Do the Sadduccees deserve to be seen in a more favorable light?

by True North 20 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • True North
    True North

    English Patient,

    Isn't there some inconsistency between the start of your last post and the end of it? You begin by stating that "Jews are a racist race." Yet at the end you say "The facts remain that the Talmud is a racist religious textbook that is taught to practising Jews across the world." It's one thing to condemn a religious sect for anti-social teachings and the effects of those teachings on its members -- and I think that all of us ex-JWs here have personal experience with such teachings and their effects -- and another thing entirely to condemn people because of who their ancestors were. It's the latter practice that is in accord with "Nazi propaganda."

    I don't know if the passages you cited are actually in the Talmud; I haven't read it and don't plan to. Have you read these passages there in their context? Not that I would be shocked to find that such passages are there; any "groupism" that divides the world into "us and them" (or especially "us against them") does tend to produce such sentiments to a greater or lesser extent. But these days, are all parts of the Talmud considered to be of equal importance by those who read and follow it?

    You said it is taught to "practising Jews": What about Jews who are not practicing? I don't know what the current state of affairs is, but many years ago I was given to understand that even in Israel only about half of the Jews were considered "religious." Would you blame the non-religious Jews for what it says in the Talmud?

    Who does study and try to follow the Talmud in its entirety these days? I'm pretty sure that Reform Jews don't, or most American Jews for that matter. Do Conservative Jews? I suspect not. Do Orthodox Jews or "Ultra-Orthodox" Jews? I'm not so sure. I think some may, but I'm not sure how seriously they would view such passages as you cited. If they take them literally to heart, then shame on them. That is wrong.

    BTW, one of your excerpts did catch my eye: "If a Jew is tempted to do evil he should go to a city where he is not known and do the evil there. (Moed Kattan 17a.)" I recently saw an Israeli-made "indie" film about a young rabbinical student who is being troubled and distracted from his studies by sexual urges. One of his rabbi instructors advises him to do exactly this, to go to another city where he is not known and consort with prostitutes to get it "out of his system", which he proceeds to do thus setting the scene for the rest of the movie.

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