Commentaire de citation sur La Genèse 18:33

AND THEY HEARD THE VOICE OF THE ETERNAL G-D WALKING IN THE GARDEN. The Rabbis have said in Bereshith Rabbah:³⁷⁶19:12. “Rabbi Chilfi said that from here we may learn that a voice ‘walks,’ for it is said, And they heard the voice of the Eternal G-d walking.” And so did the Rabbi [Moshe ben Maimon] write in Moreh Nebuchim.³⁷⁷I, 24: “It is the voice that is modified by walking.” And so is the opinion of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra that “walking” refers to “the voice,” just as in the verse: The sound thereof shall go like the serpent’s.³⁷⁸Jeremiah 46:22. And Ibn Ezra further says that the meaning of toward the cool of the day is that they heard the voice towards evening. And he mentioned in the name of Rabbi Jonah ibn Ganach³⁷⁹Also known as Jonah ibn Janach (990-1050), considered the greatest Hebrew grammarian. He is the author of the Rikmah (Many Colored Web) and the Book of Roots, a lexicon. that the meaning of the verse is: “and man was walking in the garden toward the cool of the day,” [the sense of the verse thus being that while man was walking in the garden, he heard the voice of G-d].
In my opinion, the sense of walking in the garden of Eden is similar to that of the verses: And I will walk among you;³⁸⁰Leviticus 26:12. And the Eternal went as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham;³⁸¹Genesis 18:33. I will go and return to My place.³⁸²Hosea 5:15. All these verses indicate a revelation of the Divine Presence in that place or the departure from the place wherein He was revealed. The sense of the expression, toward the cool of the day, is that with the revelation of the Divine Presence comes a great and strong wind, even as it says, And, behold, the Eternal passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Eternal.³⁸³I Kings 19:11. Similarly we find: Yea, He did swoop down upon the wings of the wind;³⁸⁴Psalms 18:11. and in the book of Job it is written, Then the Eternal answered Job out of the whirlwind.³⁸⁵Job 38:1. Therefore Scripture says here that they heard the voice of G-d as the Divine Presence was revealed in the garden approaching them in the wind of the day, because the breath of the Eternal blew upon it,³⁸⁶Isaiah 40:7. that is, in the garden, like the wind of ordinary days, not a great and strong wind as in the vision of other prophecies, in order that they should not be frightened or terrified. Yet Scripture says that in spite of this they hid themselves on account of their nakedness. In Bereshith Rabbah³⁸⁷19:13. we find that the Rabbis also said: “Said Rabbi Aba the son of Kahana: ‘Mehalech (walking) is not written here but mith’halech (meaning “it leaped and ascended).”³⁸⁸This means that when Adam sinned, the Divine Presence went from the earth to the first heaven, and then with every successive generation of sinners it departed to yet another higher heaven. This is so clearly explained in Bereshith Rabbah there (19:12). Rabbi Aba thus interpreted the word mith’halech similarly to that of And the Eternal went,³⁸¹Genesis 18:33. as we have explained the term “walking,” except that he explained the verse before us as referring to the withdrawal of the Divine Presence that dwelt in the garden of Eden and its retiring therefrom on account of the sin of Adam, even as it says, I will go and return to My place.³⁸²Hosea 5:15. We interpret it to mean the revelation of the Divine Presence in that place, which is the correct and fitting explanation of the verse.

Behold the commentaries on the Rambam, his armor-bearers, and the others who felt the sun; they did not persist in studying the books of the early Geonim, such as the Bahag and the Sheiltos carefully. In fact, this [deficiency] extended to the philologist, our master, the author of the Kesef Mishneh and Beis Yosef [Rabbi Yosef Caro],²¹The last great codifier of rabbinical Judaism (Spain or Portugal, 1488–Safed, 1575). Although Caro is known chiefly as the author of the Shulhan Aruch and other works, it is his Beis Yosef that marks him as one of the greatest Talmudists of all time. It is a comprehensive compendium, going back to the Talmud and halachic Midrashim, discussing the pros and cons of the authorities cited by the Tur, and examining the opinions of authorities not mentioned by the latter. Beis Yosef briefly sums up and critiques thirty-two authorities, beginning with the Talmud and ending with the works of Isserlein. No other rabbinical work can compare with its wealth of material. See the description of R. Caro in The Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. 3. [as demonstrated] in his book, the Bedek ha-Bayis, pertaining to the laws of mikveh. [Rabbi Caro stated] that it was [merely] by chance that the book of the Sheiltos came before him and that he found a certain item in it. Similarly with the responsa of the later Geonim of blessed memory: one cannot find them citing analyses of the works of the earlier Geonim, other than a little here and little there [on an ad hoc basis]. I do not [mean to imply], Heaven forbid, that they are to blame [for these omissions], for they were occupied with many tasks in their holy positions,²²The word makom, usually translated “place,” has been translated here as “position.” Makom is can also describe a person’s state or status: see Ha’amek Davar, Ex. 3:5, and Gen. 18:33 and 30:25. An alternative translation is “in their holy locations.” Since Babylonia was well-established as a place where the Torah had been studied, it maintains a certain level of holiness and thus assists the subsequent generations in their performance of mitzvos and their study of Torah (Ha’amek Davar, Gen. 37:1). and the light of publication was not as widespread as their need and use required, [and thus they lacked full access to the earlier geonic writings]. Therefore, the later geonic students would follow the approach of the heads [of their academies], seeking to examine the Six Orders of the Talmud in a manner familiar to Rashi and the other commentators. Thus, the new insights [of these later geonic students] depended upon these interpretations of the Talmud. In those instances when they found fresh ideas within the books of the earlier Geonim, it was an experience, as if they had found mandrakes²³See Metiv Shir, Song of Songs 8:14, where the Netziv sees mandrakes as symbolic of great spiritual joy. in places where no one had previously trod. Therefore, pertaining to many laws, they did not see the [earlier] sources and roots.