耶路撒冷秩序 - 長夜中的閃電

在近年諸多動蕩不安的暗流當中，能看到一些古人所察覺的問題以不同的形式再次出現在當代之中，若 2023 年的人們考究古人寫下這些句子日期，會發現那是 500 年前 1000 年前或更早之前。
那是秩序的源起，是秩序的連鎖，是秩序的分形 (fractal)，它在長夜中會以閃電的形式暴鳴出現又瞬間遁去隱沒，靈魂被它震憾，久久不能回復平常的神智，在視野再次暗淡下去後，人們不斷嘗試回憶那遠離的驚鴻一瞥，那是耶路撒冷聖殿的閃影。

約莫 800 年前，猶太哲人 Maimonides ( Moses ben Maimon / Rambam / 邁蒙尼德) 為他即將遠行的學生寫下一本書。

我為你及與你相似的人們寫下這本書，無論這些人在數量上多麼稀少。

which I have composed for you and for those like you, however few they are. [1]

猶太哲人 Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon / Ramban / 邁蒙尼德)

這本書的英譯是 The Guide of the Perplexed，(英譯本其中一個版本的譯者是 Shlomo Pines，芝加哥大學的 Leo Strauss 作導讀)。中譯「迷途指津」，譯者是傅有德 (按 Friedlander 的英譯本譯成，並參考了 Shlomo Pines 的英譯)。

這本書在一開頭，就說它並非大眾而寫，它的讀者並非大眾。

它主要服務的對象為

• 猶太社群裏遵守猶太律法的猶太人，這是必要的律法與社群基础，脫離猶太律法與社群基础將無法完全理解必要的上下文與脈絡
• 該猶太人需要理解到德性的真實性，並以德性為一切的行動準性，這是必要的道德基础。道德是一種知識。
• 該猶太人需要學習數學、天文等自然科學，這是必要的認知基础。可參考古典博雅教育中，trivium 是文法、修辭、邏輯，quadrivium 是天文、幾何、算術、音樂。
• 該猶太人對神學哲學有更大的好奇，對何謂真實有一定的穿透感知與洞察，比較不世俗
• 長夜閃電親和者
• 等等

The Guide of the Perplexed 的開頭，Maimonides 說他的書無法解答所有神學上的難題，但能解決其中一大部份的困惑。

I do not say that this Treatise will remove all difficulties for those who understand it. I do, however, say that it will remove most of the difficulties, and those of the greatest moment. [1]

Maimonides 又寫，即使是我們，對神學神話上的暗喻與隱秘也並非完全掌握。

有時「真理」如閃電般劃過天際，讓我們誤以為白晝已至，然慣性與物質性將其耀眼光芒捕捉藏匿，如此我們將再一次發現自己又身處暗晦長夜，像是甚麼都沒有改變。

對有些人來說，閃電一次又一次的出現，如此他們的視野更接近持續光照，黑夜對這些人來說類同白天。這些人是先知中的遠行者。對這些先知，Maimonides 引用了 申命記 (Deuteronomy) 的經文「只有你才能站在我的身旁 (But as for thee, stand thou here by Me)」再引出埃及記 (Exodus) 的「他的臉面放射出光芒 (that the skin of his face sent forth beams, and so on)」

對有些人來說，他們只在長夜中只瞥見過閃電一次。對這些人們，Maimonides 引用了民數記 (Numbers) 的「他們就作出預言，不過僅此一次而已 (they prophesied, but they did so no more)」。

長夜中除了閃電還有不同的反光體，這些反光體受過打磨，由他們折射的微弱的光亮亦能吸引人們的注意。

You should not think that these great secrets are fully and completely known to anyone among us. They are not.

But sometimes truth flashes out to us so that we think that it is day, and then matter and habit in their various forms conceal it so that we find ourselves again in an obscure night, almost as we were at first. Weare like someone in a very dark night over whom lightning flashes time and time again. Among us there is one for whom the lightning flashes time and time again, so that he is always, as it were, in unceasing light. Thus night appears to him as day. That is the degree of the great one among the prophets, to whom it was said: But as for thee, stand thou here by Me, and of whom it was said: that the skin of his face sent forth beams, and so on.

Among them there is one to whom the lightning flashes only once in the whole of his night; that is the rank of those of whom it is said: they prophesied, but they did so no more. There are others between whose lightning flashes there are greater or shorter intervals. Thereafter comes he who does not attain a degree in which his darkness is illumined by any lightning flash. It is illumined, however, by a polished body or something of that kind, stones or something else that give light in the darkness of the night. And even this small light that shines over us is not always there, but flashes and is hidden again, as if it were the flaming sword which turned every way. It is in accord with these states that the degrees of the perfect vary. As for those who never even once see a light, but grope about in their night, of them it is said: They know not, neither do they understand; They go about in darkness. The truth, in spite of the strength of its manifestation, is entirely hidden from them, as is said of them: And now men see not the light which is bright in the skies. They are the vulgar among the people. There is then no occasion to mention them here in this Treatise. [1]

有些讀者會聯想到類似的比喻，如柏拉圖洞穴等的寓言。

耶路撒冷秩序起源於長夜中的閃電。

對於習慣晦暗的人們，他們難以想像閃電的轟鳴與其致命的光芒。而起碼見過一次閃電的人們，當他們嘗試溝通他們所見，他們也只能盡可能以貼近人們日常生活的語言與象徵來描繪那遁走的奇蹟。

有的人們嘗試把閃電畫下來，黃色的，如樹支的，強大的，憤怒的，致命的，貫通天地的，快速的又永恆的，廣佈四方的但又只有一線。

假設，他們的語言只有 emoji。

那麼閃電的「形容」可能會變成這樣

⚡😡😵💀✨💫💡🔥 = 閃電

1000 年之後，有人們拿著這串 emoji ⚡😡😵💀✨💫💡🔥，順著背倒著背跳著背，然後說他們理解閃電，並且說他們通曉閃電秩序。

而這也是必然的發展分支之一，這是可以預料到的結果。

在這幾百年一千年間，有的人們看到 ⚡ 這個符號，深深的著迷，他們在平凡的生活中有自己的家庭工作要忙，但也在閒暇中不時仰望星空。

這些對應著芝加哥大學學者 Leo Strauss 對 exoteric (ἐξωτερικός) / esoteric (ἐσωτερικός) 的理解，即「書寫兩面性」的理解。

學者 Arthur Melzer 著有一本 Philosophy Between the Lines: The Lost History of Esoteric Writing [2]，中譯「字裏行間的哲學」(譯者是趙柯)。在這一本書中，Arthur Melzer 提供了大量歷史上「書寫兩面性」的案例，並且分析了那些前人為何如此做 (一方面是為了社會整體的安康，一方面是為了個人的安全)。

芝加哥大學學者 Leo Strauss

[1] Maimonides. The Guide of the Perplexed. Translated by Shlomo Pines. University of Chicago Press, 1963.

[2] Melzer, Arthur M. Philosophy Between the Lines: The Lost History of Esoteric Writing. University of Chicago Press, 2014.