There are many Torah passages which could raise eyebrows well into the nether regions of the forehead. Among them are the age of the universe versus our almost six thousand year calculation, manna feeding at least 1 1/2 million freed slaves for forty years, burning bushes and parted seas to name a few.
The question actually runs yet deeper: If the Torah cannot be read at face value, if we cannot trust it to tell the truth all the time, how can we depend on it for truth any time?
No one who reads Torah with any degree of seriousness will fail to notice these and other incongruities. In fact, it is probably the most frequent question asked of rabbis today. What do I tell people? Even more, how can anyone, including a rabbi, have faith with such unbelievable tales and inconsistencies?
I am fond of telling the story of the grandfather who greets his little one at the door.
“So how was Hebrew School today, Yaacov?”
“Oh great! We learned about how General Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. Cornered by the Egyptians with their troops, General Moses fired bazookas and strafed the advancing army while the Israeli navy placed pontoons across the Sea. The people narrowly escaped!”
“Oy,” said the grandfather. “Is this what they taught you??”
“Grandpa, if I told you what they said, you’d never believe it.”
On a primary level, the Torah is filled with stories. The tales we tell are human, full of adventure, achievements, falls, and recoveries. They are great stories that we know well and retell through generations. Think of Adam and Eve. They tell the story of reward and punishment; listening to God and the penalty of disobedience. Think of Noah, the savior of a world. What about Abraham, the one who discovered and was discovered by God? The narrative then follows Abraham through his trials and triumphs. This is story-telling at its finest. These are well worn tales that have traveled the world many times over, through millennia.
On a secondary level, each story contains kernels of knowledge and philosophy that we often miss (because we stop in step 1). For example, the depiction of Adam and Eve serves the purpose of telling us we are free. God rewards and punishes but the real lesson is about personal control and responsibility. And Noah? It is all about choosing your destiny regardless of what the outside world does and thinks. Consider that Noah’s righteousness was singular in a world gone bad.
On a tertiary level, we are guided by the Zohar which states, “If the Torah were mere tales I could tell better stories myself.” We learn through metaphor. In Eden, we understand the trappings of Paradise. We are not meant for utopia. Our lives are only validated through struggle. We are Adam and Eve. We choose banishment because there lays our greatest hope. Abraham is the paragon if self-discovery. We must pass through walls of flames, become scarred before we can contemplate wholeness. We must travel far in our youth to find what is most close, so close that it cannot be seen; only perceived.
Is there more? Yes, there is always more. That is why it continues to feed our souls after a ll this time.
No comments:
Post a Comment