Judges, Pharisees and Rabbinut

“We know that the law is good if one uses it properly.”  1 Timothy 1:8 (NIV)

One of the hardest things for me to do, in writing a book explaining differences in Christianity and Judaism is finding the proper balance between reverence and disregard for rabbinical teachings.  For many of us who are not Jewish, it is easy to dismiss what the Rabbinut (the plural for Rabbi in Hebrew is Rabbinim, where Rabbinut is a word that reflects, generally, all of the Rabbinim) teach because it is so foreign to us, and doesn’t seem to make any sense.  To better understand the importance of rabbinical teachings in Judaism, we need to understand the history of Judaism and where these teachings came from.

The Rabbinut claim their authority from the time of Moses, when he appointed judges to help him in Exodus 18, from the advice of his father-in-law Jethro.  Verses 24-26 (NIV) read, “Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said.  He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.  They served as judges for the people at all times.  The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves.”  We see from Matthew chapter 23:2-3 (NIV) Yeshua recognizes this claim to authority, and perhaps the type of balance I am searching for, in saying, “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.  So you must obey them and do everything they tell you.  But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.”  It is important to note here, that Yeshua himself teaches us to listen to the teachers of the law and to do everything they tell us to, regardless of how we feel about them personally.  

Having said this, I need to explain one of my own personal beliefs; one should never use a single verse of the Bible to create personal religious doctrine.  This does not mean that we can ignore what each individual verse of the bible, but that we must understand there are times when a single verse can be misinterpreted or taken out of context, and it is best to base our beliefs on the overall spirit of the text, rather than on a single incident where a verse may contradict what the rest of the word says.   I am sharing this now because I do not want anyone to think I am telling you that Christians must do everything the Rabbinut tell you to do because some things have changed in the last two thousand years since Yeshua made this statement, but I do believe we can glean from the spirit of this verse, that we should at least have some respect for their authority and their teachings.  

Getting back to Judaic history, we will trace how modern Rabbinut became more than just the “judges” as were chosen by Moses back in Exodus.  They did not have to be a priest or a Levite in order to be a judge, but they were chosen from all Israel, just as today you do not have to be born into a particular Jewish family to become a Rabbi, but each Rabbi receives his training based upon his own capabilities.  

After Moses’ death, Joshua became the leader of Israel.  After Joshua, there seemed to be no clear leader of the people.  We read in Judges 2:15-19 (NIV);

Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.

Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders. Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They quickly turned from the ways of their ancestors, who had been obedient to the Lord’s commands. Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord relented because of their groaning under those who oppressed and afflicted them. But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

While the priests and the Levites watched over the Tabernacle and the sacrifices, it was the judges, along with the elders, who lead the people in their daily religious and political affairs.

When Samuel was in his old age, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel, but we read in Samuel chapter 8 that his sons were dishonest and perverted justice, causing the elders to ask for a king, like the other nations.  

From the time of King Saul to the exile in Babylon, I do not believe there is any mention of judges or teachers of the law, but this duty (of interpreting the law) seems to have fallen to the prophets during this period.  I will need to study First and Second Samuel, Kings and Chronicles further to confirm this.

After King Solomon’s death the Kingdom splits in two, Israel in the North and Judea in the South.  After several generations of disobedience, God has had enough of Israel and they were conquered by Assyria and they began dispersing the people from Israel or Samaria, creating what people refer to as the “Lost Tribes of Israel.”  A couple of generations later (or 125 years from the final deportation), Judea falls to Nebuchadnezzar and the Jews are exiled to Babylon.  The Babylonian Empire was overthrown by the Persian Empire, and after the Jewish people returned to Israel, they built the Second Temple (around 516 B.C.).  The Persian Empire was replaced by the Greek Empire which was in turn replaced by the Roman Empire.  All of you History buffs out there are probably pulling your hair out, at my abbreviated version of History, but work with me.

