Why does the Yeshiva world de-emphasize study of Tanach.
It is well-known that studying Tanach is not encouraged in the Yeshiva world and that it constitutes a very small a part of the curricula of the yeshivot in our day. Some Chumash, especially Chumash with Rashi can be found studied in the elementary grades but subsequently, it is much quoted and little learned. Contrast this situation with the daily chumash shiur delivered to the most advanced students by the Netsiv of Volozhin.
Is it because the subject is not important? It seems not; the importance of studying Tanach is amply documented. The Talmud in Kiddushin 30a states: “ A person should always divide his days into thirds – a third in Bible, and third in Mishna and a third in Talmud”. Granted that Rabbeinu Tam in the Tosafot ibid wrote that we (in his time) rely on a different statement (equal) in Sanhedrin 24a that describes the Babylonian Talmud as being a mix of bible, Mishna and Talmud therefore, one no longer needs to divide his study time but can engage solely in the study of Babylonian Talmud. Understanding this statement simplistically, however, makes void a number of other talmudic statements and that subsequent commentators and decisors were not willing to do. Among such sources is the Mishna in Avot that recommends starting Biblle study at age five, Mishna at ten and Talmud at fifteen[1] as well as others that specifically prescribe not starting Mishna and Talmud until full familiarity with Tanach has been achieved[2]. Underlining this approach was the widely shared conviction that Talmud study represents the pinnacle of Jewish religious learning and it would behoove one to be well prepared before embarking on it. This means, among other subject, becoming proficient in Bible first. The general approach of the commentators, therefore, is to restrict R. Tam’s opinion only to those who have already mastered Tanach in their youth; in other words to adults and not to children. This mindset is well expressed by R. Avraham Horowitz the brother of Shela. He writes; " ...this obligation is also included in the verse "and you shall heed his voice", which our Sages interpreted as the voice of the Prophets. It makes no difference if the Prophets are alive and we heed their voice or whether it is their words that are alive and before us. If you do not learn them, know them and study them, how can you become well versed in them, heed them, fulfill them? ...Therefore there is no valid objection or excuse by which a person can free himself from this obligation.
They say that a person should divide his time into three equal parts: one-third for Scripture, one-third for Mishna and one third for Talmud. Rabbeinu Tam comments that one who has sated himself with Scripture and is thoroughly versed in the 24 holy books needs not devote one third of his time to them, for the Babylonian Talmud is permeated with them. But to neglect scripture to the point where one is not familiar with the 24 bridal adornments - Heaven forefend...is to cast off the yoke of the Torah[3]”
Many great authorities advocated a curriculum that concentrated on mastering all of Scripture before proceeding to Mishna or Talmud, among them Don Yitzhak Abarbanel, Maharal,Shela,Maharsha,R. YomTov Heller, R. Yair Bacharach, Bach, Shach, Chacham Tsvi, R. Yakov EmdenPeri Megadim, Vilna Gaon, Baal Hatanya, R. Samson Raphael Hirsch and others. In fact that remains the final Halacha - Yoreh Deah 245, 6: "One is required to pay teach (his son) the Written Torah but not the Oral Torah”. The commentators explain that Written Torah refers to the entire Tanach.
Despite these facts and with hardly an explanation[4] this study program has not been followed for many generations as is apparent form the writings of Later Authorities on the subject[5].
There are two sources, to my knowledge that seem to place Scriptural study second to Rabbinic learning.
Brachot 28b: "Prevent your children from Higayon". Rashi explains: "Don't get them too accustomed to study Bible because it is "addictive". The Netsiv to Deuteronomy 32, 2 explain this Rashi to mean: "don't allow them to study Scripture in depth until they master the Talmud.
BM 33a: Those who occupy themselves with Scripture - it is good and not good""[6]. Mishna it is good, Talmud-there is nothing better than that. That sounds like advice to study Talmud before Scripture or Mishna. Rashi explains that this statement applied only to the time when the Oral Law has not yet been written down. It was better to concentrate on that, as it was more likely to be forgotten than the Written Law. Rabbeinu Chananel, however, appears to have a text that reads:” it is good which is not good". Accordingly, he explains that Scripture study when not accompanied by the study of the Talmud cannot teach particulars of commandments[7].
