Difference between revisions of "Israel and Humanity - The man in God's image and miniture of the universe"

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CHAPITRE DEUXIÈME
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CHAPTER TWO
  
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L'IDÉE DE L'HOMME DANS L'HÉBRAÏSME
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THE IDEA OF MAN IN JUDAISM
  
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DIGNITÉ DE L'HOMME
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HUMAN DIGNITY
  
 
I.
 
I.
  
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L'homme image de Dieu et résumé de l'univers.
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The man God's image and miniature of the universe.
  
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Si le judaïsme a été la seule religion de l'antiquité à s'occuper de l'origine et de l'histoire primitive de tout le genre humain, on peut dire également qu'il n'est pas de religion ni de philosophie qui ait poussé plus loin que lui le respect pour la dignité de l'homme, et même pour la forme humaine. La valeur de celle-ci et sa sainteté ont inspiré plusieurs doctrines toutes plus expressives les unes que les autres.
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If Judaism was the only religion from antiquity to deal with the origin and early history of all mankind, we can also say that it is not religion or philosophy that has pushed him further than respect for the dignity of man, and even the human form. The value of it and holiness inspired several doctrines all the more expressive than the other.
  
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Nous avons vu que pour les Rabbins toutes les âmes étaient contenues dans celle d'Adam. Ils vont même jusqu'à faire pénétrer la forme humaine dans ce monde spirituel pour composer l'homme céleste que toutes les âmes contribuent à façonner: « Sache qu'il y a en haut un dépôt qui s'appelle le <i>corps> (gouf)</i>, dans lequel se trouvent renfermées toutes les âmes destinées à vivre, selon ce que les Docteurs <ref> Jebamot 63, Aboda Zara, 5<super>e</super></ref>ont enseigné: le fils de David ne viendra pas avant que toutes les âmes qui sont dans le <i> gouf</i> aient fini de descendre sur la terre ». Or ce dépôt céleste a précisément la forme, la taille et tous les membres d'un homme véritable; c'est pourquoi il s'appelle <i>gouf</i> (corps) <ref> Selah Ishak sur le Perek Shira, 15 <super> b</super></ref> <ref> Page 295 </ref> Mais qu'avons-nous nous besoin de ces doctrines singulières, puisque nous voyons que la Bible, en nous racontant les révélations de Dieu, le fait toujours se manifester sous la forme humaine? L'homme, dans la Genèse, apparaît  non seulement comme la créature la plus parfaite en raison de la place qu'il occupe dans l'ordre de la création, mais il est proclamé en propres termes l'image et la ressemblance de Dieu. Il est vrai que Moïse semble n'être pas le seul à déclarer que l'homme est créé à l'image de Dieu. D'autres venus après lui, mais probablement étrangers à ses enseignements, ont dit quelque chose d'approchant. Mais les païens en relevant la dignité de l'homme entendaient parler de son attitude, de sa faculté de marcher debout, alors que les animaux ont la tête inclinée en bas et ils ne s'occupaient nullement de sa nature intime, de son esprit, de son être moral. La ressemblance de l'homme avec Dieu est au contraire pour Moïse d'un degré bien supérieur. Nous n'ignorons pas qu'aux yeux de certains critiques les récits du Pentateuque offrent de simples anthropomorphismes, Dieu ayant été conçu par l'écrivain sacré sous une forme corporelle à l'égal de plaisance, tandis que pour d'autres exégètes, il s'agit dans la pensée de Moïse d'une ressemblance purement spirituelle. Nous croyons, quant à nous, que le véritable sens des récits bibliques doit être cherché dans le système des Kabbalistes qui ne séparent pas la ressemblance corporelle de la ressemblance spirituelle, pas plus qu'ils ne séparent l'âme du corps, et la déclaration de Moïse que l'homme est créé à l'image de Dieu concernerait ainsi aussi bien l'un que l'autre.
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We have seen that for the rabbis all souls were contained in that of Adam. They even go so far as to penetrate the human form in the spiritual world to compose the heavenly man that all souls are shaping: "Know that there is a deposit at the top called the body <i>> ( guf) </i>, in which are contained all the souls destined to live according to what the doctors <ref> Jebamot 63, Aboda Zara, 5 <super> th </super> </ref> were taught the son of David will not come until all the souls who are in <i> guf </i> have finished off the earth. " Yet this is precisely deposit celestial shape, size and all members of a real man, so he called <i> guf </i> (body) Selah <ref> Ishak on Perek Shira 15 <super> b </super> </ref> <ref> Page 295 </ref> But what do we need these doctrines singular, since we see that the Bible tells us God's revelations, always does occur in human form? The man, in Genesis, appears not only as the most perfect creature because of its place in the order of creation, but it is proclaimed in so many words image and likeness of God. It is true that Moses seems to be not alone in declaring that man is created in the image of God. Others came after him, but probably unrelated to his teachings, said something similar. But the pagans by raising the dignity of man heard about his attitude, his ability to walk upright, while animals have their heads tilted down and they took care not to its inner nature, its spirit, of his moral being. The resemblance between man and God is contrary to Moses from a much higher degree. We recognize that in the eyes of some critics of the Pentateuch narratives offer simple anthropomorphism, God having been conceived by the sacred writer in bodily form to equal pleasure, while for other scholars, he is in the mind of Moses a purely spiritual resemblance. We believe, in our opinion, that the true meaning of biblical stories should be sought in the system of Kabbalists who do not separate the physical likeness of the spiritual likeness, nor do they separate the soul from the body, and the declaration Moses that man is created in the image of God and concern as well as one another.
  
