Sunday 19 April 2020

Advice from a Sadducee King – in the Talmud!




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