Prof. James A. Diamond
The Torah.com, Oct. 21, 2016
“Questions fuel all Jewish biblical interpretation.”
“After [Abraham] was weaned, while still an infant, his mind began to reflect. By day and night, he was thinking and wondering, “How is it possible that this sphere should continuously be guiding the world and have no one to guide it … his mind was busily working and reflecting until he attained the way of truth, and apprehended the correct line of thought. He knew that there was one God who guided the celestial sphere and created everything…” (Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot ʿAvodah Zarah 1:3)
According to Maimonides the catalyst for the discovery of monotheism and its eventual development into the religion of Judaism is a question rooted in a child’s pristine moment of wonder, awe, and reflection. That same wonder inspired by nature is mirrored in the perplexity stimulated by biblical and rabbinic texts. Both world and text are encountered in a web of persistent questioning. The canonical scriptures of Judaism perpetually engage because they perpetually intrigue both by the questions they raise and the questions raised by their protagonists.
Every year, the cluster of holidays concentrated at the beginning of the Jewish calendar climaxes with a celebration of an ending that anticipates a new beginning of annual Torah readings. Suspense is not what holds our attention; as we conclude the Torah, we all know well what happens next. What drives us back into the text again and again are the questions it evokes. New questions constantly arise about the whys, whats, and hows of biblical law, narrative, and poetry, fueling a profoundly interminable engagement with Judaism’s foundational document.
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