What is Torah? - Part 1: Created by Human Beings
The claim that sacred texts were written by human beings, not God, is most commonly thought of as serving a secular agenda.
For me, acknowledging the human hand that touches sacred texts strengthens my religious tendencies and feelings.
When I imagine the Torah as written by God, I become angry at the Torah and at God. The God-character in the Torah is male, is angry, and vengeful. How limiting of what is supposed to be infinite. How flawed of what is supposed to be perfect. How particular of what is supposed to be universal.
The moment I acknowledge the Torah was crafted by human beings, my anger is gone. I have compassion for my ancestors who, challenged by the profound limitations of intellect and human experience, endeavored to create the most profound, inspiring, instructive and meaningful text possible.
I feel inextricably linked to my ancestors who engaged in a sacred endeavor to put words to a vision for a just world. They also attempted to express their feelings/experiences/knowledge of God-connection into a form that would inspire others and fortify hope.
My ancestors thus become a model for me, and for all, to share our visions and plans for making the world a better place. My ancestors' example also becomes an invitation, a challenge, for me to translate my deepest sense of hope and connection into forms that may inspire others.
Acknowledging the human hand in sacred texts serves to reduce the inherent danger in religion. It insures that human responsibility and accountability can not be checked at the cloak room of textual authority.
There are, however, significant challenges for religious communities that make no claim for an authoritative text. Jewish language speaks of a system of divine commandments. How can a community maintain reverence for Jewish traditions and Jewish law while seeming to dispute the authority that stands at the core of those laws and traditions?
Read the next post: What is Torah? Translating the Claim for Divine Authorship
Comments
5 comments postedI love your point that presuming human authorship for Tanakh makes it possible for your anger at the text's biases to dissolve into compassion. That's a beautiful sentiment, and one I hadn't considered before.
I see that this post is labeled "Part 1" -- I look forward to reading further installments!
I think that your statement has impelling significance. In addition, as you note, the lack of any universally accepted and respected authority reflects the absence of meaningful dialog among the diverse truth seekers in Israel and throughout the Jewish world, which I think alienates many of those on the periphery from making a commitment to Judaism.
rbraun, aka Abba (my father-in-law)—I like the expression you use, "diverse truth seekers." I think the diversity within the Jewish community is often a draw to folks, even if the diverse elements are not talking to each other. I've worked with several converts who were precisely drawn to Judaism for its many diversities.
Even if the diverse elements were talking, I wouldn't expect a respected authority to arise out of those talks. Or if one did arise, I think we'd have witnessed the coming of the messiah. :)
I'm not so sure that the chaos within the Jewish community has anything to do with what keeps Jews at the periphery.
What I'm going to focus on in the next installment is a conceptual framework that liberal Jews can use to help their communities strengthen their commitments to Jewish life.
I've had the thought that, as each of us carries a divine spark, the coming together of so many people in creating our texts combines those sparks, so that the sum approaches divinity.
I have a suggestion for a follow-up series: "Talmud: Created by Proto-Bloggers."
:)