All Things Talmud

[dnc101]

... I have decided to start a new thread entitled "Talmud 101" that will cover the basics of Talmud only. I'll get to work on that right after Shabbat, and submit it some time next week. One must have a firm grasp on the fundamentals of Talmud before any real understanding can be apprehended. ...

Smart move. I look forward to it.

Dan C

 

[muffler dragon]

Yes, and I was agreeing with 'do not follow' the commentaries of the blind, as if it were scripture, seeing how we have scripture to indicate such.

I never inferred such.

When I say, 'we should hold our peace, and let Isaiah tell it', I'm saying, we (in general) should refrain from making commentaries without scriptural reference, or else we are using commentary to measure commentary.

Isaiah 29 doesn't have anything to do with commentary or interpretation of the Torah.

The part that was disagreeable with John, is when you said '...No man...', the lamb is the Only man who Is able to understand/loosen the seals thereof.

I steered clear of the John revelation on purpose as it doesn't pertain to the point I was making.
But since you bring up Jesus, then I guess it would be safe to say that even he needed education and bringing up of an understanding by the Jewish leadership of his time.

 

[mercy1061]

@ mishkan

You confuse numbers with influence and popular acceptance.

Yes indeed, Israel was in even greater number during the time of Moses. Moses received the Torah and mizvot written on precious stone from Adonai. The pharisees crush the people with their unbearable religious demands, and they will not even lift a finger to ease the burden.

Matt 23:4
They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.

Ex 31
18 When he had finished speaking with Moshe on Mount Sinai, Adonai gave him the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.

Ex 24
12 Adonai said to Moshe, “Come up to me on the mountain, and stay there. I will give you the stone tablets with the Torah and the mitzvot I have written on them, so that you can teach them.”

As that article also mentions, all these groups had stringent membership standards, making it understandable that most people wouldn't want to get involved in an official capacity. But, like today, the small numbers of the Haredi belies their influence as standard-bearers for all Torah observance.

Adonai gave Moses the precious stone (Ex 24:12), like a husband gives a precious stone to his wife. Yet that precious stone was destroyed by Moses.

Don't forget that overall planetary population was much lower back then. Six thousand sounds small to us today, but it was a sizable number back then.

Just imagine having 6,000 teachers of a congregation, Israel left Egypt being lead by Moses and his older brother Aaron. Israel multiplied greatly in those days.

Yeshua's approach clearly aligned with the Pharisees. That alone should make it a no-brainer that they represent the branch of Jewish teaching that he considered worth refining and developing. He worked within the Pharisaic establishment--not the Sadducean or Essene communities. And he sure didn't start his own independent thing.

The pharisees refused to lift a finger to help the people unload their heavy doctrines and demands that were placed on their shoulders. It is interesting that the shoulder bone is connected to the neck bone, the neck bone is connected to the head bone. The weight of the neck bone and head bone that was connected to the shoulder bone must have been a heavy burden for the people to carry; when the pharisees were teaching the people. Adonai did use his finger to help Israel after she became unfaithful when Moses desired to teach the people about the precious stone from Adonai. Moses was told to carve out of "earthen stone" two tablets like the first:

Deut 10:1-2
At that time the Lord told me: Carve two stone tablets, just like the first ones, and hike up the mountain to me. Construct a wooden chest as well. 2 I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets—the ones you smashed—then you will place them in the chest.

We would have to agree that earthen stone carved out by Moses is less desirable than precious stone from Adonai.

Ex 32
7 The Lord spoke to Moses: “Hurry up and go down! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, are ruining everything! 8 They’ve already abandoned the path that I commanded. They have made a metal bull calf for themselves. They’ve bowed down to it and offered sacrifices to it and declared, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” 9 The Lord said to Moses, “I’ve been watching these people, and I’ve seen how stubborn they are. 10 Now leave me alone! Let my fury burn and devour them. Then I’ll make a great nation out of you.”