Ritual,Renewal, and Visions of an Prophecy Old-New { Age
Among the numerous fine points of Jewish Law and ritual debated by the rabbis of antiquity was the question of public fasting. According to a text known as Megillat Ta’anit, there were thirty-five joyous historical occasions upon whose dates authorities could not ordain a one-time fast, in such cases as drought or other public calamity. Such festive dates ranged from the eight days of Hanukkah, beginning on the 25th of Kislev, to the 7th of that same month, which marked the death of Herod, master builder of the Second Temple but an insufferable despot nonetheless.
{ By JONATHAN GARB
42 | Vol. 1 Spring 2008 Ritual, Renewal and Prophecy /// Visions of an Old-New Age
n the Babylonian Talmud (Tractate In other words, Hanukkah’s unique and Rosh Hashanah 18b), a tale is told of lasting status stems from the historical and I the residents of Lod who proclaimed sociological fact of its uniform acceptance by a fast on Hanukkah, thus abrogating the ritually observant Jewish community. Megillat Ta’anit. Two prominent rabbis, Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua, promptly cancelled the fast, and went so far as to The excessive emphasis on order the fasters to fast on another day in nationalistic and militaristic order to atone for violating the festivity of Hanukkah! Whereupon Rabbi Kahana discourse at the expense of a seeks to generalize from their intervention, more traditional Jewish ethos, and preserve the festive nature of all the designated dates commemorating which is far more globally and events of salvation or relief, concluding intellectually oriented, has that one cannot ordain a fast on any of these days. But Rabbi Yosef disagrees, exacted a heavy price within arguing that “Hanukkah differs, because a Israeli society commandment is involved.” Thus Hanukkah’s special status stems not from the historical event involved, Such unity was normative in Rashi’s day but rather from the ceremony of lighting - but what about our own time, when “all of candles - the commemorative ritual itself. Israel” are far too fragmented to concur on Even if Megillat Ta’anit were overruled in the observance of the laws of the Torah, let other cases, Hanukkah, in Rabbi Yosef’s alone later ritual practices? Many Jews, of view, should remain sacrosanct. At course, live according to the Shulhan Arukh, which point the Talmudic sage Abbayeh the famous code of law authored by Rabbi retorts: “Let Hanukkah and its mitzvah be Yosef Karo, which achieved widespread annulled!” - a rather stunning response, acceptance in the Jewish world in the 16th even hinting at irreverence toward rabbinic century. Much as we may sympathize with law. But Rabbi Yosef has the final word: this loyalty to the past, we must today also “Hanukkah differs, because its miracles consider alternatives that accommodate the were made famous.” spiritual and practical reality of millions of In the event, over the centuries, many Jews who do not live by any strict code of of those thirty-five happy days of Megillat Jewish law. Ta’anit were trumped by tragedy time and Ecclesiastes teaches, “Do not say that the again, and public fasting was declared. earlier days were better than these.” And Mere historical memory carried no legal in the Midrash Kohelet Rabbah, our sages weight, and yet Hanukkah, as Rabbi Yosef interpreted those wise words as follows: had insisted, was considered immune. “Let the generation coming be in your eyes In the Middle Ages, commenting on this as the generation that has passed, so that intricate Talmudic debate, Rashi spoke of you should not say: ‘If Rabbi Akiva was alive the promulgation of the Hanukkah miracle then I would read before him, if Rabbi Z’eira by means of candle-lighting: “It is already and Rabbi Yohanan were alive I would study known to all of Israel, by their observance before them’; but the generation of your of its mitzvot as their custom, and they time, and the sages of your time should be have upheld it like the festivals of the Torah, like that of the generation that has passed and it would not be correct to annul it.” and the first sages that were before you.”
