30 May 2024
Shahak points out that the Old Testament Hebrews were henotheistic. They believed that other deities existed, but that Jehovah was their national God, and He was quite possessive. Only very late in Hebrew history did they begin to deny the existence of other deities. It didn't last long. While there were hints of some form of polytheism throughout Jewish history after Christ, when the Kabbalah arose in the 12-13th centuries, it was over. A Jewish reformation fought it, but lost. That is, while the average religious Jew is still mostly monotheistic, the rabbinate is thoroughly soaked in Kabbalism. The Kabbalah is very deeply embedded in orthodoxy.
He breaks it down, but it's very murky still. The Jewish leadership believe in several gods, each having a different character. There is some nebulous First Cause as Creator. There is a sort of Dad and Mom, and a Son and Daughter. The last two are supposed to unite, but Satan is keeping them apart. Plus, they have their own temptations that cause them to separate, and Hebrew history is a tale of them coming together or being torn apart, with consequences manifesting in the human situation on the ground: Conquest, Exile, etc. Thus, Kabbalah teaches them to pray and perform actions that bring Son and Daughter together for sexual union. It changes the meaning of, "the Lord is one."
Jews also have to mess with angels and even placate Satan. The Kabbalists imagine themselves sharper minded than the angels, who control the gates that let prayers through. The angels understand Hebrew, but not Aramaic prayers, and can be caught off guard. And if Jews dedicate rituals to Satan, he likes them so much it distracts him from messing with the Daughter for a while. And on and on in that vein. The critical point is not faith or even belief, but ritual alone.
The reason Jews can be united despite their widely varying political and religious opinions is because ritual is all that matters. They'll stand side by side with wholly different ideas about who they are worshiping, but the ritual is the thing, so the differences don't matter. They only fight when someone tries to innovate on the details of the rituals. Shahak warns that you can find all of this in plain sight, but you have to read it in the Hebrew versions of Talmudic teachings. It never shows up in other languages.
He cites several examples of Jews twisting the text of the Bible. These perversions can be mind blowing if you aren't familiar with it. The obvious meaning of the text is often twisted completely out of shape. This is why non-orthodox Jews or any outsider who tries to quote Bible verses to Orthodox Jews are wasting their breath. You have no idea what meaning is already locked into those passages in their minds.
Shahak outlines the structure of the Talmud in some detail, and I'm not going to repeat it all here. More important is the kind of detail it encompasses. For example, there are precisely 39 kinds of activity that are considered "work" in observing the Sabbath. Writing is one of them; no more than two characters may be written before it qualifies as forbidden work. To hedge this, it is generally forbidden to touch writing implements. I was told that Gentiles studying in Israel would typically hide the pens they carried on them during the Sabbath, to avoid giving offense.
He notes that it does not matter how absurd some ancient rules have become in modern times; they stand. The only changes admitted are stricter and more ridiculous hedging of the existing rules. A recurrent theme has been the distinctions in the interpretation of these laws as applied to the upper versus lower social classes of Jews. While the peasantry eventually disappear somewhere between 500 and 800 AD, the rabbinate very early gave themselves secret latitude denied those who didn't study the Talmud.
For example, to avoid having to let the land rest every sabbatical year, there is an admittedly fictitious sale of the entire agricultural territory of Israel to a nominated cooperating Gentile, stipulating by contract that it be sold back to Israel at the end of the sabbatical year. Thus, they dodge the Talmudic law requirements by using Talmudic subterfuge. There is an interplay between Talmudic law and Israeli civil law, using one to dodge the other. Also critical is using specific actions not mentioned in either code, since those are used to dodge the ritual requirements. I once saw a rabbi wearing his synagogue key integrated into his belt to avoid carrying tools on the Sabbath.
While the existence of "Sabbath Goys" (supportive Gentiles) has been recognized for centuries as a dire necessity, I saw it first hand in the military when Christian Chapel Support troops were instructed prior to Jewish Sabbath chapel services in the requirements (often voluminous) to avoid the prohibition against Jews commanding Gentile servants to do Jewish work on the Sabbath. It was described as the Gentile assistants doing all of this for their own comfort and convenience while being in the building: turning on/off the lights, setting the thermostat, etc.
Insofar as they have an image of God, it is someone who is easily fooled by rabbinical clever tactics.
Comments
Jay DiNitto
The funny thing about henotheism and the Christian version of monotheism is that it amounts to the same thing. Celestial beings and whatever else is out there are pretty much gods in comparison to us.
CatRez
The doctrinaire obsession with this question is peculiar to western minds. Paul had no trouble saying there was only one God, and yet referring to other powers and authorities.
This document is public domain; spread the message.