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One of the most important components of Western civilization, the
religion of Judaism grew out of the ancient Israelite religion
about 500 BCE. In the 2500 years since, Judaism has shown a remarkable
ability to adapt to various historical and cultural circumstances,
and influenced the rise of both Christianity and Islam which find
their own roots within the Israelite/Jewish tradition. This course
examines the development of Judaism from biblical times to the
modern age, including the rise of variant forms of Judaism such as
Hasidism and Reform Judaism that have taken shape in the past few
centuries. Requirements generally include two in-class exams, a
comprehensive final, and a short paper.

http://www.artsci.lsu.edu/phil/relig/rscourses.htm#REL_3100:_Judaism_(3)

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Introduction: The Sacred Texts of Judaism

I. The Bible: Torah, Prophets, Writings

	A. A misconception is "The Old Testament defines Judaism."

		1. You cannot define Judaism by reading the Bible.

		2. A faith is a series of structured interpretations
		of a religious text to formulate a religious system.

		3. Judaism is a human religion that quantifies the
		human dimension of a religious system.

	B. Post-Temple Judaism (after 67 CE)

		1. Saducees (conservative)

			a. Everything we know about them comes from
			their opponents.

			b. Adopted only the first five books of
			the Torah.

			c. Interpreted the Torah literally.

			d. Did not survive the second destruction
			of the Temple.

		2. Pharisees (more liberal)

			a. Survived the second destruction of the
			Temple along with the Nazarenes (Judaic
			Christians)

			b. Hated the Sadducees, whose chief priest
			was a Roman appointee.

			c. In addition to the five books of Moses,
			accepted also the Prophets and Writings.

		3. Essenes (separatist)

			a. Believed responsible for writing and
			keeping the Dead Sea Scrolls.

		4. Zealots (rebels)

			a. Wanted to start a war with the Romans.

			b. Also hated the Sadducees.

			c. Enacted the death penalty on the high
			priest.

		5. Nazarenes (Judaic Christians)

			a. Descendents helped populate the Holy
			Roman Empire.

			b. Marcion, Bishop of Pontus, to whom
			Tertullian referred as a "Pontic mouse who
			gnawed away the gospels."

		6. Philistines (Palestineans) from "Palistena"

			a. Judea "Jew Town" so named by the Roman
			Empire.

		7. Dualistic principles in Zoroastrianism

			a. Ahura Mazda - "uncreated Creator"

				1) Spirit

				2) Essence

				3) Good

				4) Holy

				5) Unchanging

			b. Ahriman - Zoroastrian demon

				1) Matter

				2) Quantity

				3) Evil

				4) Impure

				5) Changing

		8. Docetism: to seem or to appear as ...

	C. In Jewish thought, Torah is the most important component
	in the life of even the most ordinary Jew.

II. The Five Meanings of "Torah; "Oral Torah"

	A. Pentateuch - five books attributed to Moses.

	B. Teaching, instruction.

	C. Often mis-interpreted as exclusively, "Law."

		1. Torah is much more than simply, "Law."

	D. Scroll of parchment upon which are written the Pentateuch
	by hand in Hebrew.

	E. "Oral Torah" "Torah Shebe'al Peh" traditional interpretations
	and amplifications handed down by mouth from generation to
	generation.

III. The Talmud A: The Tanna'im; Mishnah, Tosephta

	A. Tann'im - "repeaters"

	B. Mishnah - "repetition" "Mishnavot" (pl.)

		1. Purpose: to formulate current interpretations
		of biblical expressions.

		2. A "Mishna" is a singular teaching.

		3. "Mishanvot" are a collection of teachings.

	C. Tosephta - "completion"

		1. Includes additions.

	D. Talmud - "teaching," "learning"

		1. Mishna ("repitition")

		2. Tosephta

		3. Gemara  ("completion"; pl. "Gemerat")

		4. Two versions:

			a. Palestinian

			b. Babylonian (most common)

	E. "Rabbi Effis"

		1. Literally "zero."

		2. Refers to an atheist.

		3. A minority opinion.

		4. Always considered in Rabbinnic discussion.

	F. Methodological Model for All Scholars of Judaism

		1. Immersion

		2. Awareness

		3. Participation

		4. Openness

		5. Respect

IV. The Talmud B: The .Amoraim; Gemara; Rabbinic Instruction

	A. Talmudic Subjects of Inquiry: halakhah, haggadah; midrash

		1. Amroa'im - "speakers"

			a. Succeed the Tanna'im.

			b. Composed the Gemara

			c. Evaluated the Mishnavot (pl., Mishna)
			one paragraph at a time and in such a way
			as to tie the resluts to biblical authority.

			d. Attempted to provide a framework of the
			biblical text.

		2. Halakhah ("to walk"; "the walk of life")

			a. Refers to a life subject to daily moral
			examination.

			b. Includes thoughts about a person's moral
			responsibility in which the principle comes
			first.

			c. EXAMPLE: One's duties and obligations
			regarding a found object.

			d. All of the Mishnavot are halakhah.

		3. Haggadah ("story"; "to tell or make known")

			a. There are hundreds of haggadah in the
			Gemara.

			b. Some bring forth a legal precedent;
			others provide personal inspiration; still
			others provide acts of guidance.

			c. Uses the method of teaching by example
			instead of by fiat.

			d. Include stories of Jewish martyrs who
			have died with the words of the Shema on
			their lips.

			e. Acceptance of the Yoke of the Kingdom
			of Heaven: The recitation of the Shema is
			considered acceptance of a Jewish person
			to live a halakhaic life and reaffirms the
			Kingship of God.

			f. A haggadah about Rabbi Gamaliel the
			Elder is that he would not remove the Yoke
			of the Kingdom of Heaven even on his wedding
			night.

			g. Examples of what a particular rabbi did
			in a particular situation from which
			youngsters may have a pattern for behavior.

			h. Parallel with the Hadith (life and doings
			of Muhammad)

		4. Midrash ("interpretation"; pl. "Midrashim")

			a. "To Investigate" or "to inquire."

			b. EXAMPLE: "the Sacrfice of Issac" is not
			really a sacrifice at all. It is a binding.
			An irresistable story for Midrash.

				1) oalh "holocaust"

				2) 'olan' "to go up" or "to bring
				up"

				3) minhag: "custom"

	B. The Organization of Education

		1. The first laboratory for Rabbinnic discussion
		was the classroom.

		2. In order to study Talmud, Jewish children first
		had to be able to read and the result was a 100%
		literacy rate for male Jewish children.

		3. Differences between Christian and Jewish teaching
		methods:

			a. Christian teaching tends to be neo-Platonic
			and epistemological.

			b. Jewish teachning prizes abstract ideas
			with no practical value in order to teach
			students how to think with an emphasis on
			problem-solving.

			c. A Jew does not "read" the Bible, he or
			she STUDIES it.

		4. A basic Jewish education for males includes
		reading the Bible and prayer book.

			1,000 out of 1,000 Jewish males will receive
			a basic Jewish education.

		5. A secondary Jewish education includes memorization
		of Mishna and learning how to debate its content.

			100 out of 1,000 Jewish males will receive
			a secondary Jewish education.

		6. A Yeshiva education includes the study of the
		Gemara.

			a. 10 out of 1,000 Jewish males will receive
			a Yeshiva education.

			b. Yeshiva ("a place to sit down")

			c. In every Yeshiva class:

				1) There are two Rabbis, one
				conservative and the other, liberal.

				2) There is a reciter of Mishna,
				should a student not have a copy
				of his own.

				3) There are two senior students
				about to become ordainned Rabbis,
				sitting front and center, opposite
				each other.

		7. A Rabbi is the 1 out of a thousand who actually
		becomes a teacher and thus, one who receives great
		respect from the community.

	C. The Role of the Teacher

		1. Parents paid the teacher.

		2. Most worked at a trade or craft, or herd work.

		3. Some possessed inherited wealth or were supported
		by their families.

		4. Only the very best were paid rabbis.

		5. Accommodations were often provided for students
		who could not afford them.

		6. The rabbi teaches students as a father would
		teach a son.

		7. Success of the students is the ultimate way in
		which the rabbi is evaluated.

		8. Rabbis teach students to think for themselves.

		9. Four kinds of students:

			a. Sponge takes in all.

			b. Funnel forgets at the other end.

			c. Strainer remembers only the sediment.

			d. Sieve retains the fine flower.

		10. Haver: a study partner. One needs to study with
		partners.

	D. The Role of the Synagogue

		1. Four ways in which Rabbis recast Jewish worship
		after the destruction of the Second Temple in 67
		CE.

			a. The local meeting place - synagogue -
			replaced the temple.

				1) This change was necessitated by
				the destruction of the Second Temple
				in 67 CE

				2) By contrast, Christianity moved
				into private spaces.

					a) Ecclesia, (church,
					"called out")

					b) Synagogue (meeting place,
					"called together")

			b. Rabbis developed a system of prayer and
			study.

				1) With the destruction of the
				Second Temple, the sacrificial
				system disappeared and was replaced
				by prayer and study.

					a) It is important to
					remember that act of
					sacrifice does not actually
					absolve sin. It is only
					the cessation of the act
					of sinning that absolves
					sin.

					b) So why a sin offering?
					Sin offerings are given
					because  of the dual nature
					of sin.  The first restitution
					must be made to man.
					Sacrifice cannot be offered
					without this being done
					first. The actual act of
					sacrifice is a symbolic
					act of repentance/exemplification
					of a change of heart/realization
					that one deserves God's
					wrath.

					c) Because of the symbolic
					nature of sacrifice, rabbis
					are able to readapt the
					system to emphasize mercy
					and repentance.

			c. All of time and space were transformed
			into realms that can be redeemed and made
			holy.

				1) Before the destruction of the
				Second Temple, the Holy of Holies
				was the most sacred area and the
				dwelling place of God.

				2) After the destruction of the
				Second Temple, news areas had to
				be made holy.  Reinterpretation
				emphasized the entire world could
				be holy with some areas slightly
				holier than others.

					a) Rabbinic thinking
					emphasizes the import of
					places of study, thus
					libraries or other study
					places are of the upmost
					import.

					b) EXAMPLE: Synagogues can
					be converted to studies,
					but according to law, but
					studies cannot be converted
					to synagogues.

					c) Study is the pursuit of
					God for personal and societal
					betterment.

			d. The idea of Jewish political independence
			is pushed into the background.

				1) The word "King" is redefined to
				refer only to God as the ONLY ONE
				truly to be worthy of the throne.

				2) Judism is no longer nationalistic
				or sacrifical.

