The reason Jews are so irrational and such pathological liars is because
of
the goddamn torah bull****. They are taught that the torah is true, so
they
start out life believing in silly myths and fables
as absolute truth. Jews need to renounce judaism, they, and the
world, would be much better off without judaism.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/09/arts/09BIBL.html?ex=1174536000&en=3...
As Rabbis Face Facts, Bible Tales Are Wilting
New York Times; March 9, 2002
By MICHAEL MASSING
Abraham, the Jewish patriarch, probably never existed. Nor did Moses.
The entire Exodus story as recounted in the Bible probably never
occurred. The same is true of the tumbling of the walls of Jericho.
And David, far from being the fearless king who built Jerusalem into a
mighty capital, was more likely a provincial leader whose reputation
was later magnified to provide a rallying point for a fledgling
nation.
Such startling propositions - the product of findings by
archaeologists digging in Israel and its environs over the last 25
years - have gained wide acceptance among non-Orthodox rabbis. But
there has been no attempt to disseminate these ideas or to discuss
them with the laity - until now.
The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, which represents the 1.5
million Conservative Jews in the United States, has just issued a new
Torah and commentary, the first for Conservatives in more than 60
years. Called "Etz Hayim" ("Tree of Life" in Hebrew), it offers an
interpretation that incor****ates the latest findings from archaeology,
philology, anthropology and the study of ancient cultures. To the
editors who worked on the book, it represents one of the boldest
efforts ever to introduce into the religious mainstream a view of the
Bible as a human rather than divine do***ent.
"When I grew up in Brooklyn, congregants were not sophisticated about
anything," said Rabbi Harold Kushner, the author of "When Bad Things
Happen to Good People" and a co-editor of the new book. "Today, they
are very sophisticated and well read about psychology, literature and
history, but they are locked in a childish version of the Bible."
"Etz Hayim," compiled by David Lieber of the University of Judaism in
Los Angeles, seeks to change that. It offers the standard Hebrew text,
a parallel English translation (edited by Chaim Potok, best known as
the author of "The Chosen"), a page-by-page exegesis, periodic
commentaries on Jewish practice and, at the end, 41 essays by
prominent rabbis and scholars on topics ranging from the Torah scroll
and dietary laws to ecology and eschatology.
These essays, perused during uninspired sermons or Torah readings at
Sabbath services, will no doubt surprise many congregants. For
instance, an essay on Ancient Near Eastern Mythology," by Robert
Wexler, president of the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, states
that on the basis of modern scholar****p, it seems unlikely that the
story of Genesis originated in Palestine. More likely, Mr. Wexler
says, it arose in Mesopotamia, the influence of which is most apparent
in the story of the Flood, which probably grew out of the periodic
overflowing of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The story of Noah, Mr.
Wexler adds, was probably borrowed from the Mesopotamian epic
Gilgamesh.
Equally striking for many readers will be the essay "Biblical
Archaeology," by Lee I. Levine, a professor at the Hebrew University
in Jerusalem. "There is no reference in Egyptian sources to Israel's
sojourn in that country," he writes, "and the evidence that does exist
is negligible and indirect." The few indirect pieces of evidence, like
the use of Egyptian names, he adds, "are far from adequate to
corroborate the historicity of the biblical account."
Similarly ambiguous, Mr. Levine writes, is the evidence of the
conquest and settlement of Canaan, the ancient name for the area
including Israel. Excavations showing that Jericho was unwalled and
uninhabited, he says, "clearly seem to contradict the violent and
complete conquest ****trayed in the Book of Joshua." What's more, he
says, there is an "almost total absence of archaeological evidence"
backing up the Bible's grand descriptions of the Jerusalem of David
and Solomon.
The notion that the Bible is not literally true "is more or less
settled and understood among most Conservative rabbis," observed David
Wolpe, a rabbi at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles and a contributor to
"Etz Hayim." But some congregants, he said, "may not like the stark
airing of it." Last Passover, in a sermon to 2,200 congregants at his
synagogue, Rabbi Wolpe frankly said that "virtually every modern
archaeologist" agrees "that the way the Bible describes the Exodus is
not the way that it happened, if it happened at all." The rabbi
offered what he called a "litany of disillusion" about the narrative,
including contradictions, improbabilities, chronological lapses and
the absence of corroborating evidence. In fact, he said,
archaeologists digging in the Sinai have "found no trace of the tribes
of Israel - not one shard of pottery."
--
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