Promised Land or Permitted Land: Emmanuel Levinas, Nine Talmudic Readings

What seems so simple in the biblical text, the fear which seizes the children of Israel when they are just about to reach their goal, will become problematic in the talmudic text we are reading. In the great fear of the explorers, we may discover anxieties more familiar to us, which were discussed here this very morning.

— Nine Talmudic Readings by Emmanuel Levinas

סוטה ל״ד ב:ה׳

וְאֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹתָם לְמַטֵּה רְאוּבֵן שַׁמּוּעַ בֶּן זַכּוּר אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק דָּבָר זֶה מָסוֹרֶת בְּיָדֵינוּ מֵאֲבוֹתֵינוּ מְרַגְּלִים עַל שֵׁם מַעֲשֵׂיהֶם נִקְרְאוּ וְאָנוּ לֹא עָלְתָה בְּיָדֵינוּ אֶלָּא אֶחָד סְתוּר בֶּן מִיכָאֵל סְתוּר שֶׁסָּתַר מַעֲשָׂיו שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מִיכָאֵל שֶׁעָשָׂה עַצְמוֹ מָךְ

Sotah 34b:5

The Torah states with regard to the spies: “And these were their names: Of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur” (Numbers 13:4). Rabbi Yitzḥak says: This statement is a tradition of ours from our ancestors: The spies were named after their actions, but we have obtained the interpretation of only one, “Sethur the son of Michael” (Numbers 13:13). "Sethur," as he hid [satar] the actions of the Holy One, Blessed be God. "Michael," as he made God weak [makh].

The first concern of the explorers would therefore have consisted in giving the lie to the legend about the acts accomplished by the Holy One, by contesting, demystifying, sacred history; all that was done, the coming out of Egypt and the miracles and the promises, all that is not true. Or at least it is possible not to talk about it. Sacred history can be passed over in silence. Sacred history can be perfectly explained by history itself, by political, economic, social history. Jewish history is like any other history. Michael may well mean in good Hebrew “Who is like God.” (Do you know of a more beautiful name? A prayer made into a name!) Come on now! Michael comes from the word makh, which means “weak.” Michael means “weak God.” The Holy One is not only a God who has never done anything; He is a God who can do nothing. He will never be able to conquer the Promised Land. He is a soft God. It is insane to follow him!
— Nine Talmudic Readings by Emmanuel Levinas

סוטה ל״ד ב:ו׳

אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן אַף אָנוּ נֹאמַר נַחְבִּי בֶּן וׇפְסִי נַחְבִּי שֶׁהֶחְבִּיא דְּבָרָיו שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא וׇפְסִי שֶׁפִּיסַּע עַל מִדּוֹתָיו שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא

Sotah 34b:6

Rabbi Yoḥanan says: We can also say about “Nahbi the son of Vophsi” (Numbers 13:14): "Nahbi," as he concealed [heḥbi] the statement of the Holy One, Blessed be God. "Vophsi," as he jumped over [pisse’a] the attributes of the Holy One, Blessed be God.

The explorers undermined the legend of sacred history; they said that God would not be able to fulfil his promises; but now, in addition, they are contesting that He has ever promised anything at all. He promised nothing...
"He jumped over His attributes," and it is again very serious. The essential attribute of God is to reward virtue and to punish vice; they jumped over even His attributes. They were perfect atheists. God can do nothing, He has never done anything, He has promised nothing and does not care at all if virtue is rewarded and vice punished. This then is the meaning of the revolt of these men: a crisis of atheism, a crisis much more serious than the crisis of the Golden Calf. The Golden Calf, that was still religious: one switched gods. Here, nothing is left, one contests the very attributes of divinity.
— Nine Talmudic Readings by Emmanuel Levinas

סוטה ל״ד ב:ט׳-י׳

וְשָׁם אֲחִימַן שֵׁשַׁי וְתַלְמַי וְגוֹ׳ אֲחִימַן מְיוּמָּן שֶׁבְּאֶחָיו שֵׁשַׁי שֶׁמֵּשִׂים אֶת הָאָרֶץ כִּשְׁחִתוֹת תַּלְמַי שֶׁמֵּשִׂים אֶת הָאָרֶץ תְּלָמִים תְּלָמִים... יְלִידֵי הָעֲנָק שֶׁמַּעֲנִיקִין חַמָּה בְּקוֹמָתָן

Sotah 34b:9-10

“And Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were there” (Numbers 13:22). "Ahiman" because he was the

strongest [meyumman] among his brothers. "Sheshai" because he covered the earth with pits [sheḥatot]. "Talmai" because dug furrows [telamim] in the earth... “The descendants of Anak” they surpassed the sun in size, or as if they were wearing [ma’anikin] the sun as a necklace due to their height.