Although these sources may be invoked as a support for the current policy in the Yeshivot, the simple fact of the matter is that they have not been in the past. I have never seen a discussion of this issue that attempted to justify the current yeshiva curriculum by recourse to these quotes. The answer to our quandary must then lie elsewhere.
Possible explanation for the Yeshiva world's attitude to Tanach study.
R. Henkin wrote in a Jewish newspaper in 1954 that Gedolim in the latter generations chose to de-emphasize Tanach study as a reaction to the Zionists for the latter derived much of their legitimacy and symbols form the Tanach. They pointed to the tales of wars and conquests therein retold as justification for their brand of militarism and aggressive settlement. In order to deny them legitimacy, Tanach study was de-emphasized. One might extend this explanation to encompass the well- known interest of the scholars of the Enlightenment in topics of Biblical Hebrew, grammar, historiography and exegesis. Perhaps these and similar subjects became suspect within the yeshivot which adopted the policy of benign neglect of Tanach study as a means of counteracting Enlightment influence.
However, such an answer raises more problems than it solves. It cannot be denied that Tanach study has continued to be engaged in by the traditional leaders of Orthodoxy; new commentaries continue and have continued to be written and disseminated. The great fighters for Torah Judaism such as the Malbim and R. Samson Raphael Hirsch, the authors of Meshech Chochma and Haktav V’Hakaabala were also ardent students and explicators of the biblical test. In our own days, R. Yakov Kaminetsky and R. Reuven Bengis, the Rav of the Eidah Hachareidit of Jerusalem were known for their knowledge and understanding of Tanach. In addition, it is quite clear that neglect of Scripture study predates the beginning of the Zionist movement and even the enlightenment by several hundred years, as documented by many of the sources quoted above.
It seems more productive to locate the genesis of this policy of neglect of Tanach study within the Yeshivot in the fact is that the Christian scholars have greatly contributed to many technical fields of Tanach study. As consequence, study of Tanach in depth inevitably brings one to their work. Our leaders wished to protect inexperienced Yeshiva students from exposure to such scholarship before they may be ready to withstand this temptation. Of course, Tanach must be studied and learned by those who have filled their bellies with Shas and Poskim and who are better prepared for the immensity of this task. In our day and place, however, Bible is not a subject appropriate for those who are only embarking on serious Torah study. The problem has become even more acute in our day since the advent of academic Bible study that both greatly contributed in the fields of history, comparative linguistics, literary analysis, manuscript studies and has also eroded the traditional approach to Tanach as self-sufficient and relevant "word-of-G-d"[8].
As an example, consider the fact that the conventional and familiar division of the Bible into chapters is not of Jewish origin. In the handwritten Torah scroll, the text is grouped into sentences and parshiyot, of which there are two types. A Setuma, or closed parsha, is identified by an open space in the middle of a sentence while a petucha has a space that crosses over to the subsequent line[9]. It was Stephen Langton of 13th century, later to become the Archbishop of Canterberry, who introduced a numbering system and divided the Vulgate Latin translation of St. Jerome into numbred chapters and verses. Ironically, the impetus for it appears to have been his desire to facilitate Scriptural disputation with the Jews. Numbered chapters and verses enables a much more facile access to the specific verses that were used as anti_Jewish proofs. The first Mikraot Gedolot in Hebrew were printed by the Christian Guttenbergs and edited by a Jewish convert to Christianity and they employed this very numbering system. Division into chapters often betray Christian theological approach. For example, Genesis 2 - starts a new chapter after the 6th day of Creation and before the 7th day. This makes the Shabbos appear unconnected to the rest of the weeks and suggests that Sunday is the “real” Sabbath. Genesis 3 begins “And the serpent was the wisest among the beasts of field”. Starting a new chapter places an emphasis on the serpent that is absent in the original text and provides a backdrop for the Christian idea of original sin. In fact, R. Yakov cited in the Yalkut on the spot specifically comments that the Torah took pains not to separate the account of the serpent form the rest of the story. Numbers 30 is numbered in a clearly inappropriate place, except to one who wishes to de-emphasize the divine origin of sacrifices.
