Theologically Provocative Sugyot from the Talmud - Lesson 7
Rosh Hashanah 17b
This week's lesson has to do with a famous story in the Torah: Moses' plea to God both to know Him better and to forgive the Israelites for their sin against Him. God's response is to teach Moses a special pray formula which will bring about God's forgiveness in times of need. This formula is known as the "Shalosh Esrei Midot", "the 13 attributes of God".The Talmudic section that we will be dealing with interprets God's introduction to this prayer formula and the opening words of said formula.
In our studies we will examine these verses, the problems in interpreting them, the Talmud’s interpretation and a selection of interpreters of the Talmud's interpretation. If this sounds like a piling on of interpreters of interpreters' interpreters, it is - but that is the Jewish way.
But first, let's get to the Torah verses that we need:
שמות פרק לד
(ה) וירד ה' בענן ויתיצבעמו שם ויקרא בשם ה':
(ו) ויעבר ה' על פניוויקרא ה' ה' אל רחום וחנון ארך אפים ורב חסד ואמת:
(ז) נצר חסד לאלפים נשא עוןופשע וחטאה ונקה לא ינקה פקד עון אבות על בנים ועל בני בנים על שלשים ועל רבעים:
5 And the LORD descended in the cloud,and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed:’The LORD, the LORD, God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; 7 keeping mercy unto the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children,and upon the children’s children, unto the third and unto the fourth generation.
In the verses noted here, I have marked in bold letters the phases which interest us in the midrash found in the Talmud. First off, I want to note that in the midrash found in the Talmud the meaning of two particular phrases prompt our attention: 1. The word "ויקרא" and "He (he) proclaimed", which is mentioned twice in these verses; 2. The phrase "ויעבור ה’ על פניו", "and He passed before him".
Let's start with the second verse first. What prompted a midrash where God is portrayed donning a tallit, acting as a "שליחציבור", a prayer leader? The answer is actually quite simple. The word "ויעבור" is composed of the root "ayin bet resh". This same root was used in the rabbinic period for a person who led prayers from the leader's prayer stand. The actual phrase is "עובר לפני התיבה", "to pass before the leader's stand". The use of similar language in the Torah was too much to pass up on (pun intended).
The other inspiration for this drasha stems from the fact that it is God who shows Moses how to recite this special prayer. (We will see that the language of this verse is not so simple and some interpreters had other ideas about how to interpret these words.)
Questions to Consider Regarding Rabbi Yochanan's Drashah
1. Why does Rabbi Yochanan seem confounded by his own drashah?
2. Does Scripture really say what Rabbi Yochanan thinks it says?
3. What makes him think it does?
4. What does this tell us about how people read texts?
5. Rabbi Yochanan suggests that God teaches that this prayer should be recited as an antidote for when Israel sins. If this prayer is recited, according to Rabbi Yochanan, then God would forgive them for their sins. What does this suggest about the power of this prayer?
6. Was its use efficacious in the Torah story?
7. The imagery of God wearing a tallit and davening is striking. Can you conjecture other theological constructs which might be learned from this image?
8. If a human image can be projected onto God, then …
Sources
חלק א
1. [מימרא - דרשה על פסוק]
ויעבר ה’ על פניו ויקרא,
אמר רבי יוחנן: אלמלא מקרא כתוב אי אפשר לאומרו, מלמד שנתעטף הקדוש ברוך הוא כשליח צבור, והראה לו למשה סדר תפלה.
אמר לו: כל זמן שישראל חוטאין – יעשו לפני כסדר הזה, ואני מוחל להם.
חלק ב
2. [פירוש לפסוק]
ה’ ה’
אני הוא קודם שיחטא האדם, ואני הוא לאחר שיחטא האדם ויעשה תשובה.
3. [פירוש לפסוק - מימרא]
אל רחום וחנון,
אמר רב יהודה: ברית כרותה לשלש עשרה מדות שאינן חוזרות ריקם,
שנאמר (שמות לד:י) הנה אנכי כרת ברית.
Part 1
1. [Meimra - drasha on a verse]
And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed [etc.]. (Exodus 34:6)
R. Johanan said: Were it not written in the text, it would be impossible for us to say such a thing; this verse teaches us that the Holy One, blessed beHe, drew his robe round Him like the shaliah tzibbur and showed Moses the order of prayer.
He said to him: Whenever Israel sin, let them carry out this service before Me, and I will forgive them.
Part 2
2. [Interpretation of portionsof the verse.]
"The Lord, the Lord":
I am the Eternal before a man sins and the same after a man sins and repents.
3. [Interpretation of another portion of the verse - meimra]
"A God merciful and gracious":
Rab Judah said: A covenant has been made with the thirteen attributes that they will not be turned away empty-handed, as it says: "Behold I make a covenant."(Exodus 34:10)
Commentaries to Part 1
1. חידושי הריטב”א ראש השנה דף יז עמוד ב
מלמד שנתעטף הקדוש ברוך הוא. פי’ שנראהכן למשה במראה הנבואה, ומפרשי רבנן דלישנא דויעבור ה’ על פניו דרשינן כש”ץ העוברלפני התיבה.
This teaches that the Holy One Blessed be He covered Himself. Interpretation: that He appeared to Moses in a prophetic vision. As the sages interpreted that the words: "and God passed before him", we interpret to mean "like a prayer leader before the prayer stand".