HAVRUTA | 43 The notion of prophecy gives be done. Thus it is important to make the best out of every generation. This is the room to individual religious mistake of people who are attached to past intuition, while maintaining, generations. They have no understanding of this point. On the other hand, people who indeed reinforcing, social only know the disposition of the present day awareness and dislike the ways of the past are too lax.” Indeed, this very need to move beyond nostalgia for the hallowed past, and to Or as the Japanese Samurai classic of address the fragmented modern (and post- mental and spiritual training, the 17th modern) situation, motivates the response century Hagakure, puts it: “It is said that offered by various present-oriented what is called ‘the spirit of an age’ is approaches, which seek to adapt Jewish something to which one cannot return . . . ritual and Jewish spirituality to the needs For this reason, although one would like to of the present. We should not, by the way, change today’s world back to the spirit of assume that this is much truer of the non- one hundred years or more ago, it cannot Orthodox movements than of the Orthodox
44 | Vol. 1 Spring 2008 Ritual, Renewal and Prophecy /// Visions of an Old-New Age
world. All Jews, in today’s world, are facing of today’s cultural elites. this challenge with mixed success. Let us Whatever the undeniable achievements take a closer look. of Zionism in terms of the well-being and Chaikhana, teahouse /// Krasnaïa Sloboda, morale of the Jewish People, I for one am Kuba, Azerbaijan, uncomfortable with the widespread view USSR, 1990 of Zionism as a source of spiritual renewal. Three Flawed Remedies Such a position, of course, was famously Contemporary Zionism, both “religious” espoused by the religious philosophers and “secular,” has sought to adapt Judaism Rabbi Avraham Isaac Kook, Chief Rabbi of into a nationalistic set of practices. Thus Palestine during the British Mandate, and Israel Independence Day, Yom Ha’atzma’ut, Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, the dominant is not only a civil holiday but a religious one, voice of American Modern Orthodoxy on which many traditional Jews recite the in the 20th century. And yet, these days, Hallel prayer during morning services. Some the spiritual and moral flaws of Zionism Jews, however, consider this approach to be are becoming increasingly apparent. The overly ethnocentric and increasingly out of excessive emphasis on nationalistic and step with the more globalized environment militaristic discourse at the expense of a
HAVRUTA | 45 I do not wish to belittle the popular techniques and fast cures offered by the “New Age” are usually variants on this genuine spiritual yearning consumption-oriented pursuit. that motivates many In the context of ritual, the lures of the “New Age” and its discourse of individual ‘New Age’ seekers, but we and eclectic “spirituality” make it very cannot ignore the cynical difficult for its adherents to commit to any specific tradition, to any difficult path, or to manipulation of any concrete ritual observance. Again, I do their spiritual thirst by not wish to belittle the genuine spiritual yearning that motivates many “New Age” endless gurus, public- seekers, but we cannot ignore the cynical relations experts and manipulation of their spiritual thirst by flat out charlatans. endless gurus, public-relations experts and flat-out charlatans. Furthermore, one should heed the cautions of many authentic more traditional Jewish ethos, which is far mystical teachers, of the East and the West, more globally and intellectually oriented, who have warned against “the spiritual has exacted a heavy price within Israeli materialism” entailed in the search for fast, society. In the area of ritual, the negative easy and common answers. approach on the part of the religious Finally, we have Jewish feminism, which Zionist establishment toward the customs seeks to adapt many details of ritual to and practices of the communities of the the demands of the dominant egalitarian Diaspora has impoverished Jewish practice, ideology. This is mainly a Western- and undermined Jewish unity. Ashkenazi development, which fully Another more recent development participates in the ideology of individual is the “New Age” phenomenon. In our self-fulfillment. As the Austrian social communities, this is represented by the critic Ivan Illich has shown, feminism, “Jewish Renewal” movement, which for all the benefits it has brought with it, attempts to adapt Jewish life to a globalized is ultimately an expression of the era of “spirituality,” which blends Eastern, the “homo economicus,” which interprets Western, traditional and contemporary the concept of equality in terms of sources in a spectacularly eclectic mixture. individual “advancement,” primarily of As several sociologists have noted, the an economic nature. Without entering underlying forces behind this ever-growing into thorny theoretical issues, I think it movement are late capitalism, and its close may be safely said that this interpretation ally, post-Freudian psychology. fairly characterizes the liberal feminist According to many social theorists, mainstream (or at least the way it is late modernity and post-modernity have construed in the popular mind). created a “consuming subject,” an individual A more sympathetic reading is that who pursues personal satisfaction in an feminism is an attempt to alleviate the increasingly alienating and disenchanted profound dehumanization of women in the world via the consumption of the very alienated capitalist world that was built on technology that, ironically, accelerates the the ruins of traditional structures which, rootlessness of his or her “empty self” by though often misogynistic and oppressive, the destruction of nature and the erosion did afford a modicum of social support and of social bonds and commitments. The responsibility. As various feminists have