A similar and more profound thesis is offered by R. Mordechai Breuer in the first essay of his Pirkei Moadot: " The whole problem of Biblical interpretation according to pshat is embodied in: "How the Torah expressed through G-d's mouth is elucidated in the language of men[10]? Great faith is needed to withstand this contradiction - to believe in Torah from Heaven and to explain it as if said in human language. This enables one to understand the suspiciousness...that many circles have customarily held regarding the pshat of Scripture. Perhaps they suspected correctly. The Torah that speaks in human language reads and is heard as if of human origin. If it is perceived so may it be understood - not as G-d's Torah spoken in human language but as human teaching spoken in human language." R. Breuer goes on. “The great scholars of Israel involved themselves in the simple meaning of Scriptural verses in complete faith that the Torah that speaks in the language of men is the very same one that is the Torah of G-d. The contradiction between these two concepts was resolved in their hearts in complete harmony. Therefore, one who wanted to learn the meaning of verses could study their commentaries and the harmony within the heart of the mentor healed the rent within the heart of the student. It is different today. There came to be a tragic dissociation between the camps that study Torah…The Sages of Israel study the word of G-d hidden in the Divine Torah: midrash, allusion, mysteries, homiletics and Chassidic interpretation. The language of men within it has been appropriated by the gentile scholars who have accomplished a great deal in this field; yet, they do not believe in the Torah from Heaven… and a Torah scholar who wishes to pursue the pshat of scriptural verses will scarcely find a teacher to guide him.
In the past, this chasm was bridged through mediation of wise teachers who were completely committed to the Divine Origin of the Torah. This absolute certainty allowed them to transmit their absolute belief in this principle as they engaged themselves in critical application to the Divine text. In our own time and place, such individuals are rare and hard to find; consequently widespread and public study of Tanach in depth needs to be de-emphasized”.
It seems that there exists a good case for not learning Tanach; what need is therefore for this work.
The truth, however, is that this state of affairs is only to be deplored. The modern age had brought with it many new developments and advances in all fields of knowledge, among them those that concern themselves with the ancient world of the Bible. Archeology has unearthed and made familiar to us civilizations that had only vaguely been recognized for obscure Biblical references. Paleography has deciphered Semitic languages long thought to be extinct. The knowledge of ancient geography, linguistics, political and cultural associations has gathered much information directly relevant to understanding the Biblical world and the Biblical mindset.
This blessing, however, has not come without a price. Oftentimes, one can only access it by wading thorough reams of anti-religious polemic, critical deconstruction aimed to take apart the Biblical text as work of many human authors, and barely disguised materialistic bias and outlook. Biblical scholars do not shirk from wanton emendations of the sacred text, making recourse to “the easy way out” of textual problems. Superficiality and lack of spiritual feeling pervades their work. A traditional Jewish scholar confronts the text as immensely relevant, significant and potentially life-changing, not as something to be discarded or minimized at every difficulty. Tanach is above all the document that describes ongoing engagement between G-d and Man; it challenges us to rise up to its level of absolute integrity and purpose. The Torah scholar seeks for unity of all strata of meaning; the academic scholar searches to separate and classify. The difference between the two is profound and emblematic of the chasm that separates Jewish and Gentile thought. Modern thinking is essentially reductionist; it seeks to take apart in order to understand the whole as a sum of its parts. Not so Talmud Torah. The Jew sees the world as a unified whole and his task is to rise to it from the multitude of specific manifestation and fragmentation introduced by the particularity of human organs and instrument of perception. The outcome of this approach is a profound religious experience, though sometimes at the expense of purely intellectual mastery. It seeks direct confrontation with the holiness of divine word as it expresses itself in lives of individuals and nations on the pages of the holy texts. The scientific method trivializes the text as it seeks to master its linguistic, exegetical or social significance. Both camps are improverished by avoiding and ridiculing the other. The academic is made poorer in treating the most profound document in human history as a second rate work of literature missing there-in the depths of inspiration and insight that throughout human history has nourished the creative and spiritual wellsprings of mind and soul. The Torah scholar foregoes the benefits that the tools of modern scholarship can provide. The very rawness and directness of this engagement and the impact that it makes on the soul is of inestimable benefit.
