Black and white aren't merely the preferred wardrobe colors of the Jewish hyper-devout. They're also a reflection of the way view the Torah's personalities.
What makes the Bible wonderful? It's that its characters are lovingly painted in various colors, warts and all, glorious in their many flaws, people we can identify with and not some perfect gods. And thoroughly human.
Look at some of our heroes: Abraham essentially gives his wife (twice) to a king to protect his own skin, then, like a zombie attempts to sacrifice his son, Isaac who in turn grows up to be passive and semi senile. Isaac is cheated by his mama's boy, second born son Jacob, who with his mommy's help underhandedly gains the rights of the first born from his slightly dimwitted brother Esav.
Jacob blatantly and stupidly favors his son Joseph, who brags to his brothers about being 'da man'; his brothers will one day be the founders of our twelve (or eleven, or thirteen, depends where you read) tribes; yet they sell their brother to a bunch of proto-arabs (Yishmaelites or Midyanites, the scripture can't decide here either) and tell their father that a mean animal ate him up. Meanwhile, our saintly four mothers exhibit jealousy, competitiveness and are not shy about pulling shtiks. Great stuff.
Jump foward to King David who we revere so, head of a legendary line of kings, forefather of the Messiah to come....Yet this same David undermines King Saul, was a mercenary for the despised Philistines, had rivals routinely assasinated, voyeuristically watched Bathsheba showering below his window and seized her from her husband Uriah who he sent to a sure death at the front on the Golan Heights...I can go on and on.
And there are the raunchy stories which you and I relish. Take Tamar. Make that the two Tamars. One poses as a hooker to lure her father in law Yehuda (Judah) in Genesis (as a result of the sexual problems of Onan his son and her husband).
Then another Tamar, this time David's daughter, has incestuous sex wth her brother Amnon. My perush (commentary) on it is that Tamar was a word in lushon hakodesh (holy tongue) for 'hottie' or 'vixen'. In fact an echo of this definition has trickled into Englsih. How? the definition of Tamar is 'date', as in the fruit of the palm. But this word's homograph (same spelling different meaning) is another sort of date, the one that guys take out. So we can say that Tamar was, shall we say, a hot 'date', involved in two of the naughtiest stories in the Tanakh...
As I was saying, these are all colorful, ambiguous personalities, drawn in pastels, anything but black and white. Thoroughly imperfect.
And human.
So what did the Rabbis do? They took these carefully crafted characters and turned them all into good guys and bad guys. The three fathers and four mothers? Perfect and godlike. Everything they ever did was perfect in every way. And not only that: they were all great scholars and prophets, knowing Torah, halachot, Rashi, Tosfot and each and every other commentator to ever come. And what of the abandoned Yishamel (Isaac's brother) and cheated Esav (Jacob's older twin)? Reshaim. Evildoers.
I once had a brief exchange at table 12 ar some relative's vedding in Ir Hakoidesh (Borough Park) with my cousin Heshy about Yaakov and Esav. As we awaited the khatan and kallah (groom and bride)to emerge from seclusion, I said something about Esav getting screwed by Yaakov. Heshy rose up, almost tipping over his soup, knaidalakh (dumplings) and all, thundering, pointing wildly:
"But Esav was a rasha (evil)!".
"That's not how he's portrayed in the scripture." I said. "And if he was a rasha, how come Isaac loved him so much?"
"All the mefarshim and midrashim, everyone knows he's a rasha! What do you know?"
And so it is with all the characters. Heshy's response is typical of fundamentalist Jewish thinking. Over the ages the rabbis scrubbed the colorful multi dimensional tapestries scrubbed into flat blacks and whites. I guess we shouldn't make things complicated for our kolel boys and ulpana girls.
Brought to you by the same guys that insist that Shir Hashirim (Song of Songs) isn't an erotic love song.
On this day in 1349, a massacre took place in Basel in what is today Switzerland. This was one of the most tragic in a series of anti Jewish spasms of sadism that occurred during the Black Death, which decimated a third of all Europeans. Jews were accused of having spread the pestilence by poisoning wells, though people knew that this wasn't so; Jews died with everyone else.
A massive wave of massacres had swept the region of Savoy. When it spread to Basel, city elders attempted to protect the Jews, in vain. The mob gathered all of the town's Jews, and forced them all into a shack on an island in the middle of the Rhine River. The shack was set alight and burned down with the Jews inside.
Against their parents wishes, a few of their children were saved and baptized.
A decree was later issued banning Jews from Basel for 200 years; the decree was overlooked as soon as the town's requirements demanded it.
*lithograph by Marc Chagall 'Tamar, the daughter in law of Juda'
What makes the Bible wonderful? It's that its characters are lovingly painted in various colors, warts and all, glorious in their many flaws, people we can identify with and not some perfect gods. And thoroughly human.
Look at some of our heroes: Abraham essentially gives his wife (twice) to a king to protect his own skin, then, like a zombie attempts to sacrifice his son, Isaac who in turn grows up to be passive and semi senile. Isaac is cheated by his mama's boy, second born son Jacob, who with his mommy's help underhandedly gains the rights of the first born from his slightly dimwitted brother Esav.
