1. Orthodox Judaism: Dr. Kaufman’s Comments

Dr. Kaufman’s Comments

The Trial

In my philosophical ideas in literature class, we recently read (German) Jewish author Franz Kafka’s famous work The Trial, first published posthumously in 1925 at the prompting of Kafka’s friend Max Brod by the small avant-garde Berlin publisher Verlag di Schmiede. It has since become, by some estimates, one of the top five most important novels of the twentieth century.

When Dr. Kaufman, who is also Jewish, returned my graded paper, his comments sparked an impromptu correspondence. In the resultant give and take, he writes of the Christian conception of the Fall: “The idea that mortality is a punishment for sin is a very unJewish one and is one that, in my view, is not sustainable.” Intrigued, I wrote him back: “I am curious, if you have the time and don’t mind dropping me a few lines, to learn what the Jewish explanation for mortality is, if there is one. Is it just a fact of the universe or is there a theology that goes along with it?” His reply was illuminating:

With respect to mortality, orthodox Jewish opinion is that man was mortal from the point of his creation. There were hellenistic Jewish sects who believed that mortality was a punishment for the transgression in Eden, but this view is not authoritative. Christianity's theology is, itself, essentially Greek, so it is not surprising that the view surfaces there. It is, however, unBiblical. When God says to Adam that if he eats from the tree, he will “surely die,” He nowhere indicates that by “die” He means that the human race will become mortal. That is an interpretation of the text that Judaism does not countenance and which makes no sense, given God’s purpose in creating man. God already had a heavenly host comprised of immortal beings and did not need two more. What He needed was a sublime combination of heavenly ability and rootedness in the perishable earth.

I must confess I knew very little about Orthodox Judaism. I find this perspective very interesting and it certainly provides a much different lens through which to view the Old Testament. I am particularly struck by how much more pessimistic—and revealing—the book of Ecclesiastes becomes.