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Re: orion Clarification (fwd)
>From: David Goldman <davic@pop.erols.com>
>Subject: Clarification
>
> >
>As an Orthodox Jew I believe it would be much more interesting for the
>scrolls to be analyzed in relation to rabbinic Judaism because rabbinic
>Judaism is the system used since the time of Moshe Rabenu. The system and
>codification of law was put to writing in the Mishnah by R. Yehudah Hanasi
>and its commentaries in the gemara later.
>
>Part of Judaism is the fact that Torah was always oral from the time of
>Abraham. G-d decided to put a portion into writing at Sinai. Part of the
>oral system was the system of exegesis, historical traditions (midrash) and
>the empowerment of the Sages to interpret the law using the method. "Lo
>bashamayim hi" means that G-d deferred to the decisions of Sanhedrins and
>Sages who follow the system....
>---David Goldman
>davic@erols.com
While I was the first to applaud your suggestions for a more sensible
approach to the DSS materials,including the recognition that they are a
quintessentially Jewish phenomenon, I hasten to dissociate myself from your
remarks above (except of course for your comment about Yehudah Hanasi).
The notion that rabbinic Judaism has been used "since the time of Moshe
Rabbenu" (a misnomer if ever there was one -- the word rabbi doesn't even
APPEAR anywhere in the Tanakh!) is simply a traditional piety for which--
let's be frank about it -- there is not now and never has been a shred of
evidence! It is a matter of religious belief, as of course are your
statements about what God did or did not do at various times. In my
opinion, this kind of analysis has no place in an academic discussion and
creates obfuscation rather than enlightenment.
Please note that my remarks are offered as expressions of professional
opinion and not as criticisms of religious belief as such.
Judith Romney Wegner
jrw@brown.edu