Q&A: Interpreting Nachmanides’ Words
Interpreting Nachmanides’ Words
Question
To the honorable Rabbi Dr. Michael Abraham, may he live long,
Greetings and may salvation draw near.
In light of the recent events, God forbid, and everything accompanying them, I was moved to ask you a question that troubles me greatly: how to understand the words of Nachmanides in the introduction to his commentary on the Torah (it does not appear in all editions) regarding King Solomon’s knowledge of all the wisdoms, and that all the wisdoms in the world are included in the Torah.
Is this an unnatural, mystical statement—that is, a miraculous one—or is it within the framework of ordinary nature, such that there really is a way to find all wisdom in the Torah?
What is very difficult in my eyes is: how? Beyond the general, summarizing statement, if I want detail and a point-by-point understanding—how exactly are all the wisdoms found in the Torah, and is there really some way to show, for example, how one learns some such branch of wisdom from the Torah?
And is Nachmanides engaging in apologetics?
With blessings for a peaceful Sabbath eve, blessing and success, and all good things.
Answer
Have a good week, sir.
Let me begin by saying that I do not completely understand the difference between mystical knowledge and natural knowledge. If he knows how to derive these things from the Torah, then from his standpoint that knowledge is in the Torah, and if not, then not.
This somewhat reminds me of the dispute about the prohibitions of sorcery and “you shall be wholehearted,” where according to Maimonides they do not work. That would mean that anything that does work is not included in the prohibition. If so, the criterion for distinguishing between what is forbidden and permitted is to check whether it is something that works. The prohibition is against being foolish (believing in what does not work). By contrast, according to the medieval authorities who disagree with him, the other forces also have powers, and therefore even forbidden things can work. So what, then, is the difference between forbidden and permitted? How do we know how to distinguish what may and may not be done? Apparently the prohibition is to resort to other forces. But how do we know what involves resorting to other forces and what does not? Seemingly this depends on the question of what is natural (and thus by the power of the Holy One, blessed be He) as opposed to something mystical (which is not by the power of the Holy One, blessed be He?). The same problem exists here of distinguishing between the natural and the non-natural, even though both operate in reality and work (that is, produce results).
Perhaps your point can be clarified according to the criterion of whether Solomon could also explain it to me, or to any ordinary person, how this knowledge comes out of the Torah. That is, I am not clever enough to derive it from there, but if it were explained to me I would understand it (this is the meaning of “reasoned out” in the language of the Talmud in Sanhedrin, as opposed to “learned by tradition”). If he can show me how it comes out of the Torah, then this is natural knowledge. And if not—then it is mystical knowledge.
In any case, that is only regarding clarifying the meaning of your question.
Either way, I do not know what Nachmanides meant, and I am not sure he did not mean apologetics. Let me tell you what happened to me when I was studying at the illustrious Netivot Olam yeshiva in Bnei Brak. Every day at noon I would go to the university for my master’s studies in physics. My friends in the yeshiva asked me why I was going, since everything is in the Torah. I told them their answer cuts both ways: I am looking for a solution to the Schrödinger equation for a rotating potential well (not a simple problem in quantum theory). If they find it in the Torah, please let me know, and then I will save a lot of time and be able to stay in yeshiva and study Bava Kamma. And furthermore, if that too is indeed found in the Torah, then why should it bother them that I am going to study that Torah at the university? Does the place make the difference? This teaches you that I have no faith in these statements. And in my opinion, even those who recite them do not really believe them.
Even if somehow all wisdoms are found in the Torah, it seems to me that nobody ever knew, or knows, how to derive them from there, and therefore we have gotten no further than a mere statement. That is why I also suspect that these are statements whose purpose is educational and apologetic rhetoric, not a true claim. Just think: assuming that Nachmanides himself did not know how to derive all wisdoms from the Torah (and I assume we would agree on that), how did he know that they are there? Did he have a tradition from Sinai about this? This applies to all such statements. They are all aimed at education and apologetics, not at claims of truth. Personally, I object to this sort of educational and apologetic statement, even though the very greatest figures used them as well. In my view this is very poor policy, certainly nowadays, when information repositories are open to everyone and the truth is easily clarified by all.
Discussion on Answer
There is a Mishnah: “Turn it over and over, for everything is in it.”
