Judaism

[John2]

I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm feeling lost today, but I find myself reflecting on my time in Judaism (which ended about fifteen years ago). I wasn't raised religious, and I wasn't much of a believer at the time, but there was something appealing to me about the idea of cleanness and uncleanness and being distinct and set apart from other people. And I like history, and I find Jewish history (and everything that's spun off of it) fascinating. And I guess it gave me a sense of structure. But for me it was all about study and behavior rather than belief.

I don't tend to hang on to things, but I still have my tallit (with tzitzit I made myself, with a blue cord), yarmulke and tefillin (in a black velvet bag), and once in a blue moon I'll take them out and look at them (and if nothing else, they were expensive, so there's no sense in getting rid of them). But I sold and gave away most of my books, which I don't regret (though I wish I had kept Danby's Mishnah). They were heavy and hard to move and I was moving around a lot.

I was poor so I made my own tefillin at first, with straps and pouches with tiny scrolls I wrote myself with the appropriate OT passages. Then I managed to get some "real" (if inexpensive) ones, and those are the ones in my bag (and I made the bag too). And my tzitzit are probably the craftiest things I've ever done (with much trial and error) and I think they look cool. I only made them because I wanted fringes with blue cords, and tallits tend to come with all white fringes, and I don't like the way that other fringes with blue cords look (like Karaite fringes or those made with tekhelet).

This do-it-yourself approach is typical of my approach to Judaism (and life) in general. I just did my own thing. I lived in a Reform Jewish town so it didn't seem to matter.

So why did I leave Judaism if I was more or less free to have my own personal version of it and wasn't much of a believer anyway? The main reasons, I guess, were because of my interest in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Karaism, which made me lose respect for Rabbinic Judaism. And when I became more OT-centric, without all the "fences," I saw Judaism for what it is, a religion that at the core involves sacrifice and I don't eat meat.

Over time my view of Rabbinic Judaism has softened though. I see the Pharisees as more or less moderates trying to deal with "hotheads" like the DSS sect. But I don't think there was an Oral Torah, nor am I interested in rabbinic exegesis, and if I could believe in the OT I would be a Karaite.

[semiopen]

I like your post John. Interesting that you wrote it so close to Rosh Hashanah.

Personally, I became more interested in Judaism about 11 years ago, because I thought the combinations of the Hebrew letters in the Tanakh might be useful in understanding stock market price movement. Spoiler alert - seems pretty dubious.

A little while ago, I was thinking of the phrase v'talmud torah k'neged kulam
. "but the study of Torah is equivalent to them all." This is from Mishnah Peah 1:1 which is usually the last line of the morning blessings before we recite the blessing on the Tzitzit.

https://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Peah.1.1?lang=en

These are the things that have no measure: Peah [corner of the field which, while harvesting, must be left for the poor], Bikurim [First-fruits that must be brought to the Temple and given to the priest], the appearance-sacrifice [brought to the Temple on Pilgrimage Festivals], acts of kindness, and the study of the Torah. These are things the fruits of which a man enjoys in this world, while the principal remains for him in the World to Come: Honoring one's father and mother, acts of kindness, and bringing peace between a man and his fellow. But the study of Torah is equal to them all.

There's a lot of commentary on this. For example, http://www.rationalistjudaism.com/2013/ ... kulam.html

So, having said all that, what does Talmud Torah k'neged kulam actually mean? Even assuming that it refers to Torah study rather than Torah teaching, it would mean something along the lines of the Gemara in Kiddushin 40b, where the question is asked, which is greater, study or action? One view, of Rabbi Tarfon the non-heretic, is that action is greater, but the consensus is that study is greater - and the reason given is that study leads to action! This is as per the Rishonim who describe the purpose of Torah study as knowing how to observe the mitzvos. You can't know how to live life properly unless you learn how.

I agree with the Rabbi that this prayer isn't a convincing argument for not working, on the other hand, it's not clearly saying that all the mitzvot should be followed.

FWIW, I find it comforting to meditate on this passage.

[John2]

I don't miss saying blessings before and after doing everything, that's for sure, semiopen. And your link reminds me of the Hillel "one foot" passage:

On another occasion it happened that a certain heathen came before Shammai and said to him, 'Make me a proselyte, on condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot.' Thereupon he repulsed him with the builder's cubit which was in his hand. When he went before Hillel, he said to him, 'What is hateful to you, do not to your neighbour: that is the whole Torah, while the rest is the commentary thereof; go and learn it.'

http://www.come-and-hear.com/shabbath/shabbath_31.html

But I don't think study is an excuse for not working either. And it reminds me of something the Karaite sage Nehemia Gordon says about learning the Torah (which I happened to re-read this morning, coincidentally), that the average person in ancient times could not afford to have a Torah but could understand it by simply hearing it every seven years (men, women and children, not just men only like in Orthodox Judaism).

So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Festival of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns—so they can listen and learn to fear the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess."

And that Dt. 30:11-14 says that the Torah is "not too difficult for you or beyond your reach":

Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

[John2]

Well, I put on my tallit and tefillin yesterday. I didn't know it was Rosh Hashanah until afterwards. I haven't paid attention to the calendar in years. There was a mezuzah in the bag too. The tallit is a little yellowed but looks nice, as do the fringes. And the tefillin have retained a muscle memory of the shape of my arm and head. The paint on the head tefillah is peeled a little, and I forgot how long the straps are, and I don't remember how to tie the strap on my hand and fingers so I just winged it. I didn't say any blessings. It was interesting to look at myself in the mirror like that.

This brings up some issues. Having previously had Karaite leanings, I don't think that Rosh Hashanah is the biblical new year, but rather Yom Teruah, as Nehemia Gordon explains here:

https://www.nehemiaswall.com/yom-teruah ... h-hashanah

And I likewise agree that wearing tefillin is not necessary.

https://www.nehemiaswall.com/tefillin-phylacteries

And back in the day I was wondering about the meaning of Lev. 19:27 ("You shall not round the edge of your head, nor shall you destroy the edge of your beard."). I had a beard and wondered if I should also grow sidelocks, and I looked everywhere for a good explanation to this verse but only got the runaround in the articles and commentaries I could find. I was on a discussion group with Nehemia at the time and he had a satisfying explanation using only the OT (the article says it was posted in 2014, but it was originally written about 13 years earlier; it also deals with tattoos and cutting the flesh), and it turns out that sidelocks are also not necessary (nor are beards).

https://www.nehemiaswall.com/shaving-beards-sidelocks

[John2]

Nehemia has a website with links to the above and other articles about Karaite Judaism that I found helpful back in the day and I thought I'd put it here. Karaism seems very sensible to me, a breath of fresh air, even though I don't believe in the OT.

http://karaite-korner.org/