Spiritual and
Ethical Issues in the Historical Books of Tanach;
JOSHUA, JUDGES, SAMUEL, KINGS (Nevi’im Rishonim) These four books ostensibly are merely the history of Israel from the entry into the Promised Land until the destruction of the Temple and the temporary loss of independent statehood. In fact they are actually, in a specifically Jewish sense, the most deeply religious and spiritual books of the Bible. One does not have to be specifically Jewish to see or feel the religion and spirituality in the revelations of the prophetic writings or in the words of the Tehillim. They speak to all people, as evidenced by the fact that the Bible is still the world's bestseller and there are millions of non-Jews who regularly recite the Psalms. However, it is specifically and intrinsically Jewish to understand that G-d is revealed in the prosaic material, in the political, social and military events in the lives of ordinary men and women, kings and leaders that are described in the Nevim Rishonim. Here are described the ideology and religious thoughts in Judaism, while in Chronicles we have the purely historical. The Avraham Megila Yet what is the record of humanity in the preceding 3 Megilot, over the 20 generations from the Creation? Adam and Chava and their sin that upset the harmony and equilibrium of the world, Cain who murdered his brother, the idolatry, murder and sexual immorality that characterized the pre-Flood generations till the whole creation was perverted by them, and the descendants of Noah who were dispersed and disrupted the unity of Mankind by their rebellion against G-d. "At the time of Enosh, people felt that they were too insignificant and G-d too distant to be concerned with the affairs of mankind or the workings of the world. So they decided to worship the forces of nature and physical phenomena that He created, much in the same way as one serves nobles and courtiers of a great king. This giving of any of the powers of Hashem to any other is idolatry. With the passage of time, the existence of G-d was forgotten from the minds of men, because of their worship of the powers of nature and their own lusts and desires. They forgot that there was a Creator and a Controller of the world, but rather worshiped the work of their own hands. There were a few exceptions like No'ach, Shem and Ever, but no one would listen. Then came Avraham who without a teacher and without a prophet, questioned and searched how come the world could exist without anyone to create it and to lay down the laws for its continued existence. He concluded that the greatness and sophistication of all that was created demanded that there be only one Creator who controlled and was responsible for the world and that only He should be worshiped. So he taught this truth to everybody and the king persecuted him for it. So he fled from Ur and from Haran." (Rambam, Hilkhot AvodaZara 1:1). "The Healer of all flesh tried to cure the generation of Enosh but they would not be healed, He tried to cure the generation of the Flood but they would not be cured, the generation of the Tower of Bavel also would not be cured. 'Let a man go to his country' (Jeremiah 51:9); Hashem said to Avraham, 'Get thee out of your country, …to the Land that I will show you' "(Bereishit Rabba 39:8). Maimonides teaches that it was the failure of human beings to fulfill their spiritual potential and task that brought about this narrowing down to a specific nation, while Nachmanides holds that this choosing of Avraham's descendants was the original purpose of creation. The Chassidic school of Pyshisca - Kotsk, Gur, Alendander, Sochochow - taught that it was not only the failures of Mankind that led to this choosing but rather the need for a society that owed its existence to Hashem and was subject to His commands. R' Simcha Bunem of Pyshishca asked R' Menachem Mendel of Kotsk, "From where do you draw your awareness of G-d"? The Kotsker answered that, as the Rambam writes, when a person sees the glories and magnificence of Creation, there is an immediate awareness of its Creator. Said R' Simcha Bunem, "that is sufficient for the spiritual purposes of general men and women, but we draw our whole cognizance of Him, from the experience and wonders of the Redemption from Egypt". The Avnei Nezer of Sochochow added, "The Exodus from Egypt enabled Israel to see and realize more spiritually and clearly the wonders and the purpose of Creation". In every other faith, religion or ideological movement, we are always told of the spiritual, moral or religious thinking and development of its founder that led them to whatever faith or religion they founded. Not so in the case of the Avrahamic Nation- Faith. In the Torah we hear nothing of his spiritual thinking or of his religious ideas that would explain why he was chosen. "It was essential that the formation of the Nation of Priests obviously be due to G-d alone, rather than economic forces, landed possessions or historical-political factors like any other national group; in the same way as their religious code came from an external source, G-d" ( Rabbi S. R. Hirsch; Abarbanel expresses the same idea). All men and women seek to be blessed and to be the object of blessings, material and spiritual, whether from a god, priest or from holy humans. In contrast, this nation- religion had another calling, one that sums up both their potential and the reality of their long history. Not to be blessed but rather: "Now the Lord said to Avram, Be thou a blessing… In you shall all the nations of the world be blessed (B'reishit 12:1-2). Avraham went as Hashem commanded him; this is the first hallmark of Avraham, his ability to obey G-d without hesitation or discussion, yet he brings to everything, his own observations and qualities. So, the Ramban teaches that even before Hashem's command, Avraham sought out the spirituality and the holiness of Eretz Yisrael; "They set out for the land of Canaan". "Avraham saw the people of Aram Nahara'im and of Aram Nahor busying themselves with gluttony, license, and hedonism. He asked that his portion should not be with that land. Then he came to the land of Canaan and saw its people involved in planting and cultivating, all in its appropriate season. Therefore, he asked that his portion should be in this land. And Hashem said, "I will give this Land to your descendants" (Bereishit Rabba 7:8). This is the 95th installment in Dr. Tamari’s series on “Tanach and its messages for our times” [The
Parshat Va'etchanan Homepage]
|
