Q&A: Regarding the Apocryphal Books
Regarding the Apocryphal Books
Question
What is the Rabbi's opinion regarding the Book of Enoch, Jubilees, and several other books that were not included in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh)?
Does the Rabbi see any particular importance in them, or even view them as a source?
Because to the best of my knowledge, Maimonides regarded the book Shiur Koma as a forgery.
Answer
The question of whether they have value and the question of whether something is a forgery (relative to what?) are two different questions. There can be a forgery that still has value. I also don't really understand what exactly "forgery" means here. Something along the lines of, "This isn't Shakespeare but his cousin, who was also called Shakespeare." In any case, I am not familiar with this literature, so I don't have an opinion about it. I would only note that even the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) itself has no value in my eyes. I don't manage to see what studying it gives. So I do not expect to find value in the books of Enoch or Jubilees. And finally, the fact that Maimonides viewed something as a forgery does not say very much. I'm not sure he was the greatest of philologists.
Discussion on Answer
Well, then those really are two different questions. The fact that the stories are not true does not necessarily mean it is a forgery. Even in the Torah, it is possible to interpret certain stories as an educational myth.
The question of whether there is value in it is not connected to the truth of the content. As stated, it could be a myth. A myth, too, can have value.
When I say forgery, I mean that some person attributed the book to a certain period in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), even though it all came from his imagination and the stories in the book are invented.
And when I ask whether it has value, I mean whether its content is true. Should we accept that angels came to earth and taught human beings how to use weapons of war? (That is what the book describes.)