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In Part 2, we finish the discussion on counting the Omer, addressing the “day after the sabbath” and “firstfruits”; Yom Teruah and what it is for, Yom Hakippurim and “afflicting your soul” from “evening to evening”, Sukkot; what constitutes a sukkah, what are the four species, and why is it just the native-born who can celebrate Sukkot?
Leviticus 23:15-44
Mentioned In This Podcast
- The New Moon Conundrum
- A Note on Two Words Of the Seventh Month
- Beyin Ha’arbayim – Between the Evenings
4 comments
Yosef
October 16, 2019 at 9:14 amI really appreciate your teachings , I still have to disagree with the rabbis being correct in justifying treating it as a new year or new enthronement. First off this was a custom of the nations , why should that be celebrated as a custom of the Torah and why would God want it celebrated as such , and YHVH has always been on his throne to celebrate with such a justification would say only from that point on has YHVH become king to a people and enthroned, and I certainly wouldn’t be comfortable eluding to such, I think to stretch rabbinic customs as truth just because it has been a tradition for a very long time doesn’t make it a truth , we have a tradition the earth was flat for far longer than rabbis have been around, yet we don’t use that tradition as a proof for a current truth.
Also to say the rabbis haven’t taken a Babylonian concept and adapted it just because Babylon had been out of the picture for 500 years prior to rabbinic Judaism showing up on the scene and therefore negating any influence over rabbinic ideas , is in concept I think erroneous, we know from second temple/first century writings that the Babylonian influence has been the foundational jumping off point for more than a few rabbinic traditions. If you are to suggest that because rabbinical Judaism did not exist during the Babylonian exile therefore it’s ridiculous to believe Babylonian ideas effect rabbinic Judaism 500 years later , than I would have to say , the oral Torah existing prior to rabbinates is just as difficult to prove and becomes a problematic paradigm and anyone that’s says otherwise has much to prove .
Anyways, I thank you for your research, and I share your work with as many as I can.
Thank you for all you do .
Yoel Halevi
October 16, 2019 at 9:48 amShalom,
I recommend to listen to the series on Oral Torah where I explain the history of it. It is not that I am supporting all rabbinic interpretations, but rather that a law system in the ancient world was first an oral system in a world where most people didn’t know how to read. Unfortunately most people have a simple interpretation of how law works which leads to a complete denial of any oral law in Torah. The oxymoron is that every group which tries to follow a strict written law system end up creating their own version of interpretation which in time becomes an oral Torah. Such things can be observed in Karaite writings such as Gan Eden and Aderet Eliyahu. The same can be observed in the Samaritan practices and with the new movements which follow Torah. Everyone ends up creating somethings because using just the written law doesn’t answer all the needs f society. One must wonder if the Torah was given with the cultural understanding that you also need knowledge passed down by the elders on how to actually interpret law.
Yosef
October 16, 2019 at 10:56 amI agree , I am an Orthodox Jew , who takes classes in the oral tradition, I will listen your series on the oral Torah , are you aware of anyone who has done an in-depth look at its history , or do you mention all that in your series , I don’t discount all that is In the oral torah but I find it taxing in many ways and honestly I think it creates a lot of atheism in our culture do to its arrogance . I often wish these things would be addressed , what is provable should stay, but what is not should be left behind so that we can have a purer understanding of scripture, sometimes it seems to me that men , ( certain teachers ) were really trying to write themselves into the Torah, by controlling interpretations of it, and in doing so controlling the population.
Ana Lopes
January 3, 2020 at 6:00 pmShalom, Yoel!
I always agreed with the Karaite interpretation that we should use those plants to build the Sukkah. But it really can be that they were meant to something else. Your explanations make a lot of sense.
Thank you very much for sharing!