Remember the Seinfeld episode in which George gets bent out of shape because his girlfriend omits some details to a story? She uses the phrase, "Yada, yada, yada" as if to gloss over mundane details with, "you know the rest." George, typical of his neurotic self, becomes obsessed and anxious that she is hiding something very significant from him by employing the yada, yada. The phrase has become common enough that most everyone will have heard or even used it interchangeably with, "Blah, blah, blah." Its etymology is elusive. However, if the phrase has any Jewish roots then it can plainly be linked to the idiom, "You know, you know, you know."
That is a long intro for a post that has nothing to do with Seinfeld and everything to do with the Hebrew verb for to know, "לדעת." Yada, in ancient Hebrew texts has a variety of meanings: to perceive, to understand, to demonstrate skill, to experience physical intimacy. Compare this to the modern sense of the word: assimilating all the data to
uncover the object without bias from the subject. Also, compare this to the post modern sense of the word: a commodity exchanged between producers and consumers OR sense making for political expediency. Yada implies neither modern detachment nor post-modern game playing. The Hebrew sense of knowledge portrays a personal knower: from passion to perception to intellect to motor skill. For instance, the primitive metal worker and stone mason, Bezalel, was noted to have "knowledge" in various types of craftsmanship. Knowledge in this case would be a tacitly acquired skill for aesthetic construction. The ancient Hebrew king, David, employed the word "yada" in reference to how the night sky reveals the magnificence of God's glory. Knowledge in this case would be a visual perception of the object (the night sky) transfigured in relation to the subject's creator (see McGrath for this idea of the stars being transfigured into a sacramental mode).
uncover the object without bias from the subject. Also, compare this to the post modern sense of the word: a commodity exchanged between producers and consumers OR sense making for political expediency. Yada implies neither modern detachment nor post-modern game playing. The Hebrew sense of knowledge portrays a personal knower: from passion to perception to intellect to motor skill. For instance, the primitive metal worker and stone mason, Bezalel, was noted to have "knowledge" in various types of craftsmanship. Knowledge in this case would be a tacitly acquired skill for aesthetic construction. The ancient Hebrew king, David, employed the word "yada" in reference to how the night sky reveals the magnificence of God's glory. Knowledge in this case would be a visual perception of the object (the night sky) transfigured in relation to the subject's creator (see McGrath for this idea of the stars being transfigured into a sacramental mode).Knowing a fact, knowing a person, knowing a skill, and knowing a feeling all require personal commitment on the part of the knower. The commitment is intellectual, relational, kinesthetic/tactile, and passionate. These functions of knowledge and the knower I hold to be properly basic in epistemology. Next post will focus on fleshing out these functions within my current field of study: epidemiology and yada, yada, yada.
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