The King and the Third Thing
Tell all the truth but tell it slant —
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth's superb surprise
As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind —(Emily Dickinson)
Any time I’m struggling to grasp a concept or learn a new skill, I turn to this poem for some comfort that I’m actually doing it right after all by not getting it quickly. Some more “explanation kind,” please!
In the blessing after public Torah reading, we thank God for giving us a torat emet, a “Torah / teaching of truth.” For this Torah of truth, “Success in Circuit” is literal on two levels - we read through the whole Torah every year, and each week the Torah is processed in a circuit (hakafah) around the room, allowing our souls to be dazzled gradually into the joy of encountering ancient words of divine wisdom.
This week’s part of the yearly Torah circuit, parshat Shoftim, offers a striking image: A king seated on the royal throne, leaning over a Torah scroll.
“When he is seated on his royal throne, he shall have a copy of this Torah written for him on a scroll by the levitical priests. Let it remain with him and let him read in it all his life, so that he may learn to revere his God, to observe faithfully every word of this Torah as well as these laws.” (Deuteronomy 17:18-19)
In context, this wonderful requirement that a king or queen must have a Torah scroll copied and at hand, to be studied for the rest of their reign, is akin to the role a constitution plays - to hold people in power accountable to a broader set of rights and responsibilities than a person in power is usually inclined to honor. But thinking of Emily Dickinson’s poem, I am drawn to how the king is required to write or have written for him a copy of the Torah, and then to have it next to him, and then to read it all his life. Surely it would have been easier to have a constitutional lawyer (or a priest in this case) on retainer to advise on the fine points of how the law will inform policy on a case by case basis! It seems to me that a deeper goal of this requirement is about cultivating a slow and steady relationship with Torah itself. “All the truth” doesn’t emerge in one reading, but over the course of a lifetime.
I wonder if the king read the Torah by himself, or with scholars, or perhaps even with regular people who have come to the palace on business. The Torah itself doesn’t require the king to study with others, but common Jewish practice has encouraged chavruta, studying in pairs, and larger groups of learners seeking “superb surprise” from the text together.
The writer Parker Palmer often leads group discussions using a poem, story, or other evocative text. He refers to that text as a “third thing” (in his book A Hidden Wholeness):
We often seek truth through confrontation. But our headstrong ways of charging at truth scare the shy soul away. If soul truth is to be spoken and heard, it must be approached 'on the slant.' I do not mean we should be coy, speaking evasively about subjects that make us uncomfortable, which weakens us and our relationships. But soul truth is so powerful that we must allow ourselves to approach it, and it to approach us, indirectly. We must invite, not command, the soul to speak. We must allow, not force, ourselves to listen.
We achieve intentionality in a circle of trust by focusing on an important topic. We achieve indirection by exploring that topic metaphorically, via a poem, a story, a piece of music, or a work of art that embodies it. I call these embodiments 'third things' because they represent neither the voice of the facilitator nor the voice of a participant. They have voices of their own, voices that tell the truth about a topic but, in the manner of metaphors, tell it on the slant. Mediated by a third thing, truth can emerge from, and return to, our awareness at whatever pace and depth we are able to handle — sometimes inwardly in silence, sometimes aloud in community — giving the shy soul the protective cover it needs.
Rightly used, a third thing functions a bit like the old Rorschach inkblot test, evoking from us whatever the soul wants us to attend to. Mediated by a good metaphor, the soul is more likely than usual to have something to say.
The Torah is Judaism’s ultimate “third thing.” God partners with Torah to create the world, and we in turn study Torah in part to encounter our Creator. Communities form around particular interpretations of the Torah. Generations speak to one another through the pages of commentary.
Most importantly, the “Torah of truth” is meant to awaken not the ego, and not only the intellect, but the soul. When we place a text between us, the deepest insights and yearnings of your own soul are welcome.
I imagine this is what the king was meant to learn from Torah, too - that to be a wise leader is only rarely to understand something quickly and act right away, but rather to create the slow, patient conditions for every person’s soul to contribute their shy and necessary truths.
Shabbat shalom!
Rabbi Jay LeVine
