Halakha: retrojection and not retrojection

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StephenGoranson
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Halakha: retrojection and not retrojection

Post by StephenGoranson »

A recent discussion that is not archived online prompted this comment about halahka (plural, halakhot), Jewish rabbinic law. The term is known from the Mishna and later writings up until today, but probably also existed earlier as well. I say this, and wrote about it,* following several others, given that some Qumran mss make a negative wordplay against it, calling a group, presumably the Pharisees, "seekers of smooth things." Those Qumran mss, preferring different legal interpretations, rejected halakha. So, calling Qumran practice halakha is a misnomer and an erroneous retrojection.

*details and bibliography in the following, esp. pages 542ff:
"Others and Intra-Jewish Polemic as Reflected in Qumran Texts"
https://people.duke.edu/~goranson/Essenes_&_Others.pdf
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