46 | Vol. 1 Spring 2008 Ritual, Renewal and Prophecy /// Visions of an Old-New Age
noted, the desire to change the status of not been numerous meaningful questions women cannot be divorced from wider social raised regarding the return to the Land, the issues. In our own context, one can draw role of internal spirituality and the place on this insight and say that one cannot of women in Jewish life. But the answers revitalize ritual merely by changing the cannot be reached through a narrow status of women. If there is a deep problem ideological agenda. with the way in which contemporary Jews experience the structure of the synagogue ritual or the format of prayer, then allowing There is nothing wrong with women to lead some marginal prayers is not embracing notions from going to make much headway. The main problem with these three efforts feminism, alternative healing, to reinvent Judaism seems to lie in their Zen meditation or socialism, fundamental motivation: the innovators first establish a goal, inspired by an extra- so long as one does not Judaic sensibility, whether romantic- mistakenly think that these nationalistic, “spiritual” or feminist. These ideologies of the present are often invested are tantamount to Torah. with belief, emotional adherence and intellectual curiosity, which at least equal Does this suggest that present-oriented any commitment to traditional Jewish solutions are doomed to failure? The strong lore. Their adherents then proceed to comb words of Rabbi Yisroel Salanter, the great traditional Jewish sources for minority 19th century religious ethicist, may indeed opinions and provocative interpretations be pertinent: “Although the Torah is given of canonical texts to support these to humans to decide its matters by the innovations. The very need to turn to these goals of the human intellect, it is not given various ideologies reflects an anxiety that over to do as we will with here according traditional Jewish life is not in itself deep to the movements of our will, this is . . . or fulfilling enough. It may well be that the unacceptable.” Salanter takes aim at the desire to change Judaism in a contemporary heart of the present. He rejects the tyranny direction points to a dissatisfaction with of the individual will, and renews the call Jewish life, a sentiment we may share for submission to the will of the Divine, as it without embracing these particular was manifested by generations of followers correctives. As one religious Zionist thinker of the tradition. lately quipped, Jewish feminism is more of And yet, the ancient rabbinic dictum that an outcry than a solution. “Torah is not in heaven” remains potent and Lest my critique appear excessively germane. The sages who developed this belief harsh, let us recognize that none of these hardly envisaged that it would be invoked to three movements has truly led to an justify a subordination of Jewish discourse overall renewal of halakhic creativity, and practices to innovations utterly extrinsic aggadic depth, poetic creativity, ethical self- to the Torah-centered world of the Talmud. In improvement or mystical enlightenment. my view, the idea of “not in heaven” validates (To best appreciate this point, please creative human interpretation of the texts of consider that the great Israeli Bible scholars the Torah and ethical sensibilities inspired by Nehama Leibowitz and Aviva Zornberg them, rather than labored reinterpretations required no recourse to an explicit feminist stemming from adherence to belief systems agenda.) This is not to say that there have alien to these texts.
HAVRUTA | 47 Let me stress that the problem does not Judaism is multifaceted and, over time, lie in the modern or post-modern goals and adopted sundry alien accretions. Yet I ideas themselves, some aspects of which sometimes wonder if the effort to prove this may very well be praiseworthy and even point to more narrow-minded and parochial essential for “yishuv ha-’olam,” or social well- Jews has not led some of us to overlook the being. Rather, it lies in the fallacy that these historical fact that there is indeed some goals and ideas constitute an authentic and basic core that can be described as “Torah,” viable interpretation of the Jewish tradition which defines the Jewish mainstream and itself. I believe that the famous saying ensures a sense of continuity. of the Talmudic sages - “If someone tells Ultimately, the deep problem that I find you there is wisdom amongst the nations in the present-oriented approaches is their believe it . . . [but] that there is Torah, do uncritical sanctification of the present. not believe it” - can be read in this manner. Many citizens of ancient Rome were There is nothing wrong with embracing undoubtedly convinced of the high level notions from feminism, alternative healing, of civilization of their brutal and corrupt Zen meditation or socialism, so long as one empire. Likewise, many people today find does not mistakenly think that these are inspiration in so-called “democratic” and tantamount to Torah. Obviously, from a “liberal” regimes that are systematically scholarly point of view, it is obvious that building and deploying vast military
48 | Vol. 1 Spring 2008 Ritual, Renewal and Prophecy /// Visions of an Old-New Age
El Hajar, Haїdan, Yemen, 1983
