Torah and Old Testament

[JohnEngelman]

Christians don’t get to decide who’s a Jew.

Jews do. Messianic decide to be Jews, just like they have been all their lives, and like their ancestors were.

A Jew is anyone who practices Judaism. These includes those who have converted to Judaism.

Secular Jews have always seemed to be dubious Jews. They do not believe in God. They do not practice Judaism. Some live like Woody Allen, and support his values.

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Jews do. Messianic decide to be Jews, just like they have been all their lives, and like their ancestors were.

A Jew is anyone who practices Judaism. These includes those who have converted to Judaism.

Secular Jews have always seemed to be dubious Jews. They do not believe in God. They do not practice Judaism. Some live like Woody Allen, and support his values.

Religion is a personal thing. While being a part of the "church" requires acceptance by those who lead the church, no one is an authority of your spiritualism.

Those who decide that someone is not are typically just assholes with an agenda.

 

[JohnEngelman]

Richard Friedman's Commentary on the Torah, reviewed by John Engelman



I reluctantly admit that I found Richard Elliot Friedman's Commentary on the Torah to be mildly disappointing. That is probably because I found it less interesting than three other books by Professor Friedman I have read. These are: The Exodus Happened, The Hidden Book in the Bible, and especially Who Wrote the Bible?

Also, this is the eighth English translation of the Torah that I have read. Five were study Bibles with extensive commentaries of their own. These are: The Orthodox Study Bible, The New American Standard Bible, with Ryrie Study Notes, the New Jerusalem Bible, The Jewish Study Bible, and The King James Bible, with Scofield Study Notes.

The Torah consists of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. These are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These were traditionally ascribed to Moses. During the New Testament era the Sadducees, who were priests at the Temple of Jerusalem, believed that the Torah alone was Divinely inspired. Jews continue to think of the Torah as the most sacred part of the Hebrew Bible.

I have also read many books about the Bible. Consequently, Professor Friedman's Commentary on the Torah did not tell me anything that was startling and new.

Professor Friedman's commentary was as long as his translation of the Torah. He presented it parallel to the text. I think Commentary on the Torah would have easier to read and understand if he had placed most of the information in his commentaries in an extended introduction to each book in the Torah, and if he had kept footnotes to the minimum necessary to understand the text.

Nevertheless, Professor Friedman is still my favorite scholar for the Hebrew Bible (AKA, the Protestant Old Testament).

For those who have not read the Bible, I recommend reading Who Wrote the Bible? first. That explains how the Torah was written, and by who. Then read Commentary on the Torah. Then read a Christian Study Bible that includes the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha includes books that were in the Greek translation the Septuagint, but not in the Hebrew Bible that comes down to us. My favorite Christian study Bible is The New Jerusalem Bible.

An additional book I recommend is The Messianic Idea In Israel From Its Beginning To The Completion Of The Mishnab. This explains the development of the Jewish idea of the Messiah in the Hebrew Bible.

By studying the Hebrew Bible, and particularly the Torah, a Christian can gain a better idea of the discussions and disputes Jesus had with the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and with Temple Scholars at the age of twelve.