
Development of Halakha Part II (continued)
The Written Law and the Oral Law
Rav
Kooks position cannot be summed up merely through a comparison to R. Yehuda
Ha-Levi. His main argument concerning new revelations in Torah is based on the
idea that Kenesset Yisrael manifests the will of God through its life and
through its Sages. The Torah from heaven, the Written Law, is a manifestation of
Gods will from outside of reality; it is an exalted Divine ideal that is
revealed in human reality. But Gods will is also revealed from within reality;
the Torah is also manifest through Kenesset Yisrael, whose genuine
desires and aspirations are an expression of Divine will. This understanding
emphasizes the metaphysical essence of Kenesset Yisrael and its
identification with the Oral Law. Rav Kook addresses these principles in the
first paragraph of Orot Ha-Torah:
We
receive the Written Law through the most Divine and expansive image of our
souls.[1]
Through it, we sense the glory (Tiferet)[2]
of the living light of all of creation. Through it, we rise above all logic an
intellect; we sense the spirit of God hovering above us touching and not
touching, floating above our lives and enlightening them with its lights. This
brilliant light penetrates everything under the Heavens. It is not the spirit of
the nation that creates this light,[3]
but rather the spirit of God. The Torah of life is the foundation of the
creation of all of the worlds.
Through the Oral Law, we descend to life itself. We sense that we receive the
divine light through a second channel in the soul, a channel that is closer to
practical life.[4]
We sense that the spirit of the nation, which is connected to the light of the
true Torah like a flame to a coal, causes in her unique way that the Oral Law is
fashioned in its unique way.[5]
Certainly, the Torah of Man is included in the Torah of God. The eye that sees
with a clear lens,[6]
which is the most faithful in the House of God, cannot possibly produce life
influence while ignoring its gates.[7]
Even what a great scholar will innovate in the future was revealed to Moshe at
Sinai.
These two lights create a complete world in which the heavens and earth kiss.[8]
(Orot Ha-Torah 1:1)
There are two Torahs: the Written Law, which is the heavenly, supreme, ideal
revelation of God's will, and the Oral Law, the Torah of man, which is connected
to life, to reality, to history. These two Torah essences are connected by a
single principle: Kenesset Yisrael. It is the soul or essence ("atzmiut")
of Kenesset Yisrael that is the source of the Oral Law. Nevertheless, its
source remains in the Written Law from two perspectives:
·
The essence of
Kenesset Yisrael is built on commitment to the Written Law, which the nation
accepted upon itself and which molds its world-view and its conduct.
·
The mechanism of
revelation of the Oral Law is the midrash and exegesis of the Written
Law. In other words, the spiritual essence of the nation is not the source of
new, independence creations, but rather the source of the truths and norms that
are concealed in the Written Law.
"The Words of the Sages are
More Beloved than the Words of Torah"
Let us continue with the second paragraph of Orot Ha-Torah:
The Oral Law is rooted in the nature of the nation,[9]
which was blessed through the heavenly revelation of the Oral Law.[10]
In its revelation, the Oral Law is lower than the Written Law. For the primary
route of finding its paths is the Written Law, the nations lofty relationship
with the Divine, the purpose of all purposes, with Netzach and Hod
in the worlds and above all of them.[11]
But in its inner form, the Torah was given to Yisrael because of her inner
specialness, and this hidden divine chosenness caused the Torah from Heaven to
descend upon them. Thus, the Oral Torah is rooted in higher roots than the
Written Torah: The words of the Sages are dearer than the words of Torah.[12]
On the basis of kabbalistic principles, Rav Kook inverts the conventional
perception. We usually assume that there is a clear hierarchy whereby the
Written Law comes before the Oral Law both chronologically and also in terms
of its status. The legal significance of this hierarchy is the absolute
commitment of the Sages of the Oral Law to the Written Law.
