Parashat Vayeshev
"This
is the history of Jacob. Joseph was 17 years old" (Genesis 37:2).
For
this portion we will bring the opinion of our rabbis, the greatest of the Rishonim,
about the words of Aggadah and the Midrashim said by Chazal.
We
will begin with Rashi. "And this is the history of Jacob (that is, after
the Scriptures detailed the chronicles of Esau), these are their dwelling
places and their turns of fortune until they came to a permanent habitation…
Joseph was 17 years old, etc. Through this they had to turn around and go down
to Egypt. This is according to the plain meaning of the text, that each word
is stated in its proper way." Rashi goes on and continues from the Aggadic
medrashim, "But the Aggadah interprets: The Biblical text
ascribes the generations of Jacob to Joseph…the former was hated and the latter
was hated, etc.,"
About
this the Rashbam, his grandson, writes words which enlighten and they are
worthy of quotation in full, despite their length. "And those who love
wisdom will be wise and understand, that which our rabbis taught us, that
the Scripture does not come out of the plain meaning of the text, even though
the essential nature of the Torah comes to teach us and inform us, through
hints of the plain text, the haggadot, halachot, and the laws, by
lengthening its words, by the 32 methods of Rabbi Eliezer, the son of Rabbi
Yossi the Galilite, and through the 13 methods of Rabbi Ishmael. The Rishonim,
in their piety, tended to follow the interpretations which are the essence and
therefore were not made used to the depth of the plain Biblical text. As
the sages said (Brachot 28b), "So not overly ply your sons with
logic," and they also said (Baba Metzia 36a), "One who deals in
Scriptures has a certain measure, one who deals with the Talmud knows no
greater measure." Therefore they had not been made used to the plain
meaning of the Scriptures. As is said in the tractate Shabbat 63a, "I had
been studying for 18 years, and I had learnt the whole Talmud, yet I did not
know that a verse cannot depart from its plain meaning." And Rabbeynu
Shlomo, the father of my mother, he who enlightened the eyes of exile, who
interpreted the Torah, Prophets, and Writings, sought to interpret the plain
meaning of the Bible, and even I, Shmuel the son of Meir, his son-in-law OBM,
argued with and before him. He admitted to me that had he the leisure he
should have given different interpretations according to the plain meaning,
which renews itself each day. And now the educated ones will see what the Rishonim
interpreted: ‘These are the generations of Jacob: These are the events and
happenings which happened to Jacob, etc. [the generations of Jacob are ascribed
to Joseph, etc.]’, and all this is a nonsense."
See,
student, that the Rashbam relates to the words of the midrashim as a
nonsense; not only that, but he relates to scholars a lack of dealing at depth
with the plain meaning of the text. And even his grandfather Rashi admitted to
him about this, and therefore Ibn Ezra is not the only one who hold that opinion.
To show that there are many others like him, we will cite the Radak on I Kings
18:26, "And in the Aggadah there are things far from the
intellect."
And in
conclusion we will copy the words of the Eshkol in the Laws of a Torah Scroll,
page 60a, "And Rav Shrira said, 'The matters learnt from verses through midrash
and aggadah are speculations, and there are those which are so, such as
the words of R. Yehuda about the matter of "and this for Judah,"
etc., and there are many not so, like what Rabbi Akiva said, that the man
who poke the wood [in Numbers 15] was Zelofchad, and what Rabbi Shimon said,
that the fast of the tenth is the tenth of Tevet, and they recalled the
opinion of each and every one, and we, according to his wisdom a person will
praise. And so the aggadot that the students of the students said, such
as Rav Tanchuma and Rabbi Oshaya and their like. Most are not so, and therefore
we do not rely on the words of Aggadah. But the ones of them
which are true are those approved by the intellect and from the Scriptures.
There is no beginning nor end to the aggadot, etc., and Rav Hai OBM,
etc., for our principle is that one does not rely on the aggadah,
etc."
From
all of these you, who seeks knowledge, see how exact were the truly great men,
Rashi, the Rashbam, Ibn Ezra and others, not to mention Rambam and his son and
all the wise and honest scholars. They all stood fast and said that only the
intellect determines which of the scholars' words to bring close and which to
reject, that the plain meaning of the texts is the start of a true explanation
of the words. It is specifically in the plain meaning of the words that their
truth is found and not in the words of aggadot and midrashim and
all sorts of stories which have nothing to stand on. Remember and observe that
the aggadot will not guide you; only common sense and pure logic will show you the way to go.
Words
of True Knowledge
