Asking why Jews don’t do XYZ in Israel today is a red herring. It’s a secular state. One ought to ask why Jews didn’t do these things for the past two thousand years in diaspora. After all, they had a certain level of autonomy that they can do as they wish. The reason Jews don’t do what the Torah tells them to do is based on two simple concepts: 1) The Talmudic teachings, which according to tradition (and I know you hate this) supersedes anything the text says to do and 2) No central authoritative body (i.e. sanhedrin).
Now, you might be confounded by this, BUT, as people of faith (both Christian and Jew) we believe that God plays a role in our lives; in lives of individuals and as groups. Perhaps the move from Biblical to rabbinic Judaism was providential in of itself as well. Just a thought.
Hanan
on December 28, 2015 at 5:17 pm
My point being is that even given the authority, the Ultra-Orthodox would not seek to actually execute a cheating wife or a sabbath desecrator. All this is due to Talmudic (legal) restrictions.
MSH
on December 30, 2015 at 10:40 am
I still have to wonder, given the (generally) equal status of oral and written tradition that runs through the more conservative strains.
Matt
on December 30, 2015 at 5:10 am
Dr. Heiser,
I’ve really enjoyed these podcasts on Leviticus. Would you and Trey consider having Dr. L. Michael Morales on the podcast to discuss some of the themes of Leviticus further. You had a brief interview with him from the margins of SBL (those interviews were great!), but he probably has a lot to say on Leviticus given that his new book “Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord” is getting high praise as one of the best volumes in the New Studies in Biblical Theology (IVP) series.
MSH
on December 30, 2015 at 10:32 am
I’d love to have him on. Maybe at some point that will work out.
Asking why Jews don’t do XYZ in Israel today is a red herring. It’s a secular state. One ought to ask why Jews didn’t do these things for the past two thousand years in diaspora. After all, they had a certain level of autonomy that they can do as they wish. The reason Jews don’t do what the Torah tells them to do is based on two simple concepts: 1) The Talmudic teachings, which according to tradition (and I know you hate this) supersedes anything the text says to do and 2) No central authoritative body (i.e. sanhedrin).
Now, you might be confounded by this, BUT, as people of faith (both Christian and Jew) we believe that God plays a role in our lives; in lives of individuals and as groups. Perhaps the move from Biblical to rabbinic Judaism was providential in of itself as well. Just a thought.
My point being is that even given the authority, the Ultra-Orthodox would not seek to actually execute a cheating wife or a sabbath desecrator. All this is due to Talmudic (legal) restrictions.
I still have to wonder, given the (generally) equal status of oral and written tradition that runs through the more conservative strains.
Dr. Heiser,
I’ve really enjoyed these podcasts on Leviticus. Would you and Trey consider having Dr. L. Michael Morales on the podcast to discuss some of the themes of Leviticus further. You had a brief interview with him from the margins of SBL (those interviews were great!), but he probably has a lot to say on Leviticus given that his new book “Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord” is getting high praise as one of the best volumes in the New Studies in Biblical Theology (IVP) series.
I’d love to have him on. Maybe at some point that will work out.