Normally, I don't respond to this deep of a subject, but I find that the problem lies in our not so conservative Yeshivas. They have been training in the Reconstructionist movement long enough to cause a real riff between what is considered literal and what is speculative. In a conservative congregation where I was a member, We had several turnovers in Rabbis. The question I had for most of them, was did they believe in a literal Exodus? (Parting of the sea) Strangely enough they didn't. And the one lone Rabbi who said he did, didn't get voted in. I think this is what is wrong with the modern Rabbinic movement, and I don't see how to correct it with all the libral colleges in place today. But this gives us insight into what is wrong with the majority of Jews who say they believe the Bible. We vote these characters in without giving any question as to why this trend is going in an adverse direction from true Torah. All we care about is having somebody around to take care of life cycle events, and babysitting the kids on occasion. The bigger the program, the better the Rabbi. Is this really the better way to do things? Regards, Eli ben Shir - T. B. -0/5-/2001
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No Exodus? Are we still enslaved? Who built the pyramids? - M. B. -0/5-/2001
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Every religion believes its way is "The Way", its story, "the Story". This is as it should be. If a Jew doesn't value the Torah at some level then his Jewishness disintegrates. Whether one is a literalist or simply believes in the system of values Ha Torah is the foundation for, is less important than that one follows through with religious requirements. Even the Jew that doesnt cognitively believe in any of the scriptures but performs the commands, is supperior to the believer who discharges the duties summarily. Imagine a Christian, Jew, Muslim or anyone who espouses "love your neighbor as yourself" and then dispatches his neighbor to the arms of death over a difference in perspective, and beliefs. - J. M. -0/5-/2001
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Imagine my surprise on reading the May, 2001 issue of "National Geographic," to read on p. 52:
"Bronze Age bones at least 4,000 years old rise again at Ikiztepe, Turkey, on the Black Sea coast...bolster the theory that people inhabiting these shores 7,500 years ago [pretty darn close if given in "archaeology years"] fled a deluge of biblical proportions." - L. B. -0/4-/2001
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Isaac Mozeson,the author of The Word,a book which traces most English words back to their ultimate origin in Biblical Hebrew , has been denigrated by Rabbis for years for suggesting, with proof, that indeed as Gen.11:1 says, All mankind spoke the same language before Bable.
Are you surprised that rabbis are preaching lies about our heritage? -0/4-/2001
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Unfortunately, this only relates a recent account of a Rabbi telling the same story.
When I began my exodus from Christianity -- 20+ years ago, I went to a conversion course offered by an eminent reform Rabbi with a PHD. About three weeks into the course -- he made the same comment.
To include that all the accounts of miracles were not true.
These were nothing more than historical homilies that were used to help people live a good, and decent life.
Nothing more.
I left the class immediately. I told the Rabbi that if he considered this nothing more than a fairy tale novel like Alice in Wonderland -- what was the point of being Jewish and subjecting your family to such anti semitism and ridicule.
This even denegrated the Christian belief that is based on the Torah.
I went on to conversion and now live in Israel. Proud of my Heritage.
And, of interesting note -- recently while doing genealogy research -- I have found that our family history history has/had extremely strong Sephardic roots until about 1700. Then they like so many others assimilated.
I hope to give to my children the belief in biblical history without the evidence. Just as we believe in Hashem -- without physical proof He exists. - G. M. -0/4-/2001
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Rab. Wolpe unfortunately is using Bible for self aggrandisement to obtain notoriety. He is now known as a false prophet.
- H. B. -0/4-/2001
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Its a sad thing when someone with the title of rabbi can denigrate our traditions. What people anywhere in the world would ever fabricate a story tracing their origins to a slaves? This alone indicates authenticity, but there is so much more. A year or so ago I had a conversation with an eminent scholar, Dr. Peter Mechanic,chairman of the Ancient Languages Department at Harvard University, who pointed out that many of the obscure place names found in Exodus which are listed as stopping points for the escaping Israelites, and which were previously unknown, have now been identified from Egyptian wall paintings. In the Egyptian version, the towns were listed as being conquered by some Egyptian army. The amazing thing is that these Egyptian paintings and wall carvings list these towns as being captured in the exact same order as they are found in Exodus. As Dr. Mechanic pointed out, the order of the names of these places as they appear in Exodus constitutes an actual road map of the area as it existed then.
