Just Think

 

By: Jonathan Seidel

Knowledge over experience: talmud, hyper-legality, intellect and divine connection

There is no word for ‘experience’ in Tanakh. The most common Hebrew usage is the word ‘yada’ which means knowledge. ‘Yada’ is to know which is to experience and acknowledge. The nice thought experiences of the emotional hard drive is intellectual. The prophets encountered God in a divine experience but it is never called an encounter. It is the “word of God came to…”. The word of God is synonymous with prophecy as pointed out with Eli. Given, knowledge and the word it is plausible the idea of experience is not so foreign for Maimonides.

Maimonides prioritises the intellect. The logos of man is within his own personal apprehension. Yet there is a prophetic atmosphere than cannot be understood. Even Maimonides concedes that prophecy is somewhat superior to the conscious mind. Natural man can use all the intellect in the world and yet he cannot attain the prophetic vision. Man cannot unilaterally receive prophecy. Prophecy is not achieved it is awarded. God either speaks to the prophet or sends him a message. The divine experience is always a directive either directly or indirectly (speaking versus calling). This may be the profound uniqueness of Moses that there is no “word of God”. God speaks “face to face” to Moses. God speaks to Moses as he is speaking to a friend. Moses is a special case but it is also a profound instance of transcending the logos for the prophetic power. The logos is rational and relatable. The world as perceived. While Tanakh cannot be compared to the logos as the God, miracles and prophetic capability do not play well into the scientific consensus. Though it can be regarded with a deal of logic. The irrationality of the supernal sphere does not deem it illogical nor does it deem it untrue, only that it is beyond the rational faculty of man. God’s concealment and divulged capability fervently administers its own conundrum on the reader’s understanding.

To begin with, the measure of supernal levels is not entrenched in the text. There are a few poetic hints to something beyond. The prophetic words are translated as irrational entities but are never systemically articulated. Angels are present in the patriarchal stories. Angels are mentioned but not angelology. Though in its own ironic twist, the word of angels, ‘malach’ also means messenger (which liturgically both a king and an angel are messengers but only the angel has the divine seal, the aleph of elokim. The soul of man is hidden within his being). The text at times notes a ‘malach hashem’ as way of connoting which messenger versus the messengers Jacob sends to Esau. Yet with Abraham the men are angels here but men elsewhere are mortals. It is the context that is necessary to prove if such figures are men or angels. Interestingly, Maimonides transforms the Abrahamic encounter into a prophetic dream. It was an illusion of divine creation. Yet on the other end, they may have really been men. Men who God seized upon to deliver this message. There were passing by and God sent them this message. They were not coined angels because they weren’t angels. They were inspired men who in their wisdom educated Abraham on the promising future. Though whether these men are angels or inspired men does not detract from the message. The supernal is but a foreign phenomena. Angelology is irrelevant as much as it pertains to man.

The famous midrash narrates Moses’ debate with the angels concerning the Torah (rabbinic literature is much more ‘open’ to the metaphysical inquiries). Moses demonstrates through the angelic perfection that they need no Torah. The Torah is for man because of his mortality and finitude. It is imperfection that awards him the divine guide. In this sense, the Torah is the story of man. The story of God and man. The Torah doesn’t present a philosophy of man but is the philosophy of man. The narration is a sermonic telling of the human imperfection and the divine perfection. The encounter and the experience. The education and the development. What it means to the human condition. What it means to God. The biblical collection is a history but also a legacy. It is a narrative of successes and failures. A heritage of fidelity and betrayal. Of commitment and disobedience. The human condition is a unity of opposites. A fundamentally flawed being. It is through the divine light that education proscribed. It is the meeting of man and God. God’s search for kingship and prosperity. For a success story to ensue and change the trajectory of the world. It is a story of wisdom embedded in the narrational cycle. A prose of insight and hidden gems to divulge. Whether there is a supernal world means nothing to the biblical character. What matters is God’s relation to man and to the world. 