Jacob blatantly and stupidly favors his son Joseph, who brags to his brothers about being 'da man'; his brothers will one day be the founders of our twelve (or eleven, or thirteen, depends where you read) tribes; yet they sell their brother to a bunch of proto-arabs (Yishmaelites or Midyanites, the scripture can't decide here either) and tell their father that a mean animal ate him up. Meanwhile, our saintly four mothers exhibit jealousy, competitiveness and are not shy about pulling shtiks. Great stuff.
Jump foward to King David who we revere so, head of a legendary line of kings, forefather of the Messiah to come....Yet this same David undermines King Saul, was a mercenary for the despised Philistines, had rivals routinely assasinated, voyeuristically watched Bathsheba showering below his window and seized her from her husband Uriah who he sent to a sure death at the front on the Golan Heights...I can go on and on.
And there are the raunchy stories which you and I relish. Take Tamar. Make that the two Tamars. One poses as a hooker to lure her father in law Yehuda (Judah) in Genesis (as a result of the sexual problems of Onan his son and her husband).
Then another Tamar, this time David's daughter, has incestuous sex wth her brother Amnon. My perush (commentary) on it is that Tamar was a word in lushon hakodesh (holy tongue) for 'hottie' or 'vixen'. In fact an echo of this definition has trickled into Englsih. How? the definition of Tamar is 'date', as in the fruit of the palm. But this word's homograph (same spelling different meaning) is another sort of date, the one that guys take out. So we can say that Tamar was, shall we say, a hot 'date', involved in two of the naughtiest stories in the Tanakh...
As I was saying, these are all colorful, ambiguous personalities, drawn in pastels, anything but black and white. Thoroughly imperfect.
And human.
So what did the Rabbis do? They took these carefully crafted characters and turned them all into good guys and bad guys. The three fathers and four mothers? Perfect and godlike. Everything they ever did was perfect in every way. And not only that: they were all great scholars and prophets, knowing Torah, halachot, Rashi, Tosfot and each and every other commentator to ever come. And what of the abandoned Yishamel (Isaac's brother) and cheated Esav (Jacob's older twin)? Reshaim. Evildoers.
I once had a brief exchange at table 12 ar some relative's vedding in Ir Hakoidesh (Borough Park) with my cousin Heshy about Yaakov and Esav. As we awaited the khatan and kallah (groom and bride)to emerge from seclusion, I said something about Esav getting screwed by Yaakov. Heshy rose up, almost tipping over his soup, knaidalakh (dumplings) and all, thundering, pointing wildly:
"But Esav was a rasha (evil)!".
"That's not how he's portrayed in the scripture." I said. "And if he was a rasha, how come Isaac loved him so much?"
"All the mefarshim and midrashim, everyone knows he's a rasha! What do you know?"
And so it is with all the characters. Heshy's response is typical of fundamentalist Jewish thinking. Over the ages the rabbis scrubbed the colorful multi dimensional tapestries scrubbed into flat blacks and whites. I guess we shouldn't make things complicated for our kolel boys and ulpana girls.
Brought to you by the same guys that insist that Shir Hashirim (Song of Songs) isn't an erotic love song.
On this day in 1349, a massacre took place in Basel in what is today Switzerland. This was one of the most tragic in a series of anti Jewish spasms of sadism that occurred during the Black Death, which decimated a third of all Europeans. Jews were accused of having spread the pestilence by poisoning wells, though people knew that this wasn't so; Jews died with everyone else.
A massive wave of massacres had swept the region of Savoy. When it spread to Basel, city elders attempted to protect the Jews, in vain. The mob gathered all of the town's Jews, and forced them all into a shack on an island in the middle of the Rhine River. The shack was set alight and burned down with the Jews inside.
Against their parents wishes, a few of their children were saved and baptized.
A decree was later issued banning Jews from Basel for 200 years; the decree was overlooked as soon as the town's requirements demanded it.
*lithograph by Marc Chagall 'Tamar, the daughter in law of Juda'
10 comments:
A few things...
1) It's a bit of an exaggeration to say that the commentators treat the avot and imahot as "perfect and godlike". There is much explanation of their actions, but they are certainly seen as flawed human beings with whom we can identify. In fact, I've heard several rabbis give speeches very similar to your post, in which they claim that one of the manifest beauties of the Jewish tradition is that even our greatest "saints" were imperfect - even Moses erred when he hit the rock. And if you've been following on DovBear, there's ample reason to see Esav as not such a bad guy. In short, don't assume that your cousin Heshy's views are necessarily representative of "mainstream Modern Orthodox thinking", or even the thinking of ultra-Orthodox who are both knowledgeable and intellectually honest (though admittedly, there aren't too many of those around).
2) Because of the hand-washing requirements in Jewish law, it is true that fewer Jews died from the Black Death. Of course, many Jews died anyway, but our increased level of hygeine led to a lower death rate - and thus, the accusations that we were somehow responsible for the disease.
