"The same is true of the various cases of death penalties described in the Torah. They are all still in force. But they have conditions that make them impossible at the moment. We haven’t gotten rid of the law; we simply have to take the conditions into account. When the current environment changes, the law becomes practicable again."
My favorite analogy to describe this is that Halachic Judaism functions like a chess board.
Each piece has its immutable rules about how they move around the board. Those rules don't change. But sometimes history takes certain pieces OFF THE BOARD.
You look at prophets, Sanhedrin, kings, Kohen Gadol etc. as some of the more exotic chess pieces like the Queen, knights and bishops who can move in really unique, powerful ways. But at this point in history, we are in exile and queens, knights and bishpos are off the board. We only have rooks, pawns and the King (The Torah itself, so to speak--without which, the "game" would be over).
Since the rules which govern each piece are immutable, we can't turn pawns into bishops in order to be able to bring korbonos. We can't turn rooks into queens to give capital punishments. etc.
"There are various sects that have appeared at different times in history, such as Christianity and Karaites and the Reform Movement (and its derivatives, such as the Conservative Movement), which have abandoned or rejected or distorted the Torah that God gave us."
Rabbi David Bar Hayim has mentioned these groups, and included the Tzadoqim (Sadducees) before them. He suggested that all wanted to battle against the Torah, but knew that taking the great power which is Torah head on would never work. And so, they decided to attempt to chip away at it a bit at a time, beginning with the authority of the Oral Law.
"Would it look the same to an outside observer? I’m sure it wouldn’t. But that’s because an outside observer wouldn’t understand how the Torah works." comes out in my head as, "Of course Avraham Avinu didn't wear a shtreimel or eat gefilte fish!"
You can check any time you like, but you can never leave (Hotel California). LOVE IT! Your stuff is adorable.
But I do have a quibble. With great sadness, I have to say that there are people who call themselves "Modern Orthodox" who do NOT accept written and oral law. And that is without getting to the so called "Open Orthodox", some of whose "Rabbis" openly don't even believe in G*d and seem to be even beyond Reform.
Open Orthodoxy (also known as "Social Orthodoxy" or "Orthopraxy" is not Orthodoxy, regardless of what they may call themselves. When I refer to Modern Orthodox Jews, I'm specifically referring to those of them who *are* Orthodox.
I think the law for the first paschal sacrifice was to sign up to join a group before. Even though we were commanded to register for our specific family groups, we refuse to leave any fellow slave behind. We are issuing this final call just before the slaughter: 'Come and join our count while there is still time!'
Great post! Looking forward to the next one.
About this:
"The same is true of the various cases of death penalties described in the Torah. They are all still in force. But they have conditions that make them impossible at the moment. We haven’t gotten rid of the law; we simply have to take the conditions into account. When the current environment changes, the law becomes practicable again."
My favorite analogy to describe this is that Halachic Judaism functions like a chess board.
Each piece has its immutable rules about how they move around the board. Those rules don't change. But sometimes history takes certain pieces OFF THE BOARD.
You look at prophets, Sanhedrin, kings, Kohen Gadol etc. as some of the more exotic chess pieces like the Queen, knights and bishops who can move in really unique, powerful ways. But at this point in history, we are in exile and queens, knights and bishpos are off the board. We only have rooks, pawns and the King (The Torah itself, so to speak--without which, the "game" would be over).
Since the rules which govern each piece are immutable, we can't turn pawns into bishops in order to be able to bring korbonos. We can't turn rooks into queens to give capital punishments. etc.
That's good. I like it.
"There are various sects that have appeared at different times in history, such as Christianity and Karaites and the Reform Movement (and its derivatives, such as the Conservative Movement), which have abandoned or rejected or distorted the Torah that God gave us."
Rabbi David Bar Hayim has mentioned these groups, and included the Tzadoqim (Sadducees) before them. He suggested that all wanted to battle against the Torah, but knew that taking the great power which is Torah head on would never work. And so, they decided to attempt to chip away at it a bit at a time, beginning with the authority of the Oral Law.
Yep.
An amazing post.
"Would it look the same to an outside observer? I’m sure it wouldn’t. But that’s because an outside observer wouldn’t understand how the Torah works." comes out in my head as, "Of course Avraham Avinu didn't wear a shtreimel or eat gefilte fish!"
Perfect!
You can check any time you like, but you can never leave (Hotel California). LOVE IT! Your stuff is adorable.
But I do have a quibble. With great sadness, I have to say that there are people who call themselves "Modern Orthodox" who do NOT accept written and oral law. And that is without getting to the so called "Open Orthodox", some of whose "Rabbis" openly don't even believe in G*d and seem to be even beyond Reform.
You make an excellent point.
Open Orthodoxy (also known as "Social Orthodoxy" or "Orthopraxy" is not Orthodoxy, regardless of what they may call themselves. When I refer to Modern Orthodox Jews, I'm specifically referring to those of them who *are* Orthodox.
I think the law for the first paschal sacrifice was to sign up to join a group before. Even though we were commanded to register for our specific family groups, we refuse to leave any fellow slave behind. We are issuing this final call just before the slaughter: 'Come and join our count while there is still time!'
Thank you for the correction. Editing.
I updated it differently, but again, thank you.