External books
I wanted to ask what you think about external books.
A. What is their authority and who wrote them?
on. Did the Sages know their content? (Rabbi Yehoshua Inbal claims that they did not know their content, and from the parallels to the laws that are commanded there, he proves the tradition of the Sages)
C. I would like to ask for special reference to the Book of Jubilees, which contains a solar calendar.
I have no idea. I don’t know them.
I will only note that the phrase “their external books” conceals under it many books from many types and from many places and periods, some of which the Sages did refer to (such as Ben Sira, for example).
Regarding section C, I would recommend that the rabbi and readers watch this lecture https://youtu.be/9KVuSxDteaA
I am very interested in what the rabbi will think about this (because it is possible that the rabbis made a serious halachic error)
I understand that this is a lecture by Rachel Elior. It has been discussed here before.
I had the opportunity to exchange a few words with Prosfor David Haneska about Elor's book on the subject (the lecture is based on it) and he told me that the opinion in it is considered delusional among most scholars of the Torah, and that P. Bezalel Bar Kochba (who is not suspected of keeping the commandments of HaShem), who is considered a much more expert on these subjects, completely crushed it in his article here:
https://www.google.co.il/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.tau.ac.il/sites/tau.ac.il.en/files/media_server/imported/508/files/2014/10/%25D7%2591%25D7%25A8-%25D7%259 B%25D7%2595%25D7%259B%25D7%2591%25D7%2590-%25D7%25AA%25D7%2593%25D7%25A4%25D7%2599%25D7%25A1.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwi0mcjih9fYAhXDPFAKHf0zBrcQFjABegQIExAB&usg=AOvVaw1PReVPF0qTUq55FdBNx0PX
If you don't have time to delve into it, at least read the opening paragraph of the review and you will understand how far-fetched these things are among the professionals (Rabbi Michi Kanel recommends skimming the beginning because this is a common question).
The difference is that Bar Kochba does not upload lectures to YouTube, and she does. This has become a phenomenon in recent years - researchers whose opinions are considered unacceptable upload lectures to YouTube (or publish popular "science" books on the subject) that sound very impressive to people who haven't studied the subject in depth, and they get the mistaken impression that their opinion is proven by signs and wonders, which it isn't.
Indeed, he makes cutlets out of it. He puts all sorts of “humanities” assertions in a healthy and balanced proportion.
His comment about public relations on YouTube is also worthy of attention. These things are also true in the study of evolution, where every militant is known and considered by his friend. The balanced and balanced opinions that are prevalent among researchers who do not run to YouTube – do not strike a chord with the general public.
Thanks for the article M. For some reason I thought it was a consensus
More good review articles:
https://www.haaretz.co.il/misc/1.858306
https://faculty.biu.ac.il/~testsm/elior.html
Additional review articles are cited in her Wikipedia entry.
On the 13th of Tevet 5781
Just as today, those who rush to publish their opinions ‘outside’ come to those whose opinions are not accepted in the ’established academic seminary’ – so it was in the days of the Second Temple. Those whose opinions were heard in the Pharisee seminary (which was accepted by most of the people, as Josephus testifies), were careful not to write down oral things. It was only after the destruction, when the meetings of all the sages in the three stages ceased, – that the Pharisees also began to formulate their doctrine in compositions intended for memorization.
The vast majority of ‘Second Temple literature’ was from circles outside the Pharisee seminary – Sadducees, Essenes, the elite of the priests and Hellenistic Jews, the first Christians and so on - all of whom saw no prohibition in writing texts outside the Holy Scriptures.
It is no wonder that throughout this extra-Pharisaic literature there is not a single mention of Antigonus of Succoth, Yossi ben Yoezer and Yossi ben Yochanan, Shimon ben Shetah and Yehuda ben Tabai, Hillel and Shammai, Yonatan ben Uziel and Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai and his five disciples. The only ones mentioned are Shimon the righteous (mentioned by Ben Sira), perhaps Shemaiah and Abtalion are Semayas and Polyeun mentioned by Josephus, and Rabban Gamaliel mentioned by both Josephus and the Evangelion.
Second Temple Judaism was polarized. After the destruction, the power of the Sadducees and Essenes was nullified. The Christians separated from the Jewish people and attracted some of the Hellenistic Jews. The massacre of Alexandrian Jewry during the reign of Trajan also greatly depleted Hellenistic Judaism, and in the end the Pharisees remained as the leading force in Judaism.
With best wishes, Yaron Fishel Ordner
Leave a Reply
Please login or Register to submit your answer