However, this represents only the outward aspect or appearance of the
relationship between the parts of the Torah. The unique national essence of
Exile of the Torah
The Oral Law draws in concealment from the Heavens and is revealed on earth.[13]
When the Land of Israel is built up and all of Israel dwells upon her, organized
properly with a Temple and monarchy, priesthood and prophecy, judges and
officers and all there accoutrements, then the Oral Law lives in all its glory,
sprouting and blossoming and joining with the Written Law to the full degree of
its greatness. In the exile, the twins were separated; the Written Law was
raised to the heights of holiness, while the Oral Law descended to the depths.[14]
Nevertheless, the Oral Law received secret influence from the light of the
Written Law of the past, which suffices to allow it to live in a condensed
fashion. It continues to descend day by day, until the day breaks and the light
of life will come from the treasury of the redemption of worlds. Then, Yisrael
will do great things, will be implanted in its land, and will enjoy the glory of
its arrangement. Then, the Oral Law will begin to sprout from the depths of its
roots, rising higher and higher, and the light of the Written Law will shine the
rays of her light once again, anew each day. The Lover and the Beloved will
unite,[15]
and the light of the soul of the God who gives life to all worlds,[16]
which is revealed through the revival of Yisrael and its elevation, will
illuminate with the light of the seven days,[17]
the light of the sun and the moon together.[18]
And they will draw light from one another and respond to the land and the
nation. And the light of the moon will be like that of the sun, and the light of
the sun will be seven times brighter than the light of the seven days on the
day that God bandages the injury of His nation and heals its wound. (Ibid. 3)
Here the picture begins to become clearer. The Halakha created during the
period of exile is not an authentic, full revelation of God's will, as explained
above. The divine influence in exile is dulled; the nation lives an apologetic
life, the national spirit is almost not alive in its organic form, and halakhic
authority is absent. Therefore, the wellspring of creativity was blocked, the
Torah ceased to develop as it had in the past, and the wellspring of midrash
was almost sealed at the end of the Tannaic period. The boundaries of authority
were tightened; no beit din could go against the ruling of an earlier
beit din, except under special circumstances. Halakha began to focus on
preserving itself, on solving practical problems, but the spirit grew
continually weaker.
Here, we return to the problem that arose from the letter and which led us to
this discussion: the Torah no longer responds to new moral winds. Innovations in
all spheres arise in the world, reality is continually developing but Halakha
remains static, not breathing in any of this change. Where is the continuous
revelation that R. Yehuda ha-Levi spoke about? Where is the flowing spring of
the nation, renewing the Oral Law through rabbinical enactments, exegesis, and
innovative interpretation? Solving problems ad hoc is not sufficient; surely,
Halakha cannot be confined to responding only to those crises that cannot be
ignored!
Rav Kook concludes that this is the sickness of exile. Not only Am Yisrael
suffers exile; the Torah itself is exiled. Exile does not harm the Written Law,
in its ideal sense; the Torah's principles remain valid. But the manifestations
and revelations of Torah in the world and in history are indeed exiled. The
imminent redemption of Israel, says Rav Kook, is also the redemption of the
Torah from its exile. God's word will once again be fully revealed in reality,
in the present; not just as a dry legal bottom line, but as creative,
interpretive Torah, revealing the spirit of the nation and its holy aspirations.
Custom as the Basis for Halakha
This line of thought, connecting the Oral Law to Knesset Yisrael and
understanding it as the revelation of the Divine will God's voice within
reality is the basis for Rav Kook's exposition in Letter 90. Knesset
Yisrael lives and acts within history. It breathes the development and
morality of the world; it lives and breathes the changes in reality. In its
innermost self, it seeks the Divine truth, and in its actions, it tries to
realize that truth in reality. In its understanding and study, it seeks God's
word in the Torah through midrash, exegesis, innovation and all of
these together are God's clear word. This is His ongoing revelation in history,
the voice composed of the Divine letters inscribed in the Book of History, the
letters of the soul of Knesset Yisrael and the actual letters of the
Torah, each system separately and all of them together as a single, whole voice.
In his "Eder Ha-yakar," written in memory of his father-in-law, the
Aderet, Rav Kook expounds at length on modern biblical criticism. Inter alia, he
addresses a certain aspect of historical criticism that casts doubt on the
greatness of the forefathers, or of Chazal, thereby undermining the
authority of these great figures. Rav Kook responds as follows to such
criticism:
This is but a small amount of the vast general heresy, which impacts even the
nations of the world negatively regarding their relation to the Holy Scripture,
and all the more so that there is no place for such heresy among Israel.
Heresy does not only entail violation of the commands of the Torah and our
Sages and to breach boundaries by leaving the heritage of our forefathers; for
this is not moral at all, and is not specifically tied to lofty ideas.[19] Know this, for we fulfill the customs of Israel with love, although we know
that they were not commanded through prophecy, simply because our nations love
and respect our love of the transcendent divine holiness.[20] Similarly, any rabbinic command that we fulfill is essentially based in the
acceptance of the nation as a whole,[21] which is the honor of the nation and the eternal historical divine influence
in that the more ancient it is, the dearer it is and the more it reveals the
will and desire of the nation as a whole within it.
