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The Legends of Rabbah Bar Bar Hannah with the Commentary of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook
Rabbah bar Bar Hannah has been referred to as the Jewish Sinbad the Sailor. His tall tales, fifteen in all, are recorded in the Babylonian Talmud in Tractate Bava Batra (73a-74a). The particular chapter in which they are situated is named “The Seller of the Ship” (“HaMokher et ha-Sefinah”). Appropriately, these tales of seafarers (ne{utei yama) were inserted in that legal discussion, as is the wont of the Talmud to mix Aggadah with Halakhah, thus tempering law with lore and legend. Rav Kook’s commentary to the Legends first appeared in print in Jerusalem in 1984 in the second volume of his collected essays, Ma’amrei ha-Rayah. In this early work (written at age twenty-five), Rav Kook yet cites sources. Later, when his style of writing switched to “stream of consciousness,” sources were eliminated. For this very reason, the commentary to the Rabbah bar Bar }annah legends is of extreme importance. Here, Rav Kook divulges the many and varied Kabbalistic sources that informed his view. We see him equally at home in the world of the Vilna Gaon and of his rival Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi. A great influence upon Rav Kook’s thought was the earlier Italian mystic, Rabbi Moses Hayyim Luzzatto In Ma’amrei ha-Rayah, Rav Kook’s commentary was provided by Rabbi Shlomo Aviner with brief summaries as well as an index. These are certainly helpful to the reader. The present edition is the first time in any language that the commentary of Rav Kook is presented complete with much needed explanatory notes.
354 pages, Hardcover
Published March 26, 2019
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July 18, 2019
When you take of the most enigmatic agadic pieces in the Talmud, and attempt to use the commentary of one of the most esoteric commentators of the last 150 years, the likely outcome would be expected to have the readability of Finnegans Wake, rather than a meaningful exploratory book.
The agadic piece described here is the sea travel stories of Rabba bar bar Chana as detailed in tractate Bava Basra. The goal of the 15 stories are meant to strengthen ones faith. The challenging endeavor though is making sense of these 15 tales, given they are written in codified and cryptic style. A simple reading of the texts leaves the message in an utterly incomprehensible manner, given the cast of characters include huge sea creatures, travelling Rabbis, Bedouin guides, giant geese and more.
There is a commentary on these stories by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook. But many who attempt to read the writings of Rav Kook find them to be a significant challenge to understand. From his often impenetrable writing style, to the inherent deepness of the subject matter, reading Rav Kook is a challenge for many people.
But in The Legends of Rabbah Bar Bar Hannah with the Commentary of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook, Rabbi Bezalel Naor has masterfully taken Rav Kook’s commentary and made it readable and comprehensible to the English reading audience.
While written in the year 1890 when Rav Kook was but 25 years old, his commentary to this agadic piece was only printed in 1984 in the second volume of his collected essays Ma’amrei ha-Rayah. To that, Naor is perhaps one of the greatest living experts and expounders on the thoughts and writings of Rav Kook.
Rav Kook wrote a running commentary on the Rabba bar bar Chana agadahs and Naor has succeeded in making these stories accessible. As every element of these 15 stories contain significant amounts of symbolism, Naor explains all of these symbols in detail. After reading the explanations, the stories are no longer esoteric, as he has explained all of the metaphors, double meanings, specific word choices and much more.
As Naor has mastery in entire lifework of Rav Kook, he is also able to add additional commentary where relevant. Perhaps the most fascinating insight he brings is that Rav Kook composed a poem concerning Earth’s revolution around the sun. The poem traces the successive stages in the evolving consciousness of Earth’s inhabitants, from primitive man who engages in the worship of the sun, to the Copernican revolution, whereby man discovers that rather than stationary, the Earth revolves around the Sun. To the gradual, inexorable development of a global consciousness and finally, to future man who will venture beyond the Earth to outer space.
The book concludes with a number of appendixes on different topics, including a Kabalistic theory of personality, an analysis if Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto was the real author of Kala'ch Piskhe Hokhma, Rav Kook’s ideas about the Messiah and the Vatican, and more.
Naor has succeeded where few have, in opening up these esoteric texts to everyone. His translation results in The Legends of Rabbah Bar Bar Hannah making for a most fascinating and meaningful read.
The agadic piece described here is the sea travel stories of Rabba bar bar Chana as detailed in tractate Bava Basra. The goal of the 15 stories are meant to strengthen ones faith. The challenging endeavor though is making sense of these 15 tales, given they are written in codified and cryptic style. A simple reading of the texts leaves the message in an utterly incomprehensible manner, given the cast of characters include huge sea creatures, travelling Rabbis, Bedouin guides, giant geese and more.
There is a commentary on these stories by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook. But many who attempt to read the writings of Rav Kook find them to be a significant challenge to understand. From his often impenetrable writing style, to the inherent deepness of the subject matter, reading Rav Kook is a challenge for many people.
But in The Legends of Rabbah Bar Bar Hannah with the Commentary of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook, Rabbi Bezalel Naor has masterfully taken Rav Kook’s commentary and made it readable and comprehensible to the English reading audience.
While written in the year 1890 when Rav Kook was but 25 years old, his commentary to this agadic piece was only printed in 1984 in the second volume of his collected essays Ma’amrei ha-Rayah. To that, Naor is perhaps one of the greatest living experts and expounders on the thoughts and writings of Rav Kook.
Rav Kook wrote a running commentary on the Rabba bar bar Chana agadahs and Naor has succeeded in making these stories accessible. As every element of these 15 stories contain significant amounts of symbolism, Naor explains all of these symbols in detail. After reading the explanations, the stories are no longer esoteric, as he has explained all of the metaphors, double meanings, specific word choices and much more.
As Naor has mastery in entire lifework of Rav Kook, he is also able to add additional commentary where relevant. Perhaps the most fascinating insight he brings is that Rav Kook composed a poem concerning Earth’s revolution around the sun. The poem traces the successive stages in the evolving consciousness of Earth’s inhabitants, from primitive man who engages in the worship of the sun, to the Copernican revolution, whereby man discovers that rather than stationary, the Earth revolves around the Sun. To the gradual, inexorable development of a global consciousness and finally, to future man who will venture beyond the Earth to outer space.
The book concludes with a number of appendixes on different topics, including a Kabalistic theory of personality, an analysis if Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto was the real author of Kala'ch Piskhe Hokhma, Rav Kook’s ideas about the Messiah and the Vatican, and more.
Naor has succeeded where few have, in opening up these esoteric texts to everyone. His translation results in The Legends of Rabbah Bar Bar Hannah making for a most fascinating and meaningful read.
Displaying 1 of 1 review