The Reality of Evil
Introduction to the Thought of the Ramban
by Rav Ezra
Bick
Ramban #08: The Reality of Evil
This week's shiur is a continuation of the previous one, in that it is concerned with the nature of evil. The topic, however, is not the suffering of man, but the metaphysical nature of evil itself, and its place in the Divine reality. As such, the discussion will not be moral in nature, but metaphysical, and the question that lies behind the Ramban's analysis is not the goodness of God but the unity of God.
Our text is the commentary of the Ramban to parashat azazel, the goat sent out to the desert on Yom HaKippurim (Vayikra, 16,8). The practice of releasing a goat, described as a sin-offering, to the desert, to azazel, raises obvious philosophic difficulty, but also a halakhic one, since any sacrifice, even if were to God, is prohibited outside the sanctuary. To this one must add the difficulty with the word azazel, which has no clear meaning in Hebrew.
The
Ramban begins by explaining that azazel refers to some sort of evil power
(as opposed to the explanation of Rashi that it means a "hard and rocky place").
He first cites the Ibn Ezra, who hints that the explanation of azazel is
found at the end of thirty-three. The Ramban, who, as we know, believes in not
disclosing secrets, nevertheless here feels free to explain the Ibn Ezra, since,
as he states, Chazal have already done so in several places. The reference of
the Ibn Ezra is, as R. Chavel explains in a footnote, to the thirty-third verse following the
present one, which is "and they shall no longer offer their sacrifices to the
demons…" (17,7). The Ramban then cites Bereishit Rabba which associates the sa'ir hamishtalei'ach (the "sent goat") with Eisav ("ish sa'ir" – a hairy man). The Ramban, of course,
understands this not as the historical figure of the brother of Yaacov, but as
the twin and opposite figure to Yisrael, the power of evil. He makes this
explicit in his next quote, from Pirkei d'Rabi Eliezer, that identifies the destination of the
se'ir hamishtalei'ach as Samael. We now have only to understand who is
Samael.
The quote from Pirkei D'Rabi Eliezer is as follows:
That is why on Yom Kippur they would give Samael a bribe to not
cancel their sacrifice, as is written, "one lot to God and one lot to azazel," the lot of God is a burnt-offering, and
the lot of azazel is a goat of sin-offering, and all the sins
of Israel are on it. Samael sees that there is no sin in them on Yom Kippur. He
says to God: Master of the worlds, you have one people on earth who are like the
ministering angels in heaven – just as the ministering angels are barefoot, so
Israel is barefoot on Yom Kippur; just as the ministering angels neither eat nor
drink, so Israel does not eat or drink on Yom Kippur, just as the ministering
angels cannot bend, so Israel stands all Yom Kippur; just as the ministering
angels, peace serves as an intermediary between them, so Israel, peace serves as
an intermediary between them on Yom Kippur; just as the ministering angels are
free of all sin, so Israel is free of all sin on Yom
Kippur.
God hears the testimony of Israel from their
accuser and He atones for the altar, and for the Temple, and for the priests,
and for all the congregation.
It is clear from this quote that azazel is Samael, who is the "accuser" of Israel;
in other words, the satan. The Ramban goes on to
explain.
See, they have told his name and his
actions. And this is the secret of the matter. For they used to worship other
gods, who are the angels, offering them sacrifices which are for them a sweet
savor (rei'ach nicho'ach)…. Now the Torah totally prohibited the
acceptance of their divinity or any worship of them, but God commanded that on
Yom Kippur we send a goat to the desert to the prince who rules in desolate
places, which is appropriate as he is the master of (that place), and from the
emanation of his strength comes destruction and desolation, for he is the cause
of the stars of the sword and blood and wars and quarrels and wounds and plagues
and division and destruction, and, in general, the soul of the sphere of Mars.
And his portion among the nations is Eisav, who is the nation who inherits the
sword and wars. And among the animals, (his portion is) the goat, and in his
portion are also the demons who are called mazikim in the language of the Rabbis, and
se'irim in the language of Scripture, for both he
and his nation are called se'ir (= goat, demon, and another name for Edom,
the land of Eisav).
The Ramban is describing here a picture of
evil – the forces of strife, desolation and destruction – that ascribes to it
metaphysical reality. The gods of the nations are also real, and identified with
angels, who are princes of different areas of the world. One of those angels,
the prince of Eisav and the "soul" of Mars, is the source of the power of evil
in the world.
The figure of Samael as an angel of God
whose job is to be the "accuser," a sort of prosecuting attorney in the court of
God, is familiar from rabbinic literature. But the association of the satan with the forces of evil, of war and
destruction, is new with the Ramban. The Ramban here combines astrology (the
star of Mars as the source of bloodshed) with demonology and with the
traditional Jewish political dichotomy (Yaacov and Eisav), and puts it in a
package of angels, divine beings who are in fact the gods of the nations. In so
doing, the Ramban confers reality on idolatry, claiming that the nations worship
real and powerful beings. What is even more striking, he confers reality on
evil, a force with its own dominion (the desert) and celestial power (Mars) and
guardian angel (Samael).
This idea is developed extensively in the
Zohar under the name sitra achra, the "other side," meaning the other side
as opposed to the "side of kedusha." At times, in later development, it became
so powerful a force as to resemble dualism, with two warring forces of good and
evil dividing the world between them. We are skirting very closely with a
challenge to strict monotheism here, and the Ramban's warning that the Torah
prohibits our worshipping these gods is not sufficient to blunt the metaphysical
challenge to the unitarian basis of Judaism. The Ramban's defence against the
dangers of dualism is found in his explanation of the rite of the se'ir hamishtalei'ach.
