Vayishlah (Rambam)

Between Israel and the Nations

The story of Jacob wrestling with the angel, with which this week’s parshah opens, is read by the overwhelming majority of midrashim and classical commentators as symbolic of the struggle with Esau/Edom and, by extension, with Rome, Christendom, and the non-Jewish world generally—a subject of truly mythical dimensions. Hence, this is an apt occasion to discuss Maimonides’ approach to the nature of Jewish peoplehood and the place held in his world-view by other nations. I originally thought that this would be a very brief essay because, unlike other topics, the important and striking thing here is what Rambam does not say. There is a whole current within Jewish thought—many would describe it as the mainstream—including much of the classical Midrash, Judah Halevi, Spanish Kabbalah, Maharal of Prague, and Rav Kook—which sees the drama of Jewish history as a subject of central concern, and which sees the election of Israel as involving metaphysical qualities inherent in the being of every Jew.

It is especially interesting to contrast Rambam on this point to R. Judah Halevi, who lived roughly two generations before him (ca. 1075-1141; their lifetimes thus overlapped very slightly). Like him, Halevi developed within Spanish Jewry, and the two expressed similar views on many points —e.g., reservations about biblical expressions of anthropomorphism, the understanding of God’s unity, the central role of the idea of Creation vs. the eternity of the universe, their rational approach to such ideas as Providence and miracles, etc. But Halevi, in his major work, the Kuzari, insists that there is a unique metaphysical property of the Jewish people and that they are carriers of what he calls ha-inyan ha-Elohi, “the Divine element,” which gives them a unique aptitude for religious consciousness and even prophecy, which is in some sense biologically transmitted. Hence prophecy, the highest level of God consciousness, is only possible among Jews, not among the nations of world (not even converts to Judaism!), and in the Land of Israel alone, not outside of it.

Similar ideas appear in the Kabbalistic and Hasidic tradition. Some readers may have encountered the idea expressed in Habad, with its psychological mapping of the human soul, that sees the souls of Jews and non-Jews as essentially different; even the animative souls (nefesh behamit) of the former draw upon kelipat nogah {“the shining shells,” referring to the catastrophe of the Breaking of the Vessels that plays a central role in Lurianic thouight) as opposed to the Gentiles, who draw upon kelipat tum’ah (“shells of impurity”).

All this is utterly alien to Maimonides’ way of thought. For him, the Jewish mission is subsidiary to the dissemination of knowledge of God and of Torah, never an end in itself. Thus, in Chapter 1 of Hilkhot Avodah Zarah (see HY V: Lekh Lekha), he describes the role of Abraham’s, Isaac’s and Jacob’s family as continuing their mission, as teaching the message of God’s unity, and as being trained to be teachers of this truth to all the people in the world. Or in Yesodei ha-Torah Ch. 7, where he discusses prophecy (we shall discuss this in greater detail in coming weeks), there is no blanket rejection of the possibility of prophecy, either on the part of non-Jews, or outside of the Land of Israel, as there is in Halevi. Or yet again, in his messianic doctrine (Melakhim 12; Teshuvah 8-9), he speaks of redemption as meaning the end of “the subjugation of Israel to the nations”—again, in naturalistic terms—its end purpose being to pursue knowledge of God.

One of the few places in which Maimonides does speak explicitly about the meaning of Jewish election is in the Epistle to Yemen (Iggeret Teman; 1172). This pastoral letter was addressed to the remote community of Yemen during a period of grave crisis, when they were demoralized, beset by persecution, and plagued by a messianic pretender who offered false hopes. Here, as in similar epistles (most notably his Treatise on Martyrdom, Ma’amar Kiddush Hashem, addressed to Moroccan Jewry during an earlier crisis), Rambam writes in comforting, even tender tones, reassuring members of this community of the positive significance of Jewish history. I will quote only one brief passage from the beginning of this lengthy epistle:

And now, brethren, it is essential that you give attention and consideration to what I am going to point out to you. Teach it to your women and children….. It is that ours is the true and divine religion, revealed to us through Moses, chief of the former as well as of the later prophets. By means of it God has distinguished us from the rest of mankind… This choice was not made thanks to our merits, but was rather an act of grace, on account of our ancestors who were cognizant of God and obedient to Him….

Here, Jewish election is based entirely and exclusively upon Torah and upon the event that happened at Sinai. There also follows from this the central role of Moses as teacher and conduit of Torah, and a certain tendency to downplay and deemphasize what the people themselves experienced at Sinai (see HY I: Shavuot):

Since God has singled us out by His laws and precepts, and our preeminence over the others was manifested in His rules and statutes… all the nations, instigated by envy and impiety, rose up against us in anger, and all the kings of the earth, motivated by injustice and enmity, applied themselves to persecute us……. (Abraham Halkin’s translation from the Arabic, in A. Halkin & D. Hartman, Crisis and Leadership: Epistles of Maimonides (Philadelphia: JPS, 1985), pp. 96-97

He goes on to explain the origin of anti-Semitism as rooted in a kind of jealousy of Israel’s spiritual mission, and then mentions that there are two classes: those who persecute by the sword, and those who use words—the educated and sophisticated nations who use ideological arguments to oppose Jewish teaching.

This same theocentric approach, adamantly opposed to any racial or biological understanding of Jewish chosenness, comes out even more clearly in his approach to proselytes. In a letters to Obadiah the Proselyte, a disciple of his from Baghdad, he addresses a series of three questions he was asked, two of which relate to the nature of conversion to Judaism, and by implication the notion of Jewishness. In the first of these questions, Obadiah asked whether he, as a convert, and hence not a part pf the biological chain of Jewry, might refer in his prayers to the patriarchs as his own forefathers:

[You asked] whether by yourself or in the congregation you are to recite the formulae “Our God and God of our fathers,” “Who has sanctified us through Your commandments,” “Who has separated us,” “Who has chosen us,” “Who has inherited to our forefathers,” “Who has brought us out of the land of Egypt,” “Who has worked miracles for our forefathers,” and the like?