After the Temple had been rebuilt, there was concern that the Jewish refugees were no longer living according to the laws found in the Torah and a growing importance was placed on the “Mosaic Law,” or “Law of the Torah,” and for those who could interpret how it was to be implemented.  At first, this was largely the duty of the Temple priests, but there were a number of lay teachers, or scribes, who also studied the law.   As time passed, this small number of lay teachers began to increase.  It may be at this time that the title of Rabbi began to appear in Judea.  The title Rabbi most likely came from the exile to Babylon, where “Rab” was the title of the sages who taught in the Babylonian academies.  The title was used as one might use the academic title of “Doctor” today, to indicate a certain amount of education or achievement.

In 167 BC, Antiochus IV invaded Judea and defiled the Temple and forced Jews to abandon their laws and customs.  In 165 BC, Judah Maccabeus lead a revolt which liberated Jerusalem from Antiochus and the Temple was restored.  Judah established a new political and religious monarchy, known as the Hasmonean dynasty, even though he lacked the authority of a Davidic lineage (citation needed – sometimes I feel like I’m writing articles for Wikipedia). 

According to Josephus, a well known Jewish-Roman Historian from the first century, Judaism was divided into four sects of thought, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Essenes and the Zealots.  In the years leading up to Yeshua’s ministry, two of these distinct sects had emerged as the political and religious authorities of the Law, the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  The Pharisees, who emerged from the scribes, emphasized the “Oral Law” and claimed prophetic or Mosaic authority for their interpretation of Jewish laws, and the Sadducees, who emphasized the importance of “Mosaic Laws,” represented an aristocratic authority of the Temple Priests.  Many of the ideas and interpretations of the Pharisees, largely attributed to Hillel (but believed to be passed down, uninterrupted from the time of Moses, through the judges, prophets and scribes), would later be written down in the Mishnah by Judah HaNasi (about 150 years after the destruction of the Second Temple), in order that the Oral Law would not be forgotten.  The Mishnah is considered the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism, and coupled with the Gemara, comprise the Talmud.

The Sadducees on the other hand, gave no credence to the Oral Law and felt that everything in the Torah such be taken literally.  In this way, they felt that if one were to cause another to lose an eye, that the punishment to the offender must be the loss of their eye, as according to Exodus 21:24.  The Pharisees, however, claimed that this could be interpreted to mean the offender must pay the victim the value of an eye. 

We must remember and be thankful that, because of the Pharisees, the Scriptures were preserved when the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 CE.  One of Hillel’s disciples, Yochanan Ben Zakai, who foresaw the fall of Jerusalem to Rome, faked his own death and was smuggled out of the city gates, which were guarded by Jewish Zealots, in his own coffin.  He then made his way to the Roman camp, where he met with Vespasian and petitioned him for the city of Jabneh and its sages.  After the war, Yochanan was able to establish Jabneh, and its previously unimportant school, as the new seat of the Sanhedrin, and as previously stated, preserved the Scriptures from being completely destroyed.  

The Pharisees became the Rabbinut, and wrote the Talmud, and passed Jewish traditions down from generation to generation.  They continued the celebrations of the Jewish festivals and preserved Jewish thought and culture.  Because the Pharisees and Rabbis took the time to write down their understanding of and reasons for the Laws we find in the Torah, we are better able to understand their meaning, in our modern culture, than we would if there was no other source of reference to these laws.  We must be mindful to respect the teachings of these Rabbis, but use discretion in their implementation.  We must always keep in mind that the Talmud is not scripture, and should be used only as commentary on the scriptures.

I am sure many of you are cringing at the mention of the Talmud because of its negative depiction of Yeshua, as well as false teachings contained therein.  Perhaps next week we will pick up from this idea and how the divide between Judaism and Christianity grew over the centuries.  

Remember, I am looking for your feedback.  Does everything I have to say make sense?  Is there anything you disagree with?  Tell me what your sources are.  If you don't have a source but just want to state your opinion, that is valid too.