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  • From: MarianneLuban AT aol.com
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Amalekites!
  • Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 15:05:17 EDT

In a message dated 8/13/2004 5:24:50 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
rosewalk AT concentric.net writes:


> Our Torah has been
> revered for so many generations, I believe, not just because it
> contains the Law
> of Moses. I think it goes beyond even that and that Jews even forgot why
> the
> Torah is so holy and just assumed it must be on account of the Law.
>
>
>
> That is not true at all. Some Jews may have forgotten, but most of
> the Jews I know, know without a doubt that the Torah (written and
> oral) contains within it all knowledge, past present and future, and
> that the law it contains is DAVKA for the purpose of connecting
> ourselves with that holiness.

That is a fundamentalist approach. And I suspect "most Jews you know" are of
that inclination. However, "most Jews" are not inclined to be
fundamentalists nowadays and don't opt for blind acceptance of anything. I,
for one, don't
believe the Torah "contains within it all knowledge, past present and
future"--but my point was that science (in which I do believe) seems to
indicate the
the Torah contains plenty of truth and accurate oral tradition to an amazing
degree. But, until lately, no one could be certain of the accuracy of many
of
the stories in the Torah and many, including Jews, have increasingly begun to
consider them just fanciful tales over the past century. Perhaps your idea
of
"holy" is even different than mine. To me, something that is "holy" is
"hallowed" or "revered"--.in other words, remarkable and wonderful. So much
so
that it must never be lost. And that is what I meant when I wrote that the
Jews
over the millennia, even though tradition advised them that the Torah was a
sacred thing to be preserved at all costs, had no way of knowing just how
much
truth it really contains. They simply "assumed" it was true because the
tradition was to be believe that was the case. To claim otherwise is
tantamount to
saying that the Jews have always understood microbiology, a science that only
evolved in the past couple of decades. So the Torah contains the truth of
the history of Man and the Jewish people specifically--as it turns out. Does
it
help us with the present? Only if following the commandments to the letter
of the Law makes one happy. Does it contain knowledge of the future? No.

Marianne




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