WJEC/Eduqas Religious Studies Judaism for A Level Y2 & A2

WJEC / Eduqas Religious Studies for A Level Year 2 and A2 Judaism Derash Derash is derived from the verb ‘darash’ meaning ‘to seek’, and when found in the Bible it usually means to ask of a prophet. As an interpretative technique, however, derash uses homily and parable to reveal the underlying meaning of a text as opposed to its ‘plain’ meaning. In Exodus Rabbah 50:3, Rabbi Levi uses derash to explain the meaning of the following text: ‘They (the Israelites) came to Marah, but they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; that is why it was named Marah’ (Exodus 15:23). The water may indeed have been bitter, as slightly salty pools and wells are common in the desert; however, Rabbi Levi states that the deeper, truer meaning of this passage is that this particular generation of Hebrews was bitter in its deeds. Another example of derash, highlighted by Robinson, deals with the aftermath of the destruction of Pharaoh and the Egyptian army in the Red Sea. The hosts of angels begin to sing as the last Egyptians disappear beneath the torrents, and God rounds on them angrily, saying; ‘My children are dying and you sing?’ This midrash underlines the delicate balance God walks throughout the Tanakh between stern judge and compassionate parent. Sod Sod is the method of biblical interpretation that seeks to find the mystical significance of the text, and it is this method of interpretation that is found throughout the Kabbalah . Robinson explains that central to Jewish mysticism is the idea that the truth cannot be expressed solely in words. The scriptures are written in human language, but are of divine inspiration: ‘Therefore, the mystics reason, the words must contain divine truth, but not when read in the way that humans normally read them. In some way, these divine words must symbolise truth beyond words. Reading for denotation and connotation will not uncover that truth.’ (Robinson) Instead the mystics read the scriptures as if the text is a codebook, using methods such as gematria and notarikon as a means of deciphering the deeper, mystical meaning. Gematria is a system by which the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are each given a numerical value. A simple example of the way in which gematria works can be seen in connection with the Hebrew word ‘chai’, meaning ‘life’. The word ‘chai’ is made up of two letters from the Hebrew alphabet whose total numerical value is that of 18. For many Jews it has become the practice to give gifts and donations to charity in multiples of 18, and this is known as ‘giving chai’. A more extensive example is taken from Numbers 6:5, a passage which describes the ritual obligations of a Nazirite. It illustrates the use of gematria to calculate the length of time for which a Nazirite’s vow is valid: the Hebrew word ‘yihyeh’ is composed of two ‘yods’, each of which has a numerical value of ten, and two ‘heys’ each with a value of five. In Numbers 6:5, the phrase ‘kadosh yihyeh’ (‘he shall be holy’) is thus interpreted as the reason that a Nazirite’s vows last for thirty days (yod [10] + hey [5] + yod [10] + hey [5] = 30). Notarikon can be understood in two ways: 1. A word is understood as an acronym for its real meaning. Eisenberg uses the first word of the Ten Commandments, ‘Anokhi’, meaning ‘I’ as an example. He explains that it is actually an abbreviation for ‘Ana Nafshi Ketavit Yahavit/I Myself wrote and gave [them]’, so that there can be no doubt that the Decalogue is the word of God. 2. A word may be broken up into other words. For example, the name Reuben becomes re’ u ben/see the son. Key terms Decalogue: the Ten Commandments Gematria: numerology Homily: a sermon Kabbalah: Jewish mystical tradition Notarikon: from a Greek word meaning ‘shorthand writer’ Parable: a story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson Key quote Sod posits that truth is beyond human sensory perception and cognition, and thus it cannot be expressed solely in words. (Eisenberg) The Hebrew alphabet 24