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# Another Foggy Moment
Sunday, November 16, 2003, #225
Complete text at http://www.angelfire.com/oz/foggy/afm225.html
and http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=fcfd706.0311161813.1968e2c1%40posting.google.com

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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.

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