Q&A: Abraham and Sarah – Matter and Form
Abraham and Sarah – Matter and Form
Question
From what you wrote in “No Person Rules Over the Spirit,” it seems that according to Rabbi Yedaya HaPenini, Abraham and Sarah represent philosophical ideas such as matter and form: “This is essentially treating the biblical stories as a kind of educational myth rather than as a historical text.” I would like to note that in his responsum printed in the responsa of the Rashba, it is explained that no such thing ever happened. The one who explained the biblical Abraham and Sarah as matter and form was referring not to them themselves, but to one of the aggadic passages in the Talmud about them…
Answer
What difference does it make?
Discussion on Answer
And if you do in fact know of any sage who understood the biblical Abraham and Sarah as matter and form rather than as historical reality, I’d be glad to hear, because that would already be a significant step beyond Maimonides’ allegory..
I’m not really interested in biblical interpretation. It’s worth searching online or asking people who deal with that. I seem to recall that in the responsa of the Rashba, in his well-known ban, he addresses approaches like these.
That is, in his view, the Bible in this context is not myth but history, and only the aggadic passage about Rabbi Bana’ah, who saw them in the cave, symbolizes them there as matter and form.