|
THE SHIRLEY AND JACOB
FUCHSBERG JERUSALEM CENTER of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism |
|
HOME
|
| |
CONTACT US
|
| | PICTURE GALLERY | | | PROJECT ODED CLASSES | | | OVERSEAS STUDENTS IN ISRAEL | | | E NEWS: YEAR IN REVIEW 2010 | | | AUDIO CLIPS | | | VISITORS | | | KOL HAOT PROG FOR SYN MISSIONS | | |
 |
Parshat Lech Lekha
Professor M. Fishbane notes the difficulty of translating "ohavi" as "My friend". Literally, it seems that these words should be translated as: "the one who loves Me (God)" which might be translated as "My friend". In fact, this translation is almost unanimously adopted by Jewish commentators ranging from Targum Yonathon, Rashi, Rabbi David Kimche (13th century Provence) to the grammatical master, Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra (13th century Spain), who asserts quite explicitly that this verb is active and not passive. He states that it must be understood as 'who loves Me' and not 'My beloved'. Fishbane notes that the Septuagint (the first Greek translation of the Bible), on the other hand, translated this verb as passive – as if it were written 'ahuvi', namely, "the one loved by Me". (see Haftarot, JPS Commentary, p. 21, in particular, note 8) Professor S. Paul apparently accepts this understanding but somehow draws it directly from the Hebrew since he explains this word to mean: "the one that I (God) love him (Abraham)". (Isaiah 40-48, Mikra L'Yisrael, p. 122) This understanding is adopted by the rabbinic work known as the Avot d'Rabbi Natan (version b chapter 43). (Thanks to Professor P. Barmash for her insights.) For many reasons other than the linguistic issues, the Jewish tradition seems to have preferred the active understanding of this phrase, namely that the friendship between God and Abraham was initiated by Abraham's love for God. This may have been part of a conscious effort on the part of the tradition to justify the special relationship between God and Abraham, by proving Abraham's worth. In addition, as Fishbane points out, there may have been some objections to claiming that God might actively befriend a particular human being. Rabbi Joseph Kaspi's (14th century Provence) interpretation dealt with this later concern: "[the love mentioned here is comparable to] 'and you shall love the Lord your God', where God is not the actor since it is rare in the Torah and Scripture for God to be described as loving a particular person. It makes more sense to say that people love God than to say that God loves a particular person. (adapted translation) The significance of this idea is expounded by Maimonides: "It is a commandment to love and fear God. How does one accomplish this? When a person focuses on God's wondrous deeds and creations and is awed by God's infinite wisdom, he will immediately love Him, praise Him and yearn to know Him. (see Mishneh Torah Yisodei Torah 2:1-2) Abraham has always served as our religious paradigm for this journey. This most certainly qualifies him as "God's friend.
The United Synagogue Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem offers students of all backgrounds the skills for studying Jewish texts. We are a vibrant, open-minded egalitarian community of committed Jews who learn, practise and grow together. Our goal is to provide students the ability and desire to continue Jewish learning and practice throughout their lives. Rashei Yeshiva: Rabbi Richard Lewis, Rabbi Joel Roth and Rabbi Pesach Schindler.
8
Agron Street, Jerusalem |
This
study piece is offered as a service of the United Synagogue Conservative
Yeshiva. It is prepared by 
