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A JEWISH VIEW OF BIBLE
INTELLIGENT FAITH WEEK
This morning in this second convocation of Intelligent Faith Week, I thought I would
leave the philisophical and theological realm and explore, in a some what academic manner, the
development of Jewish law – or, more specifically, a Jewish view of Bible and the way in which
it has regulated Jewish life throughout the centuries.
In my discussion I shall approach the written and oral laws of Judaism from a somewhat
traditional point of view, without the complications of a liberal viewpoint in which Bible moves
from the realm of divinely revealed truth to the inspired vision of concerned and committed men.
For despite all opinions on authorship, Judaism is a book religion, deriving from, centering about
and making explicit the contents of that book. The book is TORAH, the Hebrew name for the
first five books of the Bible – G. E. L. N. & D.
In form it is a narrative, an account of events from the creation of the world to the death
of Moses. And in between, we find the origin of the nations – with special attention being paid to
the people of Israel: their patriarchs, their enslavement in Egypt, their deliverance and the
covenant at Sinai.
It’s theology is quite vividly set forth – one universal God who created all things, who
wanted His creatures to live according to law.
It also sets forth an ethic of Justice and loving kindness which is present in its entirety.
It prescribes rituals, holy days and festivals along with forms of worship and observance.
It outlines a code of law which encompasses ecclesiastical, civil and criminal statutes.
This, basically, is Torah as a book. But Torah, as the Hebrew word connotes, was a
“guide” or a “teaching” – and as such took on tremendous significance. The teaching didn’t stop
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with the death of Moses – but it was carried on by the Prophets and the poets and dramatists and
sages who wrote Psalms and Ecclesiastes and Proverbs and Job and all the rest. As long as the
spirit of teaching remained alive, Torah lived.
But basic to the entire structure was the first 5 Books, for they contain the central core of
the Jewish legal system – the laws by which man was to regulate his life – and they became, in
effect, the Constitution of the Jewish people.
Yes, every people needs a constitution to which it can become committed as a people –
and Torah was such for the Jew. [Proofreader’s note: at this point in the original document, we
move from page 3 to page 5. There is no page 4.]
system. And In more ways than one, these five books can be compared to the Constitution of the
U.S., for they were originally written down and accepted by the people as a system of divinely
ordained laws given to Moses and binding upon the people known as Israel. Whereas the
Constitution of the U.S., written and signed by the founding fathers of America, is the core of
our entire American legal system – so these five Biblical books, signed by God, were the core of
the Jewish legal system. Everything about the structure and validity and significance of these
laws was accepted by the people – just as our Constitution stands unchallenged today. It is not
the Constitution of the U.S. which is debated and contested by the Justices of our Supreme
Court, but rather do they pledge themselves, along with the President, Vice-President and all
other elected & appointed members of our Federal government, to uphold and to preserve the
Constitution of the U.S. Their total concern is directed to whether certain laws and practices of
the people are in accord with or do violence to the principles of this Constitution.
And so it is that this very pattern was established four thousand years ago by Judaism’s
acceptance and allegiance to the laws of Torah, which is the name by which this Jewish
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Constitution is known. Torah, therefore – these five books of G. E. L. N. & D. – comprised the
written law of Judaism. It was exact, and in a sense absolute, unchangeable: for it was written
down and codified, and it carried the imprimature of God.
The problems which arose as the centuries rolled by can be easilly understood by us –
since, once again, the situation closely paralleled that of America’s growth and development. But
for the people of the land of Palestine, the changes which came about were even more drastic and
intense.
Aside from the normal changes which occur as any nation or society grows and develops,
the people of Palestine lost their land and became scattered throughout the nations of world. But
Torah was still their law. In the beginning they had been exiled by conquering nations – and even
following their final dispersion in the year 70 of this era, they were not given citizenship rights in
the lands in which they dwelled, but rather still had the responsibility of governing themselves –
of legislating within their own communities.
