ACCEPTING THE YOKE OF HEAVEN: Commentary on the Weekly Torah Portion

"The erudite Professor Leibowitz passed away in 1994, but he has left us with fresh thoughts on the weekly Torah portion. He was a Professor of Science at Hebrew University, having immigrated to Palestine in 1935 at the age of 31. His weekly commentaries on the parsha reveal his radical ideas on the nature of God and God's relationship to humans, he confronts the nature of prayer, and our concept of holiness in the world. He promotes the idea of compliance with the law for its own sake, and not for reward or punishment.

For example, take his commentary on Noach: the Tower of Babel is to forego the flood, but look at the world after the flood. Was it a world as evil as the pre-flood world? Was the dispersion of people after Babel a punishment? Maybe it wasn't a punishment? Maybe it was a reward, allowing for a difference in thought and practice and a decentralization. Maybe Babel was a story of conformity, centralization and totalitarianism. Dispersion ended this. This is a very fresh thought, no? 

Or take Vayeshev, the story of Jacob and Joseph and Egypt, and the sentence "Joseph was BROUGHT DOWN to Egypt." Is it actually a story of free will and determinism, a story of antinomies and paralogisms? Leibowitz focuses on midrash and writings that define the word "dealing and deeds" as "making a false accusation." He delves into the idea of God bringing deeds into the world and upon man, and later places the blame on man for these deeds, and the idea that the strife between the brothers and the sale of Joseph was pre-ordained, since it was known that the Hebrews would be slaves in Egypt for 400 years. In his four page discussion of Korach, he ties this parsha to parasha of tzitzit, and the end of the Shema which is recited daily. Korach, Leibowitz writes, rebelled against Moses saying "for all the community, all of them are holy." But, Leibowitz continues, the tzitzit idea of holiness (which appears in the paragraph above the Korach story) differs from that of Korach. The tzitzit concept of holiness is one to be strived for, it is a goal; while Korach believes it is something that is granted. Korach has absolved himself of responsibility, he boasts that he is a member of a holy nation, even though he is contemptible. Are the people holy or do they become holy through their actions and performance of certain tasks? Guess what, the ideas from Korach did not end when he was swallowed up by the Earth. They continue today. If you enjoy these ideas, buy the book."

"In 1985, The IDF radio station Galei Zahal gave the late scientist and philosopher Yeshayahu Leibowitz the chance to give a series of short talks on the Torah portion of the week. Accepting the Yoke of Heaven is a compilation of those transcripts, with some additions and clarifications to accommodate the change from speech to text.

"My wife and I had the memorable experience of hearing one of Prof. Yeshayahu Leibowitz' last public lectures in Jerusalem before his death in 1994. At 90, this scientist, philosopher and religious scholar was physically fragile and needed the moderator to repeat his words so that all in the packed room could hear. Despite his infirmity, he was sharp-witted, sharp-tongued and impatient with what he considered foolish questions. Israel's most controversial social critic lived up to his reputation of being a profound religious philosopher while being an outspoken antagonist of the religious, Zionist and secular communities as well as the Israeli government.

Not only is this new book, Accepting the Yoke of Heaven, a simpler, lucid exposition of Leibowitz's extraordinary religious devotion, but it also testifies to the overflow of that devotion into the service of individuals and the public at large. True, he argued vehemently that religion is about serving God irrespective of all human needs, including morality and politics. Yet this book shows that the pure service of God he promoted also demands the betterment of one's moral character.... The result is a set of three-page commentaries on each Torah reading that reflect the paradoxical beauty of his religious and moral integrity. The central motif is the purification of religious service, which should make this collection required reading for three types of readers (the Orthodox person sufficiently spirited to have his or her beliefs contested.... the atheist.... to the culturalist who reads the Bible as a work of historical, moral and anthropological interest....).