Fine. If I am over-reaching in that company, I am comfortable over-reaching among rabbis far, far great than I.
Why? Let's look at it ...
You offer:
- Rabbeinu Abraham ben David was a Provençal rabbi, a great commentator on the Talmud, Sefer Halachot of Rabbi Yitzhak Alfasi and Mishne Torah of Maimonides, ... born in Provence, France, about 1125 CE; died at Posquières, 27 November 1198 CE.
- Chaim Paltiel (known as Paltiel of Falaise) was a French Biblical commentator of the thirteenth century and grandson of the tosafist Samuel of Falaise (Sir Morel).
- Menahem ben Benjamin Recanati (1250-1310) (Hebrew: מנחם בן בנימין ריקנטי‎
was an Italian rabbi who flourished at the close of the thirteenth century and in the early part of the fourteenth.
- Rabbi Menachem Meiri (1249 – c. 1310) was a famous Catalan rabbi, Talmudist and Maimonidean.
- Elijah ben Shlomo Zalman Kramer, (Hebrew: ר' אליהו בן שלמה זלמן‎ known as the Vilna Gaon or Elijah of Vilna and simply by his Hebrew acronym Gra ("Gaon Rabbenu Eliyahu") or Elijah Ben Solomon, (b. Vilnius April 23, 1720, d. Vilaus October 9, 1797),was a Talmudist, halachist, kabbalist, and the foremost leader of non-hasidic Jewry of the past few centuries.
It is, indeed, a remarkable cast of characters. I was particularly struck with the following comment on the Vilna Gaon:
The Gaon applied to the Talmud and rabbinic literature proper philological methods. He made an attempt toward a critical examination of the text; and thus, very often with a single reference to a parallel passage, or with a textual emendation, he overthrew tenuous decisions made by his rabbinic predecessors. [emphasis added - JS]
He devoted much time to the study of the Torah and Hebrew grammar, and was knowledgeable in the secular sciences, enriching the latter by his original contributions. His pupils and friends had to pursue the same plain and simple methods of study that he followed. He also exhorted them not to neglect the secular sciences, maintaining that Judaism could only gain by studying them. The Gaon was also attracted to the study of Kabbalah; his controversy with Hasidic Judaism thus stems not from a rejection of mysticism per se, but from a profoundly different understanding of its teachings, in particular regarding its relationship to halakhah and the Ashkenazic minhag. [
ibid]
I find that most impressive and I would very much appreciate it if you could supply me with his comments on the Tetragrammaton.
At the same time, I can only hope and expect that such a man, a man who
"applied to the Talmud and rabbinic literature proper philological methods. ... [and] ... a critical examination of the text; and thus, ... overthrew tenuous decisions made by his rabbinic predecessors" would avail himself of all current philological scholarship were he living today. And, much like Rashi, I am confident that such a man would openly acknowledge questions for which there is no certain answer - only informed opinion.
Though this may take us a bit far afield, let me share something concerning a well know phrase in Ki Tavo:
arami oved avi. I'm sure you can find plenty of commentary on the phrase. An excelent discussion can be found in the Schechter Haggadah. How shall we translate the verse in question? Let me offer a few:
- The ArtScroll Stone Edition Tanach
Then you shall call out and say before Hashem, your God, "An Aramean tried to destroy my forefather. He descended to Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation -- great, strong, and numerous.
- Judaica Press Tanach with Rashi (Chabad)
And you shall call out and say before the Lord, your God, "An Aramean [sought to] destroy my forefather, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there with a small number of people, and there, he became a great, mighty, and numerous nation.
- Targum Onkelos (J. W. Etheridge, M.A., 1862) [2nd century CE - JF]
And thou shalt answer and say before the Lord thy God: Laban the Aramite sought to destroy my father, I and he went down to Mizraim, and dwelt there with a few people, but became there a people great and strong.
- Septaugint: New English Translation
And in reply you shall say before the Lord your God: “My ancestor abandoned Syria and went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great and numerous, many and great.
- Soncino Chumash: Rabbi Dr. J. H. Hertz
And thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God: "A wandering Aramean was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
- Torah: A Modern Commentary; W. Gunther Plaut
You shall then recite as follows before the Lord your God: “My father was a fugitive Aramean. He went down to Egypt with meager numbers and sojourned there; but he became a great and very populous nation.
And, of course, we're aware of how the phrase is rendered in our Pesach Haggadah. But what do our Sages say? Well ...
- Rashi: 11th century; Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki - Troyes, France
Arami oved Avi. (An Aramean sought to destroy my father). Laban sought to uproot all when he pursued after Jacob. And because he contemplated doing so, God charges him as though he had done it for as regards the nations of the world the Holy One Blessed Be God considers a thought equivalent to a deed.
- Rashbam: 12th century; Rabbi Shmuel ben Meir – Troyes, France (Rashi’s grandson)
Arami oved Avi. (My father was a wandering Aramean). My father Abraham was an Aramean, wandering and exiled in the land of Aram. As it is written, "Go forth from your land" (Genesis 12:1) and as it's written, "So when God made me wander from my father's house" (Genesis 20:13).
- Ibn Ezra: 12th century; Rabbi Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra - Tudela, Spain
Arami Oved Avi. (a lost Aramean). The word "oved" is intransitive. And if the word "Arami" were to indicate Laban, the text would have written "ma'abed" or "ma'avid." And furthermore, what is the reason to say that Laban wanted to kill my father and went down to Egypt, and Laban never turned to go down to Egypt! The closer reading is that the Aramean was Jacob. As if the text said, when my father was in Aram he was enslaved, a poor person without money.
Neither the study of Philology nor, for that matter, the study of Torah died with the death of the Vilna Gaon. Recent scholarship has shed new light on the Tetragrammaton and, by doing so, raised new and as yet unanswered question. Feel free to dismiss it. That is your right. But blind appeal to sages of the past is, in my opinion, an abuse of their memory.
