[NGFP-BookClub] (no subject)

[Elie Aharon]

I think it's more a matter of perspectives than finding and asserting a
singular scholar-friendly but theologically useful truth about the Bible.

An M.D., for example, would give a far different professional description of
a ballet movement then would a dancer.  But neither would be wrong.

I'd refer anyone interested in this question to Martin Buber, who spent most
of his life exploring these various perceptions of the Bible, and wrote
rather eloquently about seeking what is behind the text, encouraging the
student to "attempt to understand the spirit of the Bible's original
language, Hebrew - with an understanding that has service as its aim; to
approach the Bible as the basic documentation of the unconditional's effect
on the spirit of the Jewish people; whatever his knowledge of ancient, as
well as modern, exegesis, he should search beyond it for the original
meaning of each passage; should penetrate beyond modern biblical criticism's
distinction between sources to more profound distinctions and
connections...; should read the Bible with an appreciation of its poetic
form, but also with an intuitive grasp of the suprapoetic element that
transcends all form."
(from "On Youth and Religion", in 1918)

Buber went on to persue the ideal of this synthesis for the balance of his
lifetime.  He made an understanding of the text the precondition of his
work, and attempted to penetrate into the realm behind it.  He was an
intuitive religious thinker, and while using the methods of scholarship, did
not feel bound by the more severe restrictions imposed by scholarship.

About the translation of the Hebrew Bible, which was a collegial effort
central to and spanning much of his adult life, Buber wrote, "Do we mean a
book?  No, we mean the voice." (1926).  Later he pleaded for a "reception of
the Bible, not because of its literary, historical, and national values,
important though these may be, but because of the normative value of the
human patterns demonstrated in the Bible,"  saying further that "the Book
still lies before us, and the voice speaks forth from it as on the first
day."

(material from On The Bible, Eighteen Studies by Martin Buber, Nahum
Glatzer, ed., shocken Books 1968)

Elie


-----Original Message-----
From: ngfp-bookclub-admin@lists.ngfp.org
[mailto:ngfp-bookclub-admin@lists.ngfp.org]On Behalf Of James Kugel
Sent: Friday, May 13, 2005 9:01 AM
To: ngfp-bookclub@lists.ngfp.org
Cc: 'Simcha Shtull'; 'Aron Trauring'
Subject: [NGFP-BookClub] (no subject)


                Dear Students:

<snip>

                All this leaves me -- and you, perhaps -- in something
of a quandary. It's hard to dismiss modern biblical scholarship,
especially since so much of it is based on careful analysis and a very
detailed knowledge of the world of ancient Israel. On the other hand, as
many people have observed, if you read the Bible in the manner of modern
scholars, it seems to turn into just another ancient text, Like
Gilgamesh or Hammurabi's laws. Why should we pay any more attention to
the Bible than to these others?

                That's the question the course was ultimately intended
to pose -- but it doesn't propose an answer. Still, if any of you have
some final observations to make, I would be happy to hear from you.

    Thanks to everyone who has participated thus far.

                _____________
                James Kugel
                11 Efrayim St.
                93621 Jerusalem
                Israel
                Tel. 972 2 672-2197
                Fax. 972 2 673-3027

    _____________
    James Kugel
    11 Efrayim St.
    93621 Jerusalem
    Israel
    Tel. 972 2 672-2197
    Fax. 972 2 673-3027



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