Judaism

[steve_bank]

It is a lot deeper than I am interested in going, 'The Bible' as we have it was not the sole source of Jewish ethics, morality, law, ritual, and daily life. The idea that everything has to fit into the modern bible is not consistent with Jewish history.

Look at our constitution and all the legal interpretations. The constitution as originally written can not possibly account for all circumstances.

It does not appear there was ever any consistent single 'Judaism'.

Jewish legal codes, or Halakha, are a complex system of laws derived from the Torah, Oral Torah, and rabbinic interpretations, guiding various aspects of Jewish life. These codes are not a single, unified document but rather a body of law developed over centuries by Jewish scholars. They encompass ritual, civil, and family laws, addressing a wide range of practices and societal norms.

Talmud - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The Talmud (/ˈtɑːlmʊd, -məd, ˈtæl-/; Hebrew: תַּלְמוּד‎, romanized: Talmūḏ, lit. 'teaching') is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (halakha) and Jewish theology.[2][3][4][5] Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewish cultural life and was foundational to "all Jewish thought and aspirations", serving also as "the guide for the daily life" of Jews.[6] The Talmud includes the teachings and opinions of thousands of rabbis on a variety of subjects, including halakha, Jewish ethics, philosophy, customs, history, and folklore, and many other topics.

The Talmud is constituted by the Mishnah (a written compendium of the Oral Torah), and the Gemara (גמרא), a commentary on the Mishnah and related Tannaitic writings. Sometimes, the word "Talmud" may only refer to the Gemara. This text is made up of 63 tractates, each covering one subject area. The language of the Talmud is Jewish Babylonian Aramaic. Talmudic tradition emerged and was compiled between the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE and the Arab conquest in the early seventh century.[7] Traditionally, it is thought that the Talmud itself was compiled by Rav Ashi and Ravina II around 500 CE, although it is more likely that this happened in the middle of the sixth century.[8]

The word Talmud commonly refers to the Babylonian Talmud (Talmud Bavli) and not the earlier Jerusalem Talmud (Talmud Yerushalmi).[9]

Oral Torah - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

According to Rabbinic Judaism, the Oral Torah or Oral Law (Hebrew: תּוֹרָה שֶׁבְּעַל־פֶּה‎, romanized: Tōrā šebbəʿal-pe) are statutes and legal interpretations that were not recorded in the Five Books of Moses, the Written Torah (תּוֹרָה שֶׁבִּכְתָב‎, Tōrā šebbīḵṯāv, '"Written Law"'), and which are regarded by Orthodox Jews as prescriptive and given at the same time. This holistic Jewish code of conduct encompasses a wide swathe of rituals, worship practices, God–man and interpersonal relationships, from dietary laws to Sabbath and festival observance to marital relations, agricultural practices, and civil claims and damages.

According to Rabbinic Jewish tradition, the Oral Torah was passed down orally in an unbroken chain from generation to generation until its contents were finally committed to writing following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, when Jewish civilization was faced with an existential threat, by virtue of the dispersion of the Jewish people.[1]

The major repositories of the Oral Torah are the Mishnah, compiled between 200–220 CE by Judah ha-Nasi, and the Gemara, a series of running commentaries and debates concerning the Mishnah, which together form the Talmud, the preeminent text of Rabbinic Judaism. In fact, two "versions" of the Talmud exist: one produced in the Galilee c. 300–350 CE (the Jerusalem Talmud), and a second, more extensive Talmud compiled in Jewish Babylonia c. 450–500 CE (the Babylonian Talmud).

Belief that at least portions of the Oral Torah were transmitted orally from God to Moses on Biblical Mount Sinai during the Exodus from Egypt is a fundamental tenet of faith of Orthodox Judaism, and was recognized as one of the Thirteen Principles of Faith by Maimonides.

There have also been historical dissenters to the Oral Torah, most notably the Sadducees and Karaites, who claimed to derive their religious practice only from the Written Torah. The Beta Israel, isolated from the rest of world Jewry for many centuries, also lacked Rabbinic texts until they made Aliyah in mass in recent years.[2][3]

Hebrew republic - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The Hebrew Republic, also “De Republica Hebraeorum”, and also “Respublica Hebraeorum”, is an early modern concept in political theory in which Christian scholars regarded the Hebrew Bible as a political constitution framing a perfect and republican government designed by God for the children of Israel.

