Scholar provides deeper insightTED ROBERTSAh, that Chumash, the Torah, the five books of Moses, the Pentateuch! A rose by any name would smell as sweet, they say. That's what Shavuot is all about - our great gift at Sinai. But the treasure chest of Sinai does not come with a key. And to some fortune hunters, it is locked.This tome, whatever its title in Hebrew, English or Greek, contains complexities, conundrums, revelations and ethical inspirations that have enchanted its devotees, both secular and religious, for centuries. Foremost of Torah scholars is Rashi - an 11th-century Frenchman. That's what my learned friends tell me. Rashi brought the light of Rabbinic commentary to many dark and obscure passages that cloud our understanding. In a way, he was an interpreter. Here's an example. Take the Noah story. The Creator of the universe tells Noah to build the prototype "Love Boat." So he lays down the design of this ship of salvation to Noah - dimensions, material, design features. And among other speci-fications, the Master Builder cites a window. A window? Well, a guy like me sips his hot tea and reads Genesis 6:16 and thinks; oh yes, a window. So what's the big news? Boats have windows so you can look out at the dancing waves and not catch a bad case of claustrophobia from the four walls of your cramped quarters. Is that the purpose of the win-dow, I wonder? And Rashi, who read this verse with proper awe - through a filter of curiosity - asks, "Why the window?" Rashi's answer is ethically elegant. "Because," he says, "Noah, the survivor, by observing the destruction of the flood, can sympathize with the suffering of his fellow creatures." And there is also the implication that Noah might not be isolated from the world. Nor grow arrogant over his selection. "No man is an island," said John Donne, a great 17th-century English poet, many centuries after Rashi. He meant no man can separate himself from the world and its suffering. When that bell rings for your fellow creatures, it rings for you, too. He got that right, but Rashi said it first. Commentators like Rashi gave us flashes of insight that light up the page. |
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