Special Lecture by Dr. Marc Shapiro,New
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The Nazir in New York ב”ה The Nazir in New York Josh Rosenfeld I. Mishnat ha-Nazir הוצאת נזר דוד שע”י מכון אריאל ירושלים, 2005 קכ’36+ עמודים הראל כהן וידידיה כהן, עורכים A few years ago, during his daily shiur, R. Herschel Schachter related that he and his wife had met someone called ‘the Nazir’ during a trip to Israel. R. Schachter quoted the Nazir’s regarding the difficulty Moshe had with the division of the land in the matter the daughters of Zelophehad and the Talmudic assertion (Baba Batra 158b) that “the air of the Land of Israel enlightens”. Although the gist of the connection I have by now unfortunately forgotten, what I do remember is R. Schachter citing the hiddush of a modern-day Nazir, and how much of a curio it was at the time. ‘The Nazir’, or R. David Cohen (1887-1972) probably would have been quite satisfied with that. Towards the end of Mishnat ha-Nazir (Jerusalem, 2005) – to my knowledge, the most extensive excerpting of the Nazir’s diaries since the the three-volume gedenkschrift Nezir Ehav (Jerusalem, 1978), and the selections printed in Prof. Dov Schwartz’ “Religious Zionism: Between Messianism and Rationalism” (Tel Aviv, 1999) – we see the Nazir himself fully conscious of the hiddush :(עמ’ ע) of his personal status נזיר הנני, שם זה הנני נושא בהדר קודש. אלמלא לא באתי אלא בשביל זה, לפרסם שם זה, להיות בלבות זרע קודש ישראל, צעירי הצאן, זכרונות קודשי עברם הגדול, בגילוי שכינה, טהרה וקדושה, להכות בלבם הרך גלי געגועים לעבר זה שיקום ויהיה לעתיד, חידוש ימינו כקדם, גם בשביל זה כדאי לשאת ולסבול and :(זכרונות מבית אבא מארי ,similarly (p. 22 נזיר הנני, מדרגה לנבואה. אילו זכיתי לבוא לעולם רק לשם כך, לפרסם מחדש שם זה, נזיר, כעובדת חיים בימינו, כדי להזכיר שאנחנו עומדים ערב תחיית הנבואה בישראל, דייני _________ The basic outline of the Nazir’s life[1] finds a Yeshiva student from an esteemed Rabbinic family near Lithuania shuttling from place to place in interwar Europe, meeting with R. Abraham Isaac ha-Kohen Kook during his stay in Switzerland, and studying Western Philosophy in the University of Basel,[2] only to be consumed by a desire to reconnect with his spiritual master in the Land of Israel, which he was able to do some years later. Upon reaching Israel, R. David Cohen increasingly adopted ascetic practices[3], crowned by a Nazirite vow – a lifelong abstention from all grape products and from cutting his hair. The Nazir, as he would thereupon be known, was also a vegetarian,[4] did not wear leather shoes, and maintained a ta’anit dibbur, refraining from speech for forty days from the beginning of the month of Elul to after Yom Kippur.[5] His best-known published work was the systematic presentation of his understanding of the development of Jewish spiritual experience, or ha- higayyon ha-shim’i ha-Ivri, in Kol ha-Nevuah (Jerusalem, 1969). While beyond the scope of this short review, in that work, the Nazir set out to present the gamut of philosophy and Jewish mysticism, showing two contrasting and sometimes complementary systems with the main thrust of the Jewish system being the achievement of prophecy. ___________ This short book contains an introduction by the Nazir’s only son, R. She’ar Yashuv, followed by an even penned by the ,דבר המשנה shorter introduction, entitled editors, Har’el and Yedidyah Cohen. Following this are two separate introductory again ,בית אמי and אבא מארי ,pieces authored by R. She’ar Yashuv, in which much foreshadowing of the diary excerpts themselves is interspersed with his general memories and impressions of his father and mother. Afterward, the diary selections begin with Hebrew pagination. There is evidence in this section of a heavy amount of editing, censoring, and ‘cleaning-up’ of the relatively small amount of material published here.[6] I say ‘relatively’ because we are told by the editors that the content is culled from over five large notebooks of personal writing by the Nazir, which מגילת סתרים – :were graced with the handwritten title .p) זכרונות נזיר אלוקים 15). As one begins the section that is purportedly the diary excerpts proper, the narrative quality of the writing is striking. The Nazir definitely experienced the same trials as many Jews during the interwar period, and one cannot help but share in his elation at finally reaching Israel. Throughout, in between expressions of deeply personal religious yearning are some very unique, unexpected stories. To wit, there are four pages of riveting narrative about a desert trip gone awry, reaching a breathless account of the Nazir prepared to die, lying down עמ’) wrapped in a tallit and tefillin aside Wadi al-Kelt [פה).[7 We also get glimpses of the Nazir practicing his religious path, the telos of which he ostensibly saw as a realization of prophecy.