The intention of the se'ir hamishtalei'ach is not that it be an offering from us to him,
God forbid, but rather that our intention should be that we are fulfilling the
will of our creator who has commanded so. The parable for this is if one were to
make a banquet for the master, and the master would command the one making the
banquet: "Give a portion to this particular servant of mine." In this case, the
one who makes the banquet is not giving anything to the servant, and is not
honoring him, but rather everything is given to the master, and the master is
giving a reward to the servant. And he has fulfilled his master's command and
has done, in his master's honor, all that he was commanded. But the master, out
of concern for the giver of the banquet, wished that all his servants take part
in it, so that they praise him and not belittle him.
The most important point here is that the
Ramban defines Samael not only as not independent, but as a servant of God.
Although the Ramban's speaking of evil as a power unto itself is indeed
revolutionary, he places Samael within the framework of the angels. There is no
hint here of the concept of rebellious angels or fallen angels, and nowhere does
the Ramban imply that Samael is warring with God. That very Christian concept
has no basis in the Ramban's thought. On the contrary, Samael eats at the table
of the banquet of God. Hence, it is not merely evil to serve him, it is absurd
and meaningless. While it is true that the gods of the idolatrous nations really
exist, according to the Ramban, serving them is a basic error of metaphysics,
for they are all servants of God and hence cannot truly be worshipped. Of
course, in the case of Samael, this raises the question of what service he
provides, since the things he does are evil. The answer to this, not given in
this section in the Ramban, presumably belongs to the previous shiur. However,
one additional point is in the definition of Samael as "the accuser." His role
is part of the process of justice.
The way to understand this is, I think, by
remembering the basic kabbalistic orientation of the Ramban. Everything, without
exception, is from God, and is rooted in the upper worlds. Being an "accuser" is
part of God's justice, but it is, when taken in isolation, a role that
necessarily involves the powers that we see as evil. Accusing means fomenting
strife, and the powers of strife are, when they descend to this world, expressed
as war and bloodshed, though obviously it still waits for men with free will to
take up the arms and engage in strife. The Ramban here, as opposed to the
previous shiur, is not discussing the morality of suffering and evil, but the
metaphysics of it. Where does it come from? The only answer possible for the
Ramban is that it comes from God and is expressed in one of His
servants.
What does the service of Yom Kippur express?
The Ramban gives a parable of a feast, to which the servant is invited so that
he not be left out. I think that the meaning of this is that the service of Yom
Kippur works by bringing about a unity of the different powers, the different
servants, as it were, of God. On Yom Kippur, the Jews are like the angels, as
the midrash in the Pirkei d'Rabi Eliezer makes clear. We make a banquet in God's
honor, and it is important that all God's servants be included, because
by partaking in the banquet they all become part of the unity of Israel's
service of God. We don't serve the principle of evil, God forbid; we show that
we understand that even the principle of evil is subject to God and dependent on
Him. That is the opposite of serving evil; it is making, or rather
demonstrating, that evil is subservient to God.
The Ramban has accomplished the twin task of
at once raising evil to a metaphysical height and at the same time de-mystifying
it. Evil really exists, but it is just another one of God's servants. One of the
Ramban's basic principles is that the Jewish people are not just commanded to
worship God alone, but they are also directly ruled by Him and not by any of his
servants. The different nations have "princes" which rule them, but the Jews are
in direct communion with God alone. Basically, we can ignore the existence of
the angelic principle of evil, as we ignore the existence of all subservient
powers of God. Once a year, on the day when all creation is put back into
harmony and peace (and hence forgiveness) rules, we invite all God's servants to
a feast we have made for God.
"The sun, the moon, and the stars…whom
Hashem your God has distributed to all the nations" (Devarim 4,19) – for each of them has a star and
above them the ministering angels, as was said to Daniel, "the prince of the
kingdom of Persia, the prince of the kingdom of Greece," and that is why they
make of them gods and worship them. But you have been taken by God, because you
are God's portion, and you may not raise up a prince or assistant beside Him,
for He has taken you out of the iron crucible…, Egypt, and He took you out of
there against their princes…. All this He did so that you would be His portion
and you would be special to His great name from all the nations. (Ramban TC
Devarim 4,15)
The Ramban on numerous occasions indicates
that he, unlike the Rambam, believes that witchcraft is real, that magic is
real, astrology is real, demons really exist, idolatry is rooted in a higher
reality – but, not only are all these things prohibited to Jews, they are
basically irrelevant to Jews despite their power, because by serving God we are
operating on a higher level of spiritual existence. Reality is ultimately
spiritual, and therefore it is not surprising that the physical laws of the
naturalists and philosophers do not describe all of reality, but precisely
because reality is ultimately spiritual, there are different levels. The
servants of God are not affected by the spiritual powers which govern other
parts of the world. On the one hand, it is important for the Ramban to "close
the mouths of they who make themselves wise in nature, who follow the Greek
(Aristotle) who denied whatever he could not apprehend in his senses, who prided
himself, he and his cursed disciples, into suspecting that anything not grasped
by his reasoning is not true" (the end of the section we are reading); and, on
the other hand, to place all these magical phenomenon outside the world of the
servants of God.