1975 on the back burner (page 4)

Fisherman

Jews not considering the Torah to be history.

Reform Jews consider the Chumash as allegorical.

Actually, "chumash" is a technical term, and while I understand what you personally mean, it is not an exclusive synonym for "Torah." It means "codex" or a book in codex form. It often is used for a book like the Torah in codex format, but can also mean the Hebrew or even the Christian Bible in codex format as opposed to scrolls.

Reform Jews have not traditionally taught that the Torah was allegorical as whole, since it does not contain merely narratives, and not all of its narratives are the same. Some of its narratives are mythology and some are folklore and the rest is law. Allegory does not apply to folklore nor to all forms of mythology.

There are also strands of history--very little--and, since 1999, there are some Reform scholars who now believe that some of the events described are more historical that Reform has held to be myth. A great change happened in that movement where English (or the vernacular) was dropped and Hebrew was adopted as well as tradtional garb and traditions were reincorporated in imitation of Reconstructionism. (The claim was a rising "response to secularism.") Alongside this has been a growing view of more traditionalism in view of the Biblical narrative in Reform Judaism. Some are even reconsidering the historicity of the Exodus.

peacefulpete

DisillusionedJw.........There is no single opinion among Jews anymore than among Christians. A useful website lays out some of the options:

Torah from Heaven: Current Approaches - TheTorah.com

Fisherman

Actually, "chumash" is a technical term,

Actually it means 5 in Hebrew. I use the word and so do other Jews to distinguish from the oral Torah because a Jew sees the Talmud as part of the Torah

KalebOutWest

When used for a book, it's actually Yiddish, not Hebrew.

I'm a Jew. The Hebrew word for five, got coined by the Askhenazi Jews as a term for a codex Torah.

I speak and pray in Hebrew, Ladino, and Yiddish.

I am a practing Reconstructionist Jew

I am not going to debate further. I have a flight to catch

Fisherman

When used for a book, it's actually Yiddish, not Hebrew.

I know all about it.

Disillusioned JW

Fisherman I notice you said "I use the word and so do other Jews ...". Are you a Jew? I thought you were a JW (or at least in agreement with the vast majority of the religious teachings of the WT's JW religion). Are you both a Jew and one of Jehovah's Witnesses?

peacefulpete I know there is diversity of views among Jews (for example, some are even Messianic Jews who believe Jesus is the Messiah and God; some ethnic Jews are even JW elders). But I thought that some religious ideas are held by the vast majority of Jews who believe in the Jewish religion (Judaism).

Disillusioned JW

Folks, today I went to my local library and I found out that none of the branches of my county's public library has The Jewish Study Bible. [However the public library of the nearby county of the largest city of my state has it, but copies of it are already checked out.] However from my local library branch I checked out the following two Bibles.

- The Jewish Annotated New Testament - NRSV, its Editors are Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler; published by OXFORD University Press

- Complete Jewish Bible: An English Version of the Tanakh (Old Testament) and B'rit Hadashah (New Testament), by David H. Stern

Wikipedia says the following. "David Harold Stern, Ph.D. was an American-born Messianic Jewish theologian of Israeli residence."

peacefulpete

Did you read the link I provided ?

I do believe it will break down the widely held positions regarding the nature of the Pentateuch.

Disillusioned JW

I have not clicked on it yet.

Update: I have now quickly read some of it.

1975 on the back burner

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