In somewhat of a Nahmanidean scheme, there is science but wrapped up in a divine laced world. The world operates as a physical based reality that introduces unscientific characters into the frame. The Torah doesn’t stand for science nor is it a relevant concept. The stories are trying to fit the rational guise. The Torah even notes that the people saw all the profound miracles of God. They saw that which was infrequent. It doesn’t ask to measure the scientific frame but does expect to recognise the irrational viability. Science doesn’t matter insofar as the miraculous is plausible. The divine intervention is merely the suspension of nature. Yet this is the only scientific conundrum. Maimonides attempted to rationalise the illogical elements but this is merely bridging the rational and the mystical. The impact of the divine intervention is commonly through dialogue rather than unearthing nature. God can play with the natural realm but he does so periodically under specific conditions. Whether Maimonides or Nahmanides is correct concerning reality from the divine perspective, it is natural from the human perspective. The suspension of naturalism in the wake of irrational miracles is itself disingenuous. If the miraculous is naturalistic it is considered a miracle for its uniqueness and bewilderment but it is still natural. Even the hailstorm on Egypt was parcel of natural elements. It is not about whether it can naturally occur regularly but that it is plausible. 

Taking this point further, angels appear as humans. They do not possess a floaty majestic form. Unlike with God’s unseen face, the angels do not have such power. They must conform to the earthly matter to which they stand. Like gravity they are forced down into the material formation. Jacob defeats an angel and Zechariah listens to an angel’s soliloquy. Regarding the latter, emotions are vivid in the angel’s troublesome thoughts. His expression is humane and compassionate. Reality impacts. It alters the magnetics of the world. Splitting the sea and stopping the sun were incredible feats, while no archeological evidence has been found many claim it is possible. The scientific imagination is rather bleak. The divine epic possibilities are far reaching. It is only God who fulfils these daunting implausible miracles. It is the divine that makes the implausible possible. That is the true test of God. To alter the current of nature. That which flows freely is quickly startled and changed on a dime. That is the greatness of God. Yet it isn’t even the central facet of biblical man. The only perpetuated divine miracles is agency. God speaks through prophets and channels wisdom into Solomon. He assists the people in battle and sends their enemies when they sin. Given the textual rendition it seems more God shuts off the forcefield allowing enemies to plunder. The invisible shield protects only if the people are deserving of divine defence. It is a miracle but not an awe-filled mystery rather a behind the scenes advocate.

The divine energy is hidden in the voice. The voice of the prophet. The experience of the miraculous is limited to the desert and rare encounters later on. Bilaam of all people is shown an angel sword in hand. The opportunity for the supernal or the deeply entrenched experience is but a far cry from the normative. It isn’t even registered as a demand or a recommendation. The true experience is not the sight but the knowledge. The auditory internalised and expressed. To know is to recognise and relate. It is awareness and understanding. The message about assisting the disadvantaged due to prior enslavement is from knowledge. The new Pharaoh didn’t know Joseph or that he simply did not experience/wished to erase the impact of Joseph. Moses knew God face to face meaning he experienced such a close encounter with the ineffable. Knowing to biblical man is at times simply just knowledge but in many cases it is linked to experiencing. It is through comprehension that one gains. It is the basic assumptions regarding knowledge that possess incredible relatable security. The ability to fully grasp the situation and the resulting ramifications. It is the human accumulation of capability not the surreal capacity of angelic deification. Trademarked is the memory bank stored in the knowledge chamber of the mind. The core of recognition is memorial and rational conclusions. A faculty of the naturalised human ability. 

The visual of Sinai is to be made known to descendants. An experience they cannot comprehend and yet they are to understand. Listening to the story and reading it aloud to imagine the possibility. A strong implausibility and yet a directive. The visual is powerful but it is parcel of the full picture. The experience includes the other factors that need to be internalised. A way of understanding that completely seeks generational commitment rather than temporary concession. It is a message of what was and what will happen. A connection of mind and mutuality. It is through knowledge that understanding is stored. Internalising what the other means and growing from it. As the knowledge is impactful it better assists in forming a relationship. It is the divine knowledge that communicates to man what he ought to do and how he ought to do it. It is an understanding of action and execution. A definition that is readily received and interpreted. Experience follows from such conversational acceptance. The dialogue needs a speaker and a recipient. Knowledge is conveyed by the divine to man. It is this that enables the experience through the prophet to the people. The medium is exalted in its refracted form. The knowledge passed from the prophet to the people is empowering and incredible. It is a sign of relational connection and commitment. A desire for interest and intimacy. Through rationalisation rather than mystification, man grows closer to God. It is not of feeling God but knowing God. As one feels God when he knows him. 