And even though the Rabbis attributed it to Do not deviate,[22] the clear foundation is nevertheless the acceptance of the nation. This is
clear from the fact that we demand the acceptance of the entire nation that
the practice must be accepted by most of Israel. And according to the Ramban,[23] the prohibition of Do not deviate does not relate primarily to the words
of the Sages, but they are nevertheless dear to Israel, who fulfill them out of
love.
Those who recognize this love with all of their heart are the eternal
foundation of the nation, even when they are few in number the survivors that
call upon God
[24]
Lack of recognition of the
centrality of the nations acceptance of the Oral Law over the course of
generations has caused many errors. Many have thought that the main basis of the
Oral Laws existence has been the nations acceptance of our Sages greatness
and holiness. Therefore, many have begun to be brazen and criticize, in a
disrespectful and extreme manner, those great leader and fathers of the world,
thinking that they will thus weaken the necessity to abide by their words in
practice.[25]
They do not realize that while the great level of our Sages, their divine
status, is true, and that gives spice and makes it more pleasant to follow in
their ways, the eternal basis of our commitment is only the acceptance of the
nation throughout the generations of its way of life. We see, for example, that
the Cherem of Rabbenu Gershom is very strong in the hearts of the
nation, like the other prohibitions of the Torah, wherever it was accepted
even though he was not a Tanna or an Amora. Rather, the nation
agreed with him throughout the generations, And anyone who removes himself from
the group, it is as if he denies the existence of God.[26]
It is certain that the
practical fulfillment of the Written Law requires no less, in terms of its
national basis, than the Oral Law and rabbinic enactments, about which it was
said, God did not make a covenant with Yisrael except for the matters of the
Oral Law. For its basis is the divine importance found in this nation, which is
unique and more glorious than any other nation. This includes the oral side of
the written that is, the acceptance of the nation as a whole and its divine
benefit that it is evident to all. And this shuts the mouth of every heretic and
destroyer, even the greatest advancers of biblical criticism. (Eder Ha-yakar,
pp. 38-39)
Rav Kook's argument here is directed against the criticism that had taken root
among certain Jewish intellectual circles, eventually leading to the
Conservative and Reform movements, among others. Rav Kook explains that the
source of the binding validity of Halakha is its acceptance by the nation.
In the realm of custom (minhag) this is clear, and R. Hai Gaon indeed
concludes that "custom takes preference over Halakha."[27]
If a certain custom has taken root in the nation it has passed through the
sieve of religious and national sentiment and has been integrated into the
entirety of tradition, daily norms, and healthy outlook then this is a sign
that it has substance. Other philosophers, including R. Chaim Hirschenson and R.
Yitzchak Breuer, explained that the source of the validity of custom lies in
popular acceptance in the formal sense the commitment, or undertaking, which is
through the covenant. To this, Rav Kook adds that popular acceptance verifies
the Divine content of the custom since, as explained above, Knesset Yisrael,
in its ideal manifestation, reveals God's voice in reality. A custom that has
been accepted by Knesset Yisrael is therefore unquestionably God's actual
will.
Rav Kook adds that the same is true of the enactments and rulings of the Sages
of all generations. While Chazal base their authority on the commandment
of "You shall not deviate
, the Ramban explains that according to the plain
meaning of the text, this mitzva actually concerns only the juridical authority
of the Sages, not their authority to enact laws. To put it in halakhic language,
the command "You shall not deviate
" concerns only exegesis or extracting
lessons through the 13 methods for deducing from the text the answer to a
specific problem.
The Ramban bases the Sages' authority to enact laws on the song of Haazinu,
"Ask your father and he shall tell you; your elders and they shall say to
you," even though this verse is certainly not referring to instruction in
matters of Halakha, but rather guidance to learn from previous generations. Rav
Kook explains that what Ramban means is that the acceptance by the future
generations is what lends validity to the rulings of Chazal. The Torah
instructs us to anchor ourselves in this tradition of the forefathers, not
because it was revealed to Moshe at Sinai, but rather because that which the
nation has accepted upon itself if as beloved in the eyes of God as that which
He Himself commanded. Proof of this is the limitation imposed by Chazal
on their own powers, stipulating that an enactment that had not spread
throughout Israel is not valid and is automatically annulled. Thus, a ruling of
Chazal or the Sages of later generations might be regarded as a sort of
"trial balloon" that lacks final confirmation until it becomes entrenched in
national tradition and custom, becoming an integral, interwoven element of
halakhic life.
