Ask the Rabbi with Rabbi Chaim Mintz
There are many stories in the Talmud and Midrash that seem farfetched, even impossible. Am I really supposed to take all of them seriously?
Rabbi Chaim Mintz responds:
Can My Small Mind Comprehend Such Wisdom?
Everything in the Talmud is important and must be taken seriously. The rabbis of the Talmud were wise and great beyond our comprehension, so if you encounter Talmud stories or other ideas that are difficult to understand, you should blame it on your limited mind that is incapable of comprehending their great wisdom. Imagine you are trying to learn one of Einstein’s teachings but you find yourself unable to comprehend it. Would you dismiss it as being silly? No, of course not! You would assume you weren’t clever enough to figure it out. The same applies to the sages of the Talmud, whose wisdom far surpasses even the most brilliant scientists.
Every Word has Value
This point is borne out through the pasuk (verse) (Ha’azinu 32:47): “Ki lo davar reik hu mikem—for (the Torah) is not an empty thing for you.” The simple meaning is that every word of the Torah has value. Chazal (our sages) add that if something in the Torah seems empty, it is “mikem—because of you”—because you haven’t worked hard enough to understand it.
So Are All Talmud Stories Literal?
That said, while all stories in the Talmud should be taken seriously, not all should be taken literally. It depends on the context. If Chazal are adding details to a miracle described in the Torah, then it is to be taken literally. For example, the Midrash describes how when the Jews crossed the Red Sea after its waters split miraculously, Hashem turned the saltwater into fresh drinking water. And when a baby was hungry, a mother was able to reach into the standing waters and pull out a fruit, such as an apple or pomegranate, to feed her child. This is a historical description of how Hashem performed the miracle, and is to be taken literally.
Allegory and Hidden Lessons in Talmudic Stories
However, when it comes to stories related in the Talmud, the Rambam (Maimonides) explains that many of them are not meant to be taken literally, but rather as metaphors containing profound lessons.
The Ramchal explains this process in his essay on the Aggadot (narrative secctions) of the Talmud: The Torah is divided into two parts—the Torah Shebichsav (Written Torah) and the Torah Sheba’al Peh (Oral Torah). The Oral Law was designed to be transmitted exclusively through word of mouth, from teacher to student, from generation to generation, and was forbidden to be written or transcribed. However, when Chazal saw that because of the travails of exile, our mastery of the Torah began to weaken, and the Torah was in danger of being forgotten, they permitted the writing of the Torah Sheba’al Peh for the sake of the preservation of Torah.
Still, the Oral Torah also contains profound, hidden teachings that were not intended for the masses. These teachings needed to be preserved in the texts, but in a manner that was not readily accessible to everyone. To accomplish this, the rabbis devised different methods of concealing them. One of these methods was to embed the teachings in allegorical stories. At first glance, these stories might seem like silly children’s tales, but great scholars have the tools to uncover their deeper meanings. Those proficient in the study of Talmud possess the ability to discern which sections are to be understood literally and which convey deeper, allegorical meanings.
Scientific Theories – Another Method of Concealment
Another method used by Chazal is to conceal profound Aggadic teachings in the language of the science of their time. Whether these scientific theories are fact or not is irrelevant, because these discussions were not about the science itself, as the Torah is not a science textbook. Some things seem far-fetched because the theories of the time, which may seem foreign to us, were used to convey these hidden lessons, but they could have used the prevailing science of any era.
Commentaries that Reveal the Meaning Behind the Stories
In later generations, great rabbis such as the Maharsha and the Maharal wrote commentaries on the Aggadic sections of the Talmud, granting us access to some of the profound wisdom hidden within.
In Short: Understanding Talmud Stories
All of Chazal’s teachings are important. Some stories are literal, historical events meant to be taken at face value, while others are allegorical, containing profound lessons that require the proper tools to understand.
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