[Avodah] literalism

[Micha Berger]

On Wed, Oct 10, 2007 at 11:18:25PM -0400, Yitzhak Grossman wrote:
: > Nu, and Moshe Rabbeinu's nevu'ah isn't primarily tokhakhah. Halakhah and
: > metaphor don't mix well. Nor halakhah and guzma. Nevuah that is in images
: > has value -- when that's the best mode of xommunication; not when it's used
: > only because it's the most the navi can reached.

: The Rambam obviously understands that the distinction between Moshe and
: other prophets with regard to metaphor is due to the former's superior
: prophetic level and not, as you seem to be suggesting, to the
: difference in the natures of their respective messages. 

The Rambam understand the difference to be possible because of their
different levels. A regular navi couldn't possibly receive halakhah,
because he couldn't "hear" from the RBSO the texts necessary for a
legal system.

IOW, you're conflating cause (Moshe's greater level) with purpose (qibel
Torah miSinai).

:> However, your deduction doesn't hold. We are discussing the nature of the
:> communication from navi to masses, not from HQBH to navi.

: You wrote (above) "nevu'ah is through chazon"; did you mean that the
: prophet's public rhetoric, as opposed to God's message to him, utilized
: metaphor? ...

The navi's receipt of the message was through metaphor, thus metaphor
became a staple of his existence, and therefore it is unsurprising to find
him utilize those same metaphors in describing the nevuah -- sometimes.
Sometimes the navi goes straight to the pisron. It wouldn't surprise me to
learn that sometimes the mashal of the nevu'ah only made sense in personal
context, and the navi in writing it down used a mashal more understandable
to others to make his point -- just as Chazal would have. But we won't
know until we can ask Eliyahu haNavi (bb"a!), or perhaps only each of
the nevi'im who actually wrote the particular sefarim.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Man is equipped with such far-reaching vision,
micha at aishdas.org        yet the smallest coin can obstruct his view.
http://www.aishdas.org                         - Rav Yisrael Salanter
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