The biblical archetype follows a master-servant dialectic. Marx saw this as a testament to a wrongful binary of existence. Yet while there are distasteful elements of the inequity produced by a veteran and a novice, the father will always have life advice that his son cannot comprehend. The famous phrase you’ll understand when you are older is not wrong. It is a realisation upon maturity. A relationship is always about pals shooting hoops or drinking a beer. Relationships can be respectful even if they are unequal. A child respects his parents and parents love their children. A parent is expected to care for the child but not inversely. A parent’s responsibility for the child exceeds the inverse. The relationship is unequal but it is not unfair nor immoral. It is a part of reasoned objectification. A child is too immature to care for his parents. The parent is well equipped to care for the child and therefore fulfils this duty without receiving anything in return. The divine created us and provided us this great Torah expecting us to obey. Competent folk yet ignorant to the divine magnitude. It is merely of the legal quandary that permits a basic understanding of the divine foundation. It is through his commandments that we can even try to comprehend Him. His infinite power is condensed into wisdom-laws. Into a system of dharma-like legislation. A method of living mimicking the divine nature. It is the will of God for man to be holy by reflecting the divine will. The mortal to taste the divine’s insight through expression.

Maimonides placed his pieces in the brilliance of the human intellect. Many shunned him and opted for spiritual linkage. Focusing on metaphysical forces uncanny to the believer. The believer is commanded not shown. Focusing on implementing the script then harping on it. God does demand his people to remember the events of yore. They pass down the stories of the divine greatness but it is through internalisation that he can understand this and imagine its possibilities. He is not called onto create new found manifestations of God. He is not told to sense the Lord, he is told to follow the law. His noggin helps him direct himself competently. Adequately serving the Lord who redeemed his ancestors and proscribed the lifestyle of divinity. A sacred mentality imposed to the intellectually efficient. Knowledge is powerful and yet it is merely the meeting of minds. It is the capability to accept and submit. Not to turn off the brain but utilise it wisely. To rationally naturally actualise the will of God. Man is no robot, he is a free spirit who acknowledges his debt and duty. His experience is through the message of the divine. A quintessential responsibility wound up in his educational mould. He is raised as a kingdom of priests. Provided the education and dared to try it out for himself. God is watching but he is not interfering unless things go terribly awry. Clouded with idolatry and other deities, the transcendent God can be forgotten and displaced. The prophet redirects the people with words rather than powers. He is a man who speaks to people as a man with a profound tale to persuade them. He is generally unsuccessful. The people are too preoccupied with the visual deities. 

The people are obsessed with the sorcery and magical charms that accompany the voodoo ideology. Convinced by its swift change and promising successes they desert their old god, the transcendent God. The greatest other is ignored into deep space. The mind is confused with feeling. Wishing the sensation. Instead let the emotional arousal depart from the visual sensation. May the magical affects rain down. Elijah’s message is heeded for a brief moment before the people lapse back into barbaric behaviour. The greatest of the visual cannot compel nor can it enforce. It is but a moment of ecstasy that is soon after forgotten. Remember Horeb with all its thunder and fire. The awesome moment that can be imagined from reading. In the ensuing lines obeying the divine law is repeated over and over. The majestic moment was incredible but it was a moment stored in the memory bank. Not easily recalled nor as emotionally impactful. It is the aural that affects deeply. It is the structure and order. Kohelet’s message that the life of man is to follow the rules and fear God concerns structure for the nihilist. Seeking meaning through routine rituals. Each day is blessed with more to give and more to gain. The divine will is an exercise in self improvement and proactivity. A consequence of habituation in communal legacy. It is the knowledge of the will and enacting it to perfection. That is to experience the divine will in its entirety. 

Knowledge is a great power but it is also the motto of connection. A model of intimacy so deep in reverence. To acknowledge and to accept in one’s soul. To hear the truth and submit by it.