I met a man recently whom I thought to be a secular Israeli, and he thought this of himself as well. After our talk I think we were both convinced that we were men of faith. He had overheard me discussing religious history with a friend. When my friend departed for other business this man … More Arguments for Faith
Zoroaster or Zarathustra Although few Jews have ever heard his name, Judaism has a prophet named Zarathustra or Zoroaster. He lived about 2500 years ago in Persia. He left a few scriptural books or other works behind, but none of them are extant today. Nevertheless he is apparently a central prophet in Judaism. As I … More Judaism’s Silent Prophet: Zoroaster
This article from Haaretz (The Globe) discusses the modern Rabbinic Seder. I have a few disagreements with it. First it describes a Hebrew spring festival replaced by a myth about Egypt. The author, no surprise given that this is Haaretz, subscribes to the theory that the Exodus story was invented and did not actually occur. … More Origins of the Rabbinic Passover Seder
The Sadducees are a topic of much debate and conjecture. Many different beliefs are ascribed to them, and all of the accepted sources are those hostile to the Sadducees. Imagine reading the history of the Republican Party as written by the Democrats or vice versa. Dr. Jona Lendering, a Dutch historian, wrote an article about … More The Sadducees, the Pharisees, and Judaism
According to the Talmud the current year is 5770 (from creation). This number is, however, a farce, a kind of twisted joke. The Talmudic Rabbis took the Roman Calendar (ab urbe condita – from the foundation [of Rome]) upon which calendar (still used for official purposes in France and in some Orthodox Christian churches) the … More The Talmudic Calendar
The Rabbis tell us that the written Torah is too complicated for anyone to understand. Thankfully, they tell us, G-d gave Moshe a second “Oral Torah” that was handed down through the generations and was finally written down in the second century AD in a book called the Talmud. Never mind that the Hebrew Bible … More Is There an Oral Law?
The Rabbis tell us that we must have the oral law (the Talmud) because the written Torah is too hard to understand. Interpretation is required. They hold that Moshe received a second Torah at Mt. Sinai, one he passed down by word of mouth over the many generations. Conveniently, only the Pharisees knew of this … More The Fiction of the "Oral Law"
Silver Trumpets 