Rav Hai Gaon and the Priest

[Harel13]

No...it's not the opening line of a joke. It's an interesting anecdote I first heard in a class a few years ago and came across the actual source a couple of days ago. Thought I'd share.

Rabbi Yosef Ibn Aknin, a 12th-13th century thinker, wrote, among other things, a commentary on Song of Songs called "The Divulgence of Mysteries and the Appearance of Lights". The commentary included many references to Islamic philosophy and Arabic linguistics. At the end of the work, he dedicated a chapter to explaining why he used so much foreign (non-Jewish) material in his commentary. He defended this by bringing many examples of sages who consulted non-Jews to understand different aspects of Torah. One of the most interesting anecdotes he brought is about Rav Hai Gaon:

"Rav Hai and his students had difficulty interpreting the verse "...let my head not refuse such choice oil..." (שמן ראש אל יני ראשי) (Tehillim 141:5). The people in the study hall debated the meaning, and Rabbeinu Hai z"l commanded Rabbi Matzliach to go to the Katolik (=high-ranking Christian priest) of the Christians and to ask him what he knew regarding the meaning of this verse. And this was not good in his (=Rabbi Matzliach's) eyes. And when he (=Rav Hai) z"l saw that this [task] was difficult in the eyes of Rabbi Matzliach, he rebuked him, stating "For the forefathers and ancient pietists will be a proof to us, [for they] would query regarding linguistics and interpretations from men of other religions." (Hebrew here)​

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[rosends]

That's a strange quote. R. Anknin justifies his consulting non-Jewish sources by citing a story in which R. Hai Gaon consulted non-Jews and he justifies it by making general reference to earlier people who did it with no specific source or proof.

While there may be value to using the knowledge of other cultures (especially regarding linguistics) I'd be on team Matzliach on this one.

 

[Harel13]

That's a strange quote. R. Anknin justifies his consulting non-Jewish sources by citing a story in which R. Hai Gaon consulted non-Jews and he justifies it by making general reference to earlier people who did it with no specific source or proof.

While there may be value to using the knowledge of other cultures (especially regarding linguistics) I'd be on team Matzliach on this one.

Presumably Rav Hai had specific examples in mind, but these weren't presented in the anecdote. I suppose that didn't bother Ibn Aknin because he himself brought other sources (from the Geonim to the Amoraim to the Tannaim). It wasn't one of those "Auuuggghhh! Now I'll never know who he was referring to" moments because Ibn Aknin found the sources himself.

 

[rosends]

Presumably Rav Hai had specific examples in mind, but these weren't presented in the anecdote. I suppose that didn't bother Ibn Aknin because he himself brought other sources (from the Geonim to the Amoraim to the Tannaim). It wasn't one of those "Auuuggghhh! Now I'll never know who he was referring to" moments because Ibn Aknin found the sources himself.

Clearly there is value in consulting (my memory is cloudy but IIRC the gemara discusses consulting a non-Jewish expert about whether there is a ta'am of something in food) but the idea of asking a non-Jew for information when understanding a pasuk, unless it is an issue of understanding the source or use of a word, just rubs me the wrong way.

 

[Harel13]

Clearly there is value in consulting (my memory is cloudy but IIRC the gemara discusses consulting a non-Jewish expert about whether there is a ta'am of something in food) but the idea of asking a non-Jew for information when understanding a pasuk, unless it is an issue of understanding the source or use of a word, just rubs me the wrong way.

I think many of us can relate. Still, I find it impressive that Rav Hai was so forward about the issue, no hemming and hawing involved (I don't mean "forward" as in progressive, because that would make out disagreements such as that of Rabbi Matzliach as being backwards, which is not something I think).