In the Time of the Nations EMMANUEL LEVINAS Translated by Michael B. Smith Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis First published in the USA, 1994, by Indiana University Press, Bloomington, Indiana First published in France 1988 by Les Editions de Minuit, Paris as A L'Heure des Nations © 1988, Les Editions de Minuit English translation © 1994 The Athlone Press Originating publisher of the English edition: The Athlone Press, London Publisher's Note The publishers wish to record their thanks to the French Ministry of Culture for a grant toward the cost of translation. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses' Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. Manufactured in Great Britain Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Levinas, Emmanuel. [A l'heure des nations. English] In the time of the nations/Emmanuel Levinas; translated by Michael B. Smith. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-253-33295-8 1. Talmud—Criticism, interpretation, etc. 2. Judaism. 3. Philosophy, Jewish. I. Title. BM504.2.L43513 1994 181'.06—dc20 94-8617 1 2 3 4 5 00 99 98 97 96 95 94 To Professor Bemhard Casper, theologian and philosopher, a friend of great heart and lofty thought CONTENTS Translator's Note viii Glossary of Hebrew Terms X Author's Foreword 1 1 For a Place in the Bible 11 2 The Translation of the Scripture 33 3 Contempt for the Torah as Idolatry 55 4 Beyond Memory 76 5 The Nations and the Presence of Israel 92 6 From Ethics to Exegesis 109 7 Judaism and Kenosis 114 8 The Bible and the Greeks 133 9 Moses Mendelssohn's Thought 136 10 A Figure and a Period 146 11 The Philosophy of Franz Rosenzweig 150 12 Judaism and Christianity 161 13 On Jewish Philosophy 167 Notes 184 General Index 191 Index of Biblical Passages 196 TRANSLATOR'S NOTE As a casual glance at the Table of Contents will suggest, this work moves from Talmudic lessons to "pure" philosophy. To read these early chapters well, it is important to allow oneself to become enmeshed in the argumentation of the Talmudists, aban• doning the impatient illusion that philosophical truth ever exists miraculously disengaged from the specificity of local problemat• ics. Through the Getnara we move toward the encounter with the "nations," the goyim-Greek thought and Christianity. Pow• erful mediating minds-Maimonides, Moses Mendelssohn and Rosenzweig-bring Judaism face to face with the intellectual and spiritual forces of the West. What remains (and what I believe constitutes the fundamental insights of Levinas's philosophy) is an ethics preceding all else. Ethics as first philosophy-or before philosophy. The book ends, fittingly, with a conversation between Levinas and a contemporary French philosopher, Frangoise Armengaud. Their exchange concludes with the concept of hochmah, Hebrew for wisdom, which would be a way of reconciling the infinite demand of the other (the uniquely singular) and that of the third party, the other's other, neither I nor thou. Thus, we are left with the problem of reconciling the exigencies of love and justice-plunged into the realities of politics, institutions and the endless effort of mediation toward a Messianic sociality. We are delivered to the "real" world, though not without the resources and responsibilities of a transcendence Judaism never left. As for the present translation, it should be noted that the use of "man," "he" and "his" simply reflects the author's usage, which is that of current French. I feared attempts to conform to "nonsexist" language would introduce an awkwardness and unclarity the translated text could ill afford. TRANSLATOR'S NOTE ix Biblical references conform to those of the Jewish Bible; they sometimes differ slightly from the Christian one. For the spelling of Hebrew names, I have in most cases followed Rabbi Steinsaltz's The Talmud: A Reference Guide (New York: Random House, 1989). I take pleasure in acknowledging my indebtednes, and extend• ing my thanks to Kathy Gann, Assistant Director of Faculty Research and Sponsored Programs of Berry College, for her expert help in manuscript preparation, to Jenny Overton for her apposite suggestions, and to my wife Helen for her unstinting encouragement. GLOSSARY OF HEBREW TERMS Aggadah (also Haggadah). Those portions of Talmudic literature, consisting of parables and apologues, that are philosophical and theological in nature rather than prescriptive or legal (see Halakhah). Also used to designate the story of the flight from Egypt, as retold at Passover. Baraita. "External" Mishnah, i.e., an opinion or teaching of a Tannaim not included in the Mishnah. Ein-Sof. "No end." The Infinite, the aspect of God that is hidden or beyond human understanding. Gemara. "Completion." The commentary on the Mishnah by the Amoraim, or sages. The Mishnah together with the Gemara con- stitute the Talmud. Goyim (plural