Human Nature and the Persistence of Evil: Reflections from Don Isaac Abravanel

Sitting in his study in Venice, Italy in the late 15th Century, Don Isaac Abravanel spent many hours reflecting upon Jewish history, Jewish destiny and the meaning of human existence. A scholar of Rabbinic Literature well versed in philosophy, Abravanel sought to infuse the Torah with a deeper perspective, offering the student of Torah much more than stories and commandments. The result of these reflections is Abravanel's brilliant commentary to the Torah, where through a series of questions and insights on each Torah portion, he frames the Torah's verses as profound meditations on life.

Parashat Noah is not a happy story. It describes a devastating deluge where "All existence on earth was blotted out - man, cattle, creeping things and birds of the sky; they were blotted out from the earth" (Genesis 7:20). All breathing beings on earth were destroyed by the flood, and "Only Noah was left, along with those with him in the ark" (Genesis 7:21).

What led God to unleash this devastating flood that - minus one family and some animals - wiped out all that lived and breathed on earth?

The Torah tells it best:

"The Lord saw how great was man's wickedness on earth, and how every plan devised by his mind was nothing but evil all the time...the earth became corrupt before God, the earth was filled with violence" (Genesis 6:5,11).

The flood achieves its devastating goal, and Noah survives. Now what? As Noah and his family step forth from the ark, what was on their mind? What challenges would they be facing as the only survivors of a corrupt society that was washed away in a flood? 

Abravanel explores the anxieties and doubts that Noah and his family confronted as they made the frightening transition back into the world. This was the same physical world they left when they boarded the ark, but all life as they knew it would now be gone. A bleak, empty earth, void of human life. Eerie and surreal.

"There is no doubt in my mind," says Abravanel, "that as Noah and his family stepped foot outside of the ark, they did so with a sense of astonishment and mourning on the past, along with fear and uncertainty for the future."

If the past society was so corrupt, what were they astonished by? Why were they mourning? For who?

"They mourned the death of their relatives and loved ones," says Abravanel.

In an emotionally sensitive insight, Abravanel posits that despite the Torah's description of a totally corrupt society, there were nonetheless select individuals who may have been good people that Noah and his family considered "loved ones." No society can entirely be labeled as evil. Individual exceptions always exist, and apparently they did, according to Abravanel. The loss of these friends, family, neighbors or acquaintances in the flood must have been very painful for Noah. He and his family now faced - with a sense of astonishment - the harsh reality of moving ahead in an empty world.

But since corruption was entirely wiped out, why would Noah and his family feel afraid and uncertain about the future?

"Noah and his family felt uncertain about the future of humanity," says Abravanel, "as they feared the renewal of violence amongst humanity. They feared that disputes would once again arise amongst brothers, and that brothers would spill each other's blood, exactly as happened with Cain and Abel."

A morally corrupt and violent society was entirely wiped out. However, Noah and his family were remnants of that society, and while they were seemingly "more righteous in their generation" than the others, they were still human beings. The "Cain and Abel gene" was within them. What direction would this "new society" take? Abravanel raises this deeply philosophical question as one of the fears and uncertainties faced by Noah and his family.

It's not by chance that Abravanel commented this way on the Noah story. Abravanel relocated to Italy after experiencing one of the most brutal chapters in Jewish history - the last years of the violent Spanish Inquisition, and the devastating expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492. Despite being a distinguished diplomat and financial advisor to the Spanish monarchy, he was first and foremost a Jew, and he left Spain along with the rest of the expelled Jewish community.

In the aftermath of this flood of violence unleashed on his people in Spain, Abravanel sat in his study in Venice, and as he read the Noah story, he found within Noah the same anxieties that he himself felt. 

Abravanel certainly had loved ones in Spain for which he mourned, who were either murdered or forced to convert by the Spanish inquisitors. That, along with the painful memories of the persecution of his entire community, must have been traumatic for him, as a "survivor" of the inquisition.

But now that he found relative safety away from Spain, he faced the same fears that Noah did: would other countries, rulers and leaders once again arise against the Jews, torturing them and murdering them with the same Cain-like cruelty of the Spanish inquisitors? With this violent episode behind him, could the same thing happen again? Indeed, would the future of humanity as a whole continue to be drenched in a flood of blood?

