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The Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit
Midrash
The Kuzari
Shiur #14: The Unique
Essence of Israel (Part III) Rav
We saw in the previous lecture that despite all the attempts to blur R.
Yehuda Halevi's theory of "racial supremacy," his position on the issue is
unequivocal and has important ramifications.
As we saw, the most important ramification relates to the standing of
converts who join the Jewish people. They enjoy many benefits, but they will
never be considered equals. This inferiority is explained by the absence of the
unique essence passed down as a genetic legacy from generation to generation
from Adam to the people of Israel, and by the converts' (that is, their
ancestors') non-participation at the revelation at Sinai, which created Israel's
obligation.
This approach gives rise to a certain discomfort within us, particularly
in light of what has happened in recent generations and the satanic use of the
principles of the idea of racial supremacy. Shalom Rosenberg noted this
discomfort: The concept itself of
origin has a positive side. It comes to teach the obligations that nobility
imposes. Regrettably, however, we must apply to it the verse, "You shall not set
up any pillar, which the Lord your God hates" (Devarim 16:22). Regarding
this verse, Rashi says in the name of Chazal: "'Which the Lord your God
hates…' although it was pleasing to Him in the days of our ancestors, now He
hates it because these [the Cana'anites] made it an ordinance of an idolatrous
character." The concept of race in itself is not a negative concept, but from
the time of modern racism, from the time that in the name of race, the most
heinous murders and crimes have been committed, using this concept has become
disqualified and inappropriate. We must not use a concept "which the Lord your
God hates." (Be-Ikvot Ha-Kuzari, p. 71)
In the continuation, Rosenberg tries to find in Rihal's work a different
understanding of Israel's unique essence, but his intellectual honesty forces
him to admit: However, even if we
insist that the plain sense of the Kuzari is otherwise, we must say that
the sources, which in their own context were innocent, turned to their own
detriment, in light of the tragic history of recent generations, dangerous. We
must fulfill in them the mitzva of "You shall not set up any pillar,"
which at first He loved but later He hated. (ibid.)
Rosenberg's attitude is that in the historical context in which we find
ourselves we must reject and perhaps even omit R. Yehuda Halevi's racial theory.
Although this theory casts additional obligations upon the Jewish People, rather
than exempt them from obligations, and although it is meant to elevate its
proponents to a higher moral level, rather than bring them down to a lower one,
this does not lessen the discomfort and the justified antagonism to which the
concept gives rise.
It should be noted that Rihal himself challenged this attitude in the
words that he puts into the Khazar king's mouth: Would it not have been
better or more commensurate with divine wisdom, if all mankind had been guided
in the true path? (I, 102)
Rihal's understanding of Israel's unique essence seems to have two
ramifications regarding God.
First, it implies that God created inferior creatures. This testifies to
a deficiency in the Divine creation, for if the select of mankind are regarded
as perfect, the implication is that the rest are not.
Second, it imposes a restriction on the connection between man and God to
the chosen people. Why weren't all men created in such a way that they can
conjoin with God?
The Rabbi answers these questions, like a good Jew, with another
question: Or would it not have
been best for all animals to have been reasonable beings? (I,
103)
The Rabbi returns the Khazar king to the hierarchy of
mineral-plant-animal-man that he presented at the beginning of the first book.
He teaches him that Israel's unique essence should be seen as part of the
hierarchy that exists in the natural world. Thus, whatever explanation will be
accepted regarding the hierarchical structure of the natural world will also
answer the objections raised against the idea of the unique essence of
Israel.
At this point, the Rabbi does not provide any explanation, but he relates
to the issue in two different places.
In one place, he goes in the ontological direction, according to which
the world itself was created by way of a series of emanations. According to this
understanding, all of creation is anchored in hierarchy. The first link in the
chain of emanation is closer to the "Prime Cause," as the philosophers put it,
than the next link. It is very possible that this hierarchy will find expression
both in the spiritual levels of the created beings, and in their ability to
maintain a connection and relationship with a higher link in the
chain.
The philosophers who accepted this outlook did not see any problem in the
hierarchical structure that they believed in; rather, they saw it as a necessary
consequence of the structure of the world.
Rihal expresses a similar idea in the third and fourth prefaces to true
knowledge: The difference of things
is the outcome of their substances. One cannot, therefore, ask: "Why did He not
create me an angel?" Just as little as the worm can ask: "Why did You not create
me a human being?"
And in the next preface: The fourth principle
expresses the conviction that existing beings are of higher or lower degree.
Everything that is possessed of feeling and perception is higher than those
creatures which lack the same, since the former are nearer the degree of the
Prime Cause, which is Reason itself. The lowest plant occupies a higher rank
than the noblest mineral, the lowest animal is higher than the noblest plant,
and the lowest human being is higher than the noblest
animal.
