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The Jewish Bible consists of 24 books. All 613 mitzvot are instructed in the first five books collectively known as the Torah. The very end of the Torah tells the story of the death of Moses on the doorstep of Israel. The next section of the Bible, collectively known as the Prophets and beginning with the book of Joshua, document what happens to the Jewish people as they begin their conquest and settlement of Israel, their battles with it’s indigenous peoples and the political, social and spiritual ups and downs of the nation and her leaders. In this class we meet great visionary leaders such as Samson, Devorah, Saul, Ezra, David, Solomon and the prophet Samuel, debate the traditional perspective of the David and Bathsheba controversy and draw parallels between the triumphs and missteps of yesteryear and the challenges facing the Jewish people in contemporary times.

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תנא דבי אליהו ששת אלפים שנה הוי עלמא שני אלפים תוהו שני אלפים תורה שני אלפים ימות המשיח (סנהדרין דף צז.)

“They taught in the Academy of Elijah: Six thousand years is the world; two thousand chaos, two thousand Torah, two thousand years Messiah” (Sanhedrin 97a)

The core tenet of the Jews that the world had a beginning; a rallying cry that they proclaimed for millennia to the derision of the rest of humanity, has only recently been adopted by all as true via newfound and incontrovertible evidence. After thousands of years all now concede to the very first word of the Torah; there was indeed a beginning. This cryptic Talmudic statement teaches us there is an end as well. The world is a process leading up to an ultimate and unavoidable conclusion. What is this conclusion? What is the meaning of these three epochs? In this first class of a series on Jewish History we explore the philosophical roadmap of the subject, examine the various ways God intervenes in it and, beginning with Abraham up to the death of Moses, tell the story of history’s most unprecedented people and their journey.

The Nine Characteristics of God video referenced in the class can be found HERE.

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The clear and copious evidence that the Torah is of divine origin (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4) is incontrovertible to all but the most unreasonable of skeptics. In this class we continue the exposition of presenting convincing proofs that the Torah could not be written by man and also explain how the text of the Torah was transmitted from the times of Moses till today without any errors whatsoever.

When we see hagbaha, we can indeed sincerely proclaim:

“וזאת התורה אשר שם משה לפני בני ישראל על פי ה’ ביד משה”

“And this is the Torah that Moses placed before the children of Israel, per the dictation of God in the hand of Moses.”

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Only two potential answers really exist to the question of who wrote the Torah: 1. The traditional perspective of it being written by Moses as per the dictation of God. 2. It not being written by Moses as per the dictation of God. In recent times a third option was invented that it was divinely inspired but not divinely dictated. The reality is that if we minimize God’s involvement in authoring the document to merely inspiring, what results is a perception of major human influence on the book, and hence downgrading it from being the word of God; an authoritative, immutable and binding manual for life, to being the subjective and unbinding word of man. It is superfluous to say that our entire religion collapses if it is based upon the words of Moses or Ezra or Jeremiah or any human, and not the word of God.

Can we give rational and reasonable evidence to either perspective of this fundamental question? This class continues with the quest of examining and assessing the logical basis of these two options by analyzing some bold and audacious predictions found in the Torah.

This is Part 3 in a series. For Part 1 click HERE for part 2 click HERE.

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The debate over the authorship of the Torah is a very important one; and not only for us Jews but the majority of humanity accepts this document as the dictation of God to Moses. In this class we continue our quest to logically assess both sides of the arguments as to the authenticity of the Torah by logically examining some of the evidence and attempt to formulate a perspective and perhaps a conclusion to this important question.

Sources in the order that they were presented:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/11/science/camels-had-no-business-in-genesis.html?_r=0

Exodus 19, 9: “Behold I am coming to you in a cloud of smoke so that the nation shall hear when I speak to you, and also in you they will believe forever”

Deuteronomy 4, 32: “You might inquire about times long past, from the day that G-d created man on earth, from one end of heaven to the other. Has there ever been anything like this great thing or has anything like it been heard? Has a people ever heard the voice of G-d speaking from the midst of the fires as you have heard, and survived?” 

 Leviticus, 25, 1-4: “Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in its produce. But in the seventh year a Sabbath of solemn rest it shall be for the land … your field you shall not sow, and your vineyard you shall not prune. That which grows by itself you shall not reap, and the grapes of your vine you shall not gather.”

Leviticus 25, 20-22: “And if you will say: ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year? Behold, we may not plant nor gather in our produce!’ I will command My blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth produce for the three years. And you will plant in the eighth year and eat of the old produce until the ninth year, until her produce comes in, you will eat the old produce.”

Exodus 34, 23-24: “Three times in the year all your men shall appear before the Lord your God, the God of Israel. I will throw out the nations before you and enlarge your borders: neither shall any man desire your land, when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times during the year.”

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The Torah weaves law and instruction with dialogue and narrative; often miraculous and supernatural events and stories like the Exodus narrative of the Ten Plagues, the splitting of the sea into 12 walkable dry paths and the momentous national prophecy at the foot of Mount Sinai. Supernatural narratives are not unique to our religion; rather a claim of revelation of some kind is always at the formation of every religion. In this class we attempt to construct a logical analysis of the veracity and historicity of the Jewish miraculous narratives. Did we actually consume heaven sent manna on a daily basis for 40 years in the wilderness? What evidence do we have to prove this and the many other miraculous claims of the Torah?

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There is an important difference between the Aggadic portions of the Talmud – the ethical and philosophical sections, and the Halacha/law portions. Also, learn why the study of the Babylonian Talmud supersedes the study of the Jerusalem Talmud, despite that fact the the latter was written 180 years earlier.

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Learn about some of the fine details about how courts are constructed, how evidence is presented in Jewish courts, and the incredible efforts that the Torah demands from us to ensure that a just verdict is reached.

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What does Judaism say about organ donations, DNRs and euthanasia?

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Historically, the Jewish people remained almost completely free of sectarianism, and that is one of the reasons for our continued survival as a people and as a religion against all odds throughout the millennia. Yet in the 19th Century several modern splinter sects sprang up, namely the Reform, the Conservative, and to a lesser extent, the Orthodox, movements. What caused their formations and what today are their – increasing narrowing – differences

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Ever wonder why we fast on the saddest day of the Jewish calendar, Tisha b’av, and on the happiest – Yom Kippur? Listen and learn all about the four minor and two major Jewish fasts.