Joodse traditie als permanent leren

'So wurde der Kommentar die charakteristische Ausdrucksform des jüdischen Denkens über die Wahrheit, dessen, was man rabbinischen Genius nennen könnte

De grens tussen commentaar op de Torah en vernieuwing (hiddush) van de Torah is niet scherp te trekken. Ieder commentaar is een inter pretatie en interpretatie is het middel bij uitstek om de traditie (d. i. de Torah) trouw te blijven en tegelijkertijd die traditie te ontwikkelen en te vernieuwen.

'Well, when you get this tremendous idea of hiddushee-torah, introducing new ideas in the Torah, you'll see it is a very profound notion really, because it means that although the rabbis had the idea that the Torah was eternal, and was given to Moses, yet it was still possible for each student to find something new in it and he had to find something new for that is the way the Torah works. It was a kind of a new truth that was at the same time the old truth, but it was his discovery, it was his particular Torah and that

was why he had to keep on introducing

3?

'hiddushee-torah'. The Zohar ' for example

says that whoever introduces a new idea into

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the Torah, builds a new heaven'

Iedereen is in staat op zijn manier mee te helpen aan de ontwikkeling

en vernieuwing van de traditie:

'The reknown Hafez Hayyim ((eigenlijke naam

Israël Meir Hacohen, 1838-1933)) once said

to a little boy: 'Tell me some Torah'. So his

students said to him ((H.H. )): 'What can you

learn from a little boy? ' So he said: 'Everyone

has his portion in the Torah and he may have

some idea, that I can't have'. Everyone has

his sole root in the Torah and his particular

understanding of it. Just because it's infinite,

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everyone has his share in it' Iedereen die de Torah bestudeert 'om der wille van de studie' (li-