		CONCLUSION: The rabbis earnestly believed these
		changes were biblically sourced and they would be
		the midwives of Judaism.

V. After the Talmud: Authoritative but not "Sacred"

	A. Responsa

		1. Responsa: result of a collaborative effort.

		2. The weight of a particular response is tied to
		the reputation of the scholar/rabbi who wrote it.


	B. Maimonides

		a. Maintained a dialogue with both Christian and
		Muslim scholars.

		b. Wrote "Repetition of the Torah" and "Teacher
		for the Confused" to explain Talmudic literature
		for the common person.

		c. Wrote "The Arranged Table"

	C. Joseph Caro and the Shulhan Arukh

		1. Shulhan 'Arukh lit., "table that has
			been prepared."

		2. A compendium of Jewish legal rulings.

		3. Moses Isserles (Poland) made corrections and
		additions.

		4. Along with the Talmud, a constant companion of
		Jewish rabbis.

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Jewish/Rabbinic Principles of Interpretation

I. Philo of Alexandria

	A. Used an allegorical method of assigning meaning of the
	actions of the characters other than the plain meaning that
	can be immediately seen.

	B. Begins to write to reconcile two different views of
	Judiasm among the Greeks of his time.

	C. Authored two major works in which he attempted to recast
	the works of the Pentateuch to appeal to the Greek Jews of
	his time and defend Judaism from attacks by the Greek
	philosophers.

		1. Adam becomes a symbol of "everyman."

		2. Abraham becomes a philospher.

	D. Classical Works of Homer

		1. Myth: a story about the gods. An attempt to
		explain reality by means of a story.

		2. Legend: a story about a human, usually a hero.

		3. Logos: pure reason; the very mind of the gods.

II. Josephus

	A. Later contemporary of Philo who lived in Palestine.

	B. Surrendered to the Romans as a Galillean General.

	C. Published a twenty-volume series on Jewish Antiquities
	to be read by Roman society. Written in Greek. He re-tells
	the Biblical stories in Greek.

	D. Principles of interpretation use a Greek method,
	Septugeneric (sp?) much like Philo.

	E. Many examples are cited in Talmud.

	F. Makes no link between circumcision and the covenant with
	God.

	G. Offers explanations of Biblical that we do not previously
	know.

	H. Aware of the oral debates taking place in 1st Cen.
	Palistine.

III. Pseudepigrapha

	A. Falsely written documents ascribed to a well-known
	character in ancient times.

	B. Many examples in the Bible.

	C. The Mishna itself was ascribed to Moses.

IV. The Targumim: those who stood among followers attending a
service and recited the readings in the local vernacular.

	A. Targum: Aramaic translations of the Hebrew scriptures
	except Daniel and Ezra (because they're half-ritten in
	Aramaic, anyway)

		1. Read the first eight of Ezra and pay particular
		attention to the last.

		2. Aramaic word for "translation." 2200 years ago.

	B. Fundamental difference Judaism has with some other
	religions.

		1. The ideas are more sacred than the language in
		which they were originally written or recited.

	C. Targumim a crucial step in the development of Oral Torah.

		1. Based upon the translation heard from someone
		else reading sthe sacred text.

		2. Creates felibility within Oral Torah.

		3. These offer a simple line of interpretation.

		4. Solve the problem of prophecy.

			a. Moses was the prophet.

			b. Aaron was the translator.

	D. Quote: "Psychology of religious invention"

V. Historical Development of Interpretation

	A. The purpose of the Rabbis was to,

		1. Defend Moses from Greek philosophers.

		2. Defend Judaism from Christianity.

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The Hermeneutics of the Rabbis: peshat, drash

I. Hermeneutics: rules to be followed in interpretation of Torah
and Talmud.

	A. The discipline of explaining a literary text within a
	set of rules.

	B. Are related to exegesis in terms of how interpretation
	applies a given set of rules.

II. pshat

	The most natural, obvious interpretation from which a
	Scripture does not depart.

III. drash


	The more complicated interpretation, but remember, "Scripture
	does not depart from its 'pshat'."

IV. Examples when following fixed principles of interpretation.

	A. Friend: "best man."

	B. Enemy: one with whom you have not spoken in three days.

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Dictum of Rabbi Ishmael ber Elisha

Language is subject to,

	1. Human analysis

	2. Grammatical argument

	3. Syntax argument

	4. Consistency argument

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The Thirteen Principles of Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha.

I. Qal va-Homer "heavy to light"

	A. Qal, lit. "heavy"

		1. "An eye for an eye."

		2. Non-capital offenses.

	B. Homer, lit. "light"

		1. Death Penalty.

		2. Capital offenses.

II. Gezerah Shavah "a similiar decision"

	A. An analogous decision by anology of what we do know to
	try to find what we do not.

	B. Examples:

		1. Exodus 21:1 ruling on a Hebrew slave.

			Deuteronomy 15:12 refers to the member of
			the community as a "brother."

		3. Leviticus 16:29 Yom Kippur observance in which
		"you must afflict yourselves."

			Deuteronomy 8:23 refers to affliction as
			"hunger" or "humility" and "fasting."

III. Binyan 'Av "looking at the principle"

	A. The search for conceptual similarities in the formation
	of a leading rule.

	B. Example in the Book of Deuteronomy of "taking a life as
	a pledge" interpreted as taking someones means of feeding
	themselves and their family.

		Therefore, everything used to prepare food is
		forbidden to be used as collateral.

	C. "bdg" lit., "to cheat"; "to defraud someone."

		1. Exodus 21:26:27 regarding the freeing of a slave.

			a. The Gemara requires the manumission
			(freeing) of a slave.

		2. Deuteronomy 19:9 "Cities of Refuge" in the case
		of an accidentl homicide.

			a. For an act of homicide, the Rabbis would
			try to determine the intention of an act
			or occurrence.

IV. Klal u-Prat; General and Particular

	A. Occurs when a general law is followd by a particular
	application.

	B. Example: A Commandment in Deuteronomy - Honoring parents
	presents a long life.

		1. Not only a long life, but a good life, too.
		(broader meaning)

	C. Example: "You shall not bear false witness against your
	neighbor."

		1. Exodus = "lie" (particular)

		2. Deuteronomy = "meaningless word"; "worthless
		speech" (broader meaning)

	D. Example: Deuteronomy 5:19 "The LORD spoke these words
	and no more."

		1. "You shall do no work." - refer to specific
		examples of people at work elsewhere in the bible.

		2. The rabbis indentified 39 kinds of work prohibited
		from Shabbat, from the story of Noah and the kinds
		of work needed to build the Ark.

V. Modifications of Rules 4-6

	A. Includes any thing in the Gemara.

	B. Whenever a scriptures falls upon the general, the burden
	of proof falls upon the particular.

	C. Whenever a scripture falls upon the particular, the
	burden of proof falls upon the interpretation.

	D. Examples:

		1. Deuteronomy: rabbinical discussion on the mixing
		of fabric.

		2. Leviticus 1:2 Animals permitted for use in
		sacrifice.

			a. Domestic animals permitted.

			b. Wild animals not permitted.

		3. Exodus 22:19 Guardianship and responsibility
		for lost animals.

			a. The general rules over the particular.

			b. Regards animals entrusted to a neighbor.

		4. Exodus 22.6 Responsibility for the theft of an
		entrusted item.

		5. All of life is holy and subject to our covenant
		with God.

	E. Biblical Legislation is about restoring and rehabilitating
	things, to teach and discipline.

		1. Difference between discipline and punishment.

			a. Discipline calms the emotions and desire
			for revenge.

			b. Discpline is used to restore and to
			teach.

VI. #12 Context

	A. A law is interpreted by the context that immediately
	surrounds the text.

	B. A wider context is allowed for capital crimes sucas as
	kidnapping, murder and adultery.

	C. A narrower context is allowed for lesser offenses such
	as the theft of property as opposed to the theft of human
	beings.

VII. Contradictions

	A. What do you do when two versus or scriptures contradict
	each other?

	B. Rabbinical discourse faces the challenge of not having
	the original autograph, historical inaccuracies and lack
	of a historical document.

	C. Example: Genesis 22 (as per visit from Rabbi Bergman)

		1. Abraham misunderstood God's intentions.

		2. God never intended for Abraham to sacrifice
		Issac.

		3. God intended for Abraham to bring Issac up to
		receive further instructions.

	D. Example: the meaning of "shabbat."

		1. Literally, "stop."

		2. To leave Creation alone.

		3. Exodus 28:7 "Shabbat" "to cease"

		4. Concept of resting in Exodus as opposed to
		Deuteronomy.

			a. Exodus = God rested;

			b. Deuteronomy = humans and work animals
			should rest.

		5. "Holy" something that belongs to God.

		6. To sanctify something is to use it for its
		intended purpose.

		7. Deuteronomy 5:12-15 Recall something from the
		past and bring it into the present.

			a. Historic act of deliverance from Egypt
			by generally-accepted religious procedures.


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Post Rabbinic Hermeneutics

I. Karaism and Saadia Gaon

	A. Founded by An'an ben David.

	B. Took the position that *all* of the bible is authoritative
	and stressed the need to simplify it's interpretation.

	C. A Karaite Jew would claim that the bible is her or his
	only interpretation.

	D. The Rabbis responded to the Karaites with Hebrew grammar.

	E. The Mishna provides us with a context for many words in
	the Jewish Bible and the Bible itself cannot be explained
	without the Talmud.

	Saddia Gaon: a Jewish scholar who responded to the Karaites
	and provided an Arabic translation of the Jewish Bible.

II. Rashi, Maimonides

	A. Rashi

		1. Wrote commentary on both the Hebrew Bible and
		the Talmud.

		2. Responsa: answers offered to specific questions
		that arose in daily life.

		3. The purpose of a responsa was to offer an
		authoritative conclusion to a specific problem with
		confidence that Jewish law would be fulfilled.

