Today is the 9th of the month of Av: an historically auspicious day in Judaism. One where we commemorate the destruction of the Temple, exile and the day has essentially become a catch all for all catastrophic events throughout Jewish history. When the Temple was destroyed, everything changed and Judaism had to figure out what came next. Does Judaism end with the Temple? How will God hear our voices if we can’t slaughter bulls upon bulls?
The rabbis of old decided that, in order to continue the tradition, prayers would replace sacrifice and the rabbinic tradition — the Oral Torah—would be the continuing conversation between God and the Jewish people.
At the dawn of the Enlightenment, philosopher Baruch Spinoza argued that Judaism, its laws and practices, became irrelevant with the fall of the Israelite kingdom. Spinoza was deemed a heretic for his opinions, and yet his antithesis created a new way of thinking about Judaism whereby Jews may not be beholden to the law — and, in a way, the Temple and rabbinic authority.
This week we read, “You shall not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it, but keep the commandments of your God יהוה that I enjoin upon you.” While I am sure that Spinoza would argue this text is irrelevant, I am conversely inspired in that change is not necessarily an indication of addition or subtraction. As it is in physics, where matter can neither be created nor destroyed, so it is with the law. Change is inevitable, and it is through energy, interaction and reaction that Judaism takes on new forms.