tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784155149754953220.post1584868625862843871..comments2023-10-19T06:49:44.355-04:00Comments on The Evolving Jew: The Documentary HypothesisPhilohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02077376696343791699noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784155149754953220.post-33202514898377696442008-01-03T11:09:00.000-05:002008-01-03T11:09:00.000-05:00I don't have a specific source. Its more of st...I don't have a specific source. Its more of stuff I read here and there and talk to people like S that the Jews were already reading a torah in Bavel.<br>But I have noticed that scholars have moved away from Ezra being the redactor.Holy Hyraxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704030181702087485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784155149754953220.post-52527885684745583322008-01-03T10:50:00.000-05:002008-01-03T10:50:00.000-05:00HH:I'm not an expert on the topic. I'm jus...HH:<br><br>I'm not an expert on the topic. I'm just basing this on what I've read in my continuing study of these ideas.<br><br>According to the DH, (which, admittedly, has a lot of speculation in it, as I wrote in my post) there was a redactor, R, who put together the various narrative streams of what became the Torah.<br><br>Many scholars feel that Ezra was a likely candidate for R. It makes sense to me, since from a plain reading of Perek 8 in Sefer Nechemia, that Ezra was presenting a document to Jewish people that they were formerly unfamiliar with, at least in a textual form. They likely had some sort of oral tradition that made them receptive to accepting the Torah as the original source of that tradition, but it doesn't seem that they knew of the text before.<br><br>As I said, I'm not an expert. Where is the source that shows that the whole Torah existed over 100 years before Ezra? Thanks.Yehudi Hilchatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06908923539770687179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784155149754953220.post-70119918557192675782008-01-02T17:14:00.000-05:002008-01-02T17:14:00.000-05:00>and Ezra later combined it into the Torah that...>and Ezra later combined it into the Torah that we know today.<br><br>My understanding is that the earliest we know of a whole torah is when they went into their first exile. This is before EzraHoly Hyraxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704030181702087485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784155149754953220.post-6992204281179131412008-01-02T16:13:00.000-05:002008-01-02T16:13:00.000-05:00It makes sense if the revelation was filtered thro...It makes sense if the revelation was filtered through human biases and ideas. God revealed a form of truth and humans transcribed it in ways they could understand. Yes, I know this sidesteps all questions, by just inserting human bias into any distasteful part of Torah, but that's the way I understand it nevertheless.<br><br>Human beings just weaned off of slavery and a very anthropomorphic polytheism communicated the idea of Hashem in ways they could understand.Yehudi Hilchatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06908923539770687179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784155149754953220.post-45859375304803009672008-01-02T15:58:00.000-05:002008-01-02T15:58:00.000-05:00I'm wondering if this changing concepts of God...I'm wondering if this changing concepts of God preclude the idea of revelation. Does the idea of revelation only really make sense with the God of old?Aryehnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784155149754953220.post-73867914689487747622008-01-02T14:32:00.000-05:002008-01-02T14:32:00.000-05:00Aryeh:Thanks & happy new year to you too.Actua...Aryeh:<br><br>Thanks & happy new year to you too.<br><br>Actually, belief in God having a physical body was still widespread in early medieval times and even persisted into late medieval times. Many have posited that Rambam's 3rd principle was in response to this.<br><br>I actually like the evolution of our concept of God within Judaism. It feels like it's a process that over the centuries constantly brings us closer to the truth. Initial monotheism simply saw a God that was different from the myriad gods f the time only in His uniqueness as the only god. That was just the first step in our developing understanding of God's nature.Yehudi Hilchatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06908923539770687179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784155149754953220.post-16148120345051217592008-01-02T13:08:00.000-05:002008-01-02T13:08:00.000-05:00oh, and happy new year, may you be blessed with mo...oh, and happy new year, may you be blessed with more people commentating on your blog. :)Aryehnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784155149754953220.post-71990678906634663662008-01-02T13:07:00.000-05:002008-01-02T13:07:00.000-05:00Hi,do you have any posts or thoughts regarding wha...Hi,<br><br>do you have any posts or thoughts regarding what you consider to be "divine"? Are you aware of the changing nature of the concepts of divinity throughout history? In early biblical times people did not consider God to be beyond time and space. He had a body of sort which was visible to man. As time went on God has become more and more detached from physical reality to the the point where it has no connection at all to it. You probably know all this, but I find it fascinating and like to repeat itAryehnoreply@blogger.com