		4. Always worked by groups of scholars to arrive
		at a consensus.

		5. Arguably the greatest Jewish scholar of all
		time.

	B. Maimonides

		1. Was a Jew living in a Muslim world.

		2. Wrote in both Hebrew and Arabic to both Jews
		and Non-Jews.

		3. Classical Greek works were often studied by
		Muslims.

		4. He gives a philosophical reason for the existence
		of God and the laws of the Torah.

		5. Attempted to fuse the scholarship of the Rabbis
		with the ethics of the Philosphers.

		6. Distilled the basic ideas of Judaism into the
		form of a creed.

		7. Critics maintaned the idea of a creed is not
		Jewish, but Muslim or Christian.

		8. Thirteen Principles of Maimonides' Faith

			a. The Creator acts alone.

			b. The Creator is unique.

			c. The Creator has no physical body, cannot
			be affected by any physical phenomena.

			d. The Creator is the beginning and the
			end.

			e. It is appropritate to pray to the creator
			alone; it is not aprorpriate to pray alone
			to anyone other than him.

			f. All the words of the prophets are true.

			g. The prophecy of Moses is true and he is
			the father of all prophets, both those who
			preceded him and those that follow him.

			h. The entire Torah (the Hebrew Bible and
			the Talmud) is the one given to Moses, our
			Rabbi.

			i. This Torah will not be changed and there
			will not be a new Torah.

			j. The Creator alone knows every act of
			humans, their thoughts, he comprehends
			their acts. Omnition

			k. The Creator rewards good to the keepers
			of His commandments and punishes the
			transgressors.

			l. Belief in the coming of the Messiah,
			though he may be late or has not yet come.

			m. There will be a recussitation of the
			dead whenever such desire rises up from
			the Creator.

		9. Second Major Work: Mishnae Torah, a systematic
		compendium of the Oral Torah.

		10. Third Major Work: The Guide for the Confused
		Rabbi Isbell's favorite.

			a. Logic alone falls short of explaining
			Judaism.

			b. The finite cannot accurately describe
			the Infinite.

			c. Only God can understand God.

			d. Philosophy can explan what God is NOT
			but not what God IS.

			e. God has no human attributes.

			f. The actions of God are beyond human
			abilities to comprehend and understand
			them.

			g. Miracles should not be understood in a
			literal sense.

			h. Sacrifice was replaced by intellecutalism.

			i. All knowledge is a way of moving towards
			God though study does not provide mystical
			union with God.

III. Reason and Enlightenment

FIRST REVIEW DUE

IV. The Hasidim

V. Enlightenment: "Reform," "Orthodoxy"

VI. Hermeneutics in the Modern Era

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Transvaluation of Sacred Texts

I. Inner Biblical Transvaluation

	A. Isaiah and Jeremiah

	B. Elijah, Elisha, and Hosea

	C. Job and Ecclesiastes

	D. Prophecy and Apocalypticism

II. Rabbinic Transvaluation of Biblical Texts

	A. Capital Punishment

		1. Death by stoning

			a. Is prescribed for: Apostasy, blasphemy,
			Shabbat violations, (FYI, one can write or
			trace in dust during Shabbat), disobeident
			son, adultery, (capital punishment is
			prescribed for both the female AND the
			male), misappropriation of that which
			belongs to God and rape

			b. A witness to any crime for which stoning
			is prescribed, should be able to participate
			in the stoning by casting the first stone.

		2. Death by fire is prescribed for:

			a. Incest

			b. Fornication

		3. Death by sword is prescribed for:

			a. Homicide

			b. Apostasy

		4. Rabbinical discussion on capital punishment
		began at a time then the descendants of the Israelites
		did not have their own country.

			a. One capital punishment in seven years
			was considered reckeless.

			b. Execution required a unanimous vote by
			the Sannhedrin.

	B. "An Eye For an Eye" and the Five Bases for Compensation
	are a system of monetary payments based upon:

		1. The age and health of the injured party.

		2. The gender of the injured party.

		3. The amount of the loss of economic or earning
		power.

		4. The intent of the guilty party.

		5. The level of embarrassment to the injured party.

	C. Homosexuality

		1. Was banned because of the commandment "to be
		fruitful and multiply."

		2. Was banned along with masturbation, premature
		withdrawal, or anything else to avoid pregnancy.

		3. Was considered a circumvention of procreation
		and marriage.

		4. Sodomy

			a. Adultery, false dealings

				1) Genesis 19:5

				2) Jeremiah 23:14

			b. Arrogance, lack of hospitality

				1) Ezekiel 16:49

			c. Transvaluation suggests that "behaving
			like Sodom on Gomorrah" is overlooking an
			important mitzvah regarding how to treat
			others', especially, non-Israelites or
			non-Jews.


	D. The Law of Prozbul

		1. Originates from a passage in Deuteronomy (15:1)
		"... you must make remittance ..." and verses
		folloing this, "... you must not harden your heart
		to your poor brother."

		2. From this, a law was enacted stating that unpaid
		loans would be cancelled every Sabbatical (seventh)
		year, making provisions for a seven-year repayment
		cycle in order to make capital available for people
		who earnestly need it.

		3. An opposite effect occurred, making loans for
		the poor practically unavailable.

		4. A legal way to circumvent this effect was found
		by Rabbi Hillel the Elder, who noted upon the
		context of the text the following:

			a. For those whom a loan would be an act
			of charity (and not a sound business deal),
			cancellation of these loans were to also
			be an act of charity.

			b. By the p e s a t , Biblical law applied
			ONLY to personal debts and NOT to the
			courts, but if the court so appointed, the
			original lender of the debt can be the
			court-appointed collector of the debt.

			c. A lender wishing to become a court-appointed
			collector of a debt, she or he would file
			a paper with the court that the debt should
			bcome public and the court-appointed
			collector of the debt will be exempt from
			Biblical legislation.

		5.  Upon seeing that those with capital were not
		loaning to those who need it, Rabbi Hillel the
		Elder wrote and ordained the P r o z b o l .

		6. Some important points of P r o z b o l :

			a. An ante-dated Prozbol is legal, but a
			POST-dated Prozbol is NOT.

			b. Collateral must be secured for a Prozbol
			to help protect the wealthy while making
			capital available to the poor.

			c. The court has the power for EXPROPRIATION
			for which the court-appointed collector
			has the power to collect a debt after the
			Sabbatical (seventh) year.

			d. Orphans may be lent money after the
			seventh (Sabbatical) year witout Prozbol.

				1) From a proviso by Gamalliel,
				who had adopted an orphaned child.

			e. For eligibility for Prozbol, collateral
			must be provided.

				1) To help protect the lender.

			f. Collaterial liens can be put on property
			that might otherwise be worthless.

				1) To help make capital more easily
				available for those who earnestly
				need it.

				2) Prozbol did not include superflous
				loans.

			g. A bond for debt could serve as collateral
			for Prozbol, but a bond is not a loan and
			is not affected by the (schmeta) loan
			cancellation.

			h. A relative or friend is allowed to put
			up a bond as collateral.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Some Examples of Christian (New Testament) Jewish Transvaluation

I. Jesus and Matthew Five (six interpretations of Biblical law)

	A. Formula:

		1. Matthew: "You have heard that it was said ..."

		2. Jeremiah: "You have read that it was written."

	B. Anger, hatred and jealousy.

		1. Leviticus 19:17 "Do not hate your brother with
		your heart.

			a. Commandment: "Thou shalt not covet."

		2. An innter motivation must be controlled so it
		doesn't lead to a sinful act.

		3. Baseless hatred: the hatred of one Jew towards
		another.

	C. Adultery

		1. Hebrew biblical laws prescribes stoning for both
		parties in the case of an adultery.

		2. Matthew five extends the idea of adultery to
		looking at a woman lustfully  while rabbinical law
		doesn't consider an evil thought to be a sin, though
		it warns that evil thoughts can lead to a sinful
		act.

			A. Matthew five - by ancient Jewish law -
			implies that if looking lustfully at a
			woman is adultery, then both the male who
			looked at her and the woman, too; should
			both be stoned to death.

			2. Therefore - in our modern transvaluation
			- would this be fair to the woman who may
			not have EVEN KNOWN she was being stared
			at lustfully, to be stoned to death, too?

		3. Haggadah tells the story of two elderly rabbis
		walking behind a woman who was alone. One rabbi
		suggests to the other they should walk in front of
		the woman to "build a fence around the Torah" by
		not having the opportunity to look lustfully upon
		her.

			a. "Building a fence around the Torah" is
			providing a safeguard by avoiding evil
			thoughts and the temptation these evil
			thoughts can lead to.

		4. Refer to "adultery" in the book of Leviticus
		and compare it to Matthew's idea of a lustful look
		as a sin.

		5. What should be the penalty for a lustful look?

			a. For the man AND the woman?

			b. Should she be executed for just looking
			good?

		6. Solomon Schecter(sp?): "An unchase look should
		also be considered as "adultery."

		7. Why would the prohibition on "coveting" be
		included in the Ten Commandments?

			a. Sin is not a condition in Judaism.

			b. Sin is an action and NOT a condition.

		8. New Testament prohibitions against marrying a
		divorced woman and divorcing a woman for the wrong
		reason.

		9. The freedom to depart from a scripture is a
		rabbinical idea.

	D. Writ of Divorce

		1. Deuteronomy 24:1 "Whoever puts away his wife
		..."

			a. For something obnoxious ...

				1) Prostitution (female slavery)

		2. Kituba

			a. Prenuptual agreement between parents of
			the bride and groom.

			b. Includes a "divorce price" to be paid
			to the woman if her husband petitions for
			a Get ( a petition for divorce ).

		3. Is considered by the rabbis to be a part or fact
		of life and the set about to make divorce the least
		painful and most equitable (and out of the public
		eye) matter as can be done.

		4. Is ommitted in the New Testament.

	E. Necessity of Oath-taking in Talmud and the New Testament

		1. A method for taking oaths and legal reasoning.

		2. Jesus denies the validity of oath-taking.

		3. Essenes

			a. Took oath-taking *very* seriously.

			b. Believed that people *should not* take
			oaths and regard doing so as purgary.

				1) Adopted by Matthew in Matthew
				Five

	F. Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. (false quotation)

		1. A commandment found nowhere else in the Bible.

		2. Not found in the Hebrew Bible.

		3. Leviticus 19

			a. Love your brother (member of the
			community).

			b. Do not hate your brother (member of the
			community).

		4. Matthew's views of Jesus are well-known to the
		rabbis.

		5. There is nothing new here.

		6. Matthew tends to lean towards being on the
		conservative side.

		7. Matthew always refers to, "... the scribes AND
		the pharisees ..."

			a. More correctly put, it should be "...
			the scribes OF the pharisees."

--------------------------------------------------------------------

	Torah = "to teach; individual statute; five books of Moses;
	Pentateuch (five scrolls)" Torah contains all sorts of
	literature: love stories, comedies, miracle stories, et
	cetera. Mishna = "Oral Torah." (the Rabbis did not want to
	appropriaate a divine text and change the name to "Oral
	Torah" can man a number of different things, a proper noun
	for a specific set of writings and a common noun to describe
	those writing that teach, "life of Torah = "Halakha."
	Problem with tanslation: Greek = "nomos" ("law")

--------------------------------------------------------------------


			b. The scribes were highly-specialized
			clerical assistants TO the pharisees.