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Ce n'est pas que les théosophes hébraïques aient jamais songé à attribuer à Dieu aucune corporéité; ils seraient plutôt porté à nier celle-ci même dans les créatures, du moins dans le sens où le mot est pris vulgairement. Mais ils croient que le corps, lui aussi, est fait à l'image de Dieu dans le même sens qu'ils le croient fait à l'image de l'âme ou de l'esprit qui se façonne matériellement selon sa propre nature ; c'est-à-dire qu'il n'y a pour eux ni force, ni fonction, ni forme, ni aptitude dans le corps humain qui ne soient une réalisation, dans la matière, d'aptitudes, de forces, de vertus correspondantes dans l'Etre divin. Il n'est nul besoin d'ajouter qu'il en est de même pour les facultés morales et intellectuelles, car la vie et ces fonctions aussi bien que la pensée et ses manifestations sont modelées d'après l'Archétype suprême de toutes choses.
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Not that the Hebrew Theosophists have never thought to attribute to God no corporeality, they would be inclined to deny it even in creatures, at least in the sense that the word is used commonly. But they believe that the body, too, is made in the image of God in the same direction they believe is the image of the soul or spirit that is taking shape physically by his own nature; that is to say to them that there is no force or function, no form, no qualification in the human body are one embodiment, in the matter, abilities, strengths, virtues corresponding to the Divine Being. There is no need to add that the same is true for moral and intellectual faculties, for life and functions as well as thought and its manifestations are modeled after the supreme archetype of all things.
  
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Quelle que soit d'ailleurs la manière de comprendre la ressemblance avec Dieu proclamée par Moïse, l'éminente dignité de l'homme <ref> Page 296 </ref> n'en est pas moins relevée et les conséquences de cette doctrine ne sont pas moins précieuses. Mais pour l'hébraïsme, l'homme n'est pas seulement créé à l'image de Dieu, il est encore considéré comme un microcosme, c'est-à-dire comme un résumé de l'univers. Cette idée rabbinique nous paraît  avoir ses fondements dans l'Ecriture. La place occupée par l'homme, le dernier venu dans la création et par conséquent sa nature synthétique; le mot: « Faisons l'homme », adressé, d'après un commentateur <ref> Nachmanide dans Genèse, I, 26 – Bereschit R. VIII, 2. </ref> à toutes les forces de l'univers, ce qui dans le langage théologique des Rabbins est une invitation aux anges à coopérer à la création d'Adam, précisément parce que c'est en lui que ces forces se résument, tout cela nous donne à croire que cette notion n'est pas étrangère à la Bible. Nous aurions là une confirmation de l'idée que nous nous sommes faite des anges ou <i>El-ohieme</i>, personnifications partielles des vertus ou idées divines. Cette conception de l'homme se retrouve d'ailleurs dans l'antiquité: « C'est une théorie profonde, dit un savant, que celle du Stagirite qui, considérant l'homme comme le terme le plus élevé de la série organique, voit réunie en lui la nature de tous les êtres inférieurs; des plantes (nutrition, vie régétative) et des animaux (sensation, mouvement, désir, vie sensitive). Ce qui le distingue, c'est l'âme rationnelle » <ref> Revue philosophique, tome I, n<super>0 </super> 11; SOURY, <i> Histoire du matérialisme </i> </ref>.
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Whatever indeed how to understand the likeness of God proclaimed by Moses, the eminent dignity of man <ref> Page 296 </ref> is nonetheless relieved and consequences of this doctrine are no less valuable. But in Judaism, man is not only created in the image of God he is still considered a microcosm, that is to say, as a summary of the universe. This idea seems to have rabbinical its foundations in Scripture. The place occupied by humans, the latest addition to the creation and thus its synthetic nature, the word "Let us make man" sent by one commentator <ref> Nachmanides in Genesis I, 26 - Beresch R. VIII, 2. </Ref> to all the forces of the universe, which in theological language of the Rabbis is an invitation to the angels to cooperate in the creation of Adam, precisely because it is in him that these forces are summed up, while it gives us to believe that this concept is not foreign to the Bible. We have here a confirmation of the idea that we made angels or <i> El ohieme </i>, partial personifications of virtues or divine ideas. This conception of man is found elsewhere in antiquity: "It's a great theory, says a scientist, that of Aristotle who, considering the man as the highest term of the organic series, see united in himself the nature of all beings inferior plants (nutrition, life reget) and animal (sensation, movement, desire, sensitive life). What distinguishes it is the rational soul "<ref> Philosophical Review, Volume I, No. <super> 0 </super> 11; SOURY <i> History of Materialism </i> </ref>.
  