Rabbinic Judaism - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Rabbinic Judaism (Hebrew: יהדות רבנית‎, romanized: Yahadut Rabanit), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, or Rabbanite Judaism, has been an orthodox form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Babylonian Talmud. Rabbinic Judaism has its roots in the Pharisaic school of Second Temple Judaism and is based on the belief that Moses at Mount Sinai received both the Written Torah (Torah she-be-Khetav) and the Oral Torah (Torah she-be-al Peh) from God. The Oral Torah, transmitted orally, explains the Written Torah. At first, it was forbidden to write down the Oral Torah, but after the destruction of the Second Temple, it was decided to write it down in the form of the Talmud and other rabbinic texts for the sake of preservation.[1][2]

Rabbinic Judaism contrasts with Sadducee Judaism, Karaite Judaism, and Samaritanism, which do not recognize the Oral Torah as a divine authority nor the rabbinic procedures used to interpret Jewish scripture. Although there are now profound differences among Jewish denominations of Rabbinic Judaism with respect to the binding force of halakha (Jewish religious law) and the willingness to challenge preceding interpretations, all identify themselves as coming from the tradition of the Oral Law and the rabbinic method of analysis.

 

[No Robots]

I’m reading a fascinating new book, Kabbalah as literature, the revolution of interpretation, by Gilad Elbom. He places the Bible and its interpretation within the context of literary interpretation in general, and argues that it is precisely interpretative pluralism that provides the key to revealing and developing the full power of the text:

[T]hose who consider it their duty to reject the text see it as a privileged patriarch whose shortcomings must be exposed, while the Kabbalah views it as a struggling vessel that seeks illumination from lovers of literature who remain devoted to it despite its weaknesses.--P. 163

To truly love the Bible means to embrace all possible interpretations of it.

 

[bilby]

To truly love the Bible means to embrace all possible interpretations of it.

Why the fuck should anyone "truly love" the Bible?

Get a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend. Or a puppy.

Books won't return your love, and loving one is an utter waste of your life, and does pointless harm to your emotional wellbeing.

 

[lostone]

To truly love the Bible means to embrace all possible interpretations of it.

Why the fuck should anyone "truly love" the Bible?

Get a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend. Or a puppy.

Books won't return your love, and loving one is an utter waste of your life, and does pointless harm to your emotional wellbeing.

I love ancient Greek mythology. But it is still mythology.

 

[bilby]

To truly love the Bible means to embrace all possible interpretations of it.

Why the fuck should anyone "truly love" the Bible?

Get a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend. Or a puppy.

Books won't return your love, and loving one is an utter waste of your life, and does pointless harm to your emotional wellbeing.

I love ancient Greek mythology. But it is still mythology.

But do you truly love it?

Do you spend all day thinking of it, and trying to come up with ways to make it happy? Do you miss it whenever you are apart? Do you want to spend your entire life with it?

Does it love you in return?

 

[DBT]

I’m reading a fascinating new book, Kabbalah as literature, the revolution of interpretation, by Gilad Elbom. He places the Bible and its interpretation within the context of literary interpretation in general, and argues that it is precisely interpretative pluralism that provides the key to revealing and developing the full power of the text:

[T]hose who consider it their duty to reject the text see it as a privileged patriarch whose shortcomings must be exposed, while the Kabbalah views it as a struggling vessel that seeks illumination from lovers of literature who remain devoted to it despite its weaknesses.--P. 163

To truly love the Bible means to embrace all possible interpretations of it.

What if the interpretations contradict each other?

 

[lostone]

To truly love the Bible means to embrace all possible interpretations of it.

Why the fuck should anyone "truly love" the Bible?

Get a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend. Or a puppy.

Books won't return your love, and loving one is an utter waste of your life, and does pointless harm to your emotional wellbeing.

I love ancient Greek mythology. But it is still mythology.

But do you truly love it?

Do you spend all day thinking of it, and trying to come up with ways to make it happy? Do you miss it whenever you are apart? Do you want to spend your entire life with it?

Does it love you in return?

Just as much as the Bible does.

 

[GenesisNemesis]

To truly love the Bible means to embrace all possible interpretations of it.

Why the fuck should anyone "truly love" the Bible?

Get a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend. Or a puppy.

Books won't return your love, and loving one is an utter waste of your life, and does pointless harm to your emotional wellbeing.

I would say there's nothing wrong with loving curiosity (and living for curiosity's sake) but it seems No Robots has no curiosity for anything outside of his narrow esoteric worldview.

 

[Politesse]

To truly love the Bible means to embrace all possible interpretations of it.

Why the fuck should anyone "truly love" the Bible?

Get a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend. Or a puppy.

Books won't return your love, and loving one is an utter waste of your life, and does pointless harm to your emotional wellbeing.

People die. A good book is as close to forever as one can find.