		8. In the Hebrew Bible, attempts were made to reduce
		the number of commandments.

	G. Jews would not be impressed by the arguments of Matthew.

		1. The Gospel of Matthew begins with the geneology
		of Joseph and then goes on to claim he had nothing
		to do with the paternity of Mary.

	H. Prophecy

		1. Sixty citations of the prophets are in Matthew.

			a. Psychology of religious invention.

			b. Matthew's Jesus is portrayed as speaking
			to Jews.

			c. The Gospels tell us about Christianity
			from 70 - 110 CE.

			d. Matthew's formula: "This happened to
			fulfill the prophecy." 13 - 14

			e. Matthew's treatment of Jesus' parents'
			flight to Egypt.

			f. Matthew does not cite all the parallels
			that he could.

				1) In Exodus, the reference to
				"son" is in the collective form.
				Ex., Israel = all Jews, collectively.

	I. Relationship between Moses and Jesus.

		1. Jesus claims Moses as his ally in the divorce
		question.

		2. Moses had only permitted divorce in the case of
		hard-heartedness.

		3. Zachariah 9:9, according to Matthew.

II. The Methodology of Paul

	A. Is openly antagonistic to Torah and was overly enthusiastic
	to showing it was no longer valid.

	B. Three sins according to the rabbis

		1. Deny or reject the Torah.

		2. Idolitary

		3. Taking a life.

	C. Why did Paul so reject the Torah?

	D. Three points about Paul.

		1. A repentant sinner is more pleasing to God than
		one who has never sinned.

			a. The repentant sinner has faced the wrong
			he has done

			b. Humans will sin and there is no numan
			who has not sinned, only those who have
			not repented..

		2. Redemption, repentance and restoration to God
		is an integral part of Torah.

		3. True repentance can be verified only if a
		resulting change in life occurred.

	E. Matthew and Paul are addressing different audiences.

		1. Paul is very rabbinic in moving away from Torah,
		but Paul had done just the opposite as that which
		Jesus claimed to do ("I did not come to abolish
		the law.")

		2. Paul quotes the Toral to prove it is invalid.

		3. How Paul do it?

			a. He uses the Haraz method.

				1) The ornamental method of string
				verses together.

					a) 1 Corinthians: 6

					b) "Do not be yoked together
					with unbelievers."

			b. What shall we say, then? ("How do we
			know that?")

				1) Rabbinnic-like questions.

				2) Paul then, offers his own answers
				to his own questions.

			c. His negative statements are matched by
			other positive statements.

				1) Love your neighbor as you do
				yourself.

				2) Rabbi Hillel (intellectual
				grandfather of Paul)

					a) Whatever is hateful in
					your eyes, do not do to
					your neighbor.

					b) This is the whole of
					the Torah. Everything else
					is commentary. Now go study
					the commentary.

III. The Ten Commandments

IV. The Virgin Birth

V. "Manna"

VI. The Argument from "Prophecy"

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Rabbinic Theology: Classical, Medieval, Modern

I. God

	A. Exodus 15:3 "The LORD is a man of war.

	B. The Holy One as Mother and Father

		1. Isaiah 51:12 use of the world "I" and "I."

	C. Why did God leave the Temple?

		1. Jeremiah

	D. Good weeping in private places.

		1. Jeremiah: mourning women.

II. Humanity, God.s Relationship to Humanity

	A. Psalms 82:6 and 7: "Die like a human being."

		1. What is the origin of each?

	B. Nature of Humanity

		1. Humans were created like both the angels and
		the animals.

			a. They are created in the image of God.

			b. They were allowed to procreate.

			c. If a human does not sin, she or he will
			return forever.

			d. If a human sins, they will die.

		2. Judaism believs a newly-born child is without
		sin.

			a. Sinfulness is an action, not a condition.

	C. God's relationship to Israel

		1. The Israelites recieved Torah upon themselves.

		2. Goe approached every nation to accept the Torah,
		and all but Isreael refused to do so.

		3. Exodus 24: 7 important part of Roshi.

			a. Accepance of teh responsitility to follow
			God's commandments

		4. Amos 9:16 "two shapes connected nd the palace
		..."

III. Rewards and Punishment

	A. Which attitude is greater: goodness and mercy or
	retributive justice?

		1. Retributive justice would have already destroyed
		the world.

	B. Mishpot (lit., "sentence')

		1. Justice for the victim.

		2. Judgement for the guilty.

	C. Rosh HaShanah: "The Holy One moves from the attributes
	of justice to the attributes of mercy."

	D. Justice and Mercy

		1. Combine to balance sin with compassion.

		2. Humankind does not want absolute justice because
		humankind would not survive absolute justice.

		3. Humanking can survive under a God of justice
		and mercy.

	E. The reward for fulfilling a commandment is another
	commandment.

	F. The punishment for committing a transgression is another
	transgression.

	G. A person will be rewarded for unintentionally fulfilling
	a commandment, even if that person is completely unaware
	that she or he has fulfilled a mitzvah.

		1. One who leaves behind a sheep in the pasture.

		2. One who drops a coin to be found by someone
		else.

	H. Psalm 1:12

		1. One must do what is correct, even if one's nature
		isn't.

		2. ... trust in the LORD and do good.

		3. ... how much better will I treate you in the
		world to come if you trust in ME.

		4. During this time, the Israelites were not in
		their own country for they had no country left.

	I. Paradyine shift

		1. the rabbis push the Justice of God into the next
		life.

		2. The rabbis responses change with the facts "on
		the ground" change.

		3. This often is the response of all religious
		faiths when faced with adversity and uncertainty.

IV. Suffering

	A. Why does suffering exist?

		1. God punishes or chastises those he loves as a
		father might punish or chastise a son.

	B. Rabbi Kushner, "When Bad Things Happen to Good People."

		1. God suffers along with us and those who suffer,
		God loves the most.

		2. Love and compassion for Sammy the deaf cat.

	C. The point of the rabbis: there must be a standard.

		1. God is sovereign and free.

		2. We cannot control what God does.

V. The World to Come

	A. Heaven will come to Earth to correct and sanctify it.

	B. Judaism cannot control the world to come or knows who
	is - or who isn't - a righteous person.

	C. Will be a beginning of the repairing of the world.

	D. All righteous Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews) will share
	in the World to Come.

	E. All wicked Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews) who have forgotten
	about God will recieve no share in the World to Come.

	F. One does not have to be a Jew to be acceptable to God.

	G. Judaism is simply a way of life built around a specific
	relationship with God.

	J. Leviticus 26:4 "The earth will yield it's produce."

		1. How and when will we know this?

	K. Leviticus 6:25 "You will eat your fill of bread."

		1. In the future, one will only need to eat just
		a little.

	L. Exodus 23:25

	M. Hosea 2:23

	N. Isaiah 65 "Jerusalem"

	O. Isaiah 25

	P. Jimmy Swaggart, the "Bluebonnet Plague."

		1. Advocates that we abdicate our responsility to
		participate in the World to Come by helping to make
		it happen.

		2. If each and every Jew were to observe one - only
		one - Shabbat properly, the World to Come might
		have already done so.

VI. The Evil Yetzer and the Good Yetzer

	A. The rabbis conclude that humans have both an inclination
	for goodness and for evil.

	B. When left unchecked, evil can have a greater power than
	goodness.

	C. One's evil inclination is thirteen (13) years older than
	one's inclination for goodness.

		1. At the age of thirteen (13), one's inclination
		for goodness is born.

	D. God created BOTH good and evil.

	E. Torah is like a life-saving medicine to help one fight
	every evil with every bone, every day.

		1. Anti-dote for evil inclinations.

	F. An evil inclination can actually be good.

		1. Ecclesiastes 4 "Greed"

VII. The Messiah

	A. "Messiah" means literally, "anointed one" and includes
	all the kings of ancient Judea and Israel.

		1. Someone would be anointed for a specific purpose.

		2. A king may be anointed to protect the nation
		from an outside invader.

		3. Others were anointed to over-throw the hegemony
		of an occuping power and restore the nation.

		4. There are always more than one anointed figure.

		5. There is no ONE "Messiah" in Judaism.

		6. A messiah is a human, NOT a deity.

	B. Some high priests were also anointed.

	C. 2 Samuel 7 begins the fourth Biblical Covenent with the
	line of David.

		1. As long as there is a throne to be occupied in
		Judea or Israel, it will be occupied by a descendant
		of David.

		2. If there IS no throne to occupy, then there can
		be no Davidic king.

	D. Judea was once assigned as a province of the Persian
	Empire under Sirius.

		1. The assignment of Judea to the modern state of
		Israel was ratified by the United Nations in 1947.

	E. Before there can be a king, there has to be a kingdom
	and a throne to occupy.

	F. Jews were in a state of limbo, because there was no king
	to overthrow each succeeding empire.

	G. It was hoped there would be someone anointed to be king
	that would over-throw the Roman hegemony over Judea.

	H. Later rabbis were to re-frame the political idea to a
	"Messianic Age" with messianic ideals.

		1. Observe the Covenant.

		2. Fulfill God's Commandments.

		3. Participate in the World to Come by helping it
		come about.

	I. A rabbinical saying is, "If every Jew were to properly
	observe one Shabbat, we will have the ability to bring
	about the World to Come."

VIII. Final Judgment and Resurrection

IX. Martyrdom

X. Angels and the Heavenly Realm

	A. Earth and Heaven = Earth created before Heaven?

		1. Genesis 2:4

		2. Psalm 32

	B. Heavenly Beings

		1. Announced messengers.

		2. Genesis and Judges:

			a. Created in the likeness of God, but they
			were not allowed to procreate.

			b. Animals were allowed to procreate, but
			they were not created in the likeness of
			God. (Genesis 6)

		3. Nefellin: "fallen from Heaven."

			a. Nefel: a miscarrage or abortion; a woman
			dismounting a horse or camel.

XI. Proselytism and Conversion

	A. A rabbi will ask a Gentile who wishes to convert, "Why?"

		1. The correct answer would be, "To seek righteousness
		within the Jewish culture and way of life.

		2. There are no "double Green Stamps" for conversion
		to Judiasm.

XII. Importance of Lifelong Study

XIII. Family Life

XIV. Community Responsibility: Tzedakah (righteousness)

	A. Maimonides, often called by his acronym RaMBaM (Rabbi
	Moshe Ben Maimon), was a 12th century Jewish scholar and
	physician. Rambam wrote a code of Jewish law, the Mishnah
	Torah, based on the Rabbinic oral tradition.

