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-----Original Message-----
From: Shomeir
Sent: Friday, April 16, 2004 2:50 PM
To: House of Israel Newsgroup
Subject: What advantage hath the Jew?
Shalom Friends
WHAT ADVANTAGE DOES THE JEW HAVE?
I find myself continually addressing the problem of arrogance among “Messianics”
and “Nazarenes.” In the previous two issues of my newsletter I addressed the
so-called “Great Commission” and showed that there is no “great commission” that
authorizes the proselytizing of the Jews.
There are many areas where “Messianics” and “Nazarenes” differ from the Jews and
believe that they “know better” than the Jews do. In every case where people
are divided over an issue there is arrogance involved (whether it be over the
calendar, the use of “sacred names,” etc.).
Clearly, as I have stated many times before, Zechariah 8:23 tells us that the
lost ten tribes of the “House of Israel” (“Messianics” and “Nazarenes”) will
eventually come to the JEWS in with a teachable spirit and a humble attitude.
WHAT ABOUT THE ORAL LAW?
Most Christians claim Rabbi Joshua ben Joseph (a.k.a. Jesus Christ) taught
against the Oral Torah (Oral Law). They teach that the Oral Torah is merely the
“traditions of men” -- but is this true? Or do we need to reject the teachings
of Christians as the “traditions of men?”
The Oral Torah is cited four times in the New Testament as being essential for
spiritual understanding and maturity.
“But didn’t Jesus call it ‘the traditions of men’?”
No he did not!
The phrase, “traditions of men,” is found in only two places in the New
Testament and in both places it refers to a first century custom (that left
one’s parents destitute) which was never part of the “tradition of the elders”
or “Oral Torah” as preserved in the Talmud. In these same two passages the
disciples of Rabbi Joshua ben Joseph are accused of violating the “tradition of
the elders” by not washing their hands before they ate. At that time there was
an ongoing debate about the washing of hands. Some said that it was necessary to
wash your hands anytime you were going eat; while others said it was only
necessary to wash hands before eating bread; still others said that it was only
necessary to wash your hands before eating bread on Shabbat. Today this is a
bit of a mute point, since nearly all civilized people wash their hands before
eating.
HOW MANY TORAHS ARE THERE?
Once a gentile asked one of the sages: “How many Torahs do you have?” Whereupon
the sage answered, “Two; one Oral and one Written, as it says, ‘These are the
Statutes and Judgments, and Laws [Hebrew: “Torot” i.e. the plural of “Torah”],
which HaShem made between Him and the Children of Israel at Mount Sinai by the
hand of Moses.” [Leviticus 26:46]
Let’s look at some of the places in the New Testament where Oral Torah is
specifically mentioned: The first one is found in Acts 7:37-38 where Stephen
says:
This is that Moses, who said to the children of Israel, Adonai your God shall
raise up a prophet from your brethren, like me; him you will hear. This is he
[Moses], which was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel that spoke
to him on Mount Sinai, and to our fathers who received the inspired Oral Torah
given unto us.
[Note: the Greek “logian” refers to that which is transmitted orally rather
than in writing.]
The second place we find mention of the Oral Torah is in Romans 3:1-4 where Paul
writes:
“What advantage does the Jew have? or what benefit is circumcision? MUCH IN
EVERY WAY, chiefly because it was to them that the Oral Torah of God was
committed. So what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief nullify the
faith of God? Absolutely not! Let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is
written, ‘That you might be justified in your sayings, and prevail when you
judge.’”
It is important to understand what Paul is trying to say here: 1) It was to the
Jews [alone] that the Oral Law was committed. 2) Only with the use of the Oral
Law could much of the written Law be made clear. This is what he meant by
quoting Psalm 51:6b (verse 4 in the Christian Bible). Where it says “prevail” (νικησεις)
in Romans 3:4 the corresponding word in Psalm 51:6 implies to make “clear” (זכה).
The third place is in Hebrews 5:12-14:
For though you should, by this time, be teachers, you need someone to teach you
all over again the very first principles of the Oral Torah of God; and have
become like someone needing milk instead of solid food; because everyone who
eats only milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness because he is just a
baby; but solid food belongs to those who are adults -- those who are sharp
witted enough to discern both good and evil.
The fourth place is in 1Peter 4:11:
If any man teaches the Oral Torah of God, if any man serve with the full ability
that God has given: the through Joshua [ben Joseph] the Messiah, God, to whom be
praise and dominion forever and ever, may be glorified in all things, Amen.
These, however, are not the only places where the Oral Torah is mentioned. In
acts 28:17 Paul implies that he was a strict observer of the Oral Torah when he
says that he did not do anything against the “customs of our fathers.”
And so it happened, that after three days, Paul called all the prominent Jews
together. When they were gathered together he said to them, “Men, brothers! Even
though I have not committed anything against the people or against the customs
of our fathers, I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of
the Romans.
In 2Thessalonians 2:15 Paul mentions the “traditions,” which was another way of
referring to the Oral Torah:
Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which you have been
taught, whether verbally or in writing.
The entire New Testament was originally [before the revisions of the 2nd, 3rd,
4th & 5th centuries] built upon two pillars: the Written Torah and the Oral
Torah. There is so much of the Oral Torah woven through the NT that one would
think that parts of it were copied directly from the Mishna.
WHY IS THE ORAL TORAH SO IMPORTANT ANYWAY?
The whole concept of Messiah is from the Oral Torah. Messiah is nowhere overtly
mentioned in the text of the Tanakh. The idea of a resurrection of the dead is
from the Oral Torah. This is why the Sadducees did not believe in a
resurrection of the dead. The idea of a final judgment in which each human
being will have to answer for their actions is from the Oral Torah. The idea
that mercy and preservation of life are overriding principles of Torah are from
the Oral Torah. All of these are things that are specifically taught in the New
Testament.
Kol tov,
Shomeir
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