Sárospataki Füzetek 20. (2016)
2016 / 2. szám - ARTICLES / STUDIEN - György Kustár: Ont he Slopes of Sinai - Some Hermeneutical Questions in Light of the Kabbalistic and Historical Critical Exegesis
On the Slopes of Sinai - Some Hermeneutical Questions signifier of a universal event. Even if the connection between the cosmic/divine acts and the actual narrated history is not explicit, or to state more precisely, too intricate to give a simple and stable connection that would describe the ever molding correspondence, we find that the narrated history is important, as it sets the initial point of interpretation. As an initial point of departure, the historical horizon is not valuable in itself. The events described by the story of revelation are not examined from an external perspective, outside of the texts, in order to make it meaningful or fit it into an independent historical sequence determined by critical examination. To be more precise, they are seen from an external standpoint, but from the perspective of the divine. Consequently, the diachronic chronology is drawn into parallel with the eternal happenings of the Godhead, being only important as mirror of the divine essence poured out into the realm of historical.25 In other words, the course of history appears to be a dim reflection of the cosmic theogonic processes.26 We could say that what the mystic does when understanding history through reinterpreting and actualizing memory of crucial moments in Jewish history is to understand the eternal presence of God.27 This presence is far from being a static “present-ness” and disclosure of the unchangeable divine essence. To the contrary, God draws demands on Himself by establishing covenant with them, suffers by the fall and goes to exile with His people. The process of history reflects and symbolizes the inner processes of the Godhead. The history for Kabbalist is the scenario of good and evil, a constant struggle of powers to terminate or foster the process of redemption that is shared by both human and divine. Kabbalists do not recollect memories that then fade into oblivion. They are not saving facts to maintain historical experience. The mystics see events from a far different angle: for them, the history is the place of heaven and earth coming together. They keep their eye focused on both realities simultaneously. By their mystical endeavor they constantly depart from the historical and ascend to the divine and back, creating channels between the two and working assiduously to enforce the final encounter between them.28 In short, history is not without importance, but is not a focus of interest in itself. The processing of history has profound theological significance, and the basic theological theme running through every single event and reflecting in the attitude of the mystic is the anticipation of final redemption. 25 Cohen, Arthur A. - Mendes-Flohr, Paul (eds.): Contemporary Jewish Religious Thought, Philadelphia, JPS Publications, 2009, 379. 26 Ibid. 27 Ibid., 372. 28 According to one branch of Kabbalah, called "theosophic-theurgic" Kabbalah, and especially in the mystical system of Isaac Luria, after the fall, the divine emanations damaged. The mystic's attempt to ascend to the deepness of the text in order to find the divine names serves the purpose to restore the Godhead, and make possible the unity of the Divine and mundane, namely the messianic age itself. Cf. Idel: Absorbing Perfections, 13., Cohen - Mendes-Flohr (eds.): Contemporary Jewish Religious Thought, 380. 2016-2 Sárospataki Füzetek 20. évfolyam 35