In any case, we have not found any scientific innovation from the great Torah scholars teaching us science. We have not found an electrical generator, or even a simple engine, invented in yeshivas throughout the generations, or in the royal court of King Solomon. If he was so wise that he knew all possible sciences, why would he need a palanquin or “each man with his sword on his thigh”? He would have made himself a private airplane or a bulletproof Mercedes, and invented robots and drones guarding him with automatic machine guns.
In short, a fool believes everything.
To Rabbi Dr. Michael Abraham, may he live long—greetings, and may salvation draw near.
Thank you very much for your explanation, and of course the problem is troubling. Its essence is understanding Nachmanides. After all, by profession he was a physician
(like many of the Spanish sages); is it even conceivable that he learned anything in medicine from the Torah? And interestingly, as in other places, variant readings also point to problematic points. Here there is such a variant (in just one letter!) in different printings: “…until the end of all generations…” as opposed to: “…until the secret of all generations…” And this is the language:
“How would Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite come and reveal to Israel the chambers of Behemoth and Leviathan (Job 40, 25)?
And how would Ezekiel come and reveal to them the order of the Chariot (Ezekiel 1, 28)?
This is what is written: ‘The king has brought me into his chambers’ (Song of Songs)—meaning that everything is learned from the Torah.
And King Solomon, of blessed memory, to whom God gave wisdom and knowledge (II Chronicles 1:12)—everything came to him from the Torah, and from it he learned until he knew the secret [some editions read: the end] of all generations, and even the powers of plants and their properties, so much so that he even wrote a book of remedies about them.
As it is written (I Kings 5:13): ‘And he spoke of trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop that springs out of the wall.’
And I saw the translated book called The Great Wisdom of Solomon, and it is written there (7:5–8):
‘Not from anything complete was a special birth given to a king or to any one ruler;
The entrance of every person into the world and his departure are alike for all.
Therefore I prayed, and the spirit of wisdom was given to me,
And I called, and the spirit of knowledge came to me,
I chose her more than scepter and throne.’
That is to say:
For no special birth is given to a king or to a ruler;
The coming of every man into the world and his departure are the same for all.
And therefore I prayed, and a spirit of wisdom was given to me,
And I called, and a spirit of knowledge came to me;
I chose it more than the scepter and the throne.”
The source of these words is unclear, and the verses are no proof, nor is The Wisdom of Solomon; rather, Solomon prayed for wisdom and was answered.
By the way, I saw, though I do not remember at the moment where, that the gaon, author of Avnei Nezer, began to study Kabbalah, but in the course of it said that he sees all the hidden teachings also in the revealed teachings, and stopped studying Kabbalah…! (And for some reason a suspicion gnaws at my heart that perhaps this is nothing more than a fine and hidden irony of despair over Kabbalah…!). So perhaps this is the meaning of the words of Rabbi Levi ben Habib, when he was asked about Kabbalah and transmigration of souls, and replied: after all, these matters are a secret—so how would he know them? And he had not received them from his teachers.
Some time ago I heard an interview with Rabbi Ovadia Yosef after he stepped down from his position, and the interviewer asked what would be with the education of the Shas school network, and the Rabbi answered: don’t worry, from the Torah they will learn all the wisdoms—and the proof is, look at our friend Ribi Aryeh! Therefore it is no wonder that in his responsa Yabia Omer, part 1, regarding the time of twilight, he expresses astonishment at decisors who in such a halakhic discussion dare to rely on reality [!]. And thus he also wrote regarding the claim of Maharam Alashkar that Rabbeinu Tam’s view is based on the words of Rabbi Yehudah, who follows the opinion of the sages of Israel (in tractate Pesahim) that at night the sun circles around above the sky, etc.—and the Talmud itself notes that the words of the sages of the nations appear more convincing (interesting that in Maimonides’ Guide for the Perplexed the reading is that they conceded their point). And the Rabbi says, by way of the words of the Shitah Mekubetzet (already cited by Rabbi Akiva Eiger in Pesahim), that the non-Jewish sages won in argument, but the truth is with the sages of Israel…!
And this was written by a rabbi in our own day whom I personally know traveled to the United States (I stayed with him at the Park House Hotel in Borough Park) and could see with his own eyes that the sun was with him all the way west.
Have a good week, healing and salvation to his honor, and all good things.