As mankind progresses from the generational distinctiveness of Noach to the epochal greatness of Avraham, our Sages account for this change in part by reference to the specific language used in the Torah to describe their character. (See especially Bereishit Rabba 30:10). The differences in language are subtle in the Hebrew original and difficult to convey in translation, but the gist of the passage in the Midrash is that Noach walked towards the Creator and our forefathers walked before Him. In both of these formulations, the name Elokim is used, connoting the G-d of nature and the attribute of justice.
Rav Kook, in his collection of essays Midbar Shor, makes note of a third expression, as Moshe Rabbeinu exhorts us to “walk after Hashem your G-d” (Hashem elokecha). He asks what is the substantive difference between each of the ideas being communicated in these statements? How do they relate to our own conduct and how do we understand our place in the universe? In particular, Rav Kook wants to know why Moshe would instruct us to walk after or behind Hashem and not to walk before Him, as we understand from the aforementioned midrash that walking before (as did Avraham) is preferable to walking with towards or behind (like Noach).
In explaining the difficulties in this midrash, Rav Kook makes a powerful statement about the importance of refining the ethical and spiritual aspects of humanity. This universal imperative can be juxtaposed to the unique mission of the Jewish nation, the descendants of Avraham Avinu. There are, essentially, two ways for human consciousness to interface with the spirit of the Divine and our own role as its agents: We can attain and maintain the ethical standards befitting a human being (as the generation of Noach, filled with Hamas, failed to do), or we can elevate ourselves to higher levels of righteousness and ultimately to transcendence of the purely physical and mundane.
The fundamental difference between Noach and Avraham is that Noach was able to preserve human dignity to the best of his ability in the face of utter depravity, and in his merit the human race was saved from destruction. Avraham, on the other hand, saw the potential in mankind not only to maintain an appropriate level of morality but to achieve godlike qualities of enlightenment, and in the merit of this understanding he was the first to receive the revelation of the Higher Law of the Torah.
Rav Kook explains that this is the proper way to understand the language of the Mishna concluding tractate Kiddushin that Avraham observed the entire Torah before it was given. The Torah is the embodiment of this higher, transcendent understanding; it is the vehicle of revelation and the form of the revealed truth that leads our consciousness and spirituality to ever higher levels of possibility. Thus, when Avraham obtains this level of understanding, the Torah says of him that he walked “before Elokim,” i.e., the G-d of nature. Avraham is anticipating the perfected state of mankind as a natural creature, embodying that fullness of what it means to be human and setting the benchmark for future generations.
However, when the Torah is given at Har Sinai, a manner of direct revelation is made available to the assembled multitudes of Israel that is beyond the ability of the purely rational mind to encompass. In order to deliver this understanding, it was necessary for Hashem to miraculously expand and enhance the consciousness of each and every member of the nation of Israel so that he or she might receive this infusion of supernatural understanding. Unlike the standard that Avraham achieves by his own devices and benchmarks for future generations, the rest of Israel while standing before Har Sinai are artificially elevated to the state of perfection which is the endpoint of human evolution – and which from that point forward we can only ever pursue and work our way back towards. Thus, Moshe instructs us to walk behind Hashem.
The Midrash further teaches that Hashem “discovered” three precious items in His world – Avraham, David HaMelech and Yisrael. (The textual basis for this assertion is brought in Bereishit Rabba 29:3.) Rav Kook explains, in the spirit of the foregoing principles, that there is a natural progression linking Avraham to David to Yisrael, thereby linking the epiphany of Avraham to the final redemption, and marking the elevation of mankind over the basic standard of simple morality to the transcendent consciousness that is the destiny of our species.
Hashem’s greatest desire is to bestow His kindness upon us and to rejoice in our success. This is the implication of the phrasing that He “found” or discovered these “items.” Avraham was the first human being to see the potential of what we might become and to work actively to inculcate and engender the pursuit of this perfection in future generations of his descendants and disciples. David unified all of Israel politically, elevated us to the level of a world historical power, and gave us prestige and honor among the nations of the world so that we could serve collectively as a positive influence and a force for good. Yisrael, in this context, represents the essence of what it means to be a member of the Nation of Israel – to receive the Torah and to uphold it, through it to embody the paradigm first envisioned by Avraham, and by the same means to affect the ultimate redemption of mankind.
Finally, Rav Kook distinguishes between the particular modalities of revelation and transformation that derive from the Written and the Oral Torah. He compares these to the “modern” (i.e., post-biblical) holidays of Purim and Chanukah, which in turn correspond to the Oral and Written Torahs (see especially Maharal, Ohr Chadash). The “miracle,” so to speak, the irruption of revelatory understanding into human consciousness of the written Torah is, as we see at Har Sinai, sudden, unexpected, and instantaneous. For the generation of the Purim story, they had already become so debased and removed from the wisdom of the Torah that in order to redeem them, it was necessary for Hashem to affect a miraculous intervention. As a consequence of this encounter with the Divine, that generation was immediately transformed into one of the greatest gatherings of individuals in human history who together “upheld and accepted” the entire Torah (Esther 9:27).
In contrast, the generation of the Chashmonaim was already on a very high level, the Beit HaMikdash was standing and their leaders in the war of survival against our enemies were the kohanim themselves, the sons of Matityahu. This generation already understood what the stakes were, and they had ample merits of their own to support their preservation and survival. The miracles of the Chanukah story were subtle and discreet; they unfolded gradually – but they continue to unfold through all subsequent time and history and to enrich our lives even today. This is the resonance of the Oral Torah which was given to Moshe on Har Sinai but which continues to nurture and to sustain us, trickling into every one of our generations until, following its inexorable course, we achieve the level envisioned for us by Avraham Avinu and experience the final redemption.
May it be our generation, living today, who will experience and behold this and merit to walk before Hashem.
Dedicated to the memory of Phil Lesh, OBM.