structures, undermining social rights, Visions of the Future destroying nature and severely neglecting culture and learning, while ultimately Within the vast corpus of Jewish religious serving corporate interests. writings, there are several terms that look Yes, one possible corrective to the to the horizon of the future and imply a veneration of the present is conservative: critique of the beliefs and practices of the the steadfast preservation of the qualities present. These include geulah, redemption, of the past. But for most Jews, this will and teshuva, return. Here, however, I wish not suffice, which is why the critique of to focus on the current reawakening of the the present must be oriented towards the concept of nevuah, prophecy. The yearning horizon of the future. To put it another for the return of prophecy, or at least the way: one meaning of the idea of faith is revitalization of prophetic discourse, was that the possibilities offered by the past a central issue for important 20th-century and the present are not one’s sole frame of thinkers such as Avraham Isaac Kook and reference. Faith includes the exciting and Abraham Joshua Heschel, to name but liberating sense that only a small part of two. And today, at the dawn of the 21st the possibilities latent in the richness of the century, we are witnessing such diverse Jewish world have yet been revealed. manifestations of renewed interest as the “Bnei ha-Nevi’im” (Sons of the Prophets)
HAVRUTA | 49 Yeshiva in Chicago; a lively debate in the that of his son, Rabbi Avraham of Egypt widely circulated religious Zionist weekly (1186-1237). Rabbi Avraham established Makor Rishon; and a “Prophecy Workshop” a dynasty of Jewish spiritual leaders at the Elul beit midrash in Jerusalem, where with mystical leanings, who were heavily secular and religious Israelis study together. influenced by their Sufi contemporaries. The figure of the prophet brings together Like this father, he was keenly interested manifold associations and expectations. in the issue of prophecy, but for him it He or she is deemed to have attained a was more explicitly a practical goal. In his level of mystical perfection, or to embody book HaMaspik LeOvdei HaShem, a guide an alternative form of political or moral to religious perfection that was markedly authority. Two of the facets of the prophetic influenced by Islamic mystical techniques, The Prophet Amos Illustration by image are most relevant for the present he declared that the Hebrew prophets and Gustave Doré discussion: orientation toward the future their students (or “sons of the prophets") all (mythically described as the ability to pursued meditative isolation, and actively predict the future), and a sharp critical distanced themselves from urban life. stance toward the social practices and spiritual priorities of the present, including an incisive critique of conventional The critique of the present approaches to ritual. must be oriented towards Scholars and thinkers at the Shalom Hartman Institute and other innovative the horizon of the future. centers of Jewish learning have done much valuable work on the reinterpretation and This approach was heartily endorsed in the revitalization of halakhah in contemporary mid-20th century by a principal student of life. I would submit that the time has Rabbi Kook, Rabbi David Cohen (known as come for a similar treatment of the idea of the “Nazir” or Nazirite) who wrote as follows: nevuah. The role of prophecy in determining the future and nature of ritual is one The prophets and the sons of the prophets important component of this discussion. isolated themselves in the hills . . . they did But it is no less important to begin a serious not have many books with them… all this examination of ritual paths to arousing weight of books and papers, which stuff the prophetic consciousness, while avoiding soul with paper, which distract awareness - and this is the hard part - the pitfalls of from the exalted and uplifted, the purity “New Age” subjectivism, commercialism and of God’s skies - not through these shall be eclecticism. revealed and renewed the spirit of prophecy, Religious practice as a means of arousing but through Oral Torah, study in the prophetic consciousness is hardly new. For mountains and hills, facing the holy fields. example, the great 16th-century Kabbalist, Rabbi Hayyim Vital, in his introduction to In this vision, the revitalization of Jewish “The Gate of the Commandments,” writes that spirituality will not come from adoption of joy in performance of the mitzvot is a crucial the mores of the industrialized world, but means of obtaining the Holy Spirit. What I on the contrary, from a move away from have in mind, however, are forms of practice urban settings and from an exclusive focus that go beyond familiar ritual activity. on scholastic study. In this move, which To this end, we ought to explore not was shared by many of the Hasidim and the only the philosophical and halakhic adherents of the ethical Mussar movement contributions of Maimonides, but also of the 19th century, the individual is
50 | Vol. 1 Spring 2008 Ritual, Renewal and Prophecy /// Visions of an Old-New Age
