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| A J Heschel |
In the spirit of Spinoza and Moses Mendelssohn, many of
those who take the law seriously, as well as those who pay lip service to it,
maintain that the science of law is the only authentic expression of Judaism;
that agada -- in the strict sense of the non-legal rabbinic literature and in
the wider sense of all post-rabbinic attempts to interpret the non-legal ideas
and beliefs of our faith -- is not "within the mainstream of
Judaism." Theology, it is claimed,
is alien to Judaism; the law, "An ox who gores a cow," is Jewish
theology, for Judaism is law and nothing else.
Such pan-Halachic "theology" claims that in Judaism
religious living consists of complying with a law rather than of striving to
attain a goal which is the purpose of the law.
It is a view that exalts Torah only because it discloses the law, not
because it discloses a way of finding God in life. It claims that obedience is the substance
rather than the form of religious existence; that the law is an end, not a way.
This indeed, has been the contention of those who attacked Judaism that "the law of Moses commands only right action, and says nothing about purity of heart." Albo rejects as being the opposite of truth. "For do we not read, circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart (Deuteronomy 10:16); and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart (Deuteronomy 10:16); and you shall love your neighbour as yourself (Leviticus 19:18); but you shall fear your god (Leviticus 19:14); you shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people (Leviticus 19:15). The reason it commands right action is because purity of heart is of no account unless practice is in agreement with it. The most important thing, however, is intention. David says, create me a clean heart (Psalm 51:12).[1]
Judaism is not another word for Legalism. The rules of observance are law in form and love in substance. The Torah contains both law and love. Law is what holds the world together; love is what brings the world forward. The law is the means, not the end; the way, not the goal. One of the goals is "You shall be holy." The Torah is guidance to an end through a law. It is both a vision and a law. Man created in the likeness of God is called upon to re-create the world in the likeness of the vision of God. Halachah is neither the ultimate nor the all-embracing term for Jewish learning and living. The Torah is more than a system of laws; only a portion of the Pentateuch deals with law. The prophets, the Psalms, agadic midrashim, are not a part of the halachah. The Torah comprises both halachah and agada. Like body and soul, they are mutually dependent and each is a dimension of its own.
Agada is usually defined negatively as embracing all non-legal and non-halachic parts of rabbinic literature, whether in the form of a tale or an explanation of scripture; an epigram or a homily. Significantly, though the Bible, like rabbinic literature[2], embraces both legal and non-legal teachings, the distinction between halacha and agada was never applied to it.[3] The fact remains that, central as is law, only a small part of the bible deals with the law. The narratives of the bible as holy as its legal portions.[4] According to one rabbi, "the conversation of the servants of the patriarchs is more beautiful than even the laws of the later generations."[5]
Source: A J Heschel, God in Search of Man, page 322f.
[3] On
the basis Genesis Rabbah 44, 8, it was suggested that originally the
term agada was also applied to the narrative portions of the bible, including
the Pentateuch. See M Guttmann, Clavis
Talmudis, I, 453.
[4] Compare
Genesis Rabbah, 85, 2.
[5] Compare
Genesis Rabbah, 60, 8.
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