These place names did not exist in later Egyptian times, and if the Exodus story was indeed a fabrication, the writer would have had no way of knowing about the existence of these locations. - M. P. -0/4-/2001
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I now understand why the Reform Movement is sometimes referred to as the Episcople Church of Judaism. I agree that Hershel Shenks' BAR is great, but if we need objects, i.e. archeological evidence, to prove our faith, then we are deaf the lesson of the Golden Calf. Some people never learn to listen.
- M. W. -0/4-/2001
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It never ceases to amaze me the number of people who should be more competent with history, such as rabbis and other teachers, have fallen for the historical revisionism in scholarly circles of the last century and in popular circles in the last thirty or so! All one needs to do is look at the humanistic perspective from where the view originates. Conservative teachers have been all too hasty to pick up on something new without investigating to see if it is true. This is an effort to be considered "credible." Credible to whom, though? Both Judaism and Christianity have been infected for too long, but there are hopeful signs that the tide is turning. We just need to have faith in what has been passed down to us. - K. S. -0/4-/2001
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And we wonder why our children are shooting each other...Take away their faith and they loose their hope... - P. B. -0/4-/2001
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There have been several occasions when supposedly impossible Bible stories proved true. For years, archeologists sniffed that the Bible's reference to Sargon, king of Assyria, was clearly an error. Then an archeologist found the tomb. Better yet, in 1969, to prove that the Bible was nothing but the opiate of the people, the Soviet government sent a team up to the top of Ararat and had them start digging. Some30-40 feet down in the ice were the remains of a moderate sized wooden boat. If Noah, in the early mists of time, has physical evidence to support it, how much stronger must be the evidence for the Exodus. Consider that the Exodus happened about the same time as the Greeks tell us that Atlantis was destroyed. A cataclysmic destruction of a large island would surely have triggered a tidal wave. Now, what happens in a tidal wave? First the waters recede. Then they come slamming in with devastating force. Moses could have walked the people of Israel through as the waters receded. Pharaoh followed--to inherit the tidal wave.
All believers in the Lord know who orders all things. Archeologists have repeatedly shown how much they do not know. These are also the people who "knew" that Piltdown Man was real.
Ken - K. H. -0/4-/2001
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Unfortunately, those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it. Just like in any recognized religion there are different beliefs, different interpretations. Those who view and believe in the oral tradition, passed down through the centuries by numerous cultures, are frequently proven right in archeological excavations in the 20th century. Yet, the same people say, Gee that is a nice story. I would like to remind them now that Hitler exploited the jews in his active persuit of crimes against humanity directed at them. Many Jews believed they were German. Some were not practicing judaism, still others were merely 25% jewish. Yet all were murdered, without mercy in the holocaust. The Germans used their social security system to track down the genealogy of it's german citizens and found those jews who were a % jewish. Noah's Ark did exist. Mt. Sinai did and does exist, the Massadah did happen. The Ark of the Covenant did exist. Kings David and Solomon did exist. These are not just stories. I regret that a Rabbi stood in front of his/her congregation to dispell it as myth. With the human rights violations within the history of the U.S and that still go on today, along with the rise in anti-semitism in American society, that Rabbi should not be so comfortable. It happened in Nazi Germany and it will happen here. It is not a question of IF but a question of WHEN. - D. H. -0/4-/2001
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As a Geologist and one who has no doubt as to the historicity of the Exodus, I appreciated your commentary. - D. O. -0/4-/2001
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The Rabbi is merely showing signs of the same disease afflicting much of American life. Those who do not want to believe in G_d's power over their lives and possessions are busy "destroying" Him. The best way to do that is to create doubt about the "myths" which we have accepted to be facts. Given the explosion of cynicism engendered by philanderers in high office, they find the task surprisingly easy.
One only has to visit the Holocaust Museum to understand the terrible depravity of the godless and fear the encroaching darkness in this nation. - J. K. -0/4-/2001
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