Wednesday 22 August 2018



​Where does Progressive Judaism view Torah as coming from if not given by God?
And why is this so important?

Progressive Judaism regards the Torah as unique but written by many HUMAN hands rather than handed down 'DIRECTLY FROM GOD' to Moses (as the orthodox believe).  

This is the 'fundamental' difference between us - and it is a big one! We don't accept that God says 'stone to death your rebellious sons' or 'burn your daughter in fire if she charges someone for sex' or 'kill the Canaanites when you enter the land'.  We don't find prohibition about driving cars or turning lights on in the Torah!  We might understand how, in their time, these things got in - but they are not the fingerprint of a caring, loving, kind, forgiving God!

On a test paper, the question was 'What is the Talmud?'  
The answer given was 'It is the exegesis (explanation) of the Torah, consiting of the collected works of the Mishnah'.

This is a fair, brief answer, but the student was bright and keen to understand more, and elsewhere more comprehensive, so I took the opportunity to set out in more detail the differences between 'Biblical' and 'Rabbinic' Judaism. 

The Talmud is not exactly 'the exegis of the Torah', though that's what the Rabbis want you to think!  Torah (and Te'NaKh more widely - this is the whole Hebrew bible which is pretty much the same as teh Christian 'Old Testament', a term we don't like and don't use because it implies that it has been superceded by the new one!) are the great written works of the Biblical period ('Israelitism', centralisation, hereditary, selected minority as priests, sacrifices).

From the crisis and trauma of the destruction of the first Temple (586 BCE - Before the Common Era - equivalent to BC - but we don't think Jesus was any more or less a child of God than the rest us, and don't accept him as 'Christ' - annointed or chosen one - so we don't date by 'Before Christ') to that of the second (70 CE, Common Era, equivalent to AD but we don';t acceoty Jesus as lord so we don't say 'year of our lord'), a new, non-hereditary, non centralised, non sacrificial, peer-led, 'REFORMED' and 'LIBERAL' interpretion of the inherited stories and traditions was needed, and thus was 'Rabbinic Judaism' born and ready to step in and take over when the romans destroyed the Temple (but another variant also stepped up, and eventually separated to become Christianity!).  Because the new leaders of this 'Rabbinic tradition' (the Rabbis) needed authority on which to claim leadership and interpretation, they developed the story that when God gave the written Torah, an 'oral Torah' was also given - how the Torah laws should be applied... and without which the Torah was pretty useless as a rule book.  (Another group, the Karaites, disagreed and thus rejected the Rabbis rulings - though in fact they also made their own, since often Torah rules were unclear, insufficient or contradictory).   They said (and pointed out) that the oral law had never been written down (I wonder why not?!) - and should never be (this is a great idea as it allows for flexibility, adaptation and development to the needs of the times etc).  

Sadly, in about 220, Rabbi Judah HaNasi (often simply known as Rabi) gathered the teachings of the Rabbis - usually based on - or at least 'hooked on to' the written Torah, and wroite it down.  This is the Mishnah - the first (written - and hence fixed) Rabbinic text.  As soon as that was copies and distributed, a wide variety of questions were raised about it (where it seemed its own rulings were unclear, insufficient or contradictory!) and that process of study and debate and argument continued for several hundred years - in two places, Tiberias (they weren't allowed to live in Jerusalem), and Babylon, and two colections were eventually produced - known as the Talmud (the Palestinian or Yerushalmi, which was stopped a hundred years earlier and is incomplete) and the Babylonian or 'Bavli' which became the authoritative version. So basically the Talmud is the great and major work of the Rabbinic period.  (Several hundred years later, after various scholars had continued this process even around the Talmud once it was published, Maimonides came along and decided to 'cut to the chase' and draw out all the salient conclusions' without the citations and tirtuous and lengthy debates, and produced teh Mishneh Torah, for which he was castigated and his books burned - but which are now core subjects of study in many yeshivas for advanced Jewish learning - see Maimonides in this blog).
The great Jewish scholar, philosopher and doctor to the Sultan Saladin in Fez (Fostat - old Cairo), Egypt, Maimonides, is also known by his acronym, RAMBAM.  What was his great work and how was it received?