	B. 8 Levels of Tzedakah - Honorable Ways to Give Charity
	- from the most honorable to the least.

		1. The highest form of charity is to help sustain
		a person before they become impoverished by offering
		a substantial gift in a dignified manner, or by
		extending a suitable loan, or by helping them find
		employment or establish themselves in business so
		as to make it unnecessary for them to become
		dependent on others.

		2. When the donor and recipient are unknown to each
		other.

		3. When the donor is aware of the recipient's
		identity, but the recipient is unaware of the
		source.

		4. When the recipient is aware of the donor's
		identity, but the donor does not know the identity
		of the recipient.

		5. When one gives directly to the poor without
		being asked.

		6. When one gives directly to the poor upon being
		asked.

		7. When one gives less than he should, but does so
		cheerfully.

		8. When donations are given grudgingly.

		SOURCE http://www.judaism.about.com

	C. The rabbis argued that even a "schnorer" should give to
	tzedakah.

====================================================================

MID-TERM EXAMINATION

The Calendar and Holidays of Judaism

I. Calendar of Judaism

	A. Is based upon a lunar calendar, but NOT a strict lunar
	calendar.

		1. Jews follow a modified lunar calendar seven (7)
		times out of nineteen (19) lunar calendar years.

	B. Has 351 days, losing 12.75 days to the solar calendar.

	C. Has thirteen (13) months.

	D. Makes certain that Yom Kippur will a l w a y s be in
	the fall.

	E. Is based upon an agricultural/seasonal way of life.

II. Holidays of Judaism

	A. Rosh Hashanah

		1. "Top of the Year."

		2. "New Year" in Judaism.

		3. Liturgical theme acknowledging the kingship of
		GOD and a commitment to serve GOD and GOD alone.

		4. Idea of Creation out of Chaos

			a. Creation is an act of GOD bringing order,
			structure and beauty out of chaos.

			b. There is no "creation out of nothing."

			c. Examples of Creative Acts:

				1) Michaelangelo

				2) Beethoven

			d. It is considered GOD-like to create
			beauty and order in our lives.

		5. The first and original Rosh Hashanah:  God
		creates the world out of chaos and brings order to
		it.

			a. Second day: T a s h l i c h

				1) Ceremony to visit a body of
				water (hopefully with fish prsent)
				to toss bread crumbs to symbolically
				cast away one's sins.

			b. Third day: Feast of Gedaliah

		6. The liturgical theme of each Rosh Hashanah:

			a. GOD re-evaluates HIS creation while we
			try to bring order out of the chaos we have
			made of our lives.

			b. God writes in a book, the names of
			everyone.

				1) Those in the "Book of Life."

				2) Those that are not.

				3) Book of deeds, rewards and
				punishments.

				4) Compare to the Book of Esther.

		7. Traditional Greeting

			a. "May be inscribed and s e a l e d on
			the 'good list.'"

			b. After the ten "Days of Awe" names are
			sealed in the "good list."

		8. Days of Awe - High Holy Days

			a. Restitution

			b. Repentance

			c. Repair

			d. A time to "sweeten the deal" to improve
			one's chances to get one's name on the
			"good list."

				1) Challah dipped in honey.

				2) Eating sweets.

	B. Yom Kippur

		1. Evening before: prepare for a 25 hour fast.

			a. One should afflict themselves.

				1) Water and other liquids.

				2) Solid food.

				3) Leather shoes.

			b. Exceptions:

				1) Expecting mothers.

				2) the Elderly and infirm.

				3) the Seriously Ill

				4) the Very Young.

			d. Greeting: "Hope you have easy fast."

		2. Kol Nidrei "All Vows" Ceremony

			a. Includes a prayer asking God not to
			punish for vows we have made, but not kept.

			b. Origin: Historically, Jews were often
			forced to say things they did not want to
			say and Kol Nidrei was a release from those
			vows a Jew could not keep or were forced
			to make under threat.

		3. The Day of Atonement

			a. For sins against GOD, Yom Kippur atones.

			b. For sins against one's neighbor, Yom
			Kippur does not.

	C. Sukkot (eight days)

		1. First of the three major holidays.

		2. Sukkah: a temporary brush arbor structure in
		which one symbolically lives in for seven days by
		taking one's meals there.

		3. A reminder of the time when the ancient Jews
		had fled from Egypt and had to live in temporary
		structures.

			a. A Jew should not become overly-rooted.

			b. GOD owns the land and permits HIS people
			to live there.

		4. Four species of plant are held together and
		waved in all directons to signify the omni-presence
		of GOD and the fact that there are many different
		kinds of Jew and yet, all different kinds of Jew
		are always as one.

			a. Citrus

			b. Palm

			c. Myrtle

			d. Willow

		5. Also an agricultural holiday during the fall.

		6. "Hoshana Rabba" ("Save us!")

		7. Seventh (7th) night: stay awake and recite Pslams
		and Deuteronomy.

		8. Eigth (8th) day:

			a. Recite prayer for rain.

			b. Simhat Torah: Joy of the Torah

				1) Dance with the Torah.

				2) Thanking GOD FOR TORAH

			c. Exodus 32, 33 and 34

				1) About the sin of the Golden Calf

					a) Symbolizes that Jews
					are still under the same
					rules.

			d. Return to Genesis 1:1

	D. Hannukah (eight days)

		1. Victory of the Hasmoneans.

		2. Celebration of the "miraculous" sacred oil lamp
		burning for eight days' on only a single days'
		worth of purified and sanctified lamp oil.

		3. Falls very close to the Christian holidays.

		4. FYI: "Babylon" translates as "Gate of the Gods."

	E. Tu Bishvat "New Year of the Trees"

		1. Tu B'Shevat, the 15th of Shevat on the Jewish
		calendar is the day that marks the beginning of a
		"New Year for Trees."

	F. Purim (14 Adar, usu. March)

		1. Celebrates the first time when the Jewish people
		took up arms and defended themselves.

		2. Includes the story of the first organized attempt
		to exterminate the Jewish people during the Persian
		Empire by a decree in which all Jews were to be
		killed in the 14 of Adar (usu. March).

			a. Decrees are carried on horseback by
			messenger and are not subect to revision.

			b. Queen Esther - being Jewish, herself -
			requested the King to send out an edict
			that would allow all Jews to arm themselves
			and kill Persians who try to kill them.

		3. One is allowed to make the most ridiculous jokes
		on Purim.

	G. Passover (the most celebrated and observed Jewish holiday)

		1. Observance of the original deliverance from
		slavery in Egypt.

		2. The Passover Meals:

			a. Prohibition against eating levened bread
			in rememberance that ancient Jews had not
			enough time to allow bread to leven.

			b. Passover meals should be fundamentally
			different.

		3. The Passover Seder

			a. The entire ceremony is intended for
			children.

			b.  Four Questions:

				1) Why is this night different than
				all other nights?

				This is the night we were freed
				from slavery in Egypt.

				2) Why do we eat only unlevened
				(Matzoh) bread?

				Our ancient forbearers did not have
				time to allow the bread to leaven.

				3) Why do we dip our vegetables in
				salt water?

				As a reminder of those Jews who
				are still in slavery.

				4) Why are we dining like ancient
				Romans?

				Because - like the Romans - we are
				now, a free people.

		4. Includes a series of fourteen (14) ceremonies
		with fourteen (14) kinds of food.

			a) With five (5) items on the central plate.

				1) Egg, sympolizing fertility.

				2) Shank bone.

				3) Bitter herbs, symbolizing the
				bitter taste of slavery.

				4) Parsley

				5) Haroset (fruit salad) which
				includes a form of "paste" representing
				the mortar used by ancient Jewish
				masons.

		5. Includes the Passover Haggadah ("story") about
		how Jews used to be slaves in Egypt and a prayer
		for those still in slavery.

		6. Recent: additions:

			a. Myriam's cup added to Elijah's cup.

				1) Elijah is the fiercest combatant
				for social justice and the harbinger
				of the "World to Come."

				2) Miriam is a prophetess who helped
				to write the Torah.

			b. Leavened bread on the central plate at
			a Passover Seder to symbolize how unwelcomed
			gays and lesbians were made to feel by the
			Jewish community.

			c. An orange as a sixth item on the central
			plate to celebrate women in Judaism as
			rabbis and cantors.

				1) The first female rabbi was
				ordained in 1972.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

The Laws of Kashrut

I. Kasrut

	A. Abstract

		1. "Kasrut" is an abstract term for "acceptable."

		2. Appears three times in the Hebrew bible including
		the books of Esther and Ecclesiastes.

	B. Collective Laws and customs as to what may be eaten and
	how it should be prepared.

	C. Includes preparation, storage and serving.

	D. Certification by Rabbi

	E. There is no Kosher way to prepare pork (because no matter
	how it is prepared, pork is unacceptable), but there are
	inappropriate ways to prepare a calf.

	F. Frazier. "The Golden Bough"

	G. There are based on a specific religious law for which
	there is no practical reason.

II. What is acceptable and what is not.

	A. Fruit: All fruit and vegetables are permitted.

`               1. Genesis 1;29

		2. May be consumed with either meat or milk.

	B. Animals

		1. May be either "clean" or "un-clean, appropriate
		or inappropriate.

		2. Those that chew the cut and have a split hoof
		are acceptable.

			a. Herbivores

			b. None are predators.

		3. There are forty-two animals in the Hebrew bible
		that are considered "un-clean" or unacceptable.

			a. Camels

			b. Pigs (pork), probably because they come
			from Europe.

	C. Birds

		1. Twenty-four species of birds are considered
		"un-clean":

			a. Leviticus 11

			b. Deuteronomy 14

			c. Common Characteristics

				1) Predators

				2) Carniviorus birds

				3) Buzzard, hawk, vulture, et
				cetera.

				4) Tend to have round eggs (which
				are also forbidden).

			d. Differences in Tradition regarding the
			turkey.

				1) Ashkenazic/Yiddish

				2) Shepardic/Ladino

			e. Eggs of forbidden birds are also
			unacceptable.

			f. Fertilized eggs are also forbidden.

		2. The Hebrew bible does not list those birds that
		are "clean" or acceptable.

		3. "Clean" or acceptable species of birds must
		have:

			a. Crop

			b. Gizzard

			c. Extra talon

		4. The only permitted species of bird are those
		that have had a long history of being acceptable
		for comsumption.

	D. Fish

		1. Should have at least one easily removable scale.

		2. The Shepardim (Ladino) will accept Sturgeon.

	E. Insects

		1. There are four kinds of locust that may be eaten,
		but all four are nearly impossible to identify.

		2. All others are considered "abominable."

		3. While the honey-bee is forbidden for consumption,
		the honey is considered a "transferred nectar" and
		therefore, is permitted.


