I don't know about you, but I've never used a goad before. According to Jastrow, a darvan is a goad, which is "a long stick with a thin nail implanted in its head, and it is used to direct and control an animal pulling a plow." At the top of our amud, there is a verse from Kohelet 12:11 that the Talmud explains by equating Divrey Torah to a goad. The sugiya states: "Just as this goad directs the cow along its furrows to bring life to the world, so too the words of Torah direct their students from the paths of death to the paths of life." A goad makes sure that the plowing animal does not deviate from its path in the field, thereby ensuring an evenly plowed field and a fruitful harvest. But it does so by pain. If the animal tries moving right or left, it is stuck with the nail, and compelled to continue forward.
Is this an accurate metaphor for how we view Torah? Surely Divrey Torah do cause our lives to flourish that the crops in a field, but what happens when we deviate from those words -- what is the nail that keeps us living a life of Torah? It could be a fear of divine punishment or consequences in the next world -- but those are not as immediate as the consequence of defying the goad. What compels us to be guided by Divrey Torah?
Thursday, January 31, 2008
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5 comments:
What I think is especially interesting is that the rabbis liken divrei Torah to a goad, and then immediately start to think of reasons why, actually, it's not like a goad at all. It's as if they like the analogy so much they can't toss it out, but it does not really fit. Maybe the same can be said with the issue you raise: the analogy just doesn't work that well.
I agree that the goad analogy doesn't work. It's easy to say that we are guided by divrei Torah or halachah because of community norms, fear of God's judgment, loyalty to the generations that came before us, or some other external pressure. But in reality we know that there is no significant "nail" that forces us to continue following Torah when we stray from it; rather, I think it's most powerful when we consider how we are affected by Torah for its own sake, for how it transfomrms us personally, rather than because ot the "nails" that "goad" us to follow it.
Hey guys, hope it's OK to join the conversation.
I think the most compelling force of divrei Torah is the internal psychological pressure exerted by being committed to a certain system & lifestyle that as a whole we think is good for us. I recently experienced this when, due to a combination of factors, I didn't put on tefillin for the first time in 7 years, I felt genuinely lousy after realizing that I had missed it. That, I think, is both positive and accurately described as a goad.
I know noteveryone is there yet, but keeping up with Amud Yomi, on daf 6a, there is a nice answer given by Abaye that ties into this (or so I drash it!). Abaye says that (Kol Hayca D'Gadol..) Whenever an adult is Chayav M'doraita, there is also an apparent Rabbinic chiyuv to train a katan. Even if the analogy isn't a great one here and I too agree it is quite strange, perhaps the greatest goad are knowlegable adults who can guide children on the way, even if the chiyuv is not M'doraita for the children.
I would tend to agree with Will (welcome to the conversation, by the way, both Will and Micah) that the internal pressue to fulfil the obligation of mitzvot can be powerful, but of course this is only so for people who have already bought into a system of obligations imposed externally which can carry internal effects. That is an increasingly small group of people, especially in the communities I travel in. The thing about a goad (not to push the analogy too far, since, as I have already said, I am not even sure the rabbis would do so) is that it is an external sign of an imposed order. Micah L. didn't love the idea of community norms as the main pressue, but I tend to be more in favor: communities can act as the markers. This is what Micah (P.) was talking about in an earlier post about strict churches. It may be that the modern world requires us to assume a more "goadish" presence in our communities, given that Torah itself, or the notion of God's word embodied in Torah, does not seem to carry much weight in terms of setting boundaries.
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