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BABYLONIAN TALMUD
Last week I stumbled across an interesting link to a full translation
of the Babylonian Talmud. It's a transcription of the highly-regarded
Sochino translation and has a lot of related material on the same
website to lend perspective.
The Babylonian Talmud is a huge and very controversial Jewish religious
work that is said to have begun back in the days after the fall of the
First Temple in Jerusalem when the Assyrians invaded Judea and hauled
many Jews off to slavery in Babylon. Popes have ordered it burned. Kings
have ordered death for anyone possessing it. Jew-baiters have often used
passages from it to justify their hate. Jewish sects like the Pharaisees
considered it superior in significance to the Bible itself. Many modern
Rabbis, heirs to the Pharaisees traditions, consider it to be at least
on a par with, if not of greater import, than the written Torah most
Christians refer to as the Old Testament.
As with many extra-Biblical works, the basic premise is: God may have
written/inspired the Bible but it is man who interprets it. Needless to
say, there are many ways to interpret it. And if you imagine yourself
to be under Divine Guidence while doing so, you would be inclined to
believe you possess the One, True Interpretation. Many Christian and
Jewish sects/heresies/cults owe their existence to their 'inspired'
interpretations of the Bible. With over 60 copyrighted versions of the
Bible in existence, there are even many mainstream interpretations to
choose from, ranging from subtle to crude. Throw in the obvious fact
that both times the Jerusalem Temples were destroyed, virtually the
entire written Torah went with them. It had to be rewritten from
memory by guys like Ezrah.
The Talmud is Judaism's "Oral Torah" and was supposedly passed for
centuries literally by word-of-mouth. After the Romans trashed
Jerusalem and the Second Temple, not long after Christ's resurrection,
the Temple priests were replaced in prominance by the Rabbis of the
Diaspora. It was they who committed this oral record to paper for
the first time.
It is an amazing document made up of many seperate books and plumbs
the heights and the depths, incorporating within itself everything
from the most exquisitely profound religious insights to the most
disgusting and obscene worldly perversions. It has it all, in a way
even the Bible doesn't.
References, both coded and explicit, can be found to Christ and
Christians. References that reflect the torment and persecution
Jews suffered for centuries at the hands of Christians. Reasonably
enough, it ranges from outright condemnation to bitterly sarcastic
black-humor. Victims aren't inclined to sympathize with their
tormentors. It is these passages that Jew-Baiters have embraced
to justify their hatred and led to many Christian efforts, over
the millenia, to have the Talmud destroyed. Obviously failed
efforts.
Under the guise of exploring the meaning of the written Torah,
justifications for the most disgusting of pervsions are also
indulged in in great detail with arguments so self-serving that
no morally astute person would dream of embracing them. The sort
of stuff no Rabbi in their right mind would expose a congregation
to. There are comparable Christian documents. But unlike Christians,
Jews haven't censored out the embarassing parts of their written
traditions. It is a legitimate part of the record of their religious
exploration and one that shares common ground with religous
explorers of every persuation throughout human history. Sometimes
such exploration leads in contrary directions. To pretend otherwise
is dishonest and deprives following generations of valuable clues
as to what to look for and expect in such a pursuit. Besides, the
Talmud was not for 'general consumption'. It was to be studied only
by those who were considered mature and adept enough to deal with
its subject matter. People who would know what parts to skip.
On the other hand, much of it has the only record of the thoughts
and prayers of many of Judaism's earliest Torah Giants. The most
ancient roots of their vast and rich spiritual treasury.
Transcribing the Talmud must have been an arduous and enormous job
for whomever did it. Making it available on-line makes it available
to a far wider audience than it's ever before had. And a much more
diverse audience as well. No doubt it will be mis-used at least as
much as properly used. An equal certainty is that those who are
inclined to deliberately misinterpret it, will freely do so. Never
the less, risk involved was a worthwhile one. Previously the
size and cost of it limited it to far smaller audience. That it is
both a Jewish and human treasure is beyond question. Christianity's
'oral record' is dispersed and divided. It has nothing comparable
to the Talmud.
http://come-and-hear.com
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