"Jewish Tradition Does Not Learn From the Bible"

"Jewish tradition does not learn from the Bible. It teaches the Bible what it is saying." This was the most memorable line today in a memorable lesson on the Abraham narratives. The joy of learning at the Hartman Institute in Jerusalem is the capacity of teacher after teacher to bring Jewish texts and ideas to life. In particular the faculty at Hartman demonstrates the remarkable genius of the texts of the rabbis and their capacity to reinterpret the biblical text in the most imaginative and courageous ways. It is a truism that Judaism does not find comfort in a literal reading of scripture. But Hartman teaches its students to fully engage the breadth of non literal readings and to see within them the profound debates that define their world and our own religious divides.

The question today was how the rabbinic texts shape and define the religious personality of Avraham? The Midrashic sources today reveal conflicting views of the core religious experience that is the foundation of Judaism. But one line of Midrashim depicts the religiosity of Avraham as a person of tremendous moral hutzpah, who takes initiative to challenge God and people in the world. This line of interpretation even suggests that Avraham resists God in the binding of Isaac through petitionary prayer. This vision of a fully responsible, non-submissive Avraham is not the simple reading of the Bible, but one religious perspective which emerges from a rabbinic reading of the Bible which is not chained to a rigid view of the text.

One of the reasons I chose of life of study (this is not only for rabbis but any Jew) is the distinct joy of seeing a profound insight emerge from conversations so long ago. I gain pleasure from learning that previous generations had much to teach us. When Jewish texts are taught with inspiration and insight we are able to see the profound humane and spiritual possibities that can make us better human beings. There is the joy of recognition that we are not the first to see the world in a keener way. There is also the joy of learning the understanding about human limits and foibles, a timeless sense of humor and a shocking honesty about human faillings and potential. There is always surprise, subtilty, and humor when encountering these texts and a sense of gratitude to be part of a culture that has so preserved and kept alive its past.

Rabbi Dov Gartenberg