2. רבינו חננאל
מלמד שנתעטף הקב”ה - פירוש: צוה למלאך להתעטף כש”ץ היורד לפני התיבה והראהו למשה ואמר ליה כל זה שישראל חוטאים לפני. עשה לפני כסדר הזה ואני מוחל להם.
Rabeinu Hananel
This teaches that the Holy One Blessed be He covered Himself: Interpretation: He commanded to an angel to cover himself like a prayer leader who descends before the prayer stand and showed Moses and said to him: all this is for if Israel sins before Me. Do according to this order [of prayer] and I will forgive them.
3. מהרש”א חידושי אגדות ראש השנה יז:ב
אלמלא מקרא כתוב א”א לאומרו כו’ ולא נאמר מקרא אלא כדי לשבר את האוזן שכן היה נראה למשה בנבואה כאלו הקדוש ברוך הוא מתעטף כש”ץ והיינו ויעבור וגו’ כש”ץ המעביר טליתו על פניו וקורא כסדר הזה עשה הקדוש ברוך הוא להורות שכן יעשו כל זמן כו’ ובספר ישן מחכמת המקובלים מצאתי וז”ל נתעטף הקדוש ברוך הוא באותו טלית לבנה שנתעטף בברייתו של עולם שעליו נאמר עוטה אור כשלמה שמבהיק מסוף עולם ועד סופו כו’ והאריך בסוד הענין:
Maharsha
If Scripture had not said it, it would not have been possible to say it. And it was not said in Scripture except in order to make it intelligible, for it appeared to Moses in a prophecy as if the Holy One Blessed be He wrapped Himself like a prayer leader covers his face with his tallit and reads this order of prayer; so did the Holy One Blessed be He to teach that thus they should do each time. And in an old book from the wisdom of the Kabbalists I found, and this is their words: the Holy One Blessed be He covered Himself in that very white tallit that He covered Himself in the creation of the world,upon which it says: He wears light as a cloak that shines forth from one end of the world to the other.
4. ערוך לנר מסכת ראש השנה דף יז עמוד ב
בגמרא ואני מוחל להם. מזה משמע דר”ידרש ויקרא ה’ שהקב”ה הוא שקרא לי”ג מדות כדי שילמד משה. וכן נראה מפי’ רבינו נסים שהביאו התוס’ וגם מפי’ רש”י בחומש נראה כן. אמנם בתרגום ירושלמי איתי וצלימשה ואמר הרי שמפרש ויקרא על משה שמשה קרא כן. ואף על פי שלכאורה פשטא דקרא מסכים עם פירוש זה מ”מ יש קצת ראיה ג”כ דויקרא לא קאי על משה ממה דכתיב אח”כוימהר משה ויפול וגו’ ואם הקורא ג”כ משה היה למה הכפיל שמו:
In the Gemara: "And I forgive them." From this is inferred that Rabbi Yochanan interpreted [the words] "And God spoke" that the Holy One Blessed be He recited the 13 attributes [of God] to teach Moses. And so it seems from the interpretation of Rabbeinu Nissim that the Tosaphot brought and also from the interpretation on Rashi on the Torah. However, in the Targum Yerushalmi, Moses came and prayed and said, namely, it interprets [the verse] on Moses that Moses said so (the 13 attributes). And even though it would seem obvious that Scripture agrees with this interpretation; nevertheless it seems that there is some proof also that "And He said" does not refer to Moses from that which is written afterwards: "And Moses moved quickly and fell on his face and prayed etc." and if the speaker was also Moses why would it duplicate his (Moses') name.
Guide Questions and Issues
Commentaries to Part 1
The commentaries on this section focus, in particular, on who exactly taught or spoke this prayer and in what form.
1. The Ritba was a Spanish sage from the school of Nachmanides.
a. What are the questions that he is coming to answer?
b. What theological concerns does he have?
2. Rabeinu Hananel is a North African contemporary of Rashi and is one of the backbones of Sefardi Talmud interpretation.
a. What are his theological concerns? Are they the same as those of the Ritba?
b. How does he resolve his questions?
3. Maharsha is a 15th-16th century Polish Talmud commentator. The first part of his commentary follows the lead of the Ritba. In the second part of his commentary, he quotes from a kabbalistic source which quotes a midrash from Bereishit Rabbah. He draws a connection between that midrash which says that God created light in the world by donning His white tallit and the midrash here which has God teaching prayer donning the same white tallit.
a. Create a theological statement built on these two midrashim.
4. This commentary Is by Rabbi Jacob Ettlinger (19th century, Germany). He points out here that there is a different way to read this verse, namely, that Moses taught the 13 attributes. He assumes that this is that plain meaning of the verse.
a. What is the verse leads him to this conclusion.
b. Do you think he is right?
Part 2
2. One could write a book regarding interpretations of the13 attributes of God. Our Talmud passage gives us but a single interpretation of the first two words of this prayer: the repetition of God's name.
As we have noted elsewhere, the sages felt theologically compelled to find meaning in what seemed to be redundancy. Here, this would seem to be the case which the repetition of God's name.
a. How does this midrash resolve the redundancy?
b. What point does it try to make?
c. Do you see any theological problem with this interpretation?
3. This midrash attempts to interpret two of the other qualities of God mentioned in this passage "that God is merciful and gracious". It interprets with by bringing a meimra which quotes a verse later in this passage in the Torah.
How does that verse indicate that God is both "merciful and gracious"?