by Rabbi Koval
Sitting in the doctor's waiting room on Tuesday, a magazine caught my
attention. A picture of a ancient scroll with the text of King Solomon's
Biblical book of "Kohelet" (or "Ecclesiastes" in English, love that word!) was
splashed across the cover of a recent edition of the National Geographic. This
particular scroll was hand-printed in English, with the article featuring the
history of the King James Bible, and information all about how the Hebrew Bible
became the "world's bestseller," being translated first into Greek, then Latin
and finally, English!
The focal point in the story included a timeline beginning with the Hebrew
Bible given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. (I was shocked at the historical inaccuracy
in such a prestigious publication here. It listed this event as having taken
place in the year 500 BCE. Jewish history books and other traditional sources
clearly date this event almost 1,000 years prior to 500 BCE!) The next stop on
the timeline was "the Septuagint," the Greek name marking what history hails as
a great event, and Jewish tradition considers a tragic one. This event
involves King Ptolemy, one of Alexander the Great's successors, ordering the
Jewish sages to prepare a Greek translation of the Torah.
I found the story to be a fascinating one and ended up hanging around in the
waiting room after my appointment, reading for an additional 15 minutes, much
to the surprise of my fellow waiting- roommates.
At the time I didn't even realize it, but later in the week something hit me
like a ton of bricks: Tuesday marked the very day in history when this event
took place! In fact, yesterday (Thursday) was a fast day on the Jewish
calendar. The fast commemorates three tragic events which took place in our
history:
1. The siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonian army, the anniversary of which was
on Thursday, the 10th of the Jewish month of Tevet.
2. The passing of a great Jewish leader, Ezra the Scribe, the anniversary of
which was on Wednesday, the 9th of Tevet.
3. And the Septuagint event, the anniversary of which was on Tuesday, the 8th
of Tevet.
Could it be a mere coincidence that this story captured my attention, in a most
unusual way, on the very day in which it occurred, thousands of year ago? I
think not. Torah tradition teaches us that time is an annual cycle, and that
we re-experience the energy and reality of important historical events each
year on its Hebrew anniversary.
But what was so tragic about the translation of Torah, from its original Hebrew
into ancient Greek? The Talmud actually describes this event in the following
manner:
"On the 8th of Tevet, the Torah was rendered into Greek during the reign of
King Talmai [Ptolemy], and darkness descended upon the world for three days."
What's the big deal? It seems to be a good thing - now the wisdom of the Torah
can be enjoyed by all.
That's a great question. Here's another one: Last year I received an email
offering to sign me up for a free email subscription to receive a daily mishnah
sent via email. The Mishnah is the backbone of the Talmud, and it seemed like
a great idea. Through this free service, I could study the mishnah, one day at
a time. I shared this info with the guys in my JCC men's class. Much to my
joy and surprise, two guys took me up on this offer, and have been reading
their daily dose of mishnah religiously (ok, pun intended.) As we began a new
"tractate" of mishnah this week, I emailed these two gentlemen, asking them
some questions about continuing this daily mishnah study opportunity. Here
is the response that I got from Randy, and Dave echoed the exact same
sentiments:
"My main thought about these is that after I read the mishnah I always wonder
what the significance is for my life. Other than internalizing a fact, what is
the value of the knowledge?"
Great question, guys. Here's my response to these two seemingly unrelated
timely occurrences:
The Torah serves two independent purposes for the Jewish people. First and
foremost, it is a book filled with knowledge. It is an "eitz chaim," a manual
for life, containing all of the wisdom that our people need to live a
productive, fulfilling and wholesome life. But the Torah also serves a second,
equally important role. This role goes beyond plain book knowledge. The Torah
acts as the conduit of a vibrant and passionate relationship with G-d. When we
study Torah as the word of G-d, we create a transcendent link, generating
spiritual and emotional energy, which serves as the engine generating a
metaphysical bond between that person and his/her spiritual purpose of
existence!
This phenomenon has to experienced to be appreciated. The objective of the
Greeks was to strip the Torah of its spiritual essence, of its "neshamah," to
render it into just another book in the library.
The actual Hebrew word "mishnah" alludes to this idea, as it is comprised of
the very name four Hebrew letters which spell out "neshamah," meaning soul!
PS for Dave and Randy: This tractate, and the next seven ones as well, all
deal with more practical concepts in Jewish life, namely, the Jewish holidays.
So, hang in there! Oh, and if anyone else wants to sign up for the daily dose
of mishnah email, just let me know...
