There are many verses that say prayer, repentance, and tzedakah are *preferred* over sacrifices (Proverbs 21:3, Hosea 6:6, Jeremiah 7:3-7 21-23, Micah 6:6-8, Psalms 51:16-19 to name just a few) Besides that, the sin sacrifice was only for unintentional sins (Leviticus 4).
____________________________________________
Two common misconceptions about the Bible are both amazing and disastrous. First, that the Bible can be understood by reading a literal translation. Second, that the commonly translated Bible is accurate. Most critics and defenders of the Bible refer to literal translations of the Hebrew; these translations have little to do with what the Bible truly means.
Bible translators took great care to make their versions beautiful in language, imitating as best they could the form of the original Hebrew. One of the very first translators, Jerome, openly stated, �So great is the force of established usage, that even acknowledged corruptions please the greater part, for they prefer to have their copies pretty, rather than correct.�
Even if Bible translators made an effort to produce a translation that accurately reflects its true meaning, they would still encounter innumerable obstacles. For example, the original text of the Bible is written without vowels; only consonants are used. Each word can be read and made to mean almost anything, depending on the vowels one introduces. The first verse in chapter two of Genesis reads: �Thus the heavens and the earth were finished.� It can also be read as: �Thus the heavens and the earth were destroyed.�
Truly, no more effective mode of securing the degradation of the Bible could have been found than by literally translating its language. This has resulted in giving the world a beautiful but soulless Bible. Instead of studying the Bible that G-d inspired, the world has a fallible, translated book that contains meaningless phrases and discrepancies meriting much of the criticism it receives.
One of the most powerful supports to the claim that G-d authored the Bible is the inimitable craft of its composition. Each word contains, or might be used for, a number of different meanings. As air is created for breathing, for flying, for carrying sound, and for other purposes known and unknown, so too was the Bible composed for many purposes. A section may be read as a fairy tale for children, yet contain true history, a deep moral lesson, natural science, a Divine secret of Creation, a prophecy of the future and innumerable other great truths.
All of this is made possible by the most artful, complicated and subtle methods of composition. One cannot make a Biblical passage express a false thought or an illicit idea. The original language and composition give the Biblical text a wide scope of conception, while also protecting it against false interpretations and conclusions. When a Biblical passage is translated irresponsibly, the whole passage becomes incoherent, like a crossword puzzle with a wrongly spelled word in its construction.
That is why Jews have never spoken of reading the Bible, only of studying�it cannot be understood through mere reading. Its secrets are hidden in the combinations of the Hebrew words of each phrase. It must be pursued in its true form to approach its mysteries.
go ask moses:
399
239
18898
589
164
18783
18766
|
Jews don't think a whole lot about Paul for a myriad number of reasons, most of which are very obvious. EP Sanders, the esteemed Divinity School Prof at Duke has written a number of important works on Paul that extensively deal with his Jewish roots; the post-modern Talmudic scholar Daniel Boyarin has written an interesting book (Paul and the Politics of Identity) looking at Paul's comments in Galations (neither Jew nor Greek . . )
Many Jews who do read Paul suspect that despite his claims to have been a knowledgeable Pharisee studying at the feet of Rabbi Gamliel, his thought was much more hellenized. While I can appreciate his utopoian visions of an egalitarian society and a united humanity, for Paul that could only be accomplished with the destruction of religious identities of Jews. He acts as if is was automatic that Jews considered themselves closer to God than Gentiles, when in fact there was a prophetic tradition antedating him by 600 years that clearly saw all humans as created in God's image. Paul seems to confuse different ritual roles, prevalent in the Law, with a difference in ethical standing, which is of course not true. The fact that there were different courtyards at the temple for Jew and non-Jew to pray to the Lord is in no way analagous to different bathrooms for white and black, for example. In addition, he seems to think that Jews perform the Law because they expect a reward--when in reality orthodox Judaism recognizes the imperative of performing the law as an end in itself for the love of God, not because we are seeking justification before God. Boyarin has a great quote that goes something like this: The genius of Christianity is its concern for the whole of humanity; the genius of the rabbis is their ability to leave others alone.
It seems to me that Paul misunderstood many aspects of halakha and Jewish ethics; thus, for Jews, he represents one of many who left the fold seeking utopian visions while misunderstanding Jewish particularity.
|