[1.] ...the strength of the inhabitants of Canaan frightened these puny Jews, just out of the Egyptian ghettos.
[2.] Perhaps the explorers caught a glimpse of sabras. Fear seized them; they said to themselves: this is what awaits us there; these are the future children of Israel, those people who make holes wherever they set foot, who dig furrows, build cities, and wear the sun around their necks. But that is the end of the Jewish people!
[3.] ...perhaps the explorers had moral qualms. They may have asked themselves whether they had the right to conquer what had been so magnificently built by others. How to dissipate so understandable an anxiety?
— Nine Talmudic Readings by Emmanuel Levinas

סוטה ל״ד ב:י״ב-י״ג

אֶלָּא שֶׁהָיְתָה מְבוּנָּה עַל אֶחָד מִשִּׁבְעָה בְּצוֹעַן וְאֵין לְךָ טְרָשִׁים בְּכׇל אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל יָתֵר מֵחֶבְרוֹן מִשּׁוּם דְּקָבְרִי בָּהּ שָׁיכְבֵי... וְחֶבְרוֹן טְרָשִׁים הֲוַי וְהָא כְּתִיב וַיְהִי מִקֵּץ אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְשָׁלוֹם אֶל הַמֶּלֶךְ אֵלְכָה נָּא וְגוֹ׳ וְאָמַר רַב אַוְיָא וְאִיתֵּימָא רַבָּה בַּר בַּר חָנָן שֶׁהָלַךְ לְהָבִיא כְּבָשִׂים מֵחֶבְרוֹן וְתַנְיָא אֵילִים מִמּוֹאָב כְּבָשִׂים מֵחֶבְרוֹן מִינַּהּ אַיְּידֵי דִּקְלִישָׁא אַרְעָא עָבְדָה רִעְיָא וְשַׁמִּן קִנְיָינָא

Sotah 34b:12-13

Hebron was seven times more cultivated [mevunna] than Zoan. And yet in all the land of Isrel there is no place with more rocks than Hebron; that is why the dead are buried there...

But is Hebron full of rocks? But isn’t it written: “After a period of forty years had gone by, Absalom said to the King, let me go to Hebron..."(II Samuel 15:7)? And Rav Avya says, and some say that it was Rabba bar bar Ḥanan: He went to find sheep in Hebron. That is not an objection: it is because the soil there is barren that Hebron had pastures and that livestock grew fat there.

The children of Israel will go into an already inhabited country; but in this country, the tombs of the ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are to be found. Despite the rocks, despite the vast quantity of sand, this country holds more possibilities than Zoan, which is located in the midst of Egypt, in the midst of civilization; it calls upon those who are capable of realizing these potentials. Aren’t some rights conferred through moral superiority? It must certainly be explained in what this superiority consists. But one can also doubt that moral superiority, of whatever kind, permits an expropriation... the Talmudists who relate the entire story on which I am commenting also doubt it: the invocation of rights due to the moral superiority of Israel is improper...
Earlier we had said: We, the Israelites, have a right to this land because we have the Bible. The objection consists in reminding us of the very teaching of this Bible and of the deeds it relates. People of the Book? Nothing but sons who honor their fathers? Children who obey all the moral principles? What about Absalom? The example is wonderfully well chosen. Bad lots are not lacking in the Bible; but isn’t Absalom in a certain sense the counterpart of Ham, the founder of the land of Canaan? Remember what Ham did. He made fun of his father’s nakedness. And Absalom? ...he cohabited with all his father’s concubines on the roof of the royal palace. So much for the superiority of Judaism! Which obviously gives it the right to conquer a country! One can understand the explorers; one can understand the revolt of the pure. They asked themselves: By what right are we going into this land? What moral advantage do we have over the inhabitants settled in this country?
— Nine Talmudic Readings by Emmanuel Levinas

סוטה ל״ד ב:י״ד-ל״ה א:א׳

וַיָּשֻׁבוּ מִתּוּר הָאָרֶץ וַיֵּלְכוּ וַיָּבֹאוּ אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן מִשּׁוּם רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יוֹחַי מַקֵּישׁ הֲלִיכָה לְבִיאָה מָה בִּיאָה בְּעֵצָה רָעָה אַף הֲלִיכָה בְּעֵצָה רָעָה

Sotah 34b:14-35a:1

“They returned from exploring the land and went and came back” (Numbers 13:25–26). Rabbi Yoḥanan says in the name of Rabbi Shimon bar Yoḥai: the going is compared to the return. The return happened with "bad intentions"; the going was already with these "bad intentions."