In another place, R. Yehuda Halevi goes in the teleological-pragmatic
direction, according to which the world aspires toward a certain perfection, and
it is therefore built with means and objectives; some beings serve as means that
allow other beings to realize the supreme objective.
This idea also finds expression in the Kuzari in the wonderful
metaphor of the heart and the organs.
The Rabbi likens the people of Israel among the nations to a heart among
the other organs. Through this metaphor, the Rabbi tries to explain to the
Khazar king that Israel suffers more than any other nations, as the prophet
Yeshayahu says: "But in truth he has borne our sicknesses and endured our pains"
(Yeshayahu 53:4). The heart, according to the Rabbi, is the soul's
resting place, and this function obligates it to maintain a level of refinement
not found in any other organ in the body. This level of refinement is maintained
by fighting off any disease or infection attacking it. For this reason, argues
the Rabbi, the heart is characterized by two contradictory traits: it is both
the sickest and the healthiest part of the body. Its many ailments express the
heart's heightened sensitivity, a sensitivity that preserves its health and
allows the soul to rest upon it and, from there, in the entire
body. Thus, [the heart's]
sensibility and feeling expose it to many ills, but they are at the same time
the cause of their own expulsion at the very beginning, and before they have
time to take root. (II, 42)
This idea has various ramifications, one of which I will relate to at
this time. The metaphor used by Rihal portrays the nations of the world as a
single organism, each organ having its own role. Just as all the organs of the
human body are means for the realization of an end – resting the soul on a
person – so, too, all the nations have an end towards which all are aimed – the
resting of the Divine influence on the select of Israel. The Rabbi concludes the
metaphor as follows: You know that the
elements gradually evolved metals, plants, animals, man, finally the pure
essence of man. The whole evolution took place for the sake of this essence, in
order that the Divine influence should inhabit it. That essence, however, came
into existence for the sake of the highest essence, the prophets and pious. (II,
44)
Once again, Rihal uses the hierarchical structure of the world and talks
here of one level evolving from another. The lowest level serves as a background
for the level above it.[1]
It seems that we would not be straying from Rihal's position if we would speak
not only about background but also about support and service that allow the next
higher level to develop towards its purpose.[2]
Three points must be noted here:
First of all, these conceptions do not give the highest level the
authority or freedom to act as it pleases with respect to the lower level. The
lower levels are not inferior as to their rights, certainly not their human
rights, but only with respect to the opportunity that must be given to them to
conjoin with God (whether through intellectual contemplation, according to the
philosopher, or through religious service and prophecy, according to
Rihal).
Second, these conceptions do not come to fashion a social order, but
rather to explain the existing situation. How is it possible and what is the
moral justification for the fact that one person should sit in his library and
study, while another person, a fellow human being, must work all day in the
kitchen to prepare the first person's food? The answer to this question,
ontological or teleological, is meant to explain and even to justify the
existence of this phenomenon.
The third point relates to the mission and purpose that accompanies some
of these conceptions, and in this, Rihal is an excellent example. The unique
essence creates purpose and obligations, one of which is an obligation towards
those who do not enjoy the unique essence. The people of Israel are understood
by Rihal as the connection and intermediary between God and those who cannot
connect to Him in direct manner. As such, Israel bears great responsibility on
its shoulders, both to perfect itself, and to preserve the connection to those
who do not have the unique essence.
The fact that most people lack the unique essence does not bring us to
disregard them, and certainly not to gas chambers and crematoria. Rather it
imposes a mission upon us to try to elevate them and bring them to a higher
place than where they were before; not through Crusades or missionary work, but
rather through true illumination, which should draw them like a magnet into the
bosom of Judaism – "For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the
nations."
This outlook might be regarded as condescending and non-egalitarian, but
it is certainly not immoral and void of ethical
restraints.
The idea of Israel's mission in the world is evident in several places in
the Kuzari.
The first place is in the metaphor of the heart cited above. We noted
that one ramification of this understanding is that the entire family of nations
is seen as a single organism, the entirety of which serves the heart – the place
where body and soul meet, this being the objective of all the organs. There is a
second ramification, the other side of the coin. The soul that rests on man does
not impact only on the heart. Its traits, objectives and application spread out
from the heart to the entire body. The heart, then, does not merit the soul for
itself. It serves as the body's representative, it merits that the soul should
rest upon it, but it does so on behalf of the entire body. It, therefore, does
not keep the achievement for itself, for it was not exclusively for itself that
it received it.[3]
This is also what the Rabbi says with respect to the Divine influence that rests
upon Israel: "If we are good, the Divine Influence will cling to the world" (II,
44).