R. Kalonymos Kalman Shapira writes in the first chapter of Mevo Sha’arim: “ The 48 prophets and 7 prophets were a kind of window in heaven; thorough their holy spirit and their words G-d becomes manifest. Form that time to our own time this holy spirit illuminates; even now a person can receive G-d’s spirit through their words and in accordance to his/her own spiritual stature”. He goes on to explain in the 2nd chapter of that work[11] that the Written Law is the level of the Torah closest to us, in the world of Asiya whereas Oral Law is on a higher plain of Beriya and Yetsira. This stems from Shaarei Orah CH. 1.[12] Unlike abstract philosophy, Tanach teaches us directly and with an immediacy of the participant, the practical import is that Tanach deals with and describes the kind of struggles and the kind of challenges that occupy human beings in the course of their lives. It is, therefore, an invaluable source of practical insight, inspiration and guidance, especially in these confusing times.
[1] Avot 5, 21
[2] Sofrim 16:9, Taanis 7b, Sotah 44a,Exodus Rabbah 41,5
[3] Notes to Yesh Nochlin, printed at the end of Shela, as quoted by Y. Levi, Torah Study: A Survey of Classic Sources on Timely Issues, Feldheim 1990, p. 205. This is also the opinion of the Shulchan Aruch Y”D 246, 4
[4] An exception to the general consensus appears to be the Shach to Y”D 245,5 who applies R. Tam’s statement to children at the beginning of their study as well as adults.
[5] Maharal, Derech chaim 6 (117b), Tiferes Israel 56, Vavei Ha’amudim (Amud Hatorah 5), Chavoth Yair 124,Yosef Ometz, pp. 270, 284, Megilat Sefer (R. Yakov Emden), Peri Megadim, Intro to Orach Cahim,, Intro of Gr”a to Commentary to Shulchan Aruch, Even Shelema 8, 2, Shulkhan Aruch Harav , Laws of Talmud Torah 1:1
[6] In the lands of Ashkenaz Hegyon was explained as Scripture whereas in Spain one finds it being explained as "philosophy".
[7] A similar explanation is offered by Ibn Ezra in Yesod Mora, Ch.2, except that he makes the interesting point that much of the material we find in Tanach;”the (enumeration)of the cities of Israel, the (histories) of Kings judges and kings, the structure of the first Tample, and the temple of the future, theb bearing of the prophecies that have already been fulfilled…” we shall not learn form them (halacha) how to secure existence in the afterlife
[8] R. Chaim Volozhiner writes this in Orchos Chaim #58:”To study Tanach with the commentary of Rashi, Metsudot, Radak but all this is not absolutely required. It is best not to seek many various explanations for that is a part of what Chazal meant by saying:”keep yourself form Hegyon and in order that the gain should not be outweighed by the loss, G-d forbid.
[9] Two other authentic Jewish systems of division are in existence in our day, the division into Biblical books and Pentateuch into parshiot for weekly reading. It must be pointed out that the division into books that we currently employed is also of Non-Jewish origin, Jewish sources know of no Samuel I and II, or Chronicles I and II and combine both Ezra and Nehemia into one book.
[10] To elucidate: to properly plumb the depths of pshat requires the reader to analyze the text form a perspective of a human speaker. Essentially one must ask: ”How would I have expressed this idea?”. If in exactly the same way –fine. If not, one must then reconsider his certainty as to what idea is really being expressed. In this fashion, man, brings Divine speech to his own level – in order to understand it fully. In this process there is a danger of giving it insufficient honor.
[11] Quoted form introduction to Eitz Chaim pf R. Chaim Vital
[12] The simplest way to explain this, though not the most accurate is by realizing that the Bible engages us in actual events and specific legal cases. It is the Oral Law that rises from the “ when an ox gores a cow” to the abstraction of a categories of four types of damaging agents. As an abstraction, it represents the animating spirit of the Biblical case; as an abstraction, it may be thought of as being on a higher plane than the actual case out of which it arises.
Re: the pciture, see www.geocities.com/
I question the very premise that it is a new attitude which must be explained. The facts are that for many centuries people have been decrying that [various learned Jews] have all but ignored Tanakh.
In my humble opinion the simplistic reason why Tanakh ends up on the backburner is simply because we are Rabbanite Jews, even if that isn't an internally descriptive term.
Posted by: S. | November 21, 2006 at 07:44 PM
The answer is simple. The rabbis de-throned God 2000 years ago - just consider the implications of the dispute between Rabbi Eliezer and his colleagues over the oven. Furthermore, the rabbis declare in various sources that their word supersedes that of God in the Torah. Their concept of an "oral law" gave them a free hand to fabricate rules and regulations. Hence, if you want Torah-true Judaism, look to the Karaites.
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