III. Preparation - "Shehitah" (ritual slaughter)

	A. Sheht

		1. Licensed Kosher butcher.

		2. Follows a complex series of regulations.

		3. Carries out two major duties:

			a. Proper and humane slaughter of the
			animal.

			b. Carries out an examination of the animal
			for slaughter.

		4. There are specific rules for the killing of meat
		and poultry.

			a. One knife must be dedicated for such a
			purpose and may not be used for any other.

			b. The slaugher must be accomplished with
			a single swipe of the blade.

		5. There is no specific rule for the slaughtering
		of fish.

			a. Fish are tough animals to kill.


	B. Treifah ("torn")

		1. Unacceptable for consumption.

		2. Means an animal has one of eight defects that
		categorized it as "Un-clean" or "unacceptable."

			a. During temple Judaism, the fat of the
			animal is burned as an offering and therefore,
			considered the food of the God and may not
			eaten by humans.

			b. Animals that have been "torn" may not
			be eaten.

			c. Animal slaughtered by any other means
			other than a licensed Kosher budcher may
			not be eaten.

			d. Forbidden foods may not be eaten in any
			amount.

				a. These may contaminate a permitted
				food by means of taster.

	C. Defects

	D. After

		1. All the blood must be drained from the slaughtered
		animal or poultry.

			a. Based upon the prohibition against the
			consumption of blood.

			b. "Blood is life" is the basis for the
			Koshered butchering of meant and poultry.

			c. As much blood as possible should be
			drained before cooking.

				1) Immerse in cold water for fifty
				minutes before cooking.

				2) Lay out on a grooved or perforatd
				board.

				3) Srinkle with kosher salt of a
				medium texture.

					a) Salting must occur within
					72 hours of the slaughter.

				4) Let stand for thrity (30) minutes.

					a) May be cut short during
					the even of Shabbat.

IV. Meat and Milk

	A. Deuteronomy

		1. Three (3) times in the Torah, it is written "Do
		not seethe the kid in its mothers' milk.

			a. From the same mother and calf.

		2. Meat and milk may not stored, prepared or eaten
		together.

			a. Doing so is considered cruel to the
			animal.

			b. Deriving any benefit from such is also
			not permitted.

	B. Regarding the human treatment of animals.

		1. Animals are seen as our partners in creation.

		2. The law of human treatment of animals supercdes
		the Law of Shabbat, our most sacred law.

	C. "Building a fence around the Torah."

		1. Separate meat and milk so that neither comes
		into contact.

			a. Dishes, pots, pans, cutting boards and
			trays.

			b. Utensils

				1) Forks

				2) Knives

				3) Spoons

				4) Kitchen

				5) Dining

		2. A waiting period is proscribed between the
		consumption of meat and milk.

V. Eco-Kasrut

	A. Treatment of Animals

		1. Poultry farms.

		2. Feed-lots.

		3. Slaughter and packing-houses.

	B. Ethics

		1. "If" ... "then" statement: If Judism is about
		the whole of life, than all life must be sacred.

		2. "They" ... as "we." statement: We share the
		planet with other animals and they, as we, are a
		gift from GOD.

VI. Conclusion

	A. Rationale


		1. Response to a history of dietary persecution
		and torture of Jews by others.

		2. The bible does not give a rationale for the
		dietary laws.

			a. Leviticus 11

			b. Deuteronomy 14.21

		3. A way of keeping social and political distinctions
		between the Jew and Gentile.

		4. A way of opposing assiimilation.

			a. From a time when Jews were f o r c e d
			to separate from the larger culture.

		5. Maimonedes: a means by which to train  us in
		the mastery of our appetites and restrain the growth
		of our desires.

			a. Example: the eating of pork.

			b. Example: The notion of meat boiled in
			milk as undoubetedly gross.

		6. When religious circumstances demand one's
		rationale, the rationale becomes invalid.

	B. Keeping Kosher

		1. Very few Jews actually do, because it's nearly
		impossible to do so  in many places.

		2. Is a LOT easier in Israel than most other places.

		3. Is easier within a very large Jewish community
		in the diaspora.

		4. May have an opposite effect than that for which
		it was originally intended.

		5. Much of keeping Kosher is custom.

The Diaspora: 4B5-A49B CE

I. Jews in Egypt and Babylonia

	A. 8th century, BCE: Jews fled from Judea to Egypt.

	B. 6th century: Jews were expelled from Egypt and forced
	to migate to Babylonia.

II. Jews in the Roman World (before Constantine)

	A. Following the defeats of 70  and 135 CE.

	B. Migration was always followed by anti-Jewish sentiment.

	C. Thoughtful Romans found the principles of Judaism
	attractive and many became prostelytes and God-fearers.

	D. To others' the ethical ideas of Judaism were attractive
	but they were repulsed by Jewish rituals such as circumcision.

III. Jews in the Christian World

	A. Three Significant Events Concering Jews in the Diaspora

		1. A supercession between Jews of the "Old Way"
		and Jewish Christians.

		2. A merging of fundamental ideas between paganism,
		Judaism, Zoroastrianism and Greek philosophy.

			a. Zoroastrian Dualism - first Church
			Controversy

				1) fully God

				2) fully man

		3. The conversion of Emperor Constantine to
		Christianity.

	B. Christianity becomes the the official faith of the Roman
	Empire and Judaism loses it's license of credibility and
	is then considered a nefarious sect within Christian Rome.

	C. Three significant events of 329 CE:

		1. Jews were forbidden to own Christian slaves or
		to convert pagan slaves to Judiasm.

		2. Prostelyte status was forbidden and intermarriage
		was punishable by death.

		3. The Christian Canon replaced Roman Civil Law.

	D. Theodosius II (408-450 CE)

		1. The Theodosian Code of Roman becomes the basis
		of European jurisprudence for the next 1500 years.

	E. While Orthodox Christianity was wholly intolerant of
	Judaism, Popes, Bishops, and priests tended to ignore laws
	against the Jews.

		1. Pope Gregory discouraged anti-Jewish practices.

		2. The written laws were not always followed.

	F. Among that which was "officially" prohibited:

		1. Jewish ownership of Christian slaves.

			a. We will read later how Jews might be
			forbidden to own slaves at all, but the
			were permitted to trade them as slave
			merchants.

		2. Employment of Jewish doctors.

		3. Jews could not become civil servants or politicians.

IV. Jews in the Muslim World

	A. Until 1492 when the Muslims were expelled from Spain.

	B. King Sisibut (612-680 CE) forcibly converted Jews to
	Islam in 616 CE.

	C. The Prophet Mohammed (P.B.U.H.) believed he was not
	teaching anything new, but ssomething VERY old (Judaism)
	and was disappointed when Jews in Islam did not follow him.

	D. Jews and Christians were both permitted to practice as
	"a people of the book."

	E. Six anti-Jewish laws in Muslim Spain:

		1. Speaking negatively about the prophet Mohammed
		was forbidden.

		2. Attempts to covert Muslims to Judaism were
		forbidden.

		3. Jews were to marked clothing to distinguish them
		as separate from Muslims and Christians.

		4. Jews were to pay a heavy poll tax.

		5. Jews were not permitted to ride horseback.

		6. Jews were not permitted to own weapons.

	F. During this time period, the first formal liturgies of
	Judaism were written by Mesopotamian and Babylonian rabbis.

	G. During the 8th century, CE, Karaites began to challenge
	Judaism as something fixed and immobile.

		1. Founded by Anan Ben David.

	H. Rabbi Akiva

		1. Translated the Hebrew bible to Arabic.

		2. Published commentaries on the more important
		books and wrote a lexicon of the more obscure Hebrew
		words that only appeared once or twice in the Hebrew
		bible.

		3. Established a philosophical basis for the study
		of Judaism.

	I. Saadia Gaon

		1. Lays the foundation of the study of Jewish
		philosophy.

		2. His death in 942 CE coincided with the rapid
		decline of the Jewish settlement in Mesopotamia.

	J. "Golden Age of Judaism" in Muslim Spain

		1. Spain severed its ties with Baghdad and becomes
		an independend Muslim state.

		2. Spanish Muslim rulers proposed a great tolerance

		3. What was proscribed in writing against Jews was
		not always followed by Muslims and Christians.
		for Jews.

	K. Holy Toledo

		1. Muslims lose Toledo in Northern Spain to Europeans.

		2. Strict Muslims migrate to Southern Spain from
		North Africa.

		3. Non-Muslims were soon forced to wear turbans to
		distinguish them from Muslims.

			a. Both Muslims and non-Muslims looked so
			much alike, a turban was required on the
			heads of non-Muslims to set them apart.

		4. An era of meaningless coversions began.

V. Jews in the Middle Ages

	A. The Roman Emperor viewed Jews as an economic asset.

	B. France during the Charlemange period began a friendlier
	atmosphere for Jews.

	C. Germany accepts Jewish settlers on the basis of their
	linguistic skills of the "wandering Jews."

		1. The scattering and migration of Jews in the
		Disapora fostered linguistic skills that made them
		valuable in trade and commerce.

	D. England was the last of the European countries to permit
	a Jewish settlement.

		1. They were also the first Europen country to
		expel them.

	E. Council of Clermont

		1. Pople Urban II urged crusades against the "Jewish
		and Muslim infidels", recover the Holy Land and to
		revenge the blood of Christ.

	F. A series of Popes declared stories of Jewish atrocities
	an athema.

	G. The "Islamic Menace" was crushed in 1212.

	H. Allegiance to a one true faith was comparable to the
	Feudal System that existed in Europe during the Middle
	Ages.

	I. The Jew could not enjoy the benefits of either Islam or
	Christianity.

		1. Jews could not own real estate, hold any title
		of "Lord" and were confined to urban areas.

		2. While denied ownership of slaves, Jews became
		deeply involved in slave trading.

		3. The term, "Jew" became synonymous with "Merchant."

			a. "The Merchant of Venice."

			b. Slave merchant.

	J. Jews in the Financial World


		1. Catholics believed the lending of money for
		interest was sinful and since Jews were already
		sinners and Christ-killers, the lending of money
		for interest would be an approproiate occupation
		for the Jews.

		2. A Christian king who needed money to perpetrate
		a war could borrow from Jews and if he lost, he
		could then conveniently expel all Jews from his
		kingdom.

		3. A government in poverty would simply expel all
		Jews, which automatically would include those to
		whom the government owed money.

			a. Later in Nazi Germany, "Juden, RAUS!"

