Dear Friends,
Sometimes… “We just don’t know!”
Such was the sweet and thoughtful response of my rabbinic school Bible teacher, the late Dr. Stanley Gevirtz (z”l), when we would come across a difficult text which eluded our understanding.
“We just don’t know!”
It can be difficult to admit, especially if one is supposed to be the scholar or the expert on a particular theme. Yet, it is refreshing to hear that disclaimer.
Such is the case in this week’s difficult Torah portion, which addresses bodily fluids, impurities, skin ailments, and more, but through a 3,000-year-old prism. Some of the words and instructions are just archaic. Commonly in Jewish life, we turn to the great medieval commentators who brilliantly explained the Torah’s meanings – Rashi, Maimonides, and others. But what happens when they are stumped, as well?
Rashi was stumped this week.
The Torah describes a person with a dermatological problem. It reads, “When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling, a rash, or a discoloration, and it develops into a scaly affection on the skin of his body…” (Leviticus 13:2) The three words for swelling, rash or discoloration, in Hebrew, are s’eit, sapachat or vaheret, and their etymological origins and ancient and present meanings are deeply obscured.
Rashi could not explain the meaning of the three key words. Thus, being a 12th-century Frenchman from Provence, he wrote regarding vaheret, “It could be taie in Old French.” Of course, we are somewhat uncertain what was taie in Old French, but more importantly, to offer his explanation for an unknown phrase, Rashi sought a comparable explanation from what was to his then-readers a familiar term, using their language, Old French.
When we are stuck with a seemingly intractable problem, we have a number of options. We can keep banging our heads against the tree, a la Charlie Brown. Or, we could look for another frame of reference, a la Rashi. Or, we can admit, “We just don’t know!” a la Dr. Stanley Gevirtz.
Whatever option we may select, sometimes it is just refreshing to be stumped, to bask in the complex theme or situation, and to let it be!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
Sometimes… “We just don’t know!”
Such was the sweet and thoughtful response of my rabbinic school Bible teacher, the late Dr. Stanley Gevirtz (z”l), when we would come across a difficult text which eluded our understanding.
“We just don’t know!”
It can be difficult to admit, especially if one is supposed to be the scholar or the expert on a particular theme. Yet, it is refreshing to hear that disclaimer.
Such is the case in this week’s difficult Torah portion, which addresses bodily fluids, impurities, skin ailments, and more, but through a 3,000-year-old prism. Some of the words and instructions are just archaic. Commonly in Jewish life, we turn to the great medieval commentators who brilliantly explained the Torah’s meanings – Rashi, Maimonides, and others. But what happens when they are stumped, as well?
Rashi was stumped this week.
The Torah describes a person with a dermatological problem. It reads, “When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling, a rash, or a discoloration, and it develops into a scaly affection on the skin of his body…” (Leviticus 13:2) The three words for swelling, rash or discoloration, in Hebrew, are s’eit, sapachat or vaheret, and their etymological origins and ancient and present meanings are deeply obscured.
Rashi could not explain the meaning of the three key words. Thus, being a 12th-century Frenchman from Provence, he wrote regarding vaheret, “It could be taie in Old French.” Of course, we are somewhat uncertain what was taie in Old French, but more importantly, to offer his explanation for an unknown phrase, Rashi sought a comparable explanation from what was to his then-readers a familiar term, using their language, Old French.
When we are stuck with a seemingly intractable problem, we have a number of options. We can keep banging our heads against the tree, a la Charlie Brown. Or, we could look for another frame of reference, a la Rashi. Or, we can admit, “We just don’t know!” a la Dr. Stanley Gevirtz.
Whatever option we may select, sometimes it is just refreshing to be stumped, to bask in the complex theme or situation, and to let it be!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
