Sunday, September 2, 2007
Three thousand years of beautiful tradition, from Moses to Sandy Koufax...
One of my issues with Judaism is the concept of mesora. Each segment of yiddishkite has its own tradition that allegedly is the end of an unbroken chain of knowledge that began at Sinai. As anyone who has ever played a game of "broken telephone" can tell you, this concept is ridiculous. The very fact that we have so many traditions today (or even at the time of the gemara) is a testament to the fact that some, or all, of the tradition had been mixed up or made up entirely. When I posed this question to people the answer I usually get is "god makes sure the mesora isn't broken". Again, the multitude of traditions would indicate that this belief is clearly incorrect. The more logical explanation is that the many varying, and sometimes contradictory, mesoras are the result of human influence over the past 3,000 plus years. If that is the case: Why follow religious law of a non-divine source?
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8 comments:
Bingo. See here for similar approach.
href=http://baalhabos.blogspot.com/2007/01/evolutionary-trends.html
Yes religion is man made. Just look at how religious Jews treat each other and the lack of ahavas yisrael and kiddush hashem in the Chabad community. If they really believed God was watching them, they'd behave a little better towards each other.
The Chabad Scamathon is next week. Cunin will raise millions for his coffers, and his shul and family will greatly benefit from the welfare he receives. I know the Chabad Treatment Center (the supposed main beneficiary of the Telethon) doesn't just take in Jews who can't pay. Where is the money going? Probably into Cunin's growing real estate empire.
Please post on this.
Just came across your blog from Jewish Athiest (an oxymoron if I ever heard one)
I recall my parents waiting on line for hours to see the Rebbe and get a dollar from him. I told them the wait to see an old man with a white beard who answers your bequests would be alot shorter at Macys during Christmas.
But my parents were wonderful.
What you have to realize is the Lubavitch has an annual budget of over $1 billion. It takes alot to pay for folks who neither work nor go to school. More importantly, Lubavitch as a movement has been active and on the national scope for about 30 years. (probably more) In all that time what has happened to Judaism world wide? Intermarriage is up, the conservative movement is pretty much gone, Yeshivas are closing by the dozens and I think it's one in 10 Jews who are interviewed claim to have any alliegence to Israel.
Great work guys! Your chabad dollars at work.
Lubab no more....you've yet to say where you went to college and what type of work you do.
I am an ex-yeshiva boy who went to secular college and law school. Although I don't observe alot I'm still not convinced the theory of evolution has more credence than the parting of the red sea.
But keep it coming.
But the Jews of Yemen, who were separated from the rest of the Jewish world for 2000 years, were airlifted to Israeli in 1948 and showed up with the same tzitzit, the same tefillin, the same laws of kashruth, the same hilchoth shabbat, and the same Tanach, depited the fact that they existed in Yemen for 1500 years without a printing press.
Obviously there was a system in place to preserve the oral & written traditions. What changed from group to group was mainly local minhagim.
Hi LUBABNOMORE,
Have you investigated Karaite Judaism? I am not a Karaite, but they have a lot of good ideas.
You can google "Karaite Judaism" on the web, and you'll find lots of websites about them.
asher, thanks for the post. You may not be convinced about evolution or the splitting of the red sea but the difference between the two is if you DO believe in evolution you aren't required to follow a set of laws and customs.
I'm going to avoid posting information that is identifying (job, school). The anonymity of the blog lets me get my thoughts out without repercussion from the Jewish community.
I hope you'll post again in the future.
Does it make a difference if it real or not?
I for one like belonging, I want my kids to grow up religous, and if you have an easy going nature then its not really hard to toe the line.
I know you're thinking another sheep following the flock, sticking his nose into the ass one the sheep walking in from of me...
I will admit that jews have lotsa issues, but show me a sociaty that's more fulfilling.
I know lotsa kids that strayed and I don't find them any happier 'cause of their 'freedom'.
On the other hand sticking with it does have tha inner 'qvelling' that unlike drugs has no withdrawal effect after it.
In the years 1890 to 1930 nearly 2.5 million Jews left the Pale of Settlement in Russia, most came to teh northeastern US, and 95% of thier kids are no longer frum, due to the fact that the immigrants had your attitude, 'oy s'iz shver tzu zan a Yid' teh kids hated the strain of it, intermarried and are lost to us.
So, you have your life, think carefully.
Lubab;
Kudos!
It is plausable to say that there was some kind of revelation at a mountain, and that a set of laws was given. Less plausible is the idea that along with this revelation a whole trailer of other laws was supplied, some without even a hint in the written text. Where did the concepts of ressurection, or reincarnation, or of Messiah come from? Yet they are presented as part of the mesorah even without the presenter's blinking.
It is my experience that when we attempt to confront our Jewish authorities, or when we try to explain things to the Orthodox community, it is best to leave Moses and Mount Sinai alone. Rather, it is better to begin to unravel the drivel uttered by the Mishnaic rabbis.
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