oigoy). Biblical Hebrew term for the "nations," the Gentiles or non-Jews, i.e., all the peoples surrounding the land of Israel. Haggadah. See Aggadah. Halakhah (from halakh, "to walk"). Law or rule of conduct. Refers to that part of the Talmud that concerns laws and ordinances, as opposed to the Aggadah portions, which contain ethical teaching, theology, fable and history. Hallel "Praise." Refers to Psalms 113-18 and 136, recited on the new moon and at festivals. GLOSSARY OF HEBREW TERMS XI Haskalah. "Enlightenment" (from sekhel, "intelligence"). A movement begun in the middle of the eighteenth century in Germany to modernize Judaism. Moses Mendelssohn was its leading proponent in Germany. Hummash. "One fifth." Term used to designate any one of the five books of Moses; also applied to entire Pentateuch. Kabbalah. "Reception, tradition." Designates the traditions and writings of Jewish mysticism. The most important kabbalistic work is the Zohar, which appeared at the close of the thirteenth century. Mekhilta. (Aramaic, "measure," i.e., "rule"). Name of two halakhic midrashim on Exodus, the better known of which is by Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha (about 90-130 C.E.). Mezuzah. "Door-jamb." A small case, affixed to the doorpost of a Jewish home, containing a parchment scroll bearing the He• brew text of Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21. Midrash. (From darash, "to seek"). Often translated as "commen• tary," midrash is interpretation. A "midrash" may refer to just one interpretation, or an entire collection of midrashim, such as the Rabbah (Great Midrash). Mishnah. "Repetition," i.e., "learning." Oral law, with inter• pretation and application, eventually redacted by Judah Ha-Nasi in 220 C.E. It contains six sections or "orders." Together with the commentary on it (the Gemara), it constitutes the Talmud. Rav. Honorific title for one of the Babylonian Amoraim. Used alone, it refers to Rav Abba Ben Ibo (also known as Abba Arikha), an important amora, founder of the Sura academy. Safed. City of Upper Galilee, center of sixteenth-century kabbalist movement (Isaac Luria, Joseph Karo and Moses Cordovera) after Jewish flight from Spanish Inquisition. Xll IN THE TIME OF THE NATIONS Shema. "Hear." First word of Jewish declaration of faith, the text of which contains Deuteronomy 6:4-9. It is incorporated in the morning and evening services. Shook. "Destruction, disaster, darkness, pit." The Hebrew term for the Nazi Holocaust. Talmud. "Study." A vast compilation of discussion on the Mishnah, recorded during the early Middle Ages. In the broad sense, the Talmud is the Mishnah and the Gemara; in the narrow sense, the Gemara alone. The Gemara records the discussions of teachers called Amoraim. There are two Talmuds: the Palestinian and the Babylonian, or "Bavli." Tannaim. (From Aramaic tena, "to repeat," "teach" or "study"). Group of Jewish scholars, authorities on the oral Law, whose opinions are recorded in the Mishnah. (They gathered in Pales• tine from the early years of Herod's rule until the beginning of the third century C.E.) Tefilin. Hebrew word for phylacteries, or small black leather cubes (containing prescribed Torah passages) strapped onto left arm and forehead with thongs. Worn by Jewish males of thirteen or over during daily morning prayer. Torah. "Law, teaching." In narrow sense, the Pentateuch, re• vealed to Moses at Mount Sinai. In broader sense, both the written Law (Mosaic code of the Bible) and the oral Law, com• prising the Talmudic teachings and later rabbinic literature. Tzitzit. "Fringe, tassel." Refers to the fringes at the four corners of the Tallit (prayer shawl), as prescribed by Numbers 15:37-41, to remind the faithful of the commandments. Yeshiva. "Sitting, dwelling, meeting." A Talmudical college. Zohar. The most important source of Kabbalah, central to Jewish mysticism, first published in Spain by Moses de Leon (1250- 1305), who attributed it to Simeon ben Yohai of the second century C.E. AUTHOR'S FOREWORD 1 Seventy nations, or seventy languages. This is a metaphor that in the Talmudic manner of speaking, in the oral Torah, designates all mankind surrounding Israel; mankind taken as a whole, in its entirety, although split up by differences that group men into nations. Nations already tabulated in the Bible in lavish or labo• rious lists of exotic names, baffling to the historian-but nations potentially claimed by Holy History, in which the Torah, a rig• orous, divine charter, educates and elevates the care-for~self of living beings to the care-for-the-otherinman. E-ducate: the de-duc- tion of Sublime Reason. Whether there were exactly seventy of them is of no conse• quence. A number of nations, neither too great nor too small, permitting either a state of war pitting each against all, or the possibility of dialogue between individual nations.