Nitzavim: Perspective

 

This week's parsha has some enigmatic verses.

The heretics are referred to:

פֶּן־יֵ֣שׁ בָּכֶ֗ם שֹׁ֛רֶשׁ פֹּרֶ֥ה רֹ֖אשׁ וְלַעֲנָֽה׃   lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood  ( Machon Mamare) 

This rosh and la’ana,  are difficult to translate.  Onkelos, the official translator of the Mosaic books, does not try. It is rendered: גְּבַר מְהַרְהַר חֶטְאִין אוֹ זָדוֹן: a man that hurries (to) sin or transgression.   This is an interpretation that fits with the context. Perhaps it understands rosh as [hurrying to the] front   The Jerusalem targum and Targum Johnathan  capture other possible meanings that are related to words: for its beginning (rosh) may be sweet as honey, but its end will be bitter as the deadly wormwood(la’anah); 

The King James committee translated rosh as gall. Art Scroll and Koren (Jerusalem Bible) liked their choice enough to copy it. What is a gall?   Since the context is a root, this is presumably a plant gall, any abnormal outgrowth or swelling in a plant, as from viral damage, ( Free disctionary) .    I had a  boyhood friend who became a plant pathologist.  He studied crown (rosh) galls: plant tumors induced by bacteria. Galls jut out and are rounded like heads.  The idea of a tumor, or cancer, induced by some noxious irritation, jutting out of the more normal and productive corpus, is an appealing interpretation.  These galls have unique chemicals, some of them  toxic. The evolution of the word gall to mean bitter ( as in gallbladder) and irritating  ( as in he galls me) adds to the aptness as a description of undesirable rebels. The ideas of gall are consistent with Rashi’s interpretation:

שרש פרה ראש ולענה [PERHAPS THERE IS AMONG YOU] A ROOT THAT IS FRUITFUL IN POISONOUS HERB AND WORMWOOD — i.e. a root that brings forth herbs bitter as wormwood-plants, which are very bitter. The meaning is: Lest there be a man or woman or family or tribe that fruitfully produces and increases wickedness in your midst.

 

Translating  la’aneh as Wormwood seems consistent with the non-Onkelos targum, although the transmission of species is an ever present problem in Torah interpretation.  Mendelkern translates la’aneh as absinthium, which is another way to say  wormwood.  Absinthe is an  alcoholic beverage, banned by the US FDA, made from wormwood, that contains a hallucinogen,  thujone, that is toxic to the kidneys. La’aneh is a poison that distorts perception; is this not how a believer looks at heresy?

The renegades might think:

 שָׁל֣וֹם יִֽהְיֶה־לִּ֔י כִּ֛י בִּשְׁרִר֥וּת לִבִּ֖י אֵלֵ֑ךְ לְמַ֛עַן סְפ֥וֹת הָרָוָ֖ה אֶת־הַצְּמֵאָֽה

 'I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart--that the watered be swept away with the dry' (MM)

The need to say that 'I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart’ demonstrates that she is comforting herself, that he perceives the danger of the rebellious position.

הָרָוָ֖ה אֶת־הַצְּמֵאָֽה,  the watered with the dry: Onkelos and Targum Johnathan both translate הָרָוָ֖ה  (haravah)  as  שָׁלוּתָא,  neglect, error, forgetfulness (Jastrow) . Rashi combines the inadvertent with the wet:

הרוה. שׁוֹגֵג, שֶׁהוּא עוֹשֶׂה כְאָדָם שִׁכּוֹר שֶׁהוּא עוֹשֶׂה שֶׁלֹּא מִדַּעַת:

הרוה DRUNKENNESS figuratively describes the condition of a שוגג, one who acts inadvertently. The expression is an apt one because he acts like a drunken man who does things unwittingly,

The dereliction that is drunkenness leads to sins of negligence. The inebriated has imbibed in order to drown the superego, to be released from the constraints of the sober mind. These trespasses have an excuse of sorts, they come during the pursuit of small pleasures, they are accidents that occurred while impaired.

The ibn Ezra associates the watered with the behavior of the righteous that protects the community.  Ramban derives  הָרָוָ֖ה (ravah) from satisfaction for the satisfied soul is called ravah (satiated). To me, the phrase evokes the transition from the moisture of youth (wet behind the ears) to the dryness of old age, from  the misdemeanors of youth to the felonies of maturity.

The transition suggested by the Targum and Rashi also evoke the problem of addiction. The innocent adventure that waters the spirit evolves into an unquenchable thirst that is never satisfied. Last week’s daf yomi (Succah 52) described the process: The misdeed starts off as an honored guest from an exotic kingdom, settles in as a roommate, and ultimately becomes the master.

 

הַנִּ֨סְתָּרֹ֔ת לַיהֹוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ וְהַנִּגְלֹ֞ת לָ֤ׄנׄוּׄ וּׄלְׄבָׄנֵ֙ׄיׄנׄוּ֙ׄ עַׄד־עוֹלָ֔ם לַעֲשׂ֕וֹת אֶת־כׇּל־דִּבְרֵ֖י הַתּוֹרָ֥ה הַזֹּֽאת׃ {ס}         Concealed acts concern the LORD our God; but with overt acts, it is for us and our children ever to apply all the provisions of this Teaching.

 

Rashi, based upon the Talmud, understands this verse on a population level.  The community is openly adhering to the law, how can they be held responsible for the secret transgressions of rebel individuals? The verse tells us not to worry about the hidden covens, just do what the Torah tells you. 

Ramban adds: By way of the simple meaning of Scripture it is my opinion that the secret things are the sins that are hidden from those who commit them. This is closer to the feeling that the verse stirs in me. I understand the secrets to be the mechanics of the universe, the principles that make sin detrimental to destiny. Does that fit with the text?

Notice that dots of ambivalence, marking the letters for possible erasure, cover “us and our children” The nigloth, the revealed [things] are eternal, but not necessarily for us and our children.

Will we and our children ever understand?

Is understanding important?

 Can we still follow the Torah, as it has evolved, on faith in the absence of understanding?