February 19th: Terumah and Tetzaveh
THIS WEEK IN THE TORAH
Rabbi David E. Ostrich
Jewish literature in the Rabbinic Period is comprised of both Halachah and Aggadah, Law and Lore, and both are vital building blocks in crafting the Jewish worldview. While it may seem obvious that Halachah, the various rules and rituals, is central to our faith, we should also realize the important part that Aggadah, the stories of Judaism, plays in our Jewish sensibilities. The Tradition tries to draw a line of distinction, holding that Aggadah must not be used in making Halachic decisions, but the sensibility undergirding and inspiring the crafting of Halachah is clearly informed by the thinking that our stories represent.
By the way, another name for Aggadah is Midrash. From the Hebrew root D-R-SH / search, Midrash involves searching the text for deeper insights. It begins with a Koshi, a difficulty or anomaly or unexplained detail in the text of the Bible. Something does not make sense, or the reader wants to know why, or there is a contradiction between one passage in the Scripture and another. Rather than regarding this as an indictment of the Bible’s veracity, the art of Midrash sees the problem as an opportunity to look deeper and find the answer—often using verses from somewhere else in the Scripture.
What most people remember are the stories—which can be quite entertaining, but I have always found it fascinating how the Koshi can be a springboard or platform for teaching a completely new lesson.
There is a tension in Biblical interpretation between finding a teaching in the Scripture and superimposing a teaching on the Scripture. Finding a lesson legitimately from a Scriptural passage is called Exegesis, while creating something and then trying to say that it is part of the Bible’s message is called Eisegesis. Preachers from all religions are warned about using the Scripture for their own purposes instead of what the Biblical authors intend.
An example of Eisegesis is the claim by various Christian social activists that Jesus was a Labor Organizer, a Feminist, or a Vegan. Equally spurious are claims that the Bible endorses segregation of the races or, in the case of Jerry Falwell’s “Moral Majority,” the B-1 Bomber and the Abrams Tank.
There are even jokes about this kind of Biblical preaching: Where in the Bible does it mention baseball? In Genesis 1: “In the big inning…”
Where in the Bible does it mention tennis? In Genesis 41: “Joseph served in Pharaoh’s court.”
How do we know that Moses had headaches? In Exodus 31: “God gave Moses two tablets…”
There is also this one from the New Testament: What kind of car did the apostles drive? Acts 2.1 says it was a Honda: “They were all in one Accord.”
Don’t worry, Purim is coming soon, and hopefully, the jokes will be better then.
The flexibility of the Scripture in human hands is no new thing. In fact, Rabbinic legend holds that one of the ancient requirements for becoming a Rabbi was the ability to prove that a sheretz, a slimy lizard-like creature, is kosher. It is clearly not kosher, no matter what arguments are brought forward, but the requirement called for a Rabbi to have enough facility with the text to concoct an impossible proof. Of course, this implies that there was something more to Halachah than mere citation and application of verses—that there was a sensibility and innate wisdom to which the Rabbis subscribed and which they used in parsing the various arguments that could be crafted. Though anything is possible Scripturally, a holy, righteous, and compassionate sensibility governed their textual gymnastics.
Which brings us to Midrash and why it generally does not stray into Eisegesis. The values that Midrashim teach are all stated or implied in the ethical passages of the Scripture. What the Sages did (and do) with Midrash is find another platform for teaching them.
When the Rabbis talk about God being enslaved alongside Israel in Egypt, they are clearly making up a story, but the lesson it teaches about Divine empathy and investment in humanity’s welfare is sublime. When the Rabbis create the story of Abraham’s father’s idol shop, they are teaching children that they too have a grasp on truth and wisdom. When the Rabbis speak about Nachshon leading the Children of Israel into the water to “jump-start” the splitting of the sea, they are reminding us that there is a human role to play in Heaven’s miracles. With Midrash, the Sages find new platforms for teaching the values imbedded in Scripture.
Next week: a modern Midrash on an ancient shopping list.