				1) "Jews, get OUT!"

		4. In the 12th century CE, Italy chooses to
		nationalize all lending agencies.

			a. Many small Jewish pawnbrokers went
			bankrupt.

			b. Not allowed to own property, Jews carried
			portable wealth.

			c. Capital: unattached funds - a surplus
			of cash - ready to lend.

		5. Given they were not allowed to own slaves or
		property, Jews became characteriszed as "misers"
		or "money-grubbers."

			a. All a Jew could own would be what he or
			she could carry with them.

				1) Currency

				2) Precious metals

		6. Whenever a country or kingdom needed money, it
		would borrow from Jews; whenever a country didn't
		it would expel them.

	K. First Laterin Council (1179)

		1. Jews were forbidden to have Christian employees.

		2. Believers (Christians) were forbidden to lodge
		with infidels (Jews).

			a. So much for Jews being in the hotel
			business in the Middle Ages.

		3. The first ghetto was established near a foundry,
		hence the name "ghetto" meaning "foundry."

	L. Second Laterin Council (1215)

		1. Pope Innocent I decreed that all "infidels" must
		wear a distinguishing badge.

			a. Recall non-Muslims being required to
			wear a turban in Muslim Spain.

		2. Public debates between Christian and Jewish
		scholars under the following rules:

			a. A quite from the New Testament canon is
			considered prima facia evidence.

			b. Any quote from an early Church father
			is considered true on it's own face.

			c. Any attempt to counter a New Testament
			writing is considered blasphemy.

			d. The reader can just guess how these
			debates went for the Jewish scholars.

	M. 1240: Pope Gregry IX speaks from the Chair of Peter in
	Papal Infallability.

		1. He declares all of the Talmud as blasphemy.

		2. Many priceless hand-written documents were
		burned.

		3. Jews were absolutely defenseless.

	N. 1278: Pope Nicholas III issues a Papal order that any
	priest could enter a synagogue and obtain permission to
	preach the Gospel to the Jewish congregants.

	O. Nations began to expel their Jewish settlers, though
	the degrees of expulsion were not quite literally carried
	out.

		1. England

		2. France

		3. Germany

	P. The Black - Bubonic - Plague

		1. Was blamed on the Jews because so few were
		infected with disease as compared to their non-Jewish
		neighbors.

		2. While no one knew at the time of infectious
		diseases, Jewish doctors - because of Halakhaic
		law - always washed their hands between treating
		patients.

		3. In revenge, sixty (60) Jewish communities were
		completely removed from existence, including their
		inhabitants (men, women and children).

	Q. Baptism or Death

		1. Baptised Jews led a double-life.

		2. The were called "pigs" by the Church and signs
		of Jewishness encountered suspicion and were searched
		for throughout Middle Age Europe.

			a. The washing of hands between praying
			and eating.

			b. A smoke-free chimney during Shabbat.

			c. Children named after biblical characters.

			d. A "special" knife used for no purpose
			other than the slaughtering of animals.

			e. A plot of farm land tilled into seven
			parcels with the seventh left fallow.

			d. Land cleared with the edges of its
			borders rounded.

		3. Torquemada becomes the first Inquisitor General
		to try to identify "pigs" and Judaizers.

		4. Anusim: "those who were persecuted or punished."

	R. 30 March, 1492: Ferdinand and Isabella

		1. Order the expulsion of all Jews (150,000
		individuals, estimated) from Spain within one-hundred
		twenty (120) days.

		2. Sicily ratifies the same decree/order.

		3 Isabella's daughter offers to marry the king of
		Portugal given his country purges itself of all
		Jews.

	S. Eve of Pesach, 1497: Jewish children were forcibly
	baptised the following Easter Sunday and the port of Lisbon
	becomes the first "concentration camp."

	T. The Inquisiton arrives in Portugal

		1. Eighty-five (85%) of all Portugese Jewry were
		slaughered for failing to be "real Christans" or
		for "doing something Jewish."

	U. Two Countries that became important to migrating Jews.

		1. Poland, where Jews were valued by Polish nobles
		as tax collectors and estate managers.

			a. What a Jew couldn't own, he or she could
			manage.

			b. Given a Jew could only own what he or
			she could carry them, a Jew was good with
			collecting and handling money.

			c. Migrating Jews with lending or pawn-brokering
			experience were, by nature of their vocations,
			skilled at collecting and handling money.

		2. Russia, where the vast distances kept many Jewish
		communities relatively freefrom Tsarist and Cossack
		persecution.

			a. In these vast wastelands, Jewish Messianism
			arose.

VI. The Diasporai 1492 - 1815

	A. The Ashkenazim of Europe

		1. German for "Hebrew."

		2. Include those who can trace their ancestory to
		the German States during the Middle Ages of the
		15th and 16th centuries.

			a. German States

			b. Austria

			c. Poland

			d. Russia

			e. Baltic States

		3. Speak a dialect of German that is written in
		Hebrew that borrowed hundreds of Hebrew, German,
		and Polish words.

		4. Adhered to a more traditional for of Jewish
		scholarship.

			a. The Ashkenazim were often isolated from
			society.

			b. Anthropologically Ecumenical

		5. Moses Isserles wrote footnotes to Joseph Caro's
		Shulhan Arukh.

		6. Cossack Revolt in Poland

			a. Led by Bognan Chmielnicki against the
			Polish aristocracy and the Jewish caretakers
			of their estates.

			b. 25 - 30% of Polish Jewry were massacred
			and 10% were made slaves.

	B. The Shepardim of Spain and the Middle East

		1. Most are descended from Spain.

		2. Were far less isolated and far more secular in
		their Jewish scholarship.

			a. The Shepardim are closer to Islam than
			the Ashkenazim.

			b. Islam is closer to Judiasm than it is
			to Christianity.

		3. Are far more liturgically creative.

		4. Speak Ladino, a dialect of Spanish written in
		Hebrew.

		5. Live in areas of different cultures that are
		liturgically different and much more creative than
		the Ashkenazim.

		6. Wrote codes of law just as the Muslims do.

			a. Shulhan Arkuh - Joseph Caro

	C. The Haskalah (Enlightenment) and Moses Mendelssohn.

		1. 1789. Pope Joseph II sets forth an edict of
		toleration.

		2. 1791. The National Assembly of France gives full
		citizenship to Jews and permits the Sannhedrin.

		3. 1869. The Northern German Parliament proclaims
		emancipation of Jews and gives them full citizens'
		rights.

		4. During the first third of the 19th century, a
		Jew is a member of the British House of Commons.

		5. Jews as citizens.

			a. Were allowed to leave the Shtetl.

			b. Could participate in national life, the
			life of the nation.

			c. Could go to secular universities and
			study secular subjects.

		6. Moses Mendelssohn

			a. Called for freedom of worship in Jewish
			liturgy and the use of the vernacular in
			worship and choral singing.

			b. Translated the Pentateuch into Modern
			German.

			c. Fostered the scientific study of the
			Hebrew Bible.

			d. Introduced secular subjects to Jewish
			education.

			e. Was himself, an observant Jew.

			f. Believed that core Jewish values an be
			kept and maintained, even when immersed in
			a secular culture.

		7. 1818. Reform movement begins in Germany.

		8. 1818. Reform communities in Seesen and Hamburg
		issue their own Seder, omitting passages about the
		coming of a Messiah and a restoration of the Twelve
		Tribes of Israel.

		9. 1824. First Reform Temple in America in Charleston,
		South Carolina.

		10. 1838. First conference of Reform Rabbis.

		11. 1875. Hebrew Union College founded.

		12. 1885. Pittsburgh Platform

			a. Determines that only the moral laws of
			the Torah are considered binding. (sounds
			like Christianity)

	D. The Chasidim and Cult of Personality

		1. Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, the "Bal Shem Tov" --
		"Master of the Good Name"

			a. Born in 1700

			b. Advocated a mystical approcach to Judaism
			and the study of Torah for its own sake as
			an act of devotion (simcha shel mitzvah)
			to GOD.


		2. Sects of the Chasidim (Larger Dynasties)

			a. Betz

			b. Bobov

			c. Breslov

			d. Lubavitch

			e. Ger

			f. Klausenberg

			g. Satmar

			h. Skver

			i. Vizhnitz

		3. Kabbalah school of Jewish Mysticism

		4. Tzaddik

			a. Literally, "righteous one."

			b. Believed by the Chasidim to be the
			spiritual channel through which GOD flows
			and a living example of how to be a Chasidic
			Jew.

		5. Tisch Table: a Chasidic mass service on Fridays.

		6. For the Chasidim, personal piety is superior to
		all forms of Judaic scholarship.

		7. The personality cults developing around the
		Chasidic Rebbes and Tzaddiks troubled Rabbis greatly.

			a. Were based upon a personal attachment
			to a particular Rebbe or Tzaddik.

	E. The Orthodox Response

		1. Rabbi Elijah ben Shlomo Zalman, known as the
		"Vilna Gaon."

			a. Most prominent among the Misnagdim:
			"opponents" of the Chasidim.

				1) the differences between the
				Chasidim and the Misnagdim were
				strictly a matter of custom and
				NOT a matter of Halakha.

				2) Rabbi Kaplan (Reconstructionist)
				"The past should have a vote, but
				not a veto."

			b. A plague in the village of Vilna was
			blamed on the Chasidim and Chasidic Jews
			were closed-off from the Shtetl.

		2. Rabbi Samuel Hirsch

			a. Stauncly orthodox Jew.

			b. Educated at a secular university in
			Bonn, Germany.

			c. Proposed that happiness is a byproduct
			of serving GOD and only GOD as a legitimate
			goal and that happiness for the sake of
			happiness itself is an illegitimate goal.

		3. Rabbi Moshe Sofer

			a. Born 1762 in Hungary.

			b. Despised Reform Judaism and Moses
			Mendelssohn.

			c. Responded to Reform Judaism with the
			quote,

				1) "The Torah forbids anything
				new."

			d. Rejected a responsa that Westphalian
			Jewish soldiers in a secular army be
			permitted to eat legumes during the Passover.

			e. Proposed a Rabbi have permission to
			bequeath his position to his son in a system
			of co-regency.

			d. His last will and testament quoted,

				1) "Do not touch the books of Moses
				Mendelssohn."

	F. Jerusalem and the Messiah

		1. In the 17th century, Shabbetai Zvi begins to
		attract followers.

		2. in 1665, Rabbi Levi announced that *he* was
		Elijah and declared that Zvi was the Messiah. Levi
		further announced that:

			a. The Turkish Sultan would be deposed.

			b. The Twelve Tribe would be restored and
			would rule in the Sultan's place.

