Is there really a difference between simile and metaphor? When Paul Simon sings "I am a rock," no one thinks he actually is a literal pebble on seashore. But then why does he not sing "I am like a rock" instead? In Kafka's The Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa isn't just "like" a bug, but actually "is" a bug. Yet we, as humans, are quick to transform Gregor back into a human, to the bug as just a "symbol" or an allegory for a human. Meanwhile, Paul Simon's actual rock and Kafka's actual bug get left behind in the metaphorical dust.

Ancient cultures were far more in tune with the inherent aliveness and lifeforce within all objects. While this may seem to be a pagan idea, it actually brings us closer to monotheism. Heidegger's 1950 essay "The Thing" encourages us to see objects as they really are--things which have their own "thingness." It may be that to treat passages from the Torah as only "symbolic" or "metaphorical" or "superstitious" is to castrate both them and ourselves in the process (though, this time, not literally -- don't worry).

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Music: Simon & Garfunkel - "Scarborough Fair"