Sago Boulevard

Please pray for the safe release of Gilad Shalit (גלעד בן אביבה), the Israeli soldier kidnapped in yesterday’s Palestinian attack. The Rabbanut has suggested this prayer to be said following tehillim (via My Obiter Dicta).

Dr. Tzvee Zahavy posts about his approach to teaching rabbinic texts in a university setting and links to an article he wrote on the same topic. In describing his course methods, he writes:

I also do not emphasize the notion of the texts as part of “the Halakhah.” This concept is a relatively modern construct, composed of many strata of texts, commentaries and codes. Some would argue it is a tool of those who foster rabbinic authority rather than a purely intellectual asset of our rabbinic heritage.

I think there are a number of problems with this approach. I’m going to assume for now that by “the Halakhah”, he means something to the effect of “a coherent religious-legal tradition, beginning with the written Torah and continuing to this day”. Approaching these texts without recognizing the halakhic role they play is to study them out of context. Firstly, Hazal (the rabbis of the Talmud) saw themselves as part of an ongoing tradition (see the first Mishnah in Avot), beginning with Revelation and continuing past them. Why shouldn’t our study of their work incorporate the hundreds of commentaries and halakhic compilations identified with that tradition?

Secondly, Hazal understood their divrei Torah as having normative implications. Consider a disagreement between two Amora’im (the later rabbis of the Talmud) about how to read a particular mishnah. At stake was not merely the intent of the mishnaic author. The resolution of the disagreement would determine the appropriate behavior for the halakhically-observant Jew.

It doesn’t make sense to divorce Talmud study from its normative-halakhic context and to ignore the fruit of Torah scholarship that continues that tradition to this day. While historical context should not be ignored and academic impartiality is warranted in a university setting, it seems clear that the rabbinic texts are primary halakhic ones. To approach them any differently is to misrepresent them.