		3. After a coerced conversion to Islam, Zevi dies
		in exlie in Albania.

		4. After his death in exile, Zevi's followers await
		his second coming and formed the Donmeh sect of
		Judaism.

			a. Much like the conversos of Spain.

		5. In Modern Jewish Thought,

			a. The Messianic Age refers to a future
			time of peace and brotherhood on the earth,
			without crime, war and poverty.

			b. Jerusalem is a state of mind where the
			will of GOD is honored and respected.

SECOND REVIEW DUE

Anti-Semitism

I. The Origins of Classical Anti-Semitism: Tacitus, Juvenal, Apion

	A. What have Jews have been so despised?

		1. Jewish resistance to religions and deities other
		than their own.

		2. A major component of Judaism involves the ideals
		of morality, equality, justice, democracy and an
		egalitarian point-of-view.

		3. Jews refuse to participate in pagan rituals.

		4. Non-Jews loathe the Jewish deity, whom they
		envision to be a powereful and austere God.

		5. A human proclivity to "blame the victim."

		6. Jews have always been "different."

		7. The continuing presence of Judaism reminds
		Christians and Muslims that their own predictions
		have not come true.

	B. Anti-Semitic Philosophers

		1. Tacitus: Roman poet and satirist who argued that
		the Jewish sabbath is an excuse for laziness.

			a. In reality, the Jewish sabbath is a day
			in which one is to leave God's creation
			alone and not alter it for one's benefit.

			b. For the Jew, there is no day off from
			the caring of animals.

		2. Abion: Roman apologist arguing against Josephus
		circulated a story that Jews sacrificed a Greek
		citizen and consumed his entrails.

	C. Early Christianity: five principles of interpretation
	of the four Gospels of the New Testament.

		1. All four New Testament Gospels quote that the
		chief priests and pharisees/scribes conspired
		together against Jesus.

			a. Chief priests were Roman political
			appointees and there was only ONE priest.

		2. The Synoptic Gospels argue that Jesus final meal
		was the Passover Seder.

			a. Jesus is depicted as breaking leavened
			bread during the meal and during Passover,
			no leavened bread is to be eaten as the
			holiday is in remembrance of the exile out
			of Egypt for which there was no time for
			allow breads to leaven.

		3. The Pharisees - the "ultimate bad guys" of the
		Gospels - plotted to kill Jesus because of their
		disputes with  him.

			a. Polite disagreement/dispute is a foundation
			of Jewish thought and a Jew would not plot
			over a disagreement/dispute.

			b. Three pharisees actually defended Jesus'
			Christianity.

			c. The Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels of
			the New Testament were by persons who did
			not understand 1st Century (C.E.) Judaism.

				1) "Rebirth" is a Jewish idea.

				2) Crucifixion is a pre-emptive
				strike - by the Romans - against
				acts of sedition and POTENTIAL
				sedition (even before the act).

				3) Pilate was the only Roman
				procurator recalled back to Rome
				on the grounds that he was "too
				cruel."

				4) Rabbis Hillel and Gamaliel argued
				to "leave the Christians alone."
				(believing they'll eventually fall
				from popularity.)

		4. The Gospels' portrayal of the trial of Jesus by
		the Sanhedrin is inaccurate because the Sanhedrin
		could not have been held at night.

		5. The Gospels portrayal of the Sadducees and Chief
		priests opposing Jesus.

			a. The Sadducees were the wealthy elite
			who were incestuous with Rome and who
			controlled the money.

			b. There was only one chief priest.

III. Paul

	A. Tent-maker from Tarsus and obsessive-compulsive who
	organized entire communities of Gentile Christians.

	B. Argued that the Torah has become invalid.

	C. In Romans 7, Paul argues the Torah is impossible.

		1. In the Torah, there are prescriptions as to what
		to do when one is in adversity.

		2. The Torah celebrates the repentant sinner
			over anyone who would claim to have not
			sinned at all.

		3. The Torah will tell one what to do when one fails.

	D. Paul denies the necessity of the Jewish observance.

====================================================================

Below are example essays graciously provided by a friend who took
the class from a previous semester.

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Yohanan ben Zakkai to Vespasian

	Most respected Vespasian, future ruler of all that is Rome,
	please listen to these words and find favor in them. I have
	come to you safely only by escaping Jerusalem in a coffin,
	an act I would rather not discuss.  I am not certain if I
	should ask for the salvation of the temple, but I am certain
	that in developing a textual interpretation of the Torah,
	Jews will be able to travel great distances and still feel
	a sentiment and connection to their Jewish tradition. It
	is because of this that I ask three things of you: to not
	overtake the city of Yavneh and its scholars, that leadership
	continues in the princely family of Rabbi Gamliel, and that
	a doctor be appointed to care for Rabbi Tzodok. Though the
	Baryonim have destroyed our supplies and would not have
	permitted me to leave the city, I have overcome innumerable
	odds to face you. Please grant these requests that I have
	asked in order that our humble religion may continue beyond
	the destruction of our temple and holy city. I ask that
	you would allo of the great Rabbi Hillel to come true, that
	I could be "the father of coming generations."

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Kashrut

	As defined, kashrut simply means appropriate or proper.
	Though the term only appears four times in the Bible, none
	of which pertain to dietary regulations, the concept of
	kashrut has come to represent one of the most definitive
	aspects of modern day Judaism. As evident in the lack of
	scriptural presence, the concept of kashrut as dietary
	regulations is purely rabbinical in nature. The laws of
	kashrut vary in topic from acceptable and non-acceptable
	foods to eat, the methods that are to be used in preparing
	those foods for concumption, and humane methods of the
	treatment and slaughter of those animals. The Bible classifies
	certain animals as tahor (clean), and tamay (unclean).
	These words do not necessarily pertain to the cleanliness
	of the animal, but rather which of them are acceptable for
	consumption under the divine commandments. Any animal that
	kills other animals for consumption is generally not
	acceptable for consumption. Another important aspect of
	kashrut pertains to which animals are sacrifi acceptable.

	This sacrificially acceptable concept can be traced to the
	story of Noah in that he was instructed to bring more of
	some kinds of animals aboard the ark for sacrificial purposes
	(depending on which narrative one reads). The great importance
	placed on animals can be traced to story of Adam. Before
	Eve was created, God brought each animal before Adam to be
	named. It is inferred that God considered animals as being
	our permanent companion, though none were found suitable.
	It is quite obvious in this narrative alone that God placed
	significant importance on the relationship between man and
	animal, raising the level of ethical treatment of animals
	to a near "do unto others" level.

	In trying to understand the importance of observing Kashrut
	law from a Jewish perspective, one could infer many different
	significant aspects. Ritual purity as it pertains to holiness
	seems to be the most relevant explanation of pre-rabbinic
	kashrut observance. Israel, as aspiring to a certain level
	of holiness, was required to be holy in an unholy world.
	This aspiration has transvalued into modern day rabbinic
	Judaism. Kashrut observance provides a method of identification
	with the past (temple Judaism), as well as a connection to
	the worldwide Judaic civilization as it exists today.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

High Holy Days

	The Yamim Noraim, or High Holy Days, includes the holidays
	of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. More specifically, this
	title refers to the ten day period beginning on Rosh Hashana
	and ending on Yom Kippur. The term High Holy Days emphasizes
	the personal, reflective, inward looking aspects that take
	place during the designated time period. Rosh Hashana,
	though commonly recognized as the Jewish New Year, can also
	have a fourfold meaning as: the Day of Judgement, the Day
	of Shofar Blowing, the Day of Remembrance, and New Year.s
	Day. From the time of Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, practicing
	Jews are to look inward to evaluate the life they have
	lived in the past year. It is because of the belief that
	the judgment of God comes forth on Rosh Hashana and issues
	the sentencing of that judgment on Yom Kippur that Jews
	evaluate their previous years deeds to seek forgiveness
	for sins they may have committed. This ten day period can
	known as the Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim), or the Ten Days
	of Repentance (Aseret Yamei Tsuvah). On Rosh Hashanah it
	is believed that God inscribes our names and deeds in books,
	and it is within these books that God decides whether we
	will live or die in the following year. During the following
	Ten Days of Repentance, God keeps the books open. Though
	God may have judged, He has yet to issue a sentence. It is
	by the giving of charity, praying, and most importantly
	repenting that one can reconcile with God and thus change
	His inscription of the book. It is in the repentance process
	that Jews seek a righteous judgment from God in hopes that
	He will grant them a good upcoming year.

	The significance of these High Holy Days lies within the
	concept of forgiveness. Without a temple or sacrificial
	rites, remittance for sin would be impossible without these
	important holidays. These holidays provide a means for Jews
	to enter back into a relationship with God, regardless of
	what may have separated them in the previous year.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Shabbetai Zvi vs. Jesus of Nazareth

	Though both Shabbetai Zvi and Jesus of Nazareth laid claim
	to the title of moshiach, their interpretations and actions
	within that role differ in many ways. Zvi as a Kabbalist
	interpreted the supposed prophecy of the coming of moshiach
	from the Zohar and assumed that role, whereas Jesus
	interpreted numerous passages from the Tanak to authenticate
	his supposed divinity. Perhaps most shocking in the revelation
	of Zvi as moshiach to his followers is that he supposedly
	pronounced the tetragrammaton, or name of God. Both men
	were able to gather a number of devout followers, though
	according to the Gospels Jesus accomplished this often by
	exhibiting miraculous powers (healings, exorcisms, etc.).
	The ultimate fate of both men also differs radically. When
	faced with death, Zvi converted to Islam whereas Jesus
	refused to renounce his claim of divinity and accepted
	crucifixion as punishment. The followers of Zvi and Jesus
	interpreted the deaths of each in differing manors as well.
	The death of Zvi was somewhat insignificant in that he died
	lonely and "in obscurity." The death of Jesus was public
	and immortalized by his followers. Whereas Zvi.s death was
	the end of his following, the death of Jesus seemed to be
	the beginning of his movement. The death of Jesus was
	interpreted as necessary and willingly accepted by him, as
	recorded by the Gospel writers. Though both claimed to be
	moshiach, Jesus differed in that he also claimed to be God
	incarnate.  This claim sets him apart from Zvi in that the
	ranking temple authorities in the 1st century viewed the
	message of Jesus as completely heretical. Zvi became an
	apostate by embracing Islam, whereas Jesus was immortalized
	for not renouncing his claim of divinity. Both men spurred
	movements that survive to this day, though the Jesus movement
	has become significantly greater is popularity over that
	of Zvi.

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LAST UPDATED
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