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En termes qui semblent rappeler à la lettre la phraséologie rabbinique, la science moderne s'exprime d'une manière encore plus concluante: « Nous avons admis, dit M. Léard, que l'individu était le produit d'une société coopérative de lois générales » <ref> Ibid., <i> Notions des espèces et des genres</i>, tome I, n<super>0</super> 4 </ref>. Et un autre savant écrit: « Le développement de l'homme dans l'utérus est l'image du développement de tout le monde animal en commençant par la simple cellule jusqu'à la merveilleuse perfection de l'homme. Si nous pouvions l'interpréter dans toutes ses phases les plus minimes, elle serait la clef de l'histoire naturelle, de l'origine et du développement de la vie sur notre planète. La nature répète ici en miniature et dans l'espace de peu de mois ces grandes évolutions et ces développements dont l'accomplissement a exigé des millions de siècles » <ref> <i>Eléments des sciences sociales </i>, p. 82 . </ref>. Ainsi, même au point de vue de la science contemporaine, les formes subalternes des créatures inférieures sont comme des essais de la nature se disposant à faire son chef-d'œuvre<ref> Page 297 </ref> qui est l'homme, et le corps humain apparaît finalement comme le sommaire, l'abrégé de tout le règne animal. « La nature, dit le même auteur, en réalisant séparément les éléments qui constituent l'idée de l'individu parfait, reproduit fidèlement la hiérarchie de l'idée divine de la création » <ref> Ibid., p. 127. </ref>
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In terms that seem to recall the letter phraseology rabbinic, modern science is expressed in an even more conclusive: "We admitted, says Leard, that the individual was the product of a cooperative society of laws General "<ref> Ibid. <i> Concepts of species and genera </i>, Volume I, No. <super> 0 </super> 4 </ref>. And another scholar wrote: "The human development in the womb is like the development of the whole animal world, beginning with the simple cell to the wonderful perfection of man. If we could interpret it in all its phases the most minimal, it would be the key to the natural history, origin and development of life on our planet. Repeat here the nature in miniature and in the space of a few months these major developments and those developments whose accomplishment has required millions of ages "<ref> <i> Elements of Social Sciences </i>, p. 82. </Ref>. Thus, even to the point of view of contemporary science, forms of subalterns lower creatures are like testing that is preparing to make his masterpiece <ref> Page 297 </ref> who is the man, and the human body appears finally as the summary, the abstract of the entire animal kingdom. "Nature, says the same author, performing separately the elements that constitute the idea of the perfect individual, faithfully reproduces the hierarchy of the divine idea of creation" <ref> Ibid., P. 127. </Ref>
  
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L'homme, image de Dieu et résumé de l'univers, a donc pour le judaïsme une noblesse, une grandeur incomparables, et quand on songe que, d'après ses traditions et ses textes sacrés, ces sublimes prérogatives n'appartiennent pas aux seuls Juifs, mais aux païens et aux barbares également, on se demande avec stupéfaction comment une religion vieille de quatre mille ans a pu enseigner de telles doctrines et comment il est possible après cela de douter encore de ses aspirations universelles.
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Man, God's image and summary of the universe, has a nobility for Judaism, an incomparable greatness, and when you consider that according to their traditions and sacred texts, these sublime prerogatives do not belong to only Jews, but to pagans and barbarians also, we wonder in amazement how a religion of four thousand years old could teach such doctrines and how it is possible to doubt that even after its universal aspirations.
  
  

Latest revision as of 12:25, 8 October 2010

CHAPTER TWO

THE IDEA OF MAN IN JUDAISM

HUMAN DIGNITY

I.

The man God's image and miniature of the universe.

If Judaism was the only religion from antiquity to deal with the origin and early history of all mankind, we can also say that it is not religion or philosophy that has pushed him further than respect for the dignity of man, and even the human form. The value of it and holiness inspired several doctrines all the more expressive than the other.

