This was said:
Then I reckon that Paul and Peter and even Yeshua were myths considering what I quoted is in the B'rit Khadashah.
In reference to this:
Quote:
Remember Jews weren't supposed to touch a Gentile because they were considered Unclean.
Oy. Some things never die.
Yes, this is another myth that was supported by misunderstanding.
*Sighs*
No, you can not produce a single quote from the Brit Chadasha that says a Jew is not to touch a gentile.
It comes from a misunderstanding of Halacha concerning "not to entertain pagans"... which was interpreted by the first century pharasaic beit din to mean that a Jew could not eat at a pagan's house, or mingle with their company. Galations, among other passages, show that this halacha was askew and did not fully support this interpretation.
A person simply being a 'gentile' did not make them a 'pagan'. There were G-d fearers that were seen as lower beings as they were gentiles and had not gone through full conversion rites. In Galations this issue was addressed very heavily at the beginning of the book.
This halacha has also been revised in today's times as well in the Orthodox community...
but it was always a misnomer that a Jew could not touch a Gentile
In other words, that NEVER was the case...
and to say that this is in the "NT" is just plain silly. It comes from
antisemetic rhetoric that never did exist historically, but from gentiles misunderstanding halacha.
It's along the same rhetoric lines as "Jews don't drink Welch's grape juice because it was made by gentiles." Many gentiles who misunderstood halacha shouted out "the Jews are racist!" However, this is another plain example of a misnomer...
Grape Juice flavoring often contained certain unkosher byproducts. There are numerous grape sodas and juices that are still considered unkosher because they either contain certain gelatins, insects, or other unkosher ingredients. Welch's originally contained some of these unkosher ingredients and Jews were forbidden to drink these grape juices/sodas. A neo-nazi group then made up stories that Jews wouldn't drink Welch's because it was made by Gentiles.
Why then would Jews drink other juices or sodas that were made by gentiles and not Welch's? Simply because Welch's contained unkosher ingredients... it had
nothing to do with gentiles.
The same thing applies in our little example. Gentiles later misunderstood Jewish halacha. Not only that, but it was old halacha that was later revised as it became seen as incorrectly applied. But the original halacha was
never that a Jew couldn't touch a gentile. It was that a Jew could not 'entertain' (or more specifically 'eat dinner with') a gentile. This was because of fear that these gentiles were:
1) pagan
2) Serving unkosher food
However, with many "G-d fearers" (gentiles who worshipped HaShem and even went to the extent of following Torah without conversion) they were not pagans, and nor would they serve unkosher food to a Jew.
Thus this halacha was later revised. But through Gentile misunderstanding of the previous halacha, a misnomer was created that Jews were not allowed to touch Gentiles....
that simply never was the case.
Maybe Yatziv can explain more fully than I did.
Shalom,
Yafet.