empowered by solitude, by removal from Fresh Revelation saturation in urban and literate culture. Yet it must be emphasized that the ultimate goal In closing, let me clarify what prophecy is not. of this archaic, quasi-shamanic practice is not narcissistic self-contemplation, but rather a 1. Prophecy should not be interpreted return to the community with a critique of as a rupture with the Talmudic world- the present and a message for the future. view, which allegedly declared prophecy to As Steven Foster and Meredith Little, have ended. On the contrary, the Talmud authors of the neo-shamanic Book of the explicitly says (Bava Batra 12b), that Vision Quest (1989), admirably put it: prophecy was taken from the prophets and “You must leave everything behind. You must given to the sages. go to a natural place that is sacred and apart . 2. Although some thinkers, notably . . . . here you must be tried . . . you must wait Rabbi Kook, lent an antinomian slant to the for wisdom, your guide . . . you must return notion of the renewal of prophecy, and saw with vision for your people." it as a mechanism for altering the halakhah, Lest one be misled, the direction this should not be seen as a necessary suggested here is exactly the opposite component of prophetic discourse. Indeed of “New Age” spirituality. Instead of the visionary imagination can enhance, immersion in media messages and extend and embellish existing practices marketing technologies, we have just as much as it can abrogate or modify withdrawal from the entire urban milieu. them. For example, building one’s sukkah Instead of the search for facile cures - which according to the Talmud is designed and weekend enlightenments, we have to “move [you] out of your permanent arduous confrontation with the natural dwelling” - in a natural setting would seem environment. Instead of the pursuit to be a far fresher performance of this of individual “happiness,” we have a commandment than buying a prefabricated serious quest for the healing of the sukkah to place on a balcony. community. Furthermore, contrary to some 3. Similarly, the espousal of a prophetic contemporary neo-Kabbalistic trends, religious sensibility should not be there is no attempt here to declare any interpreted as the marginalizing of ritual given individual to be a “prophet,” akin to action in favor of a more abstract or a “New Age” guru. Nor does this way of “internal” consciousness, “mystical” or thinking promote any specific technique otherwise. Abraham Joshua Heschel’s apt to be “patented” and marketed forthwith. phrase “ecstasy of deeds,” which captures the It favors, rather, texts such as those of the profound spiritual experience of performing “Nazir” or Foster and Little, which provide the commandments, is very pertinent. One an impetus for going beyond textual of the first Kabbalists, Rabbi Avraham Ben study - without negating its importance David (Raabad) of Provence (1120-1197), - and a means of empowering individuals wrote of the “Holy Spirit” that appeared who choose this path to challenge the in the beit midrash during discussions of conventions of the present. halakhic and ritual issues. This is echoed in popular ethical treatises penned by later Kabbalists, such as Hayyim Vital’s Sha’arei Kedushah and Moshe Hayyim Luzzato’s Mesillat Yesharim, both of which offer a spiritual path leading from meticulous observance of ritual to prophetic states.
HAVRUTA | 51 The ancient rabbinic dictum opinions offered here are obviously not intended as prophecies, but merely as a that ‘Torah is not in heaven’ counterpoint to the tendency to be overly remains potent and germane. charmed by contemporary trends.
Our opening quandary, following Rashi’s 4. Finally, there is no attempt here to interpretation of the Talmudic position point at a “correct path,” which holds good on ritual in Tractate Rosh Hashanah, was for the entire Jewish people. Such a move the difficulty inherent in founding ritual would only exacerbate the present state of on the consensus of the community in dissent and fragmentation. Prophecy is of today’s fragmented world. The first step is to universal nature, as in the Talmudic notion accept the obvious fact that there is no one of “Neviei Umot Ha’Olam,” the prophets of “Jewish world.” Yet this does not preclude the nations. In contemporary terms, one the possibility of the wide revitalization can well include George Orwell or Michael of Jewish practice through a sense of fresh Foucault in this illustrious category. At the revelation. Should that happen, many Jews same time, any ritual suggestion holds good who are either distant from any communal Former Tajik barbers with their Israeli customers only for those of us who may be attracted ritual, or participate in it in a stale, /// Dead Sea, Israel, 1997 to such possibilities. Even the strongest unenthusiastic manner, might find new
52 | Vol. 1 Spring 2008 Ritual, Renewal and Prophecy /// Visions of an Old-New Age
excitement in the observance of any number beyond tired variations on modern and of the commandments - just as many Jews, post-modern thought, and help to stimulate in Israel and abroad, have found a sense of a more complex and vibrant discourse, one commitment and connection through new that is more in tune with the staggering forms of textual study. social changes taking place before our The approach suggested here, despite its eyes. Those who perceive themselves citation - and celebration - of relevant texts, as innovative and radical are often just is not primarily text-centered. The notion reworking the ideas of two or three decades of prophecy gives more room to individual ago. The best way to avoid this trap is religious intuition, while maintaining, twofold: projecting oneself towards the Jonathan Garb, a Senior indeed reinforcing, social awareness. But future, yet at the same time connecting ever Fellow at the Shalom such future-oriented thinking prudently more deeply to the resources of the past Hartman Institute, avoids the prediction of outcomes, or even - not least the open-ended wonders of the currently teaches Jewish concrete programs. A revolutionary who Talmudic world. Thought at the Hebrew describes the post-revolutionary society in University in Jerusalem. detail is simply projecting the present onto the future. It is my hope that the critique and ideas raised here can move us, however slightly,
HAVRUTA | 53