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Maimonides' allegories

Epic Beard Man

Bearded Philosopher
I've started briefly reading my newly bought copy of "The guide for the perplexed," and just brushing up against some Rambam literature it seems that he is holding certain aspects of Genesis as allegorical. I'm curious in the Jewish teachings is this currently being taught in the synagogues? Are certain Biblical verses taken as poetry and not literal? If that is true then what can we define as literal and not allegorical?
 

Jayhawker Soule

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Premium Member
I've started briefly reading my newly bought copy of "The guide for the perplexed," and just brushing up against some Rambam literature it seems that he is holding certain aspects of Genesis as allegorical. I'm curious in the Jewish teachings is this currently being taught in the synagogues? Are certain Biblical verses taken as poetry and not literal? If that is true then what can we define as literal and not allegorical?
I'm not sure what you're asking. I've attended Torah classes at a number of synagogues and on a near weekly basis. Challenging text as redacted myth or allegory or founders' tale would not be seen as at all unusual or inappropriate.
 

Epic Beard Man

Bearded Philosopher
I'm not sure what you're asking. I've attended Torah classes at a number of synagogues and on a near weekly basis. Challenging text as redacted myth or allegory or founders' tale would not be seen as at all unusual or inappropriate.

Well for example, I believe Maimonides did not take Genesis to be a literal thing but a poetical explanation of what happened in the beginning. That is, the planet earth was not created in 6 days but that the scriptures might have implied some poetic version of the process of creation. As one writer puts it:

"The Rambam believed that there were not separate creative acts on six days, but rather everything was created on one day, in a single instant. In the work of Creation, there is mention of “six days” to indicate the different levels of created beings according to their natural hierarchy; not that there were actual days, and nor that there was a chronological sequence to that which was created in the acts of Genesis…"

Rationalist Judaism: The Rambam and the Rav On Allegory In Bereishis

My question is and I'm glad you brought it up, what are the views of the Rabbis today concerning certain aspects of scripture? What parts of scripture do we take literal and what parts do we take allegorical? Meaning what do we take as for face value and what do we take with a grain of salt?
 

Jayhawker Soule

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Premium Member
Jay maybe I'm thinking of the story of creation but you're the Torah student you tell me....What do we take as poetic tales and what do we take as literal? How do we decipher the two to begin with?
I honestly do not understand what you mean by "poetic tale." There is much acknowledged poetry in the Hebrew Bible. There are also, in my opinion, psalms, ANE myth reimagined through the lens of radical monotheism, etiological inferences, founders' tales, political propaganda, folk history, wisdom literature, ethical guidelines, legal strictures, proverbs, and allegorical stories.

For most Jews that I know, how one categorizes any given pericope is a matter of informed opinion rather than dogma.
 

Epic Beard Man

Bearded Philosopher
I honestly do not understand what you mean by "poetic tale." There is much acknowledged poetry in the Hebrew Bible. There are also, in my opinion, psalms, ANE myth reimagined through the lens of radical monotheism, etiological inferences, founders' tales, political propaganda, folk history, wisdom literature, ethical guidelines, legal strictures, proverbs, and allegorical stories.

For most Jews that I know, how one categorizes any given pericope is a matter of informed opinion rather than dogma.


allegory definition: a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. Without discussing Genesis in its entirety what would Maimonides mean when he referred to creation story as allegorical? My thought as an outsider is, how do we upon reading the Hebrew Bible, discern between allegory and literal? For example, if I read the beginning of Genesis, and I read the story of Adam, am I to take this to be allegorical or literal? If allegorical what are the determining factors that makes it allegorical to Jewish students?
 

Jayhawker Soule

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Premium Member
... if I read the beginning of Genesis, and I read the story of Adam, am I to take this to be allegorical or literal?
You check to see if there's a blue or a green Avery dot on the left margin of the scroll ...

I take the gan Eden stories to be useful and entertaining lore promulgated by those who believed them to be literally true.
 
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