Noah Feldman, Sefaria Torah Talks
We understand that nature is cyclical. We understand that nature is delicate. We understand that nature embodies contradictions. But even the law of the Decalogue is delicate and embodies contradictions.
A one-on-one Torah study with Professor Noah Feldman. In this session, he shares his interpretation on a text that explores the contradictory and cyclical nature of the world, and the opportunities and fears associated with the precariousness of life.
This sheet includes memorable quotes from our study session with Noah Feldman. We encourage you to add these quotes to your own Sefaria sheets by clicking them and selecting “Add to Sheet” in the resource panel (instructions here)!
Noah Feldman specializes in constitutional studies, with a particular emphasis on the relationship between law and religion, free speech, constitutional design, and the history of legal theory. Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, he is also the Chairman of the Society of Fellows at Harvard. He served as a law clerk to Justice David H. Souter of the U.S. Supreme Court. Noah also served as senior constitutional advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, and advised members of the Iraqi Governing Council on the drafting of the Transitional Administrative Law or interim constitution. He’s the author of nine books, including Arab Winter: A Tragedy The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State, Divided By God: America's Church-State Problem and What We Should Do About It, and What We Owe Iraq: War and the Ethics of Nation building.
וַיֵּ֧רֶד יְהוָ֛ה עַל־הַ֥ר סִינַ֖י אֶל־רֹ֣אשׁ הָהָ֑ר וַיִּקְרָ֨א יְהוָ֧ה לְמֹשֶׁ֛ה אֶל־רֹ֥אשׁ הָהָ֖ר וַיַּ֥עַל מֹשֶֽׁה׃ וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה רֵ֖ד הָעֵ֣ד בָּעָ֑ם פֶּן־יֶהֶרְס֤וּ אֶל־יְהוָה֙ לִרְא֔וֹת וְנָפַ֥ל מִמֶּ֖נּוּ רָֽב׃ וְגַ֧ם הַכֹּהֲנִ֛ים הַנִּגָּשִׁ֥ים אֶל־יְהוָ֖ה יִתְקַדָּ֑שׁוּ פֶּן־יִפְרֹ֥ץ בָּהֶ֖ם יְהוָֽה׃ וַיֹּ֤אמֶר מֹשֶׁה֙ אֶל־יְהוָ֔ה לֹא־יוּכַ֣ל הָעָ֔ם לַעֲלֹ֖ת אֶל־הַ֣ר סִינָ֑י כִּֽי־אַתָּ֞ה הַעֵדֹ֤תָה בָּ֙נוּ֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר הַגְבֵּ֥ל אֶת־הָהָ֖ר וְקִדַּשְׁתּֽוֹ׃ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אֵלָ֤יו יְהוָה֙ לֶךְ־רֵ֔ד וְעָלִ֥יתָ אַתָּ֖ה וְאַהֲרֹ֣ן עִמָּ֑ךְ וְהַכֹּהֲנִ֣ים וְהָעָ֗ם אַל־יֶֽהֶרְס֛וּ לַעֲלֹ֥ת אֶל־יְהוָ֖ה פֶּן־יִפְרָץ־בָּֽם׃ וַיֵּ֥רֶד מֹשֶׁ֖ה אֶל־הָעָ֑ם וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אֲלֵהֶֽם׃ (ס) וַיְדַבֵּ֣ר אֱלֹהִ֔ים אֵ֛ת כָּל־הַדְּבָרִ֥ים הָאֵ֖לֶּה לֵאמֹֽר׃ (ס) אָֽנֹכִ֖י֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑֔יךָ אֲשֶׁ֧ר הוֹצֵאתִ֛יךָ מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרַ֖יִם מִבֵּ֣֥ית עֲבָדִֽ֑ים׃
The LORD came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain, and the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain and Moses went up. The LORD said to Moses, “Go down, warn the people not to break through to the LORD to gaze, lest many of them perish. The priests also, who come near the LORD, must stay pure, lest the LORD break out against them.” But Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You warned us saying, ‘Set bounds about the mountain and sanctify it.’” So the LORD said to him, “Go down, and come back together with Aaron; but let not the priests or the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest He break out against them.” And Moses went down to the people and spoke to them. God spoke all these words, saying: I the LORD am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage:
