Introducing Silence and Speech
TEXT 1 - A time for everything
(1) A season is set for everything, a time for every experience under heaven:
(2) A time for being born and a time for dying, A time for planting and a time for uprooting the planted... ...(7) A time for silence and a time for speaking...
TEXT 2 - The world created via speech (and silence)
(א) בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃ (ב) וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃ (ג) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֖ים יְהִ֣י א֑וֹר וַֽיְהִי־אֽוֹר׃
(ד) וַיַּ֧רְא אֱלֹהִ֛ים אֶת־הָא֖וֹר כִּי־ט֑וֹב וַיַּבְדֵּ֣ל אֱלֹהִ֔ים בֵּ֥ין הָא֖וֹר וּבֵ֥ין הַחֹֽשֶׁךְ׃ (ה) וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ לָאוֹר֙ י֔וֹם וְלַחֹ֖שֶׁךְ קָ֣רָא לָ֑יְלָה וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם אֶחָֽד׃ {פ}
(1) When God began to create heaven and earth— (2) the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water— (3) God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
(4) God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. (5) God called the light Day, and the darkness God called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, a first day.
Notice how both silence (in pink) and speech (green) are crucial tools in God's creative process.
TEXT 3 - Elijah on the Mountain (Part 1, A Still Small Voice)
(ט) וַיָּבֹא־שָׁ֥ם אֶל־הַמְּעָרָ֖ה וַיָּ֣לֶן שָׁ֑ם וְהִנֵּ֤ה דְבַר־יְהֹוָה֙ אֵלָ֔יו וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ל֔וֹ מַה־לְּךָ֥ פֹ֖ה אֵלִיָּֽהוּ׃ (י) וַיֹּ֩אמֶר֩ קַנֹּ֨א קִנֵּ֜אתִי לַיהֹוָ֣ה ׀ אֱלֹהֵ֣י צְבָא֗וֹת כִּֽי־עָזְב֤וּ בְרִֽיתְךָ֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֶת־מִזְבְּחֹתֶ֣יךָ הָרָ֔סוּ וְאֶת־נְבִיאֶ֖יךָ הָרְג֣וּ בֶחָ֑רֶב וָאִוָּתֵ֤ר אֲנִי֙ לְבַדִּ֔י וַיְבַקְשׁ֥וּ אֶת־נַפְשִׁ֖י לְקַחְתָּֽהּ׃ (יא) וַיֹּ֗אמֶר צֵ֣א וְעָמַדְתָּ֣ בָהָר֮ לִפְנֵ֣י יְהֹוָה֒ וְהִנֵּ֧ה יְהֹוָ֣ה עֹבֵ֗ר וְר֣וּחַ גְּדוֹלָ֡ה וְחָזָ֞ק מְפָרֵק֩ הָרִ֨ים וּמְשַׁבֵּ֤ר סְלָעִים֙ לִפְנֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֔ה לֹ֥א בָר֖וּחַ יְהֹוָ֑ה וְאַחַ֤ר הָר֙וּחַ֙ רַ֔עַשׁ לֹ֥א בָרַ֖עַשׁ יְהֹוָֽה׃ (יב) וְאַחַ֤ר הָרַ֙עַשׁ֙ אֵ֔שׁ לֹ֥א בָאֵ֖שׁ יְהֹוָ֑ה וְאַחַ֣ר הָאֵ֔שׁ ק֖וֹל דְּמָמָ֥ה דַקָּֽה׃
(9) There he went into a cave, and there he spent the night. Then the word of the LORD came to him. He said to him, “Why are you here, Elijah?”
(10) He replied, “I am moved by zeal for the LORD, the God of Hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and put Your prophets to the sword. I alone am left, and they are out to take my life.”
(11) “Come out,” He called, “and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And lo, the LORD passed by. There was a great and mighty wind, splitting mountains and shattering rocks by the power of the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind—an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake. (12) After the earthquake—fire; but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire—a soft murmuring sound [/a still small voice].
Where is the Still Small Voice?
TEXT 4 - Medieval Commentary: RaShI (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki), 9th-10th Century France
On the translation and meaning of "a still small voice":
A calm quiet. ... a voice coming out of the silence, but the voice itself is not heard.
TEXT 5
(ב) הַשָּׁמַ֗יִם מְֽסַפְּרִ֥ים כְּבֽוֹד־אֵ֑ל וּֽמַעֲשֵׂ֥ה יָ֝דָ֗יו מַגִּ֥יד הָרָקִֽיעַ׃ (ג) י֣וֹם לְ֭יוֹם יַבִּ֣יעַֽ אֹ֑מֶר וְלַ֥יְלָה לְּ֝לַ֗יְלָה יְחַוֶּה־דָּֽעַת׃ (ד) אֵֽין־אֹ֭מֶר וְאֵ֣ין דְּבָרִ֑ים בְּ֝לִ֗י נִשְׁמָ֥ע קוֹלָֽם׃ (ה) בְּכׇל־הָאָ֨רֶץ ׀ יָ֘צָ֤א
(2) The heavens declare the glory of God, the sky proclaims His handiwork. (3) Day to day makes utterance, night to night speaks out. (4) There is no utterance, there are no words, whose sound goes unheard. (5) Their voice carries throughout the earth, their words to the end of the world.
