Yitro
The truly ‘mysterious’ object is beyond our apprehension and comprehension, not only because our knowledge has certain irremovable limits, but because in it we come upon something ‘wholly other’, whose kind and character are incommensurable with our own, and before which we therefore recoil in wonder that strikes us chill and numb. (Rudolf Otto)
In the Haftarah, Isaiah prophesies: “Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.” But if, as Maimonides argues, God does not employ sound to speak, and God has no features that can be seen, what is heard, and what can be seen?
Perhaps part of Isaiah’s message is that hearing with our ears, and seeing with our eyes cannot lead us to a true perception of God. Like Israel at Sinai, we must allow ourselves to see the thunder and the sound of the shofar. Like Moses, we must have the courage to enter the arafel – the cloud of mystery – and experience what cannot be perceived.
As modern, rational people, we tend to believe that the irrational is not real. The revelation at Sinai challenges us to reconsider.
Avinoam Sharon
In the Haftarah, Isaiah prophesies: “Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.” But if, as Maimonides argues, God does not employ sound to speak, and God has no features that can be seen, what is heard, and what can be seen?
Perhaps part of Isaiah’s message is that hearing with our ears, and seeing with our eyes cannot lead us to a true perception of God. Like Israel at Sinai, we must allow ourselves to see the thunder and the sound of the shofar. Like Moses, we must have the courage to enter the arafel – the cloud of mystery – and experience what cannot be perceived.
As modern, rational people, we tend to believe that the irrational is not real. The revelation at Sinai challenges us to reconsider.
Avinoam Sharon