(ד) אֵת כָּל הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה לֵאמֹר, שֶׁהוּא עוֹשֶׂה אֶת הַכֹּל בְּבַת אֶחָת, מֵמִית וּמְחַיֶּה בְּבַת אֶחָת, מַכֶּה וְרוֹפֵא בְּבַת אֶחָת, אִשָּׁה עַל הַמַּשְׁבֵּר, יוֹרְדֵי הַיָּם וְהוֹלְכֵי מִדְבָּרוֹת וַחֲבוּשֵׁי בְּבֵית הָאֲסוּרִין, אֶחָד בַּמִּזְרָח וְאֶחָד בַּמַּעֲרָב וְאֶחָד בַּצָּפוֹן וְאֶחָד בַּדָּרוֹם, שׁוֹמֵעַ כֻּלָּן בְּבַת אַחַת, וְכֵן הוּא אוֹמֵר (ישעיה מה, ז): יוֹצֵר אוֹר וּבוֹרֵא חשֶׁךְ. עָפָר כְּמוֹ כֵן נֶהְפַּךְ לְאָדָם, חָזַר נֶהְפַּךְ לֶעָפָר, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (עמוס ה, ח): וְהֹפֵךְ לַבֹּקֶר צַלְמָוֶת, מַהוּ לַבֹּקֶר, כִּתְחִלָּתוֹ, בִּתְחִלָּתוֹ מַהוּ אוֹמֵר (שמות ז, כ): וַיֵּהָפְכוּ כָּל הַמַּיִם אֲשֶׁר בַּיְאֹר לְדָם, חָזַר וְנֶהְפַּךְ הַדָּם לְמַיִם. בָּשָׂר חַי נֶהְפַּךְ לְמֵת, חָזַר הַמֵּת וְנֶהְפַּךְ לְחָי. הַמַּטֶּה נֶהְפַּךְ לְנָחָשׁ, חָזַר הַנָּחָשׁ וְנֶהְפַּךְ לְמַטֶּה. הַיָּם נֶהְפַּךְ לְיַבָּשָׁה, חָזְרָה הַיַּבָּשָׁה וְנֶהְפְּכָה לְיָם, וְכֵן הוּא אוֹמֵר (עמוס ה, ח) (עמוס ט, ו): הַקּוֹרֵא לְמֵי הַיָּם וגו'. וְכֵן דִּבּוּר (שמות כ, ח): זָכוֹר אֶת יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת לְקַדְּשׁוֹ, וְאוֹמֵר (במדבר כח, ט): וּבְיוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת שְׁנֵי כְבָשִׂים בְּנֵי שָׁנָה. דִּבּוּר (ויקרא יח, טז): עֶרְוַת אֵשֶׁת אָחִיךָ לֹא תְגַלֵּה, (דברים כה, ה): כִּי יֵשְׁבוּ אַחִים יַחְדָּו, וְכֻלָּן אֲמָרָן בְּבַת אַחַת, הֱוֵי: וַיְדַבֵּר אֱלֹהִים אֶת כָּל הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה לֵאמֹר.
(4) "[And God spoke] all these words, saying" (Exodus 20:1). That God does all at once; kills and gives life at once, harms and heals at once. [God hears the prayers of] a woman on the birthing stool, sailors and desert-walkers and those bound in jail, one in the east and one in the west and one in the north and one in the south, God hears all these at once. And so it says (Isaiah 45:7) "God forms light and creates darkness". Dust, like so, is turned to a person, and returned to dust, as it says (Amos 5:8) "And [God] turns deep darkness to dawn". What is to the morning? Like its beginning. In its beginning what does it say, (Exodus 7:20) "And all the waters in the Nile were turned to blood", and returned blood to water. Living flesh is turned to a corpse, and the corpse is returned to life. The staff is turned to a snake, and the snake is returned to a staff. The sea is turned to dry land, and the dry land is returned to sea, and so it says (Amos 5:8) (Amos 9:6) "Who calls to the waters of the sea [and pours them out upon the earth -- Whose name is the Lord]". And so it is written (Exodus 20:8) "Remember Shabbat to sanctify it", and says (Numbers 28:9) "And on the Shabbat day two yearling sheep". It says (Leviticus 18:16) "The nakedness of your brother's wife you shall not uncover", and (Deuteronomy 25:5) "When brothers dwell together [and one of them dies and leaves no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married to a stranger, outside the family. Her husband’s brother shall unite with her: he shall take her as his wife and perform the levir’s duty]" and all say at once, it happened. "And God spoke all these words, saying." (Exodus 20:1).
(ח) עֹשֵׂ֨ה כִימָ֜ה וּכְסִ֗יל וְהֹפֵ֤ךְ לַבֹּ֙קֶר֙ צַלְמָ֔וֶת וְי֖וֹם לַ֣יְלָה הֶחְשִׁ֑יךְ הַקּוֹרֵ֣א לְמֵֽי־הַיָּ֗ם וַֽיִּשְׁפְּכֵ֛ם עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הָאָ֖רֶץ יְהוָ֥ה שְׁמֽוֹ׃ (ס)
(8) Who made the Pleiades and Orion, Who turns deep darkness into dawn And darkens day into night, Who summons the waters of the sea And pours them out upon the earth— His name is the LORD!
