Madness and Mysticism: the Tale of Elazar ben Arach
פתח ר"א בן ערך במעשה המרכבה ודרש וירדה אש מן השמים וסיבבה כל האילנות שבשדה פתחו כולן ואמרו שירה מה שירה אמרו (תהלים קמח, ז) הללו את ה' מן הארץ תנינים וכל תהומות עץ פרי וכל ארזים הללויה נענה מלאך מן האש ואמר הן הן מעשה המרכבה עמד רבן יוחנן ב"ז ונשקו על ראשו ואמר ברוך ה' אלהי ישראל שנתן בן לאברהם אבינו שיודע להבין ולחקור ולדרוש במעשה מרכבה!
Rabbi Elazar began his teaching on the “Work of the Chariot” (secret teaching on the nature of the Divine Realms) and fire came down from heaven and encompassed all the trees in the field; thereupon, they all began to utter song. What was the song they uttered? Praise the Lord from the earth…fruitful trees and all cedars…An angel then answered from the fire and said: “this is the very Work of the Chariot!”. Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai [his teacher] rose and kissed him on his head and said: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who has given a son to abraham our father, who knows how to understand and to speculate and to investigate the Work of the Chariot!
חמרא דפרוגייתא ומיא דדיומסת קיפחו עשרת השבטים מישראל רבי אלעזר בן ערך איקלע להתם אימשיך בתרייהו איעקר תלמודיה כי הדר אתא קם למיקרי בספרא בעא למיקרא (שמות יב, ב) החדש הזה לכם אמר החרש היה לבם בעו רבנן רחמי עליה והדר תלמודיה
The wine of Perugita and the waters of Diomset cut off the Ten Tribes from Israel. R. Elazar ben Arach visited that place. He was attracted to them, and in consequence his learning was uprooted. When he returned, he arose to read from the Torah scroll. He wished to read: Hachodesh Hazeh Lachem (this month shall be unto you the first of months), [but instead] he read Hacheresh Hayah Libam (Are their hearts deaf?) But the sages prayed for him and his learning returned.
- What is the line between mysticism and madness, according to these two texts? (i.e. what is the difference between "madness" and an "altered state of consciousness?)
- What does the idiom "his learning was uprooted" suggest to you about the rabbis' conception of madness?
- What is the cause of Elazar's madness, according to the second text?
- Do you think that Elazar ben Arach is "mad"?
Legal competence and the Shoteh
The Shoteh, often translated as “madman”, is in a legal category (along with minors and the deaf) which is considered to have an impaired capacity for abstract awareness or intention, and is therefore exempt from certain commandments and barred from certain ritual roles.
ת"ר איזהו שוטה היוצא יחידי בלילה והלן בבית הקברות והמקרע את כסותו איתמר רב הונא אמר עד שיהו כולן בבת אחת ר' יוחנן אמר אפי' באחת מהן
היכי דמי אי דעביד להו דרך שטות אפי' בחדא נמי אי דלא עביד להו דרך שטות אפילו כולהו נמי לא
Our sages teach: who is a shoteh? One who goes out alone at night, and who sleeps in the graveyard, and who tears his clothing. It is said that Rav Huna said: [he is not considered a Shoteh] until all three [behaviors are present], and Rabbi Yochanan said: it only requires one [of these behaviors].
To what is this case similar? If he does these things in the way of Shtoot (the way in which a Shoteh would do things), [he is to be considered a Shoteh even through one [of the behaviors]. If he does not do them in the way of Shtoot, even in all of them are present he is not [to be considered a Shoteh].
- After reading this text, how would you translate the word Shoteh?
- What kinds of criteria are used to determine if a person is a Shoteh? What kinds of criteria are NOT used?
- What criteria would you use to determine legal competence?
- What are the rabbis struggling with in the second half of this text?
Practical Implications: Marriage and Divorce
Excerpted from: Jacobs, Louis. "Judaism and Mental Illness" myjewishlearning.com
The problem of defining insanity is particularly acute in connection with divorce…..An insane husband cannot divorce his wife because he lacks the requisite degree of mental stability to know what he is doing. An insane person cannot effect a valid marriage, but it is possible for a man whose mental capacity is weak to contract a valid marriage in his lucid periods. It follows that it is possible, because of the difficulties inherent in the problem of defining insanity, that a man of weak mind may have possessed a sufficient degree of mental stability for his marriage to be valid and yet lack that degree when he attempts to divorce his wife. Such a marriage would result in the wife becoming an agunah, a woman technically married to a husband from whom she cannot obtain a legal divorce. The tendency among Rabbis today is to be lenient with regard to some forms of mental illness such as split personality or manic depression, so as to allow the divorce provided the husband's mind is sufficiently lucid to enable him to know what he is doing when he authorizes the delivery of the get, the bill of divorce.
Emotional Struggle and the Teachings of Rebbe Nachman
Born in 1772 in Medzhibidzh Ukraine, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov became one of the most brilliant Hasidic luminaries of his day. He struggled deeply with existential sadness and feelings of unworthiness, and at the same time emphasized the importance of joy in spiritual life. Breslover Hasidim today do not have a living Rebbe, and instead continue to consider Rebbe Nachman their leader.