Language:
Hebrew
Year of publication:
2013
Titel der Quelle:
מכלול; עיונים ביהדות, בחינוך ובמדע
Angaben zur Quelle:
כט (תשעג) 141-159
Keywords:
כהן, צדוק בן יעקב,
;
שמעון בן לקיש,
;
יוחנן בן נפחא,
;
Talmud Bavli. Criticism, interpretation, etc.
;
Repentance Judaism
;
Hasidism
Abstract:
R. Zaddok ha-Cohen of Lublin (1823-1900) sets out a penetrating analysis of the final, tragic dispute between R. Yohanan and Resh Lakish (BT Bava Metzia 84a), rich with psychological insights, in chapter 10 of his work, Takanat ha-Shavim. He held that the central point of contention between the two Amoraim concerned whether or not Resh Lakish had repented completely for his criminal past. Had he succeeded in rectifying and transforming his former deeds, integrating the negative aspects of his past into a positive, complete present? Or had he done no more than changed direction, set out on a new path while leaving his past with all its defects unrepaired? The uniqueness of R. Zaddok's reading lies in his use of the Hasidic principle of "souls as mirrors". That is, the faults that one individual perceives in another testify to the presence of the same faults, or at least a shadow of them, in the soul of the perceiver; it is that reality that is transferred to the other. Using psychological concepts that could be described in modern terminology as "projection" and "projective identification", R. Zaddok analyses three scenes from the Talmudic account in which Resh Lakish and R. Yohanan face one another mutually as mirrors, and considers the effects these encounters had on each of them. On his reading, they engender intense feelings of personal guilt and responsibility in R. Yohanan, leading him to punish himself severely. R. Zaddok concludes his analysis of that fateful dispute with an addition story (BT Gittin 47a) in which Resh Lakish sells himself to cannibals, and suggests that this story too treats the fundamental problem of his sinful past and his attempt to merit its rectification. In effect, these readings reflect a cogent theme central in R. Zaddok's works as a whole: the awareness that existential doubt is an inescapable aspect of human life. The article ends by considering a possible connection between his philosophical views and his personal biography.
URL:
אתר את הפרסום בקטלוג המאוחד של ספריות ישראל
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