אָמַר רַבִּי אַבָּא אָמַר שְׁמוּאֵל: שָׁלֹשׁ שָׁנִים נֶחְלְקוּ בֵּית שַׁמַּאי וּבֵית הִלֵּל, הַלָּלוּ אוֹמְרִים: הֲלָכָה כְּמוֹתֵנוּ, וְהַלָּלוּ אוֹמְרִים: הֲלָכָה כְּמוֹתֵנוּ. יָצְאָה בַּת קוֹל וְאָמְרָה: אֵלּוּ וָאֵלּוּ דִּבְרֵי אֱלֹהִים חַיִּים הֵן, וַהֲלָכָה כְּבֵית הִלֵּל. וְכִי מֵאַחַר שֶׁאֵלּוּ וָאֵלּוּ דִּבְרֵי אֱלֹהִים חַיִּים, מִפְּנֵי מָה זָכוּ בֵּית הִלֵּל לִקְבּוֹעַ הֲלָכָה כְּמוֹתָן? מִפְּנֵי שֶׁנּוֹחִין וַעֲלוּבִין הָיוּ, וְשׁוֹנִין דִּבְרֵיהֶן וְדִבְרֵי בֵּית שַׁמַּאי, וְלֹא עוֹד אֶלָּא שֶׁמַּקְדִּימִין דִּבְרֵי בֵּית שַׁמַּאי לְדִבְרֵיהֶן.
Rabbi Abba said that Shmuel said: For three years Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel disagreed. These said: The halakha is in accordance with our opinion, and these said: The halakha is in accordance with our opinion. Ultimately, a Divine Voice emerged and proclaimed: Both these and those are the words of the living God. However, the halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Beit Hillel. The Gemara asks: Since both these and those are the words of the living God, why were Beit Hillel privileged to have the halakha established in accordance with their opinion? The reason is that they were agreeable and forbearing, showing restraint when affronted, and when they taught the halakha they would teach both their own statements and the statements of Beit Shammai. Moreover, when they formulated their teachings and cited a dispute, they prioritized the statements of Beit Shammai to their own statements, in deference to Beit Shammai.
Noah Feldman, Sefaria Torah Talks
Jewish learning is something that's fundamental to my life and always has been. No matter where I might have been along the spectrum of Jewish observance, the learning has been a constant for me from really my earliest memories up until the present...[Jewish text] is the collective legacy, not just of Jews, but of everybody in the world.
Noah Feldman, Sefaria Torah Talks
One of the things I like to do with my students is I try to say: when you first read text, you want to read in its most literal fashion before you go to the deeper levels of it, and when you have an ambiguity, just try to hold both of the ambiguities in your mind as you read through the passage, and then...one interpretation might seem better to us than the other.
Noah Feldman, Sefaria Torah Talks
I think that the instances of the woman in childbirth, those at sea, those in the desert, and those imprisoned...all of those are instances where in the same moment, God could be giving life or giving death, giving good or giving ill, by the same circumstance or the same situation. A woman giving birth is creating life and yet simultaneously she is...at the greatest peril of her own life...She could live or she could die...
Those who are at sea, who are achieving something they want to achieve -- going from one place to another -- but are simultaneously capable of being swept up. One immediately thinks of Jonah at sea and the sailors...
In the desert is the tiny little human being in juxtaposition to the grandeur of nature, but similarly, they who walk in the desert are also in the hands of God. The slightest thing goes wrong and you won't survive in the desert.
With respect to those who are imprisoned, there are also people who simultaneously are in imprisonment and have the capacity to be freed, so they're also living on a knife's edge. All four of these examples are people in a decisive situation where things could go either way in an instant or in a moment (ba-vat achat).
Noah Feldman, Sefaria Torah Talks
I think the point of the midrash here is that it's all one. East and west are one. North and south are one from the standpoint of God.
Noah Feldman, Sefaria Torah Talks
The midrash wants us to see simultaneities that embody contradictions -- everything in the midrash is a simultaneity that could be thought to embody a contradiction -- and to see that all of these things emanate from God in one "vat," either in one instant or in one form of expression.
Noah Feldman, Sefaria Torah Talks
This emphasizes human frailty, as with the woman in childbirth or the prisoners or the people at sea or in the desert. It [also] emphasizes human oneness. You could be east or west north or south. God hears you simultaneously. And it emphasizes the cyclical and apparently contradictory nature of divine intervention in the universe...Similarly, God's capacity to create life and to bring death and to resuscitate could be seen as cyclical or could be seen as distinctly divinely interventive. It's all to taste.
Noah Feldman, Sefaria Torah Talks
We understand that nature is cyclical. We understand that nature is delicate. We understand that nature embodies contradictions.
But even the law of the Decalogue is delicate and embodies contradictions, so that the Sabbath can be both unique and ordinary, and the forbidden sexual relationships can be both forbidden and mandated, so that the notion that everything contains itself and its contradiction when seen through the eyes of the divine flows all the way from the natural universe through the law itself...
One could say that it's in the nature of the encounter with the divine that we experience contradiction. We think we apprehend the divine as at Sinai, and we know we can never apprehend the divine because we are human beings. The Sinaitic revelation then sets a frame of contradiction and simultaneity. We hear God's words. We don't hear God's words. We imagine that we are standing at Sinai in the covenant because we have to imagine it, because we were not literally standing at Sinai in the covenant.
And you might conclude then that that's characteristic of religious experience quite generally. We alter and experience simultaneously connection to the divine and our distance from the divine. We can experience a spiritual moment and we can experience the absence of a spiritual moment.And all of those things happen in "ba-vat achat." They happen in "one go" and in that way, to connect to the divine is to experience the simultaneity and also to experience the sequentiality through which we live the world and the distances to which we live the world in which it's impossible to feel that simultaneity.