Maimonides was born in Muslim Spain (in what is sometimes known as 'the Golden Age') but when he was only 13 he and his family had to flee from the vicious Almohad Berber Muslims in 1148 of the Common Era (Christians tend to call it AD but since we don't consider Jesus as our lord, we don't date things by 'the year of our lord!). But CE dates are exactly the same as AD ones!
Maimonides most importantly wrote the Mishneh Torah commentary which he described as his 'Hibbur hagadol' or greatest compilation (magnum opus). It is a comprehensive guide to the halacha. Though it was radical in leaving out lengthy discussions and citations, and his books were burned by other Jews (the 'Maimonidean controversy' raged on for 100 years), it is now a central work for intensive yeshiva study around the world!

On a test, we asked 'What is 'Aliyah'?
The thorough answer submitted was: a) to go up (to the bimah - reading desk) in synagogue when the Torah is being read to receive a blessing, and 
b) to go up (to Israel) - often preceeded by an 'aliyah' in synagogue to receive a blessing for a safe return'

Because the ansers were so comprehensive, I took the opportunity to add some extra learning information: It is good that you named the two types of Aliyah. However the second is not used for going (up) to visit Israel - someone may have an 'Aliyah' (call up) before any significant journey, but it doesn't matter if it is Israel or Timbuktoo!  To MAKE Aliyah is to go and LIVE in Israel (and it has an opposite (problematic to my mind - because it is so values oriented), YERIDAH, going down, leaving Israel after living there.


On a test, we asked 'What is the Kaddish?'
The answer submitted was 'Mourner's prayer, in praise of God's creation, that brings the service to an end. Also recited by the oldest son for the death of a parent. 

Because the answers were so good and thorough, I took the opportunity to add some more detail and responded:  Actually there are about 7 different kaddishes, and we often find 'Hatzi Kaddish' (meaning half- or short-kaddish) as a pause to praise God (all kaddishes are doxologies) before moving on to the next part of the service (eg before Barechu and the Sh'ma section of our service).  But you are right that when people mention kaddish they usually mean 'the Mourner's kaddish'.  The Mourner's kaddish doesn't mention death - rather it is effectively saying that we still have faith in God and the cycles of the universe, including life and death, even at times when we are desperate and desolate.  However it can and should be said by all mourners (even in the orthodox), not only the oldest son - but all sons and daughters (though in the orthodox a male mourner usually leads).
What does the Tetragrammaton (four letter name of God in Hebrew, YHVH) 
mean, in the Sh'ma (declaration of faith)?
I was sent this answer: 'Adonai is One and we should love him'

I responded: I appreciate the care to write 'Adonai' rather than 'Lord'.  However, though it is better than a clearly gendered term it is not a great rendering of YHVH.  That is why in the Siddur (prayer book) for our region (Mishkan T'filah World Union Edition) we have used 'Eternal' or 'Eternal One'.  Our best understanding of the Tetragrammaton is that it contains the letters of the verb to be, in past (HaYa), present (HoVeH) and future (YiHYeH), thus symbolising God's 'always-ness' or 'Eternality'.

Though traditionally used in Hebrew when we see the tetragrammaton, Adonai is also not ideal in translation since it is not only gendered (the root is 'Lord'), but it is also technically plural ('my LORDS') - my LORD would be 'Adoni'! 

However, having said Adonai, you then went on to say 'we should love him..' God is far beyong our human understanding, but one thing we can be confident of is that God is not male (nor female) and a central plank of Progressive Judaism is equality, which means removing references to God as male, which is both wrong, and subtly reinforces the belief that men (and boys) are superior to women (and girls).

and 'Please translate the first part of a blessing, Barukh atah Adonai,
eloheinu melech ha'olam':
This was answered: 'Blessed are you Adonai, our God, master of the universe. (it is our convention to use capitals, eg for You in the above example).

The hebrew you have translated as master' is Melech.  Melech is usually 'King' but because Hebrew has no neuter, it can also be 'Sovereign' or 'Ruler' (gender-free).  As an anaolgy, when we translate 'Bnai Yisrael' we render it 'Children of Israel', not 'Sons of Israel'.

L'shalom

Rabbi Jonathan
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