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orion Someone has finally grasped the problem I've been addressing!

At 07:00 28/07/97 +0300, Albert Baumgarten wrote:
>I write to make a
>terminological proposal for the Second Temple period, when we do risk
>muddying the waters unnecessarily by dragging in a Rabbinic term.
>Perhaps we should say that all Second Temple groups had supplements. This
>is entirely neutral, identifying with the terminology of no particular
>group. Each supplement had its own content, as each had its own way of
>connecting itself to the written Torah, the common source of authority.
>Some would have appealed to a new revelation as their supplement, others
>to what we might call a pseudepigraphic work, while a third group would
>have been loyal to their own traditions, handed down among them for
>generations.
>By adopting the terminology I propose I think we can be clearer, and also
>compare groups more effectively, as we can then see the different ways in
>which each was trying to solve the same question.
>Al Baumgarten

This is the first intelligent suggestion that shows a grasp of the problem.
It permits acknowledgement of the "interpretive supplement of Torah," which
I suggest, borrowing from your suggestion, might also be a useful phrase,
without begging the question of claims that *rabbinic* Torah sheba'al peh /
oral Torah is totally unconnected to IST.  (To clarify for those who failed
to grasp it, I was using Torah sheba'al peh, as distinguished from rabbinic*
Torah sheba'al peh, in the sense of IST.) Perhaps an acronym (IST) is also
useful.  For those who refuse a definition of Torah sheba'al peh (Oral
Torah) which begs the question of an asserted mutual exclusivity from IST,
this (I've just demonstrated) offers a solution; a solution I specifically
and explicitly requested.  My thanks for this viable suggestion that enables
the communication of concepts heretofore misunderstood and not grasped.
Precise logical terms unravel some of the toughest logical problems.  Elegant.
Yirmiyahu Ben-David
Paqid 16, Qehilat Ha-Netzarim (Nazarene Jews)
www.netzarim.co.il
Ra'anana, Israel