From Noah to the Spanish Inquisition, all the way to present times, Abravanel's reflections on the persistently violent nature of the human condition continue to haunt, plague and challenge our world.

Shabbat Shalom    

In the Beginning: Launching Our Journey through Classical Sephardic Torah

In launching this blog dedicated to studying the Torah through the lenses of "Classical Sephardic" commentators, we begin by asking the question: how do we define the expression "Classical Sephardic"? Does "Classical Sephardic" mean the rationalist interpreters of the Torah, who sought to blend Torah with philosophy and science? Or does "Classical Sephardic" mean the mystical interpreters who brought us the world of Kabbalah? The answer, in my opinion, is both. 

The beauty of the "Classical Sephardic" world of Biblical interpretation lies in its diversity of approaches to reading, understanding and interpreting the Biblical text. Both the rationalist philosophers and the mystical kabbalists originated in "Sepharad," and each school of thought produced monumental works that help us probe the depths of the Torah in uniquely creative ways. 

Both genres of "Classical Sephardic Torah" were studied and further developed in the Sephardic rabbinical academies of the Iberian Peninsula, the Middle East and North Africa, as well as in the Land of Israel. They eventually found a home in many Eastern European Yeshivot and Hasidic towns, where they were also furthered and commented upon in depth. The "Classical Sephardic" world of Biblical interpretation -  both rationalist and mystical - continues to define the world of Torah commentary for all Jews - Sephardim and Ashkenazim - until today.

Looking at the very first Torah portion - Parashat Bresheet - "In the Beginning" - we are tasked with the overwhelming decision, metaphorically for this Torah portion, of "where to begin?". 

We begin with Maimonides - Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon - the great halakhist (legal scholar) and philosopher. Maimonides belongs to the rationalist school, but many would question his inclusion as a "Biblical commentator," as he did not compose a systematic "verse by verse" commentary to the Torah. Maimonides chose to "comment" on the Bible by exploring some of the deepest and most difficult questions that arise out of Bible study. The result of his exploration was his monumental work of philosophy, "The Guide of the Perplexed" (Moreh Nevukhim in Hebrew translation, Dalālat al-ḥā'irīn in the original Arabic).

One of the many perplexing questions raised by Maimonides is one that continues to perplex many until this day: is the account of the creation of the world presented by the Torah in the Book of Genesis meant to be taken literally, or is there a deeper meaning and purpose behind it? 

To this question, Maimonides says:

The account of Creation given in the Torah is not, as is generally believed, intended to be in all its parts literal. The literal meaning of the words might lead us to corrupt ideas and form a false opinion about God. It is therefore appropriate to refrain from examining this subject superficially or unscientifically. We must blame the ways of some ignorant preachers of the Bible, who think that "wisdom" consists of knowing the mere explanation of the words. If one wishes to understand these verses, it is appropriate to do so with intellect, after having acquired a proper knowledge of the demonstrative sciences." (Guide of the Perplexed, 2:29)

To Maimonides, the so-called "conflict" between the Bible and Science is not a conflict at all. Throughout "The Guide," Maimonides encourages the study of  physical and natural sciences as a mandatory prerequisite for a proper understanding of the Torah, and as a way of deepening our relationship with God. He interprets the Torah's first chapter, where the world is created by God but described in completely physical terms, as the Torah's message that in order to come closer to God, we must first study science:

Natural science borders on Divine science, and the study of Natural science precedes that of Divine science, as has been made clear to whoever has engaged in these matters. It is for this reason that God caused His book to open with "the Account of the Beginning," which, as we have made clear, is natural science.  (Introduction to Guide of the Perplexed)

In other words, the best way to understand "In the Beginning" is to study science. This study of science is not for the sake of "scientific knowledge" alone, but ultimately to draw us closer to God, the creator of the sciences.

In "commenting" on Genesis this way, Maimonides did more than solve the riddle of a textual difficulty within a Biblical verse. Maimonides opened up an entirely new philosophy of Judaism, where Torah, philosophy, science, medicine and theology harmoniously coexist. In that sense - metaphorically for this Torah portion - Maimonides launched a "new beginning" for Judaism, one that continues to inform our Judaism to this very day.