Four Cubits of Halacha - Rambam Shows How to Interpret an Aggadeta.

After writing my last three posts on Aggadeta, I would be remiss ignoring the following discussion of Rambam in his Introduction to Pirush Hamishna . After explaining the correct way of reading Chazal, he quotes a Gemara that supports his position and being an Aggadeta Rambam explains it, giving us an immediate example of how we should analyze and understand a Chazal. I believe that Rambam’s understanding of this Chazal is earth shattering for our times as it highlights a major deficiency in the thinking of our community and what I believe is the greatest threat to our long-term growth and survival.

ואמרו אין לו להקב"ה בעולמו אלא ארבע אמות של

הלכה. והתבונן בדברים אלו, שאם תבינם כפשטם ייראו בעיניך רחוקים מאד מן

האמת, כאלו ארבע אמות של הלכה בלבד הם התכלית, ולהזניח שאר המדעים

והחכמות, ובזמן שם ועבר ושאחריהם שלא היתה הלכה בלי ספק שלא היה להקב"ה

בעולמו כלום. אבל אם תתבונן בדברים אלו התבוננות מעמיקה, תמצא בזה חכמה

נפלאה, ותמצאהו כולל הרבה מן המושכלות, והנני מבארו לך כדי שיהיה לך זה

דוגמא לכל מה שיזדמן לך ולכן התבונן בו היטב.

“The Gemara [in Berachot 8a] says, “HKBH only has in His world four cubits of Halacha[1]”. Think about these words, for if you will interpret them literally, they will seem far from truth, as if the only objective [for man to attain perfection] are the four cubits of Halacha ignoring all other knowledge and wisdom. [This would intimate that] at the time of Shem and Ever and the following [generations], when there was no Halacha, God had nothing in the world! However if you will ponder these word thoughtfully, you will discover in them marvelous wisdom, encompassing much of acquired knowledge. I will now explain [this Gemara] as an example for other such sayings, therefore pay attention well!”

Rambam has laid out the problem with this statement of the rabbis. It just does not make sense that they would be telling us that we should only concentrate on learning what is nowadays called Torah, Halacha, exclusively of any other knowledge! Furthermore, it is inconceivable that before Torah was given, God had no place in the world. Were there not righteous people, starting with Shem and Ever, Noach’s children after the flood and continuing with Avraham and his children?

Rambam then has a lengthy discussion of how the different components of the world are interdependent and are needed for each other’s existence allowing for the most advanced creature, man, to exist. The need of the whole of existence for each component is its Raison D’etre, the reason it exists. The question therefore comes to mind what is Man’s reason to exist? Now that this advanced creature came into being, we still need to understand what is man’s reason for being? When philosophers looked at the role each component plays, they found that unlike all the others who had one or two roles and thus limited activities, man has multiple abilities and tasks. For example, an ant is a gatherer and that is its main activity, a spider weaves and that is its main activity while man can do many more and varied activities. As the philosophers thought about this more, “they concluded that man can do many things but they all have one goal - to help him survive so that he can accomplish one central and focused task, apprehension of acquired knowledge and knowing the Truths thoroughly.”

ומצאו שתכליתו

פעולה אחת בלבד ושאר פעולותיו אינן אלא להמשכת קיומו כדי שתושלם בו אותה

הפעולה היחידית והיא השגת המושכלות וידיעת האמתיות על בורים.

They realized that, because it does not make sense that man has no purpose other than promoting his own temporal survival without any other objective. If the whole of the universe apparently exists within a system that promotes its own eternal survival, man must have a role beyond his own personal survival, at the service of the whole. Furthermore, if we compare man to other living entities, he is no different from all of them except in his ability for abstract thought thus acquiring knowledge of his surrounding. Potential for acquiring knowledge is man’s uniqueness and he is no more than an animal until he actualizes this potential.

וגדול שבמושכלות השגת

אחדות הבורא יתעלה וישתבח וכל הקשור בכך מן המדעים האלקיים, לפי ששאר

המדעים אינם אלא כדי שיוכשר בהם עד אשר יגיע אל מדעי האלקות,

“The most advanced acquired knowledge is the apprehension of the Creator and all that pertains to this in metaphysics [literally: Divine Sciences]. For all the other sciences are there to prepare [man] to understand metaphysics.”

For the acquisition of this type of knowledge and its retention, man clearly cannot be focusing on bodily pleasures. Indulging in physical pleasure requires major efforts, using the mind and working to have the wherewithal for that indulgence, leaving little room to successfully acquire knowledge. It also muddles a person’s thinking by distorting his value system, making pleasure seeking the goal rather than intellectual growth.

הנה

נתברר מכל ההקדמות האלה שהתכלית בעולמינו זה וכל אשר בו הוא איש מלומד בעל

מדות טובות, וכאשר נקנו למי שהוא מהמין האנושי המדע והמעשה, רצוני ב"מדע"

השגת האמתיות על בורים והשגת כל מה שאפשר לאדם להשיג, וב"מעשה" המצוע

והאיזון בענינים הטבעיים ואל ישקע בהם ולא יקח מהם אלא מה שיש בו קיום

הגוף, וכן שפור כל המדות, אדם שהוא במצב זה הוא המטרה

“It is clear from all this that the goal of this world of ours {as opposed to the Universe – DG[2]] and all it contains is to [produce] a learned person, who has good traits, an individual who belongs to humankind, who has attained knowledge and actions. By “knowledge”, I mean apprehension of the Truths and the knowledge of all that a man can know. By “actions”, I mean someone who is well balanced and [follows] the median in natural [physical] matters without wallowing in them, taking from them [the physical] only as needed for the sustenance of the body. Included in “action” is self-improvement. Such a person is the intended objective [of the world].

