The Ha'amek Davar of Naftali Zevi Yehuda Berlin Asher Charles Oser Department of Jewish Studies McGill University, Montreal January, 2007 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts. © Asher C. 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While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. ••• Canada Table of Contents Page Abstract 4 Acknowledgments 5 Chapter One: The World ofNaftali Zevi Yehuda Berlin 6 Chapter Two: The Secondary Literature on Berlin 44 Chapter Three: Three Features of Ha'amek Davar 54 Chapter Four: Ha 'amek Davar and History 100 Conclusion 124 Bibliography 126 2 nn'l)) 1:>tJ :lp)" n:l n:>1:l t "tJ'lJn n:l\J:l )\J Ct': NJ 'J'lJn) n1) J'J:l n:l:>' NJ In Memoriam Relia Regina Oser Budapest-Sydney-Jerusalem "Rer Candle Goeth Not Out By Night" (Proverbs 31: 17) 3 Abstract Rabbi Naftali Zevi Yehuda Berlin's commentary to the Pentateuch, Ha'amek Davar, was first published in Vilna in 1879-1880. The work grew out of a daily class that Berlin taught at the famed yeshiva Etz Hayyim of Volozhin, where he was dean from 1853-1893. This study of Ha'amek Davar focuses on Berlin's exegesis ofNoah's three sons. Because Berlin often conceals his sources and their previous discussions, one of the great challenges of working with Ha'amek Davar is trying to recognize which interpretations were original to Berlin and which were adapted from elsewhere. Because my discussion was limited to a few passages, it was possible to outline how different aspects of Berlin's exegesis interacted. The historical context of Nineteenth Century Czarist Russia had a strong impact on Ha'amek Davar, and sorne of Berlin's comments are viewed in light ofwhat was being written in the Russian Jewish press of the time. Résumé La cntIque du pentateuque du rabbin Naftali Zevi Yehuda Berlin, Ha'amek Davar, a tout d'abord été publiée à Vilna entre 1879 et 1880. Cet ouvrage est le fruit d'un cours que le rabbin dispensait tous les jours à Etz Hayyim, une yeshiva de renom à Volozhin, dont il fut le doyen de 1853 à 1893. Cette étude de Ha'amek Davar porte principalement sur l'exégèse de Berlin sur les trois fils de Noé. Berlin dissimule souvent ses sources ainsi que toute discussion antérieure. L'une des principales difficultés en travaillant sur Ha'amek Davar a donc été de faire la différence entre les interprétations de Berlin et celles qui ont été adaptées à partir de diverses sources. Mon étude ne porte que sur quelques passages, il m'a donc été possible de mettre en évidence l'interaction entre les différents aspects de l'exégèse de l'auteur. Le contexte historique de la Russie tzariste du XIXe siècle a fortement influencé Ha'amek Davar, par conséquent, certains commentaires de Berlin ont été analysés à la lumière de ce qui paraissait dans la presse juive russe de l'époque. 4 Acknowledgments This thesis took longer than expected to complete and it henefited from the support of many people to whom l am grateful. My supervisor, Professor B. Barry Levy, was gracious, prompt, and enlightening. As an undergraduate he introduced me to the world of intellectual history and he has shaped my outlook ever since. It is a privilege to he counted among his students. The Department of Jewish Studies at McGill University was always helpful. Colleen Parish and Stefka Iorgova extended to me every courtesy. Professor Lawrence Kaplan taught me how to read critically and is a depository of multifarious knowledge and insight. My parents reared me in a home that valued scholarship and open enquiry. Rachel Oser gives me the space and environment to develop those yearnings. My deht to her is inestimable. It is my hope and prayer that our lives and home will inspire Mordekai and Aryeh to continue to treasure those pursuits and values. It is a source of great sadness that my grandmother, RelIa Oser, did not live to see this thesis. She was the matriarch of our family and carried with her the deep wisdom of a sharp mind and a kind heart. She will he in my heart forever. 