Elsewhere, Rihal also describes Israel's obligation to illuminate the
world with what they acquire: Are not the intellectual
faculties much finer than the light that is seen? Or were not the inhabitants of
the earth prior to the Israelites in blindness and error excepting those few
whom I mentioned?… The community was at last considered sufficiently pure for
the light to dwell on it, to be worthy of seeing miracles which changed the
course of nature… Thus, this community became a guide for all hearts, and all
who came after these philosophers could not detach themselves from their
principles. (II, 54)
Here, the Rabbi describes Israel's influence upon the nations of the
world as greater than the sun's influence upon the earth.
According to these descriptions, Israel constitutes the very heart of the
world. The entire world exists for them and for their sake. On the other hand,
they cause life to stream through all the organs, and they are what turns the
world from a dead organism void of vitality and lacking any connection to God,
into a living organism, connected at its umbilical cord, or more precisely at
its heart, to the source of eternal life. (Translated by David
Strauss) [1] This direction is not
sufficiently developed by Rihal. Despite what may be inferred from the metaphor,
that each and every organ has its own function, Rihal does not state this
explicitly. For comparison, let us consider Rav Kook, who also likens the people
of Israel to the heart (and mind) of the human body (Orot Yisrael 1, 2).
But the organs' roles, according to Rav Kook, are more significant than those
assigned to them by Rihal: "The Holy One, blessed
be He, acted charitably toward His world, not bestowing all proficiencies in one
place, neither in one person, nor in one nation… The treasure of the eternal
essence is hidden in Israel. But in order to unite the world with them in an
all-embracing sense, certain proficiencies must be missing from Israel, so that
they be filled in by the world. Thus, there is room for Israel to receive from
the world, opening the way toward influence" (Orot Yisrael 5, 2). In this
sense, not only do the organs make it possible for the heart to live, as follows
from the words of Rihal, but they also have an independent function of
maintaining the body and preparing it for the resting of the soul, which the
heart receives. Support for this
distinction between Rihal and Rav Kook may be brought from a comparison of the
metaphor of the heart and the organs to the metaphor of the seed and the shell.
Sh. Rosenberg, in his article "Lev U-Segula," in his "Mishnato
He-Hagutit Shel R. Yehuda Halevi – Kovetz Ma'amarim" (p. 109) sees in
the two metaphors two opposite ideas. In the metaphor of the heart and the
organs, the heart serves the organs, whereas in the metaphor of the seed and the
shell, the shell serves the seed. In light of what we have said, in both
metaphors the nations of the world serve Israel, and in both of them this
service is directed at a supreme objective – production of the ripe fruit or
resting of the soul on the body. [2] A similar idea is found
in the writings of the Rambam: "One question remains,
namely, that a person can say: You have already said that Divine wisdom did not
create anything in vain, but for a purpose, and that among all created beings
under the lunar sphere, man is the most distinguished, and that man's end is to
contemplate the rational truths. Why, then did the Holy One, blessed be He,
create all those people who do not contemplate the rational truths? And we see
that most people are void of cunning, and empty of wisdom, seeking to fulfill
their lust, and that the wise man, who detests the world, is but one among the
many, a single individual in a generation." The Rambam proposes two
answers to this question. The first is that the
ignorant serve the wise, and free up their time to contemplate the rational
truths: "The answer to this is
that such people exist for two reasons. First, that they should serve that
individual, for were all people to seek wisdom and philosophy, the civilized
world would be destroyed… For man is very deficient, and he needs many things,
and he would have to learn to plow and to harvest, to thresh, to grind, and to
bake, and to make the tools for these labors, in order to prepare his food. And
similarly, he would have to learn to spin and to weave, in order to make
something to wear, and to learn construction, in order to build a place to
shelter himself there, and to make tools for all these labors… for a person is
in absolute need of all of them for his survival. When then would he find time
to learn and to acquire wisdom? Therefore there are the other people, to do all
these things that are necessary, so that the wise man will find what he needs
ready, and the land will be settled, and wisdom will be
found." The second is to serve
as companions to the sages: "Therefore, the masses
were created to serve as companions to the sages, so that they become desolate.
You might think that this benefit is small, but it is necessary and more fitting
than the first. For the Holy One, blessed be He, kept the wicked in Eretz
Israel so that they have companionship, and to remove desolation from the
pious. This is what is stated (Shemot 23:29): "I will not drive them out
from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate" (introduction to the
Mishna, chap. 8 (Mosad HaRav Kook ed., pp. 79-82). An allusion to such an
idea may be found also in the writings of Rav Kook, although it may be inferred
from a precise reading of his words that the situation which he describes as
"natural slavery," in which certain people are naturally inferior and
subservient to others, is a situation that might one day pass from the world
(Iggerot Ha-Ra'aya, I, no. 89). [3] As stated in note 1,
Sh. Rosenberg saw this as the essence of the metaphor of the heart and the
organs. In my opinion, however, this idea indeed exists, but alongside the main
idea that Rihal sees in the metaphor of the heart and the organs – that the
organs serve the heart and make it possible for it to receive the Divine
influence. |