Q&A: The Torah Speaks in Human Language
The Torah Speaks in Human Language
Question
I feel embarrassed, because part of the conceptual ground under me has fallen away, or is threatening to fall away.
I heard some explanation of “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.”
That this is a warning to priests, rabbis, and those who bear the name of the Torah in the world
not to speak with certainty and absoluteness about the Torah and the commandment, since God is truth and His seal is truth.
But the Torah is less true, since the Torah speaks in human language.
The instructions, stories, poetry, parable, and commandments are according to human beings’ capacity and language (at the time the Torah was given?) and not according to the level of absolute truth and certainty. This is what there is, and this is the maximum that can be expected of human beings, and therefore that is how it was given. But to attach God’s name to this is in vain.
We do not really understand God, and certainly we can only bear His name and interpret His will to a limited extent, and this is the warning of “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.”
And therefore in Maimonides there is no truth at all apart from the unity of God.
I don’t know whether this interpretation is Orthodox or not.
Answer
The question is not whether this interpretation is Orthodox, but whether it is correct. Looking carefully at the sources, it is clear that halakhically this is not the prohibition of “You shall not take.” But regarding the claim itself, I completely agree that extracting guidance from the Torah is very problematic, and it is certainly hard to speak here with certainty. And someone who presents his own ideas as though they clearly emerge from the interpretation of the Torah is lying, not taking God’s name in vain. And the interpretation you heard itself proves the point. It is a far-fetched interpretation that gets hung on a verse in order to prove its own claim (which in itself seems logical to me, as I said).