One of the most remarkable pieces of self-criticism in
Rabbinic Judaism appears in the Talmud, in Tractate Sotah 22b.
The Talmud is built around around the earlier text of the
Mishnah, although not covering the entire Mishnah, thus certain Mishna
tractates have no Talmudic commentary. Sotah,
is a complete Talmud on the Mishnah. The
criticism appears in a lesser form in the Mishnah itself, but is expanded by
the Talmud. It worthwhile reproducing
from the Talmud the paragraphs which attack the Pharisees themselves:
מכות פרושין וכו' ת"ר שבעה
פרושין הן פרוש שיכמי פרוש נקפי פרוש קיזאי פרוש מדוכיא פרוש מה חובתי ואעשנה פרוש
מאהבה פרוש מיראה
§ It states in the
mishna: And those who injure themselves out of false abstinence [perushin]
are people who erode the world. The Sages taught: There are seven
pseudo-righteous people who erode the world: The righteous of
Shechem, the self-flagellating righteous, the bloodletting
righteous, the pestle-like righteous, the righteous
who say: Tell me what my obligation is and I will perform it,
those who are righteous due to love, and those who are righteous due
to fear.
The Mishnah already attacks the Pharisees /Perushin whose behaviours
causes self-injury. Although this is appears
to be physical self injury, it also
implies psychological, mental or
psychological as well as monetary injury. These traits are still practiced and
taught by Rabbis of yeshivas and orthodox communities today. The Talmud states
that such extremist behaviour destroys the world.
The next paragraph continues:
פרוש שיכמי זה העושה מעשה שכם
פרוש נקפי זה המנקיף את רגליו פרוש קיזאי א"ר נחמן בר יצחק זה המקיז דם
לכתלים פרוש מדוכיא אמר רבה בר שילא דמשפע כי מדוכיא
The Gemara explains: The
righteous of Shechem [shikhmi]; this is one who performs
actions comparable to the action of the people of Shechem, who
agreed to circumcise themselves for personal gain (see Genesis, chapter 34); so too, he behaves righteously
only in order to be honored. The self-flagellating righteous; this is
one who injures his feet, as he walks slowly, dragging his feet on the
ground in an attempt to appear humble, and injures his feet in the process. The
bloodletting righteous; Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak says that this is
one who lets blood by banging his head against the walls because
he walks with his eyes shut, ostensibly out of modesty. The pestle-like righteous;
Rabba bar Sheila says that this is one who walks bent over like
the pestle of a mortar.
This again gives further cases – which presumably were
observed and then classified as varying acts of piety, Incidentally, within the
Talmud itself, which is quite vast, there are many cases where the rabbis
themselves act in such ways and incur self damage, and of course they preach
such behaviour to their disciples.
Jumping a few lines, we get to the most exciting of these
paragraphs and what is most surprising is that the Talmud is quoting none other
than King Alexander Yannai (Janeus), who was a Sadducee High Priest and also a
King. He had many clashes with the
Pharisee rabbis and their followers.
אמר רב נחמן בר יצחק דמטמרא מטמרא
ודמגליא מגליא בי דינא רבה ליתפרע מהני דחפו גונדי אמר לה ינאי מלכא לדביתיה אל
תתיראי מן הפרושין ולא ממי שאינן פרושין אלא מן הצבועין שדומין לפרושין שמעשיהן
כמעשה זמרי ומבקשין שכר כפנחס
Rav Naḥman bar
Yitzḥak said: That which
is hidden is hidden, and that which is revealed is revealed, but in
Heaven everything is known, and the great court in Heaven will exact
payment from those who wear the cloak of the righteous but are in fact
unworthy. The Gemara relates: King Yannai said to his wife before he
died: Do not be afraid of the Pharisees [perushin], and neither
should you fear from those who are not Pharisees, i.e., the Sadducees; rather,
beware of the hypocrites who appear like Pharisees, as their actions are
like the act of the wicked Zimri and they request a reward like
that of the righteous Pinehas (see Numbers, chapter 25).
What is quite amazing, and also true, are King Yannai’s
incisive advice. It seems that he had
already penetrated the mind and behaviour of the Pharisees, his enemies, in the
advice he is quoted as giving.
He is apparently not attacking the entire Pharisee cult, but
only certain sub-types. These appear as Pharisees , i.e. they are card carrying
members, and may even be rabbis, but
they behave in a most indecent and perverse way.
What his specific intent was, we cannot accurately
know. I have experienced this kind of
Pharisee many a time myself – including many rabbis in the yeshiva system.
Assuming this is a faithful reproduction of what Yannai did
say, it is quite remarkable that it appears in the Talmud. Elsewhere we learn, for example, that Yannai
refused to accept the rabbinic invention of the Water libation during the
festival of Sukkot. (Water Libation is
not commanded anywhere in the Torah, or mentioned in the Tenach . When he did refuse, the Pharisee masses
pelted him with Etrogim, nearly killing him. This occurred in the Holy Temple
of all places. So it is almost as if his
statement was inspired by this and other such incidents. It suggests that the
hypocritical Pharisees who profess to uphold the Torah, have no compunction at
murdering an innocent man - a High Priest -
even in the Temple,
while he is performing his sacrificial rites.
But the implication goes much further. Now and then, the editors of the Talmud allow
some damning information to be recorded , which go against the grain of the
Pharisee and Oral Law project. This is
such an example, albeit a rare one.
Source:
https://www.sefaria.org/Sotah.22b.7?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en
