Q&A: Nachmanides’ Attitude Toward Aggadah
Nachmanides’ Attitude Toward Aggadah
Question
Nachmanides wrote in Sefer HaVikuach [39, in Writings of Nachmanides, vol. 1] as follows:
‘And now I will explain to you why I said that I do not believe this. Know that we have three kinds of books. The first is the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), and we all believe in it with complete faith. The second is what is called the Talmud, and it is an explanation of the commandments of the Torah, for the Torah contains 613 commandments and there is not one of them that was not explained in the Talmud, and we believe it regarding the explanation of the commandments. We also have a third book, called Midrash, meaning sermons, just as if the bishop were to rise and deliver a sermon, and one of the listeners liked it and wrote it down. As for this book, one who believes in it, good; and one who does not believe in it, no harm is done… And we also call that book Aggadah, meaning narration, that is, they are merely things that one person tells another.’
With blessings
Answer
In my opinion there is no reason to say otherwise (this is very much my own view). But as is well known, there have been many debates about this (including an article in Tzohar and various responses, and more).
Discussion on Answer
On the authority of the Sages in Aggadah according to Nachmanides—see the article by Rabbi Ari Yitzhak Shevat, “The Validity of the Midrashim of the Sages in Light of the Disputation of Nachmanides,” Tzohar 11 (on the Da’at website), and the response by Rabbi Zalman Nehemiah Goldberg (on the Asif website).
With blessings, Yifa’or
What does “not believe” mean here—like, that it’s nonsense?!
No. It has no binding authority, and one is not obligated to accept what follows from it.
Rabbi Samuel HaNagid writes this as well in his introduction to the Talmud.