The transfer of the weight of halakhic authority to the nation has preservative
power as well as rejuvenating power. On the one hand, through its spirit and its
feelings, the nation may through its Sages arrive at new decisions. On the
other hand, the force of tradition and continuity serves to preserve that which
exists and to overcome that which is temporary.
The final stage in Rav Kook's essay here concerns the attitude towards the
Written Law. Just as the validity of custom and rabbinical enactment comes
through acceptance on the part of the nation, so even more so the acceptance
by the nation lends validity to the Written Law. Acceptance of Torah is not
merely a heteronomous revelation (determined by an outside force). Rather, the
Torah is given to Am Yisrael because the nation is worthy of and suited
to it; this is the source of agreement to observe and fulfill it.[28]
In this section, as in the preceding ones, we gain insight into the essence of
Torah especially the Oral Law as expressing the national character of
Knesset Yisrael. It is an creation that the nation brings into existence
through its inner strengths and qualities but this creation is like an actual
revelation of God's word, since God's word in the literal sense, revealed to
Israel in the wilderness, was also given to us only by virtue of the nation's
unique essence.
As an afterword, we might add that they are connected also in Rav Kook's
understanding of prophecy. According to Rav Kook, prophecy is not an external
revelation that comes upon a person or a nation by force, seizing control of his
speech or mind. Rather, prophecy is an internal, inner revelation of the prophet
who succeeds in listening to God's voice from within the recesses of his own
soul each according to his own level.
[29] Therefore,
the Torah should not be viewed as the revelation of God's word against our will,
severed from the nation's spiritual existence. Rather, the Torah is an exalted,
ideal revelation of the aspirations and ways of life that the nation itself
seeks.
For Further Thought:
The following is an excerpt from Rav Kook's writings which was published in the
Orot Ha-emuna collection (p. 25). In it, Rav Kook expresses some
surprising ideas concerning the concept of the Divinely-given Torah. Try to
understand it against the background of what we have covered in this shiur.
There is heresy that is comparable to faith and faith that is actually heresy.
In what way? A person may admit that the Torah is from heaven, but the heaven
that he imagines are so strange that there is no element of true faith in him.
And what is heresy that is like faith? A person can deny that the Torah is from
heaven, but his heresy is based only on what he absorbed from the description of
the heavens of those whose minds are filled with empty and vain thoughts, and he
assumes that the Torah must have a higher source than this. And he begins to
find its root in the great spirit of man steeped in morality and of great
wisdom. Even though he did not reach the truth, his heresy is considered belief
and it becomes increasingly similar to true faith. In an upside down generation
such as this, this must also be raised. And Torah from heaven is but an example
of all elements of faith regarding their outward appearance and their inner
essence, which is the essential desired part.
Translated by Kaeren Fish
[1]
In other words, it does not stem from man or his will, but is rather an ideal
that is like an all-encompassing light; it touches upon the human essence, but
is greater than it.
[2]
The Written Law is one of the terms
used to refer to the sefira of Tiferet in kabbalistic thought.
Tiferet represents the full and ideal expression of Gods universal
revelation, before its final constriction in the world in the sefira of
Malkhut.
[3]
This statement addresses the Romantic conception of Ahad Ha-Am and others like
him.
[4] The Oral Law parallels
the sefira of Malkhut, the practical sefira of revelation
in the world. The second channel of the soul represents this sefira. The
Oral Law is the Torah of man, as the Halakah is an expression of the world of
human intellect, will, and emotion, even as it is a collective and higher
expression.
[5]
Kenesset Yisrael is influenced, on the one hand, by the encompassing light of the Written Law,
and on the other hand, it generates the Oral Law through its inner channels.
Thus, the Oral Law is not essentially disconnected. It is a revelation of the
transcendent Torah through imminent functions.
[6]
This is a reference to Moshe Rabbenu, to whom God revealed Himself through a
clear lens. In other words, the Torah was revealed to him in a super-human
manner, without any other medium.
[7]
In other words, the seeds of the innovations of Kenesset Yisrael
throughout the generations, which are themselves the word of God, are planted
within the Written Law itself. The sight of Moshe and the clear lens
incorporates all of the different possibilities, although in concealment.
[8]
Heaven and earth = Tiferet and Malkhut = Moshe and Kenesset
Yisrael = the Written Law and the Oral Law.