Bad intentions which were good intentions: those of an overly pure conscience. It begins to doubt God because God’s command asks us either what is above our strength or what is beneath our conscience. The Promised Land is not permitted land.
— Nine Talmudic Readings by Emmanuel Levinas

סוטה ל״ה א:ב׳

וַיְסַפְּרוּ לוֹ וַיֹּאמְרוּ בָּאנוּ וְגוֹ׳ וּכְתִיב אֶפֶס כִּי עַז הָעָם אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן מִשּׁוּם רַבִּי מֵאִיר כָּל לָשׁוֹן הָרַע שֶׁאֵין בּוֹ דְּבַר אֱמֶת בִּתְחִילָּתוֹ אֵין מִתְקַיֵּים בְּסוֹפוֹ

Sotah 35a:2

They told him and said: "We went further” (Numbers 13:27), “but the people are strong” (Numbers 13:28). Rabbi Yoḥanan says in the name of Rabbi Meir: Slander that does not have some basis in truth does not last long.

We are being given a lesson in rhetoric, a lesson the Devil has learned well: to lie efficiently, start by telling the truth in order to give credibility to your lie. But it may be that Rav Johanan finds some truth in the words of the explorers regarding the moral problem they raise, independent of the details of the report. Our passage in its entirety can have no other meaning than to suggest that this is a blameworthy moral sensitivity and a morally twisted one. But the plot could never have corrupted so many consciences if none of the reasons governing the actions of the explorers and none of the arguments they put forward were justifiable.
— Nine Talmudic Readings by Emmanuel Levinas

סוטה ל״ה א:ו׳

אֲמַר לְהוּ הוֹצִיאָנוּ מִמִּצְרַיִם וְקָרַע לָנוּ אֶת הַיָּם וְהֶאֱכִילָנוּ אֶת הַמָּן אִם יֹאמַר עֲשׂוּ סוּלָּמוֹת וַעֲלוּ לָרָקִיעַ לֹא נִשְׁמַע לוֹ עָלֹה נַעֲלֶה וְיָרַשְׁנוּ אֹתָהּ וְגוֹ׳

Sotah 35a:6

[Caleb] then said to them: He [Moses] brought us out of Egypt, split the sea for us and fed us manna. Shouldn't we listen to him, even if he were to tell us to build ladders and ascend to heaven? “We shall go up and gain possession of it"(Numbers 13:30).

If Moses brought us out of Egypt, split the sea, and fed us manna, do you think, then, that under his leadership we are going to conquer a country the way one conquers a colony? Do you think that our act of conquest can be an imperialistic act? Do you think that we will appropriate a plot of land for ourselves so that we can use and abuse it? We are going—and here the text is extraordinarily explicit—we are going toward this land in order to experience celestial life...
You will say that everyone can imagine that he is founding a just society and that he is sacralizing the earth, and will that encourage conquerors and colonialists? But here one must answer: to accept the Torah is to accept the norms of a universal justice. The first teaching of Judaism is the following: a moral teaching exists and certain things are more just than others. A society in which man is not exploited, a society in which men are equal, a society such as the first founders of kibbutzes wanted it—because they too built ladders to ascend to heaven despite the repugnance most of them felt for heaven—is the very contestation of moral relativism. What we call the Torah provides norms for human justice. And it is in the name of this universal justice and not in the name of some national justice or other that the Israelites lay claim to the land of Israel.
— Nine Talmudic Readings by Emmanuel Levinas

סוטה ל״ה א:ז׳

וְהָאֲנָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר עָלוּ עִמּוֹ אָמְרוּ לֹא נוּכַל וְגוֹ׳ אָמַר רַבִּי חֲנִינָא בַּר פָּפָּא דָּבָר גָּדוֹל דִּבְּרוּ מְרַגְּלִים בְּאוֹתָהּ שָׁעָה כִּי חָזָק הוּא מִמֶּנּוּ אַל תִּקְרֵי מִמֶּנּוּ אֶלָּא מִמֶּנּוּ כִּבְיָכוֹל אֲפִילּוּ בַּעַל הַבַּיִת אֵינוֹ יָכוֹל לְהוֹצִיא כֵּלָיו מִשָּׁם

Sotah 35a:7

"But the men that went up with him said: 'We will not be able to...'"(Numbers 13:31). Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pappa says: the explorers uttered a great thing at that moment: "He is stronger than we are" (Numbers 13:31). Do not read "than we are." Read, "than Him." Even the Boss, so to speak, cannot remove His tools from there.

