Prophets and Sages in Tikkun

W I N T E R 2 0 1 1 W W W. T I K K U N . O R G T I K K U N 55 T ikkun has in its twenty-five years availed itself of many different sorts of voices, some more prophetic and others more rabbinic (sage-like) in their tone. It is helpful to keep in mind the essential difference between these two modes of communicationinourcurrentdiscourse . Since prophets and sages are the two sources of inspiration in the Jewish tradition, one might expect these two types of teachers of Torah to reinforce each other. In a sense they do, since the sages try to interpret the words of the prophets. Nevertheless in a very important way they are not compatible. The prophet is duly instructed to speak only and all of the words that God “puts into his mouth” (Deut. 18:18). Basing itself on the biblical teaching of Leviticus 27:34, the Talmud infers that “no prophet is at liberty to introduce anythingnew henceforward” (Megilla 2b). The prophet is the mouthpiece of God, expressing himself in divine absolutes such as can tolerate no opposition. A false prophet earns capital punishment. By contrast see how the Mishna discloses the rabbinic mind of thechachamim(sages)whenitasks,“Whydotheyrecordtheopinion of a single person among the many, when the Halachah [law] mustbeaccordingtotheopinionofthemany?” According to R. Yannai, the prophets’ utterances must be refined , just as silver from a mine needs to be refined: “The words of Torah were not given as clear cut decisions (chatuchot). For with everywordwhichtheHolyOne,blessedbeHe,spoketoMoses,He offered him forty-nine [seven times seven] arguments by which a thing may be proved pure and forty nine-arguments by which a thingmaybeprovedimpure.”Thedilemmaofcourseisthenabout what God or the prophet means. So “Moses asked: Master of the universe,inwhatwayshallweknowthetruesenseofalaw?”Tothis reasonable question, “God replied: The majority is to be followed. When the majority says it is impure, it is impure; when a majority saysitispure,itispure.” Comparing divine words to raw silver implies for R. Yannai that, like silver, these divine words are not fit for the “consumer” of prophetic words, i.e., the believer, until they undergo a process of purification, and a lengthy one at that, “seven times seven.” What is mostsignificantisthattheendresultofthisprocessisnotanabsolute unambiguous prophetic instruction, but an interpretation (one of multipleplausiblealternatives)ofsuchaninstruction.Thechoiceof that interpretive option which is to be followed in practice is that of the majority. This is no guarantee, though, that the majority has a greaterclaimtothetruthofthedivineinstructionthantheminority. Fifteenth-centurySpanishtheologianR.JosephAlbo,inhisSefer Ha’Ikkarim (Book of Principles, III:3) wrote, “Moses was given [Torah] only in general, as things only briefly sketched in the Torah, sothattheSagesofeverygenerationshouldthroughtheirownefforts fillinthenewlyemergingdetails”(italicsmine). Isthisrabbinicmodenotafarcryfrompropheticconsciousness? Arabbiwithanotheropinionisnota“false”rabbi.Woulditenterthe biblicalmindtorecordtheopinionsofthe“false”prophetsinorderto provide a later basis for following their views? When false prophets arerecalledintheBible,itisonlytodenouncethem. Itstrikesmethatthespiritofthesages’approachismoreinkeepingwiththespiritofTikkun ,thantheprophetic.Whilethemystical tradition succeeded in bringing back the prophetic modality to its teachings, the rabbinic style of discourse is, nevertheless, more suited to our critical way of thinking and that of Tikkun’s. Let’s not forget that unlike the prophetic texts, Tikkun publishes even views that take issue with its editorial position. If its editorials sometimes, in their enthusiasm, take on a tone emanating something of prophetic certainty, in general, its varied menu of views reveals its true propensity for the rabbinic mode of respect. On the occasion of itssilverjubilee,Tikkun and its staff should be complimented for advancing its agenda in the rabbinic spirit of “Eilu va’eilu divrei Elohim chayim—these and those are the words of the living God” (Talmud Eruvin 13a). ■ ProphetsandSagesinTikkun byTzviMarx Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Marx, author of Disability in Jewish Law (Routledge, 2002), is a publicist on Judaism in Holland, participates in interreligious activitiesinternationally,andrecentlyfoundedthelocalbranchoftheDutch-IsraelFriendshipLeague. 25 YEARS OF TIKKUN ...