EE & R, 4_3: Manasseh Against the Prophet Isaiah: A Heretical Torah Discourse
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4. Manasseh Against the Prophet Isaiah – Is Worship Without Knowledge Fidelity or Betrayal?
The tension that tore through the wicked king’s soul – between the desire for divine knowledge and the impossibility of its attainment – is the same tension we have uncovered in the Torah itself. For the Torah presents knowledge of Hashem as the highest goal, even as it declares that this knowledge lies beyond human reach. The Patriarchs did not fully accept the divine invitation;1 Moshe’s own plea for knowledge was denied;2 and the nation of Israel could not embrace the enlightenment that was the true vision of the Exodus.3
Moshe came to free the enslaved and unenlightened nation and bring them knowledge of Hashem, but they “did not listen to Moshe because of shortness of breath and hard bondage” (Exodus 6:9). The project of divine knowledge is halted before it begins, its promise rejected. As we have previously seen, Israel’s inability to fully embrace the relationship with Hashem proffered them lies at the heart of the Torah’s teaching of Unknowledge, and of its shift toward law in general and sacrifice in particular. But there is more: Israel’s rejection of freedom in knowledge is not merely a turning away from revelation – it marks a return to idolatry.
The missing record of that religious rebellion is preserved in the words of the prophet Yechezkel:
On the day I chose Israel, I… made Myself known to them in Egypt… saying, “I am Hashem your God.” On that day I raised My hand to them to bring them out of the land of Egypt… And I said to them, “Let each man get rid of the vile images… and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am Hashem your God.” But they rebelled against Me and did not want to listen to Me; they did not get rid of the vile images… nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. And I said I would pour out My wrath upon them… in the land of Egypt. But I acted for the sake of My Name, that it not be profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose midst they were, as I had made Myself known before their eyes, to bring them out of the land of Egypt (Ezekiel 20:5-9).
Where is this dramatic episode alluded to in the Torah’s narrative? In that brief, tragic moment when Moshe brings to the people the divine declaration of the Name – “I am Hashem” (Exodus 6:6) – and the people do not listen. The essence of the Mosaic mission was not empty liberation, but freedom through knowledge. This, at its core, means knowledge of Hashem, and its rejection, therefore, implies a return to other gods.
The Exodus was to be a turn away from false gods; and it did not succeed. Hashem declared that He would pour out His wrath on Israel, for they had spurned the promise of freedom, their destiny. Yet once His Name had been publicly associated with this people, He would not destroy them. They bore His Name, and for its sake, they were spared, so that the Name not be profaned.
The Torah’s ideal of freedom through knowledge was never historically realized. It became only an aspiration, an eschatology, a vision suspended until some future day when it might be fulfilled.
And if the ideal was postponed, then so too, reasoned the wicked king, was the prohibition that depended upon it. If the people to whom the Torah was first given did not listen to Moshe, then no one else is expected to either. The Torah has not yet succeeded; the divine command has been deferred.
We might imagine a Torah class taught by the wise and wicked king.
Said the wicked Manasseh: From where do you derive that idol worship is permitted? For it is written: “If you… go after other gods which you have not known” (Deuteronomy 11:28). The Torah said: Worship the God whom you have known; and do not worship other gods whom you have not known. And it is also written: “Show me, please, Your ways, that I may know You... You cannot see My face” (Exodus 33:13–20). The verse comes to teach that no man can know Hashem. And if no man knows Hashem – then he is not commanded to serve Him, but rather, is permitted to serve others! Similarly, it says: “They did not listen to Moshe because of shortness of breath and hard bondage.” From here we learn that Moshe came to Israel and said to them: Be free men and serve Hashem! But they said to him: We do not desire to be free and to serve Hashem. Immediately, they returned to idol worship. From here, we derive that idol worship is permitted.
The righteous sages said to Manasseh: But it is written: “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3)!
He said to them: That refers to the days of the Messiah.