EL’AZAR; YESHU; AND TMA
{MORE OR LESS A NOVEL}
by
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PROLOG-A
Those clever Rabbis at the twilight time of the closing of the Talmud Bavli chose satire as a way of: i). making the point, and, at the same time, ii). making the point without ruffling the caveats of Rabbinic Officialdom. Listen to this clever --- but weighty ---- story. It is a satire with regard to an ever-growing proliferation (i.e., like cancer) of Oral Torah halakhot and Rabbinic Enactments and, as well, a germane satire on the figure of Rabbi Aqiba. To wit:
When Moses ascended to the (Heavenly) Heights he found the Holy One, blessed be He, as He was sitting and attaching crowns to some of the letters (and adding tagin to certain letters).
Moses said to His face: “Who is holding you back (from giving the Torah as it is)? Hashem replied to him: “There is a man who is destined to exist at the end of many generations ------- Aqiba ben
Yosef is his name; he will expound upon each and every matter HEAPS UPON HEAPS OF HALAKHOT.”
Moses addressed the face of Hashem: “Master of the Universe, show him to me!” Hashem said to him: “Turn around” (he,
Once they reached a certain matter which was puzzling. Aqiba’s students asked him: “from
what source do you know this? Aqiba replied
(cavalierly): “It is a halakha transmitted from the mouth of Moses at Sinai.” Moses’ mind was relieved. He returned and came before the Holy One, blessed be He. Moses said to His face:
“YOU HAVE SOMEONE LIKE THIS AND YOU
GIVE THE TORAH TRHOUGH ME!!??”
Hashem said to him: “SHUSH! Thus has it arisen in the thoughts before Me.” Moses said to His face: “Master of the Universe, You have shown me his
Torah; now show me his reward.”
“TURN AROUND.” Moses turned around and saw that the people were weighing the flesh from [Aqiba’s body] in the meat market.
Moses said before Hashem:
“MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE!!! Such is his Torah and THIS is reward???
Hashem replied:
“QUIET!!!! SUCH IS MY DECREE. Again, our Bavli is, often enough, construed to be speak by indirection with regard to how It can get a point sustained without arousing the hackles of Rabbinic Officialdom. The most salient point of the passage is the revelation of Rabbi Aqiba’s fondness of multiplying halakhot:
“There is one man who is destined to exist at the end of many generations; Aqiba ben Yosef is his
name: he will expound each and every matter; HEAPS UPON HEAPS OF HALAKHOT.” {Bavli Gemara on Tractate Menahot as, roughly, per
29b-i --- 30b-ii
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About the Book
I am projecting to my hoped audience of Jews ---and Orthodox Jews in particular--- a very different accounting of Judaism in general; an accounting with emphasis on Scripture, first and foremost. And then there are the more nuanced offerings of portions of our Talmud Bavli produced by those subtle “final anonymous editors” of our Bavli from roughly 575 to roughly 610ce. Subtlety was the only coinage in this orchestration by the ‘final anonymous editors’. The over-arching power of Rabbinic Officialdom could be checked only by subtle and indirect insertions into “The Record” by our glorious final editors of the Talmud Bavli. God bless them.
Take heed:
I am quite consciously attempting to strip you of multiple presuppositions which -- if those presuppositions permeate your reading of this production -- would give you a false understanding of what I am putting forth.
I fully realize that my presentation of these things is not the “received” presentation of these things. So when you first read it you are likely to presume that I am <-- like a dufus without any consciousness of such --> akin to, say, a “bar Hei Hei”
repetitio mater studiorum
resiliationin the father of truth
Take it or leave it. The burden is now on you.
About the Author
John W. McGinley holds a PhD in Philosophy from Boston College and an MA in Jewish Studies from Gratz College; he resides in Farmingdale, NJ.