Explorations Expanded: Sefer Bereishit by Rabbi Ari Kahn (Kodesh Press, 2019)
Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim
Klein
A prolific scholar and lecturer
like Rabbi Kahn needs no introduction, and his books have already earned their
place on the Jewish bookshelf decades ago. His latest work, as you might
expect, is no different.
This book features one or two
essays for each Parashah in Sefer Bereishit. As is Rabbi Kahn's learned style,
the discussions are always well-sourced, easy to read, and not too complicated.
Yet, in this simplistic fashion, Rabbi Kahn is able to draw big ideas from the
Scriptures and Midrashim.
Almost exclusively using
traditional sources, Rabbi Kahn paints a vivid picture of Biblical
personalities and their ideologies. For example, in the very first essay, Rabbi
Kahn demonstrates how the dispute between the brothers Cain and Abel centers on
whether recognizing each individual's uniqueness must, per force, lead
to equality. Cain obviously felt that it should, while Abel understood that
although every person is unique, this does mean that every person is equally
important.
Drawing on Kabbalistic sources
that connect Abel to Moses, Rabbi Kahn then continues to show how this
difference of opinion arose once again in the dispute between Korah and Moses,
with Korah adopting Cain's position, and Moses, Abel's. Ultimately, Rabbi Kahn
concludes that the mutual appreciation Moses had for his own brother Aaron
served to rectify and reconcile this controversy, as both brothers recognized
and appreciated the other's abilities and role.
When discussing Noah, Rabbi Kahn
employs a myriad of sources that point to the idea that while Noah was
personally a righteous individual, he is still criticized for failing to
positively influence others. In other words, Rabbi Kahn shows how the insulated
tzaddik was a righteous person vis-à-vis the rest of his generation, but
nonetheless functioned as a loner who could not affect the world (both before
and after the Deluge).
In another essay, Rabbi Kahn
introduces us to Abraham's inner conflict over God's command to offer Isaac as
a sacrifice. On the one hand, Abraham devoted his entire life to spreading the
idea of kindness and shooting down the notion that religious worship ought to
be at the expense of other people (i.e. human sacrifice). Yet here, God
actually told him to slaughter his own son. As Rabbi Kahn explains it, by
giving Abraham this commandment, God was actually providing a major service to
Abraham: He gave Abraham a chance to add a new dimension to his way of worship.
Until now, Abraham's relationship with God was one of love, but now God is
allowing him the opportunity to relate to Him through "justice" as
well.
Conversely, Isaac – whose worship
of God is best characterized as an exercise in “justice” – also gains from this
encounter. This because once Isaac offered to give up his life so that his
father can fulfill God’s command, he now has a special merit that he would
later use to arouse God’s “mercy” in saving the Jewish People. Thus, Akeidat
Yitzchak was a chance for both Abraham and Isaac to add another edge in
their service of God, and make their religious experience ever more complete.
Most of Rabbi Kahn’s idea are
totally in line with classical Jewish thought, but sometimes he proffers some novel
ideas. For example, in his essay to Parshat Bereishit, Rabbi Kahn dares to
suggest that Adam had human ancestors who were devoid of souls. He bases this
supposition on Maimonides’ assertion that Adam had descendants who lacked a
human soul, and extends this to possibly ancestors as well.
In discussing Abraham’s discovery
of God, Rabbi Kahn highlights Terah’s possibly influence over his son as leading
him to monotheism. He notes that Terah was the first person in the Bible to
name a child after its grandfather (i.e. Terah’s father was named Nahor, and
Terah’s son was named Nahor as well). This, Rabbi Kahn proposes, may be a
symptom of Terah’s general tendency to seek out the origins and roots of
things, which Abraham took to the nth degree when realizing the God is the
source of all.
All in all, Rabbi Kahn’s work reads
like a facilitated discussion of the important sources related to each
Parashah. In this volume, almost all the sources to which Rabbi Kahn refers are
cited in full, with the original Hebrew text and an accompanying English
translation. This work can be enjoyed by the layman seeking to add another
layer to his understanding of the Parashah, and by the rabbi looking for a
compendium of sources and materials on which to base his sermons.
While one can always quibble
about certain points in Rabbi Kahn’s essays, the overarching discussions are
always illuminating and provide fodder for further dialogue. Indeed, as Rabbi
Zev Leff says about Rabbi Kahn’s work it is “interesting and exciting – gourmet
food for thought.”