Answer: You may recite all this as prescribed, and need not change it in the least. You are to bless and pray exactly as does every other Jew, whether you are praying by yourself or acting as prayer leader for the congregation. The reason for this is that Abraham our Father taught the entire people and enlightened them, showing them the true path and the unity of God. He rejected the idols and abolished their worship; he brought many people under the wings of the Divine Presence, giving them counsel and advice; he commanded his sons and the members of his household who came after him to observe the ways of the Lord forever, as is written in the Torah, “For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice” (Gen. 18:19). Therefore, whoever adopts Judaism to the end of all generations, and who confesses the unity of the Divine Name, as prescribed in the Torah, is considered among the disciples of Abraham our Father, peace be with him, and the members of his household, whom he brought to righteousness. In the same way as he converted his contemporaries through his word and teaching, so does he convert the future generations, by means of the testament he left his children and household after him. Thus, Abraham our Father, peace be with him, is the father of those pious posterity who keep his ways, and the father of his disciples, who are all the proselytes who adopt Judaism.

… as you have come under the wings of the Divine Presence and confessed the Lord, there is no difference between us and you, and all the miracles performed were as if performed for us and for you. Hence, it states in the Book of Isaiah, “Neither let the alien, that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak, saying: ‘The Lord will surely separate me from his people’” (Isa. 56:3) -- for there is no difference between us and you in any matter whatsoever…. Do not take your pedigree lightly, for if you are related to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, you are related to He who spoke and created the world!

The second question in this letter deals with a general theological question, which need not concern us here at present. The third question refers to some of his Jewish teachers, who taunted him because of the alleged paganism of his former Muslim faith, and of the rituals performed at Mecca. Rambam first relates to the lack of facticity of these accusations and then, in a poetically eloquent and emotional passage, harshly criticizes those who dare cause pain to a prosleyte on account of his origins:

Concerning the Ishmaelites, of whom you said they are not idolators, while your teacher said that they are idolators, and that the stones which they thrust before the [place of] their cult are as if to Marcurius. He also answered you improperly, so much that you felt sad in your heart and were shamed… The Ishmaelites are not idolators at all, for it has long since been uprooted from their hearts and their mouths; they unite the one God properly, with a faultless unity. Just because they lie about us and are deceitful, and say that we claim that God has a son—should we also speak falsehood about them and say that they are idolators? … Should a person say that the place in which they worship is a temple of idolatry, and that there is hidden therein an idol which their forefathers worshipped in this temple—what does that matter? Those who bow towards it today do not direct their heart save toward Heaven… Their error and foolishness lies in other things, which one cannot write down because of the wicked ones of Israel—but they do not err whatsoever regarding the unity of God.

In truth, in olden days the Ishmaelites had on this site three kinds of idolatry… But the Ishmaelites today state: the reason we uncover our heads and do not wear sewn garments in the house of worship is in order to humble ourselves before God, and to remember how man will rise up out of his grave. And the reason why we throw stones is in order to confuse Satan. Other of their wise people explain it saying: there were statues there, and we stone the place of the statues as if to say that we do not believe in them, and we do so in contempt….

As for your teacher answering you improperly, and shaming you and calling you a fool—he sinned grievously in this, and it seems to me that he did so by mistake; and it is fitting that he ask your pardon, even though you are his student. Let him then fast and weep and pray; perhaps God will forgive him. Was he intoxicated, that he did not know that the Torah admonishes us concerning “strangers” in thirty-six [different] passages? And where is the Divine command, “And a stranger shalt thou not wrong” (Ex. 22:20); is this not wronging him by speech? Even had he been in the right and you in error, it was his duty to speak to you gently and with a pleasant countenance; how much more so when the truth is with you and he was in error! Before concerning himself with the question of whether or not the Ishmaelites are idolators, he should have examined himself concerning his temper, which caused him to put a righteous proselyte to shame. For our Sages have said, “He who gives way to his anger shall be esteemed in your eyes as an idolator” (Shabbat 105b).

How great is the duty which the law imposes on us with regard to proselytes! We are commanded to honor and fear our parents, and we are commanded to hearken to the prophets—yet a person may honor and fear and obey without loving. But in the case of proselytes, we are bidden to love, an act which depends upon the heart. … And he called you a fool! Astounding! A person who left his father and his birthplace, his country and its power, understanding in his heart that he should go and attach himself to this people, who are today “an abominated nation” and “enslaved to rulers”; one who recognized the truth and righteousness of this people’s religion, and that all religions are stolen from their religion… one who understood all this, and pursued God, following the holy path until he came under the wing of the Divine Presence, bowing at the feet of Moses our Teacher and Teacher of all the Prophets, desiring his commandments, and lifting his heart to draw near to God, find light in the light of life, to ascend to the level of the angels and to rejoice in the joy of the righteous; casting the things of this world away from his heart, and not turning to vain or empty things. Shall such a person be called a fool? Heaven forbid! Not foolish has God called you, but enlightened, understanding and wise, walking upright, disciple of our father Abraham, who left his father and his kindred and inclined Godward.

May He who blessed Abraham your teacher and gave him his reward in this world and the next, bless you and give you your fit reward in this world and the next, giving you long life so that you may teach the laws of God to all His community, and making you worthy to behold all the consolations destined for Israel…. (My unpublished translation, originally commissioned by the Shalom Hartman Institute, based on Rabbi Yitzhak Shilat’s translation from the Arabic in his edition of Iggerot ha-Rambam)