Strange Encounters of the Literary Kind: Shalem’s Ido Hevroni Publishes New Book on Rabbinic Literature
What do the Count of Monte Cristo and Rabbi Akiva have in common? Or Kafka and the Babylonian Amoraic sage Rav Ashi? For one thing, they all feature in Holy Beings: Wild Creatures in the Rabbinic Academy, the new book by Shalem Educational Director Ido Hevroni, published by Yedioth Ahronoth Books. Yet stranger encounters than these crop up throughout the rabbinic literature, as well, and it is the purpose of this motif—the meeting of two different worldviews—that forms the subject of Hevroni’s insightful and provocative analysis.
Hevroni describes his book as foremost an effort to engage Jewish tradition and Western literature in vibrant conversation. Thus, in the course of his work, do the Talmudic sages encounter philosophers, authors, and fantastical figures from worlds and times not their own: It is through these “meetings,” insists Hevroni, that subjects such as free will vs. destiny, the paranormal, ugliness and sin, even the independence of women, can be analysed and debated for their relevance to Jewish society. The sages’ attentiveness to foreign ideas is ultimately revealed as the key to building a good and just world.
“The encounter with the ‘other,’” says Hevroni, “is in truth an encounter with ourselves, and the ‘otherness’ that lies within. The encounter forces us to confront those hidden parts of our beings that are essential not only to our own personal growth, but also to the flourishing of society.” Explaining that rabbinic literature is rich with descriptions of meetings between sages and “others” of both the threatening and appealing variety, Hevroni believes that this literary stratagem serves a specific and important purpose. “These ‘others’ introduce the sages to new possibilities of which they were hitherto unaware. That the sages do not reject these possibilities out of hand—on the contrary, that they often embrace them—is a critical takeaway for the contemporary reader, especially one who lives in a Jewish and democratic state.”
Indeed, continues Hevroni, Holy Beings’ message is vital for orthodox Jewish society. “This book was born of a desire to find in rabbinic literature a viable and moral way of being in the world. In the process, it aspires to return aggadah (the exegetical texts of the Talmud and Midrash, as opposed to the halachic, or legalistic ones) to its original role as a source of revitalization for Jewish discourse, and to present it as a basis for dialogue between Judaism and the wider world in which it exists,” states Hevroni. That yearning for a mutually respectful and responsive dialogue between worlds is precisely what drew Hevroni to Shalem.
Finally, the book also has an important message for Israeli academia. “There are so many big, even existential questions facing us here in Israel, about our security, the character of our society, the role of identity and the distribution of resources. Familiarity with the defining texts of both the Jewish tradition and Western civilization provides, in my opinion, the best starting point for real, deep, and nuanced thought on these questions,” Hevroni explains. He concludes: “Alongside research, academia must emphasize the critical importance of precisely this knowledge of our heritage, and strive to make it accessible and engaging to as wide as possible an audience. There’s a real thirst for answers to the burning questions of our day from within Judaism, or at least ones that bridge the Jewish and secular worlds. Here at Shalem, we speak to that desire and determination. And I hope my book does, too.”