[9]
Kenesset Yisrael and the Oral Law are revelations of the same metaphysical essence the
sefira of Malkhut/Shekhina.
[10] Regarding the pasuk,
And god blessed Avraham with everything (ba-kol) (Bereishit
24:1), Chazal write that Avraham had a daughter name Ba-Kol (Bava
Batra 16b). The Sefer Ha-Bahir explains that the daughter refers to
Malkhut. The daughter is blessed through the divine revelation of the
Written Law, which makes an imprint on the nature of the nation.
[11]
In other words, from the perspective of legal hierarchy, the Written Law is the
source on which the Oral Law is entirely based and which the Sages of the Oral
Law interpret and explain. Its status is therefore higher than that of the Oral
Law. This is because the Written Law is ideal revelation it is Netzach
and Hod, the two legs of Divine revelation, the two sefirot alongside
Tiferet, which, as we said, is the source of the Written Law.
[12]
In other words, the Written Law cannot be revealed in reality without
Kenesset Yisrael, and is therefore dependent upon her. How is it possible
for a divine essence to be dependent on a lower essence, which in fact derives
from it? Kenesset Yisrael may be lower in its level of revelation, but
its source is in the higher sefirot in Bina, which is called
the mother of children and she draws wisdom from it through direct
influence. Kenesset Yisrael is thus an expression of the divine that is
independent of the revelation of the Written Torah, although she is obviously
lacking without that revelation.
[13]
As noted above, the Oral Law is considered greater than the Written Law.
[14]
In other words, the Oral Law was removed
from the ideal spirit of the Written Law and became part of the reality of
legal, pragmatic logic, disconnected from the ideal at its root.
[15]
The Lover and Beloved represent
Kenesset Yisrael and Ha-Kadosh Barukh Hu, as well as the Oral Law,
which belongs to Kenesset Yisrael, and the Written Law, which derives
from the Divine Tiferet.
[16]
This is a Kabbalistic term for divinity revealed in this world, the immanent
aspect of God (as represented by Malkhut/Shekhina).
[17]
Each one of the original seven days corresponds to one of the sefirot, as
well as to each historical era until the kingdom of Israel is once again
revealed in its land (represented by David, the King Messiah/Malkhut/Shekhina).
[18]
The sun represents Tiferet, the transcendent Divine, while the moon
represents Kenesset Yisrael, the Divine that illuminates from within
reality (Malkhut).
[19]
As will be explained below, we fulfill
the Torah, first and foremost, due to the power of the tradition based on the
nations acceptance. Our fulfillment is not dependent on the greatness of any
one great sage or leader.
[20]
Custom reflects immanent national will; although the nation is not obligated by
any halakhic reasoning, the nation adopts customs that faithfully reflect its
nature and will.
[21]
R. Mesharshia says: What is the reason?
Because the prohibition was accepted by the majority of Israel. [The prohibition
against] oil was not accepted by the majority of Israel. As R. Shmuel bar Abba
said in the name of R. Yochanan: Our Sages sat and found that the prohibition
against oil had not been accepted by the majority of Israel, and our Sages
relied on the words of R. Shimon ben Gamliel and on the words of R. Eliezer bar
Tzadok, who said: We do not make a decree upon the congregation unless most of
the congregation can fulfill it. As R. ada bar Ahava said: What is the biblical
source? You are afflicted with a curse; yet Me you still rob, the entire
nation (Malachi 3:9) If there is an entire nation, yes, but if not,
not (Avoda Zara 36a-b). Rav Kook interprets this generally Kenesset
Yisrael is the source of the power of the creation of Halakha.
[22]
Berakhot 19b; see also Shabbat 23a and below.
[23]
Ramban, comments on the Rambams Sefer Ha-mitzvot, end of the first
shoresh.
[24]
Yoel 3:5. Rav Kook interprets the verse: And those of the survivors who call in the
name of God.
[25]
This appears to refer to the attempts of
the Wissenschaft (Chochmat Yisrael) school of the 19th
century.
[26] Paraphrase of the Passover
Haggada. The comparison between these words and that of the Chatam Sofer in his
Drashot for Shabbat Ha-gadol is interesting.
[27]
See D. Sperber, Minhagei Yisrael I, Introduction.
[28]
See Bavli, Avoda Zara 2b.
[29]
Of course, Rav Kook's teachings about
prophecy represent a broad area of study in their own right, beyond the scope of
this shiur.
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