The right of the native population to live is stronger than the moral right of the universal God. Even the Boss cannot retrieve the tools entrusted to them; as long as the tools correspond to their needs, there would be no right on earth that could deprive them of them; one cannot take away from them the land on which they live, even if they are immoral, violent, and unworthy and even if this land were meant for a better destiny. Earlier we put into question the morality of Israel, which was capable of producing an Absalom. Here the thought is more radical: even an absolutely moral people would have no right to conquest.
— Nine Talmudic Readings by Emmanuel Levinas

סוטה ל״ה א:ט׳-י׳

וַנְּהִי בְעֵינֵינוּ כַּחֲגָבִים וְכֵן הָיִינוּ וְגוֹ׳ אָמַר רַב מְשַׁרְשְׁיָא מְרַגְּלִים שַׁקָּרֵי הֲווֹ בִּשְׁלָמָא וַנְּהִי בְּעֵינֵינוּ כַּחֲגָבִים לְחַיֵּי אֶלָּא וְכֵן הָיִינוּ בְּעֵינֵיהֶם מְנָא הֲווֹ יָדְעִי וְלָא הִיא כִּי הֲווֹ מַבְרִי אֲבֵילֵי תּוּתֵי אַרְזֵי הֲווֹ מַבְרִי וְכִי חֲזִינְהוּ סְלִקוּ יָתְבִי בְּאִילָנֵי שָׁמְעִי דְּקָאָמְרִי קָחָזֵינַן אִינָשֵׁי דְּדָמוּ לְקַמְצֵי בְּאִילָנֵי

Sotah 35a:9-10

The spies said: "And we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight" (Numbers 13:33). Rav Mesharshiyya says: The explorers were lying. They could be grasshoppers in their own eyes; but how could they know that they were so in the eyes of others? That is not an objection, the latter - the inhabitants - were eating their funeral meal under the cedars. When the former - the Israelite spies - saw them, they climbed the trees; they sat in them. They would then hear the ones below exclaim: we see men like grasshoppers in the trees.

It is a situation as strange as it is natural. Didn’t someone say recently: “We are one hundred million strong to crush you.” When Israel arms itself against its neighbors, pacifists ask: How do you know that your neighbors do not want to make peace with you? Did they say so? Yes, they did say so; they told us we were like grasshoppers. It is a remarkably contemporary passage. That way of taking human faces for grasshoppers! Or that way of taking the historical act of Return for a movement of grasshoppers.
— Nine Talmudic Readings by Emmanuel Levinas

סוטה ל״ה א:י״א

וַתִּשָּׂא כׇּל הָעֵדָה וַיִּתְּנוּ אֶת קוֹלָם וַיִּבְכּוּ אָמַר רַבָּה אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן אוֹתוֹ הַיּוֹם עֶרֶב תִּשְׁעָה בְּאָב הָיָה אָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא הֵן בָּכוּ בְּכִיָּה שֶׁל חִנָּם וַאֲנִי אֶקְבַּע לָהֶם בְּכִיָּה לְדוֹרוֹת

Sotah 35a:11

“Then the whole community broke into loud cries and the people wept” (Numbers 14:1). Rabba says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: It was the ninth of Av and the Holy One, Blessed be God said: They cried without cause; I will change this day into a permanent day of lamentation.

Already, they are potentially exiled. The date of their exile is fixed before that of their conquest. They do not know that their crisis is the source of their right, for there is no right that cannot be revoked... Only those who are always ready to accept the consequences of their actions and to accept exile when they are no longer worthy of a homeland have the right to enter this homeland.—You see, this country is extraordinary. It is like heaven. It is a country which vomits up its inhabitants when they are not just. There is no other country like it; the resolution to accept a country under such conditions confers a right to that country.
— Nine Talmudic Readings by Emmanuel Levinas