Sofer

“. . . every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.” Matthew 13:52

After the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 C.E., the sages of early Judaism worked diligently to understand, refine, and transmit the traditions, rooted in Scripture, that had been handed down to them. A giant of that first generation was Rabban Yohanan Ben Zakkai. At times, Rabban Yohanan would test his students by intentionally slipping in a wrong answer to their questions. They learned to pay attention! And one of his students, Rabbi Joshua, later expressed in a few words that true learning involves hard work:

Rabbi Joshua says, “He who repeats a tradition but does not work at grasping it is like he who sows seed but does not harvest . . . .” Rabbi Akiva (a younger colleague of Rabbi Joshua) says, “A song in me, always a song.” (Tosefta Ahilot 16:8)

Joshua learned that it is not enough to repeat what we have heard. We have to work hard not merely to remember and repeat what we have heard, but also to take hold of the meaning and make it our own. In this way, our tradition will live in each generation. We must grapple with what we are taught in order to make it our own.

Rabbi Akiva takes things a step further. He agrees that of course we must take hold of what we have heard by actively engaging with it. But for him there is another level of learning: when we internalize what we have learned so deeply that it becomes a song.

It is no accident that the same Rabbi Akiva argued strenuously for the inclusion of the Song of Songs in the canon of Judaism. He said that “The whole Torah is Holy, but the Song of Songs is the Holy of Holies” (Mishnah Yadaim 3:5). Why did Akiba consider the Song of Songs so utterly holy? Because in that song, Akiva heard God singing love songs to Israel and Israel singing love songs back to God. And so, Jewish tradition interprets Scripture in the light of the Song of Songs and sees all Scripture as a song of love—an intense love, broad and deep, sometimes harmonious and at other times dissonant—between God and Israel.

In Scripture and tradition, Akiva hears the sound of God’s love song for Israel, and his response is a love song to God. Akiva does not only grasp the tradition like Rabbi Joshua, but also sings it as his love song to God. We can learn from Akiva this vital truth: Our learning is not only an effort of mind and soul, but must be saturated with the love of God. It must become a song, deep within us and on our lips.

The purpose of this column is to bring out “things old and new” from Jewish writings that relate to Messianic Jewish identity today.

Published in Issue Two / Volume One / July 2009
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Rabbi Carl Kinbar

Rabbi Carl Kinbar

Rabbi Carl Kinbar is the Provost of Messianic Jewish Theological Institute and Director of its online School of Jewish Studies.

The purpose of this column is to bring out “things old and new” from Jewish writings that relate to Messianic Jewish identity today.

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