The Garments of Torah: Essays in Biblical Hermeneutics PDF
Preview The Garments of Torah: Essays in Biblical Hermeneutics
Page i The Garments of Torah Page ii Indiana Studies in Biblical Literature Herbert Marks and Robert Polzin, General Editors Page iii The Garments of Torah Essays in Biblical Hermeneutics Michael Fishbane INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS BLOOMINGTON & INDIANAPOLIS Page iv Disclaimer: This book contains characters with diacritics. When the characters can be represented using the ISO 88591 character set (http://www.w3.org/TR/images/latin1.gif), netLibrary will represent them as they appear in the original text, and most computers will be able to show the full characters correctly. In order to keep the text searchable and readable on most computers, characters with diacritics that are not part of the ISO 88591 list will be represented without their diacritical marks. First Midland Book Edition 1992 © 1989 by Michael Fishbane All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses' Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data Fishbane, Michael A. The garments of torah: Essays in biblical hermeneutics. (Indiana studies in biblical literature) Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Bible. O.T.—Criticism, interpretation, etc., Jewish—History. 2. Bible. OT.—Hermeneutics. I. Title. II. Series. BS1186.F58 1989 221.6'01 8846039 ISBN 0253322170 ISBN 0253207525 (pbk.) 2 3 4 5 6 96 95 94 93 92 Page v For EITAN Page vii CONTENTS Preface ix I. The Hermeneutics of Scripture in Formation 1. InnerBiblical Exegesis: Types and Strategies of Interpretation in Ancient 3 Israel 2. ExtraBiblical Exegesis: The Sense of Not Reading in Rabbinic Midrash 19 3. The Garments of Torah—Or, to What May Scripture Be Compared? 33 II. Scriptural Hermeneutics and the Forms of Culture 4. Israel and the "Mothers" 49 5. From Scribalism to Rabbinism: Perspectives on the Emergence of Classical 64 Judaism III. Hermeneutics, Scripture, and the Present Hour 6. The Biblical Dialogue of Martin Buber 81 7. Martin Buber's Moses 91 8. Speech and Scripture: The Grammatical Thinking and Theology of Franz 99 Rosenzweig 9. The Teacher and the Hermeneutical Task: A Reinterpretation of Medieval 112 Exegesis Conclusion: 121 The Notion of a Sacred Text Notes 135 Index 151 Page ix PREFACE Rereading these essays on biblical hermeneutics, written over the past decade and more, the polymorphous image of Hermes came repeatedly to mind. As a resourceful messenger, Hermes is, of course, the patron of hermeneutics itself. But he is also a numen of boundaries, an agent of monetary exchange, and even a frequent visitor to the netherworld of the dead. Many of these multiple aspects are recursively present in his hermeneutical guise, as well; or at least this is what attracts me to this figure, and to the hermeneutical process itself. For it seems to me that Hermes is the complex representation of a creative force by which we shuttle from our living present to the past, crossing the boundaries of time in order to revive bygone texts along with ourselves, their readers. Hermes is the coin of exchange whereby older texts and latterday readers are reciprocally reformed in each other's image. The prolongation of the life of a text, through exegesis, is thus also a process of symbolic immortality. For in text cultures the umbilical cord of hermeneutics is at once a life line to one's matrix in the past and a deathdefying act of the imagination in the present. Scheherazade knew this secret well: if we reinvent the story forever, we may continue to live. The three parts of this book reflect three typical moments whereby cultures renew themselves hermeneutically. Part I gives examples of the development of the exegetical imagination in Judaism, beginning with the Bible itself, and the changing images of Scripture that result. Part II traces two instances whereby exegetical choices and attitudes have shaped ancient biblical and rabbinic culture. The transformative praxis of interpretation is revealed here under the sign of its historical impact. The way we reformulate our historicity through the praxis of scholarly inquiry cannot be evaded, and one must therefore be ready to acknowledge that it is in and through the act of historical exegesis that we continuously rewrite our "myth of origins"—now in the form of historical or cultural commentaries. With this in mind, but especially mindful of the way ancient texts are exchanged for present realities, Part III explores several instances of the act of Vergegenwärtigung—of making the pastness of texts Page x present to us and part of our ongoing cultural lives. In the powerful image of Franz Rosenzweig, when we read truly, we truly read texts like Scripture for their inner power (innere Kraft). Of the making of commentaries, then, there may be no end if we are to survive as a culture empowered by our historical past and the dynamic dimensions of its retrieval. The attentive reader will no doubt sense these different dialectics in the chapters at hand—not least the shifting boundaries of text and person, of author and authority, of word and will. In sifting among my writings for examples which might make aspects of these issues accessible to the nonspecialist reader in some of their historical variety, I have also tried to choose essays which were delivered in public settings at one point or another. And as the topics discussed were often called forth by a communal or academic concern, I have tried to retain here something of the living voice with which I originally responded. I have indicated in the notes my thanks to the several publishers who have kindly granted permission to reprint these essays. To lighten the burden on the general reader, the more academic underpinnings of certain arguments have either been deleted or put in the notes, and the system of transliterating Hebrew words has been highly simplified. I have also tended to separate conjunctions, prepositions and definite articles from the words cited, so that the common form commented on in several places will be obvious to the nonHebraist. As a further concession in this direction, I have regularly presented certain consonants in their voiceless form even where they were pronounced otherwise (e.g., 'b' for 'v'). This, too, was done to highlight word patterns in a text. The only exceptions are several person names or book titles which by now have a conventional spelling in the Englishspeaking world. I am grateful to the editorial staff of Indiana University Press for understanding this matter. I am also thankful to the Press for its many courtesies, and for the professional manner with which they have produced this book. Their interest in these essays was a wonderful spur to gather them in this form. In this regard, I also wish to thank the editors of the Indiana Studies in Biblical Literature for their interest—particularly Herbert Marks, whose comments were always thoughtful and insightful. As the earliest of these essays was written in Jerusalem in 1975, just before my oldest son Eitan was born, and now these words are also written in Jerusalem just weeks before his becoming a Bar Mitzvah, it gives me the deepest pleasure to dedicate this book to him in love and respect. As his name is a symbol in Jewish mystical texts for the highest key of interpreta Page xi tion, it is my prayer that his imagination and compassion, already so evident, never fail him as he comes before the everchanging gates of mystery. MICHAEL FISHBANE INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDIES HEBREW UNIVERSITY NOVEMBER, 1988
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