"Thy Commandment is Exceeding Broad"

R. Shelomo Ibn Adreth and the Formation of Halakhic Religiosity of Mystery and Transcendence

Abstract

This study consists of two intertwined themes. The first is an inquiry into the views of R. Shelomo Ibn Adreth (Rashba) on the rationale of the commandments. The second argues that Rashba was the first author to develop the view that the reasons behind the commandments – all the commandments – are sitrei torah (secrets of the Torah) that are beyond human comprehension. Rashba formed and developed what I labeled in a separate study: ‘Halakhic Religiosity of Mystery and Transcendence.’ The first theme – Rashba’s approach to the rationale of the commandments – has barely been studied. Its importance stems from Rashba’s stature as an eminent posek (decisor) and interpreter of the Talmud, and the greatest meshiv (responsa writer) in the Middle Ages, in addition to being the most important kabbalist of his generation. The second theme magnifies the first, since Halakhic Religiosity of Mystery and Transcendence, from the late Middle Ages onwards, became central among Jews of all stripes. This religiosity had a dramatic impact on the halakhic discourse and on the study of Torah. The center of this study is a close reading of three responsa of Rashba, in which he offers his principal views on the rationale of the commandments. The view that is developed in these responsa is as follows: Divine wisdom is hidden in all the commandments. This wisdom, which is the theosophy of Kabbalah, is the reason of the commandment. Yet the wisdom is beyond human comprehension. Flashes of this sublime wisdom are perceived by a few initiated sages (kabbalists) in each generation, yet Rashba says that none exist in his generation. Besides portraying the profound kabbalistic reasons as above the intellectual ability of blood and flesh, these responsa undermine the simple, "rational," reasons of the commandments: compared to the profound, transcendent reasons, the mundane, moral reasons are like "a drop in the sea." It is as if these known reasons are "not their purpose" at all. In Rashba’s view, these two elements – the elevation of the kabbalistic reasons to transcendence and the undermining of the simple reasons – are two sides of the same coin. Rashba developed his views on the reasons of the commandments in the context of Kabbalah. Consequently, his outlook should be compared to views of early kabbalists, especially to those who developed kabbalistic reasons for the commandments, whom Rashba seemed to succeed: R. Ezra (of Girona) and Rashba’s eminent teacher, Nahmanides. The results of this comparison are twofold: first, in contrast to all the kabbalists before him, Rashba rejected the simple reasons of the commandments; second, unlike them, he portrayed the commandments’ profound kabbalistic reasons as esoteric not only in the political-educational sense but especially in the essential sense. Formulations of Rashba’s view that the “deep,” “true” rationale of the commandments are beyond human apprehension are prevalent in the writings of his students, including among his most prominent and influential disciples: R. Yomtov ben Abraham Al-Ashvili (Ritva), R. Bahye ben Asher (ibn Haliwah), and R. Yehoshu’a Ibn Shuayeb. They attest to the centrality of Halakhic Religiosity of Mystery and Transcendence in their teacher’s worldview, and that it was embraced wholeheartedly by his students. This outlook would become prevalent in later generations