Returning to TEXT 3: Elijah on the Mountain (Part 2, Teshuva: A Return to Speech)
(יב) וְאַחַ֤ר הָרַ֙עַשׁ֙ אֵ֔שׁ לֹ֥א בָאֵ֖שׁ יְהֹוָ֑ה וְאַחַ֣ר הָאֵ֔שׁ ק֖וֹל דְּמָמָ֥ה דַקָּֽה׃ (יג) וַיְהִ֣י ׀ כִּשְׁמֹ֣עַ אֵלִיָּ֗הוּ וַיָּ֤לֶט פָּנָיו֙ בְּאַדַּרְתּ֔וֹ וַיֵּצֵ֕א וַֽיַּעֲמֹ֖ד פֶּ֣תַח הַמְּעָרָ֑ה וְהִנֵּ֤ה אֵלָיו֙ ק֔וֹל וַיֹּ֕אמֶר מַה־לְּךָ֥ פֹ֖ה אֵֽלִיָּֽהוּ׃ (יד) וַיֹּ֩אמֶר֩ קַנֹּ֨א קִנֵּ֜אתִי לַיהֹוָ֣ה ׀ אֱלֹהֵ֣י צְבָא֗וֹת כִּֽי־עָזְב֤וּ בְרִֽיתְךָ֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֶת־מִזְבְּחֹתֶ֣יךָ הָרָ֔סוּ וְאֶת־נְבִיאֶ֖יךָ הָרְג֣וּ בֶחָ֑רֶב וָאִוָּתֵ֤ר אֲנִי֙ לְבַדִּ֔י וַיְבַקְשׁ֥וּ אֶת־נַפְשִׁ֖י לְקַחְתָּֽהּ׃ {ס} (טו) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהֹוָה֙ אֵלָ֔יו לֵ֛ךְ שׁ֥וּב לְדַרְכְּךָ֖ ...
(12) After the earthquake—fire; but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire—a soft murmuring sound [/ a still, small voice].
(13) When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his mantle about his face and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then a voice addressed him: “Why are you here, Elijah?”
(14) He answered, “I am moved by zeal for the LORD, the God of Hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and have put Your prophets to the sword. I alone am left, and they are out to take my life.”
(15) The LORD said to him, “Go back by the way you came..."
The Time for Silence: To Hear God You Need a Listening Soul
TEXT 6 - Contemporary Commentary: Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, 2016
The desert is a place of silence... To be sure, when the Israelites received the Torah [in the desert at Mt. Sinai], there was thunder and lightning and the sound of a shofar. The earth felt as if it were shaking at its foundations. But in a later age, when the prophet Elijah stood at the same mountain ...he encountered G‑d not in the whirlwind or the fire or the earthquake but in the kol demamah dakah, the still, small voice, literally “the sound of a slender silence.” I define this as the sound you can hear only if you are listening. In the silence of the midbar, the desert, you can hear the Medaber, the Speaker, and the medubar, that which is spoken. To hear the voice of G‑d, you need a listening silence in the soul.
...The silence that counts, in Judaism, is thus a listening silence—and listening is the supreme religious art. Listening means making space for others to speak and be heard.
...There is the voice of history that was heard by the prophets. And there is the commanding voice of Sinai, that continues to speak to us across the abyss of time. I sometimes think that people in the modern age ... have lost the habit of listening to the sound of transcendence, a voice beyond the merely human.
From the full article: https://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/3328781/jewish/The-Sound-of-Silence.htm
God asks the same question and Elijah responds with the same answer twice. Can you imagine the nuance changing when asked in the Still Small Voice? And perhaps Elijah could hear his own answer anew, with new meaning for his life, when he responds the second time...
The Time for Speech: Inheriting Our Own Voices
Background before we read Text 7:
The Hebrew Bible is also known as the Written Torah, which tradition imagines Moses writing down as God dictated it to him on Mt. Sinai.
But there’s another Torah, known as the Oral Torah, comprised of the later commentaries on the Bible (e.g. the Mishna and Talmud). The term "Oral Torah" is also more loosely used to describe all "words of Torah" not included in the Written Torah/Bible itself - for example, the ideas we are sharing today. (!)
Tradition imagines that while Moses wrote down the Written Torah on Sinai, the Oral Torah was given at Sinai too - but the Oral Torah was not written down. Instead, it is said to be passed down Orally from Moses onwards, and revealed bit by bit over all the successive generations ... Even by each of us.
Read more https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-formation-of-the-oral-torah/
A thought to consider as we read Text 7: as women, we've inherited a largely male-narrated textual tradition. The concept of ongoing emergence of Oral Torah offers one possibility of redemptive engagement with this inheritance.
Text 7 - Contemporary Commentary: Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, 2015
[At the end of Moses' life,] God tells Moses, "Ascend this Mountain of Avarim - of Transitions" (Numbers 27:12). Transitions haunt this section of the Torah. Joshua is initiated into his new role as [successor to] Moses. Moses lays (ve-samachta) hands on him ... and invests him with some of his own power...[transferring]the radiance of authorship to Joshua.
The sages compare Moses to the sun and Joshua to the moon: Joshua receives all of his light from his master Moses. In this sense, suggests the [19th century Hasidic rabbi] Sefat Emet, Joshua can be seen as embodying the energy of the Oral Torah, which draws on the Written Torah, represented by Moses. The laying on of hands (semichah) relates, by a play on words, to the legal decisions that the Rabbis deduce from the written text (asmachtot) [in the Oral Torah of the Mishna and Talmud].
A new epoch begins; the trajectory of the Oral Torah emerges here...What transpires in this section of the Torah is the transmission of Moses' Torah - the sun, the original source- to Joshua - the moon, representing the energy of the feminine, which receives and procreates... carrying interpretations to full term.
Sefat Emet associates the feminine principle with this movement into interpretation of given[/inherited] texts.
Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, Bewilderments, 283.
TEXT 8 - Contemporary Commentary: Rabbi Steve Cohen 2021
(Paraphrased)
Our Oral Torah (our own study and "speech") is a light we shine through the prism of the Written Torah. We can only see all the colors of the Torah when we shine our own lives through it.