With each change in development and, even moreso, with changes in environment – new
situations, new customs and new practices were met. And just as the Constitution of the United
States provides no specific legislation regarding such things as labor unions and sit-ins and
traffic control and the advertising and selling of television sets or refrigerators – so the Torah
contained no specifics regarding the ever-growing customs encountered in the urbanized
communities of Babylonia, Spain, France, Germany, Poland, England, America and the rest. But
Torah was still the Constitution of the Jew – it contained a spirit which regulated religious and
civil law.
The first step that had been taken in the direction of extending the coverage of the 5 Book
Torah, as I said before, were that series of ammendments provided by the Prophets of Israel –
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men like Amos and Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. These Hebrew Prophets spoke for God
– and their words could therefore be ammended to the Torah which had preceded them. In this
way, tThey at least, along with the later poets & sages, met many of the gradual changes which
occured during the first 500 years or so after the Torah 5 books had been written.
But as the years went on, the task of expanding Torah to meet the demands of new
situations fell to a new group within the Jewish community – for from the time of the Prophets
on, after the ammendments had been made, the remaining legal process was continued by
interpretation. That is, it became necessary within the framework of an ever-changing Jewish
society, to investigate each new practice and situation in relation to the Torah and its
ammendments. In effect, to judge the constitutionality of each new experience which demanded
a response.
The men who were chosen to engage in this interpretative process were men who were
fully educated in all of the intricasies of the legal structure and content of Torah. They were the
legal authorities of the day – the judges of their communities. And they were known as rabbis.
These men distinguished themselves in two ways. They were expert jurists – and they
were also prominent and capable teachers. When they achieved recognition for their academic
and juristic abilities, they were appointed to the Jewish “Supreme Court” which consisted of 70
rabbis and was known as the Sanhedrin.
Over a period of approximately 600 years, they functioned in this organized capacity. All
questionable customs and laws and practices were brought before them for analyses, discussion
and decision. They examined each case thoroughly; brought to bear every possible available
legal precedent, the statements of Torah and the implications of the Prophetic ammendments.
They debated every case until they reached a final decision, based on majority rule.
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Their entire discussions, from the presentation of the case through every detailed
exposition to the final majority and minority decision were recorded – just as the entire
proceedings of the U.S. Supreme Court is stenographically recorded and published annually.
And the totality of these rabbis discussions and decisions over a 600 year period can now be
found in book form and is known as the Talmud. This Talmud is Judaism’s ORAL law. Even
though written down, it is interpretative law BASED ON the WRITTEN LAW and it is therefore
in effect, as valid and binding as Torah itself.
Now, perhaps, we can draw the distinction between traditional and liberal Judaism –
between orthodoxy and reform. To orthodox Judaism the whole Torah is believed to be Godrevealed and therefore true thruout. Every word & every letter was given by God and is therefore
a guarantee of its absolute validity – and this revelation extends from Sinai thru the prophets and
thru the totality of Talmud itself. “Whatsoever any earnest scholar will innovate in the future,”
says traditional Judaism, “lo, this was already spoken at Sinai.”
The consequences of such an approach are very significant. In the first place Judaism
cannot be susceptible to change – because the revelation of a perfect God was complete &
perfect at Sinai. That which appears as change is simply an illusion – a recapitulation of the
essential revealed law in fresh idiom & with modern application. It is just like an inference in
logic when it is drawn accurately.
And secondly, to orthodox Judaism, Torah is the ever-reliable test of the goodness or
truth of anything. If anything contradicts Torah, it must, of necessity, be false.
Now let us look at the liberal approach. We claim that truth and goodness are to be found
in Torah and that to the extent that they exist, Torah is God inspired. Torah, is however, not the
creation of a supernatural event – but rather is a natural unfolding of what men found out when
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they applied their heads and hearts to the deepest questions of human existence. But the results
were a compilation of the ideas of many individuals and
Where is God in such an approach? Everywhere!
What is important is not that Torah is all factual but that even where it is not it is still
meaningful. Though it contains much of the primitive, it also contains the full ripened insights of
many men who struggled to comprehend what God wanted of them in the world into which He
placed them.
And with God as the creator, of whom we spoke yesterday, Torah is filled with God – in
all of those areas in which man used his God-given potentialities to arrive at an understanding of
goodness & truth.