The perfected individual, the end result of this world of ours, consists of a person who has acquired all the knowledge that is possible and has also developed his person to be a perfectly attuned being that only procures the minimum necessary for sustenance. A person that is an ignoramus but a good person is better than an evil person is, but cannot be seen as an ideal. So too a self-described learned person who is not in control of his bestial self is not a true wise man. It is the combination of the two, knowledge and behavior that produce a perfect and ideal person. Rambam continues with a long discussion to explain why there are so many imperfect individuals. I will leave that for another post. He ends the discussion with -

וכיון שמדבריהם ע"ה אנו לומדים שני הדברים הללו

כלומר החכמה והמעשה ממה שביארו וממה שרמזו, בצדק אמרו אין לו להקב"ה

בעולמו חוץ מארבע אמות של הלכה

Being that from the Rabbis’ teachings we learn these two things, [self-control and self-improvement when it comes to] actions [and the obligation to learn everything that can be known when it comes to] “knowledge”, their saying that God has in his world only four cubits of Halacha is correct.

Rambam interprets this Aggadeta in a completely original and counter intuitive way. Unlike the traditional understanding that the rabbis are discouraging learning outside the four cubits of Halacha, he sees Halacha as encompassing all knowledge and action. The ultimate goal is the acquisition of all knowledge while the Mitzvot themselves, what we traditionally call Halacha, are a necessary condition to allow us to acquire and retain that knowledge. Learning the halachot themselves, what we traditionally refer to as Halacha, have as their purpose to know how to do the Mitzvot and not the ultimate “learning”. The ultimate learning is to know the universe we live in and through it know HKBH as much as a human can.

. וכן אם היה האדם ירא ה' פרוש, מרחיק

התענוגות זולתי בכדי קיום הגוף, מתנהג בכל הענינים הטבעיים בדרך הממוצעת,

והורגל בכל המדות הטובות אלא שאינו מלומד, גם זה חסר שלמות, אלא שהוא יותר

שלם מן הראשון, לפי שמעשיו אלה אינם מתוך ידיעה ברורה והכרה יסודית,

ולפיכך אמרו חז"ל אין בור ירא חטא כמו שביארנו.

“A God fearing person, an ascetic who has distanced himself from pleasures beyond what the body requires, behaves in the median path as it relates to the natural [physical] needs, who has good traits but is unlearned, lacks too in perfection. Although he is better than the first, [one who claims that he knows but has no self-control], he lacks perfection because he does not act out of conviction and clear knowledge. That is why the Rabbis say, “An ignoramus cannot be a person that fears sin”.

A God fearing person or one who fears sin is not one who does not understand why he is following these rules, does them because he is afraid of the potential punishment or bad consequences. A God fearing person is one who does good deeds and imposes self-control on himself because he understands that it is necessary if he wants to find Truth thus God. He does all this because by doing it he will train himself and perfect himself so that he will be able to acquire the knowledge necessary to answer the existential questions – know God to the limit a human can.

As we can see understanding an Aggadeta is quite complex and requires us to read it very carefully, making sure it does not go against reason. The literal and simple reading may sometimes convey the opposite of what it is really telling us. The only way we know what the real message is when it is rational and agrees with reason.

On a personal note, when I first understood Rambam’s position regarding what we call “learning”, I was afraid to let myself go in that direction. It was so contrary to what we had been taught in Yeshiva about “learning” that I was sure I was mistaken and misguided. As I continued studying Rambam’s thought, I found that he repeats this theme all across his writings. I slowly became convinced that I was reading him correctly and that for whatever reason his teachings have been ignored or even worse, censored and suppressed through misinterpretation whether willful or unintentional. When we learn Gemara and spend time on issues that are not pertinent to the ultimate practical Halachik ruling on how to act, we are wasting our time. Rambam, I am convinced and can prove it from his many writings on this subject, would not consider that a Kiyum of the mitzvah of Talmud Torah. We have to look at the text but even more important, try to wrest out the idea behind the Halacha, the concept that runs through it. For that is what drives the practical aspect of the Halacha, how the mitzvah has to be practiced or the prohibition has to be respected. Ultimately, we learn Halacha [I use it here in its popular meaning] only to know how to keep the Mitzvot so that we can become self disciplined and unbiased by personal urges, to allow us to understand the world we live in and through it the Creator.

I find this understanding of what Torah is and what the goal of man is, exhilarating. It gives meaning to everything I do without the usual obsessive behavior followers of the minutiae of Halacha tend to develop. It also gives meaning when I learn a Gemara working my way through the Rishonim who try to squeeze out from the text and the different details of how a Mitzvah (negative or positive) is traditionally practiced, the concept underlying the rule. It is by knowing the concept that they then can apply the rule to the different situations that come up in our daily life that are impacted by this rule. Ultimately, once I know how to keep the mitzvah, I have to understand what it is meant to do for me, helping me to better answer the existential questions that confront us all constantly. Keeping that goal in mind all the time, gives meaning to my praxis. It is not a burden and restrictive but a voluntary choice to help promote my intellectual growth.

Post script: There is much more to say about the philosophical and theological implications of Mitzvot. I do not want to leave the impression that they are two independent ways of thinking linked only through causal connections. They are completely intertwined and interdependent. The Rav in his shiurim has shown how far and deep this connection is. But that will have to be discussed when the occasion arises.

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[1] The exact quote is since the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash, HKBH… Rambam omits this.

[2] I make this comment to differentiate between the existence of man being the objective in the context of the world we live in contrasted with man not being the objective in context of the whole of existence – the universe and the cosmos.