We have seen that for the rabbis all souls were contained in that of Adam. They even go so far as to penetrate the human form in the spiritual world to compose the heavenly man that all souls are shaping: "Know that there is a deposit at the top called the body > ( guf) , in which are contained all the souls destined to live according to what the doctors [1] were taught the son of David will not come until all the souls who are in guf have finished off the earth. " Yet this is precisely deposit celestial shape, size and all members of a real man, so he called guf (body) Selah [2] [3] But what do we need these doctrines singular, since we see that the Bible tells us God's revelations, always does occur in human form? The man, in Genesis, appears not only as the most perfect creature because of its place in the order of creation, but it is proclaimed in so many words image and likeness of God. It is true that Moses seems to be not alone in declaring that man is created in the image of God. Others came after him, but probably unrelated to his teachings, said something similar. But the pagans by raising the dignity of man heard about his attitude, his ability to walk upright, while animals have their heads tilted down and they took care not to its inner nature, its spirit, of his moral being. The resemblance between man and God is contrary to Moses from a much higher degree. We recognize that in the eyes of some critics of the Pentateuch narratives offer simple anthropomorphism, God having been conceived by the sacred writer in bodily form to equal pleasure, while for other scholars, he is in the mind of Moses a purely spiritual resemblance. We believe, in our opinion, that the true meaning of biblical stories should be sought in the system of Kabbalists who do not separate the physical likeness of the spiritual likeness, nor do they separate the soul from the body, and the declaration Moses that man is created in the image of God and concern as well as one another.

Not that the Hebrew Theosophists have never thought to attribute to God no corporeality, they would be inclined to deny it even in creatures, at least in the sense that the word is used commonly. But they believe that the body, too, is made in the image of God in the same direction they believe is the image of the soul or spirit that is taking shape physically by his own nature; that is to say to them that there is no force or function, no form, no qualification in the human body are one embodiment, in the matter, abilities, strengths, virtues corresponding to the Divine Being. There is no need to add that the same is true for moral and intellectual faculties, for life and functions as well as thought and its manifestations are modeled after the supreme archetype of all things.

Whatever indeed how to understand the likeness of God proclaimed by Moses, the eminent dignity of man [4] is nonetheless relieved and consequences of this doctrine are no less valuable. But in Judaism, man is not only created in the image of God he is still considered a microcosm, that is to say, as a summary of the universe. This idea seems to have rabbinical its foundations in Scripture. The place occupied by humans, the latest addition to the creation and thus its synthetic nature, the word "Let us make man" sent by one commentator [5] to all the forces of the universe, which in theological language of the Rabbis is an invitation to the angels to cooperate in the creation of Adam, precisely because it is in him that these forces are summed up, while it gives us to believe that this concept is not foreign to the Bible. We have here a confirmation of the idea that we made angels or El ohieme , partial personifications of virtues or divine ideas. This conception of man is found elsewhere in antiquity: "It's a great theory, says a scientist, that of Aristotle who, considering the man as the highest term of the organic series, see united in himself the nature of all beings inferior plants (nutrition, life reget) and animal (sensation, movement, desire, sensitive life). What distinguishes it is the rational soul "[6].

In terms that seem to recall the letter phraseology rabbinic, modern science is expressed in an even more conclusive: "We admitted, says Leard, that the individual was the product of a cooperative society of laws General "[7]. And another scholar wrote: "The human development in the womb is like the development of the whole animal world, beginning with the simple cell to the wonderful perfection of man. If we could interpret it in all its phases the most minimal, it would be the key to the natural history, origin and development of life on our planet. Repeat here the nature in miniature and in the space of a few months these major developments and those developments whose accomplishment has required millions of ages "[8]. Thus, even to the point of view of contemporary science, forms of subalterns lower creatures are like testing that is preparing to make his masterpiece [9] who is the man, and the human body appears finally as the summary, the abstract of the entire animal kingdom. "Nature, says the same author, performing separately the elements that constitute the idea of the perfect individual, faithfully reproduces the hierarchy of the divine idea of creation" [10]

Man, God's image and summary of the universe, has a nobility for Judaism, an incomparable greatness, and when you consider that according to their traditions and sacred texts, these sublime prerogatives do not belong to only Jews, but to pagans and barbarians also, we wonder in amazement how a religion of four thousand years old could teach such doctrines and how it is possible to doubt that even after its universal aspirations.


References

  1. ↑ Jebamot 63, Aboda Zara, 5 <super> th </super>
  2. ↑ Ishak on Perek Shira 15 <super> b </super>
  3. ↑ Page 295
  4. ↑ Page 296
  5. ↑ Nachmanides in Genesis I, 26 - Beresch R. VIII, 2.
  6. ↑ Philosophical Review, Volume I, No. <super> 0 </super> 11; SOURY History of Materialism
  7. ↑ Ibid. Concepts of species and genera , Volume I, No. <super> 0 </super> 4
  8. ↑ Elements of Social Sciences , p. 82.
  9. ↑ Page 297
  10. ↑ Ibid., P. 127.
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