Hi LT,
Sure, youre right. I know that many rabbis across the orthodox spectrum who possess sechel and dont all think this way. but many do. I was referring to many, many yeshivish and hasidishe rabbis and their followers who have a tendency to monochrome biblical characters. cousin heshy is only typical. fact is, even those hyper frum rabbis that like to add a bit of rouge to sara's cheeks, would still always find clever ways to excuse, say, yaakov's behavior. y'got too. he's one fo the avot. after all, they might say, esav didnt deserve the bkhora; is a person who is willing to give up bkhora for a mere bowl of soup really deserving? but thats not the point. why is Esav be widely called a rasha? he's far from being a Haman. In fact he seems almost, well, sweet. And aren't for example david's deeds far worse? and shlomo was no angel either -- indeed he (and his dim son) caused the united kingdom to fall. yet theyre cherished icons forever. and esav didnt cheat anyone. unlike his venerated brother...
I really enjoy the history pieces, thanks. Where do you get this information?
I hope your cousins Shimy(?) & Hershy are not representative of your family's degree of Torah scholarship, because they are sorely lacking…
I would like to address some of the many inaccuracies in your portrayal of the Bible characters, but due to time constraints and admittedly insufficient knowledge on my part, I will only make a few comments.
>Abraham essentially gives his wife (twice) to a king to protect his own skin,
Gives?!? They threatened his life. He tried to devise a plan that would save both of them.
>Isaac who in turn grows up to be passive and semi senile
Passive? About what? How do you know he as senile?
>So what did the Rabbis do? They took these carefully crafted characters and turned them all into good guys and bad guys. The three fathers and four mothers? Perfect and godlike. Everything they ever did was perfect in every way.
Their faults are never hidden or excused, in some cases their actions are explained and mitigating circumstances are found. And never godlike.
>And what of the abandoned Yishamel (Isaac's brother) and cheated Esav (Jacob's older twin)? Reshaim. Evildoers
Yishmael repented and died a tzaddik.
LT,
1) once again, let me be clear, im not referring to moderdox. heshy and shmilu are most certainly NOT moderdox.
2) an old out of print book -- the jewish book of days, by cecil roth.
3) i dont have a chumash here at the office. but just for the record there were actually three similar stories (2 for avraham in breshit 12 and 20) and a third about yitzhak. wthout going into details the stories simply arent flattering to avraham. i dont think this was such a clever solution, and im not sure how audiences listening tot ehs tory in the iron age would have understood them. there had to be other ways of getting where he had to go.
yishamel (the pereh adam) and thsuva? i'll get back to you on that. and yitzhak, sure he was passive, in the way he let events swirl around him. rabbis would say, well, he was aware of it all, he knew yakov was pretending to be esav.
4) when i say godlike: not just heshy and shmilu, buit many hyperfrum believe the mamas and the papas to be, shall we say, far superior to us mere humans. of reuven, criticized as he is in the blessings, it is said that his worst acts would be considered wonderful behavior for us mere mortals, or something like that.
thanks for writing.
and i really enjoy your blog.
LT:
Yishmael repented and a died a tzadik? mulling this over in my cubicle I knew this didnt sound right, but i dont trust my overflowing and droopy memory. so i checked my daughters chumash. so where does it say 'yishmael repented'? and where does it say he 'died a tzaddik'? not in the written torah. it may be in oral torah, implied from his burying avraham with yizthak by his side.
but as for the writtne text, as they say in the old country, lo haya velo nivra...
this blogging gets addictive doesnt it...
Fun to read and informative. I just hope your finger-shaking cousin doesn't read your blog!
Keep up the blogging; your blog is an enjoyable read.
Two comments:
1) Black and White Characters: I think the problem is that some people's understanding of the Bible does not advance pass what they learned in elementary school. Esav may not be in the same class as his brother, but the rabbis exalt Esav's devotion to his father.
2) Names: My favorite name from the Bible is Jezebel. Break down the hebrew name; I don't think any parent would give their child such a horrible name.
>and where does it say he 'died a tzaddik'? not in the written torah.
Correct, this is a chazal mentioned by Rashi.
So you take the Torah literally, like the Tzdokim? That would mean you spend your entire Shabbos in the dark. Interesting, but that view point has been disproven centuries ago.
P.S.
My nom de plume is MK
anonymous:
im glad you enjoy my modest blog thus far.
1) true. peoples knowledge of scripture is dismal. but youd be surprised at the low level of knowledge of scripturea among hyperfrum yeshiva boys. study of scripture (especially propehts and writings) is often pathetic. they also often mix the written torah with oral law. read the earlier and lter comments here about yishamel.
2) Ah yes, 'Eezevel', isle of refuse...or (off the top of my head) Delila, thinny thin as in thin soup.
Mk,
i'm not frum. im not a tzduki or a karaite for that matter. i separate the written from oral. all secular bible research separates the two.
the oral was the first commentary on the torah.
so that i'm clear, exactly what interesting 'point of view' was disproven centuries ago?
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