5 Chapter One: The World of Naftali Zevi Yehuda Berlin Page Introduction 7 Hasidim and Mitnagdim 9 Hasidim, Mitnagdim, and Torah Study 9 Hasidim, Mitnagdim, and Kabbalah 13 The Yeshiva at Volozhin 16 The Yeshiva at Volozhin 16 The Closure of the Yeshiva at Volozhin 19 Naftali Zevi Yehuda Berlin 24 Berlin, Wissenschaft des Judentums, and Transitional Figures 24 The Writings of Berlin 32 Berlin and Other Nineteenth Century Lithuanian Torah Scholars 36 6 Chapter One: The World ofNaftali Zevi Yehuda Berlin Introduction Born in 1817 in the town of Mir, in the province of Minsk in the Czarist Pale of Settlernent, Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin rose to prorninence during the second half of the nineteenth century. He was a rnasterful pedagogue, an accornplished scholar and an original exegete, who operated through a period of great change. At the age of eleven he entered the celebrated yeshiva at Volozhin, over which he would preside for close to forty years, frorn 1853 until one year before his death in 1893. 1 The subject of this thesis is Berlin's commentary to the Torah, Ha 'amek Davar. Scant attention has been paid to Berlin and to other figures who are part of the legacy of Lithuanian Rabbinisrn. It begins with a synopsis of his historical background and pedagogical achievernents and those of sorne other figures that rnay, after further study, be classified along with hirn as forming their own circle of traditional rabbinic scholarship. Shmuel Ettinger opined that the yeshiva in Volozhin was "rnainly established to serve as a barrier to the spread of Hasidisrn,,,2 but this assessrnent has not been accepted unanirnously.3 Nevertheless, the rift between Hasidisrn and Lithuanian Rabbinisrn did inform the world Berlin inherited and would later represent. 4 A summary of sorne of the historical forces that shaped nineteenth century Jewish Lithuania will serve as a good 1 Shaul Stampfer, Ha-Yeshiva Ha-Lita'it Be-Hithavta (Jerusalem: The Zalman Shazar Center for Jewish History, 1995),73. 2 Shmuel Ettinger, "Volozhin," in the Encyclapaedia Judaica. CD-ROM Edition. 3 See Immanuel Etkes, The Gaan a/Vilna: The Man and His Image, translated by Jeffrey M. Green (Los Angeles: University ofCalifornia Press, 2002), 268-269. 4 Sorne Hasidic groups tlourished in historie Lithuania and it is incorrect to assume that aIl of Lithuanian Jewry opposed Hasidism. For Hasidic groups within Lithuania see Zeev R. Rabinowitsch, Lithuanian Hasidism, foreword by Simon Dubnow (New York: Schocken Books, 1971). 7 Chapter One: The World ofNaftali Zevi Yehuda Berlin backdrop to Berlin' s lifework. 8 Chapter One: The World ofNaftali Zevi Yehuda Berlin Hasidim and Mitnagdim Hasidim, Mitnagdim, and Torah Study The Council of the Four Lands (Va 'ad Arba Aratzot) was a centralized Jewish governing body that operated for over two hundred years and had jurisdiction over Jews in four provinces of Poland. The Council came to an end at the close of 1764 when the Polish Sejm voted to dismantle it. 5 During its last years, a popular movement called Hasidism arose. Hasidism stressed belief in a Tzaddik (holy-man), the importance of simple faith, prayer and correct intention in Divine service. The death of Hasidism's central figure, Israel Ba'al Shem Tov (1700-1765), came just one year after the Council was dissolved. The juxtaposition of the Ba'al Shem Tov's death and the end of the Va'ad Arba 'ah Artzot contributed to Hasidism's growth because with the powers of censure once invested in the Va 'ad no longer available, no communal mechanism could impede the nascent movement (although there are other explanations for the early success of Hasidism).