[8] The Nazir advocates his hitbodedut in the hills surrounding Jerusalem, stating his goal as emulating the spiritual wanderings of the biblical prophets in the following :(עמ’ נב-נג) outstanding passage הנביאים ובני הנביאים התבודדו בהרים ובגבעות, מסביב למראה פני שדות וטוהר שמים, ורוח צח חרישת נושבת, מחיה הנפש ומשיב הרוח במראה קודש …ספרים רבים לא היו הרי לא היו זקוקים לאוצרות ספרים, כמו ספרי ש”ס והפוסקים ונושאי כליהם. כל זה המשא של ספרים וניירות, המלעיטים את הנפש בנייר, והמסיחים את הדעת מן המרומם והנעלה טהר שמי ד’, לא בזה יתגלה ותחיה רוח הנבואה, אלא בתורה שבעל פה, בלימודים בהרים וגבעות, על פני שדות קודש, למראה טוהר שמי ד’, במקומות הקודש, בהתבודדות…כ What is especially fascinating here is the Nazir’s dismal view of the culture of the book and written word that in his mind had defined Judaism in exile from the Land, and the placement * of the spiritual connection to the land, or artsiut as a binary to it. To the Nazir, the text-less hitbodedut in nature reflects the return to the prophetic culture of Israel, a level closer to God than the ‘obfuscating’ medium of books and papers. There is a certain anomian bent to the Nazir’s statements above, expressing a desire to circumvent the traditional path of maintaining closeness to God through the study of shas and the commentaries.[9] Additionally, with regards to the anomian practice of the Nazir, even in the spare amount of material collected here, we see numerous indications that the Nazir was not embarrassed in overlooking tefillah b’tzibbur.[10] Already in his days as a young student, the Nazir expresses the tension that he feels between adhering to the standard Yeshiva curriculum, and that which his inner self desires to study. From an early age, the Nazir is drawn to texts that lay outside the purview of the Yeshiva, some even forbidden outright. The Nazir describes how one attempt to although he ,(עמ’ יג) resolve this tension went slightly awry remained steadfast in his commitment to traditional modes of study: הייתי חוזר על תלמודי ומשנן הרבה, לפי סימני ושיטת ספר המזכיר, להרה מיעלאק, שמצאתי בבית דודי הרב ר’ ישעיה, שהיה חברו וידידו, מה”ברודסקאים” בוואלאזין. אך דודי הרב ר’ אברהם החביא את ספר המזכיר, ויאמר, כי שינון זה מפריע להבנת ודעת התלמוד.כ מעט מספרי “השכלה” התחלתי לקרוא בבוריסובקא, המושבה… למדני לקרוא ולתרגם אחד מצעירי המושבה שהתמשכל… משך את לבי, וישאני על כנפי רוח לשדות הקציר במושבות בארץ ישראל… נודע לי ממציאות זרם השכלה, גם בין אבריכי הישיבה, אבל לא פגע בי ובתלמודי. כ The struggle in reconciling a skill for, and proclivity towards serious western thought and on the other hand, a depth of talmud Torah and ruhniyyut is a narrative thread that runs throughout the Nazir’s life.[11] One particularly powerful entry records the Nazir’s sincere resolution to stop apologizing and being nervous for this tension, but rather to transcend it :(עמ’ מז) entirely ופה נכרתה ברית ביני ובין הא-ם, א’ ישראל. אין מילה בפי להביע, מה נהיה בעומק רוחי. כל השאלות העיוניות [12]והפילוסופיות, חלפו, עברו, וקרוב קרוב לי אלהי ישראל…כ _______________ Although we could continue with citations of the fascinating and singular material found in Mishnat ha-Nazir, with space limits in mind, I want to briefly make two final points. Firstly, the paucity of translated material from the Nazir’s writings (something I too have failed to do here), and the lack of much meaningful study of his work and life in English give one pause. Aside from Schwartz’ article in Tradition, short references here and there in his translated work mentioned above, and some of Garb’s work, there is real room for English-language studies and translations of the Nazir’s writings. I have tried here to include in this review a short precis of the most accessible of the Nazir’s published writings in Mishnat ha-Nazir, and some of the extant literature on the Nazir as well.[13] Finally, a closer reading and analysis of the Nazir’s life and writings might yield an organic, spiritually- minded, and transcendent approach to many of the issues of science and faith, authority and autonomy that lie at the root of many debates within American Orthodoxy. For those wishing to find a different way, rather than the tired apologetic and name-calling that characterizes some of the current popular discourse, the Nazir’s writings and their popularization may serve as a model and guide for alternative modes of thinking about Jewish religious expression and mindset. [1] The most detailed biographical study on the Nazir that I have come across is contained in the first section of Yehuda Bitti’s 2007 doctoral dissertation (unpublished) at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, bein Pilosophia le-Kabbalah be-Haguto Shel ha-Rav David Cohen (5647-5732).