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<fiddlerontheroof> whadaDAAAda... whadaDAAAda... whadaDAAAda... whadaDAAAda... traditioooooon....TRADITION!</fiddlerontheroof> :D

well, look at the patriarchs, why don't you? it was perfectly possible to be a moral human being and, indeed, a jew before sinai, whether you think this was Revelation or moral intuition. we have a strong tradition which points to moral intuition as the initial cause of abraham being Chosen by...

agreed, but anecdotal is not always compelling. i could say the same thing about anti-religious positions. well, that is pretty much what is meant by being Created in the Divine Image - we strive to imitate G!D: "you must be holy, for I Am Holy". scholem is, of course an eminent academic...

um, yes, but the trouble with this line of argument (and i'm really, really not arguing that drugs are a good thing) is that there's no evidence that hendrix's drug habits harmed his *creativity*; it was his *behaviour associated with drug-taking* - i.e. getting so off your face that you'd throw...

yes, but how do you actually *know*? you can't access their private experience. look up the word "kenosis" - this is most important as a concept. nullification of the self is achieved in a number of different ways, but all are critical for the inner journey. i'm not saying that some people don't...

a lot of people are of the opinion that so-called "creation science" or homeopathy are plausible. clearly, the number of people that hold an opinion is not necessarily an overwhelming argument. perhaps i'm being a bit thick, but that seems remarkably solipsistic to me. i think you've been...

in your opinion. and, certainly, a beneficial religious system will prominently include the active answering of this question through constant self-challenge. the Divine cannot "adhere" to the laws of physics without being subject to them. clearly, this is not what i (and most others)...

this is quite an interesting question. i can understand where you're coming from, amica, given the history and context. so you're saying that he is ultimately aiming to drive wedges between muslims in serbia and muslims in bosnia? but given the tensions in the area, wouldn't it be a good idea to...

but this analogy is faulty from the get-go. your argument is a moral one and people are not particles. particles do not have moral sense - in fact, whatever it is that causes homosexuality, it is clear from the presentation in animal species that there is some kind of genetic or evolutionary...

you're begging a question, namely: "how is it clear that exercising either your intellect or your free will leads one to conclude that homosexual feelings should not be acted upon?" in other words, there are plenty of very, very rational homosexuals. look at lord browne, for one - used to...

insofar as this relates to ezra, it relates to the authority for the validity of human interpretation, what you suggest is meant by jeremiah 31:34. well, not exactly. the return of prophecy is certainly anticipated and, despite the disappearance of the *nebu'ah* level of prophecy, the *bath...

sorry, are you saying that the zohar does or doesn't assume that reincarnation is a fact? i'm not clear what you mean. my understanding is this: reincarnation, within kabbalistic thought, is generally considered to be a standard; it is referred to as "gilgul ha-neshamot". now, depending on what...

<mod>taijasi / andrewx: please dial it down. i know you have serious disagreements, but please try and hold on to your handbag; personal comments are not OK. sam albion: in the best scouse tradition, caam down, caam down!</mod> nonsense. semikhah is semikhah. if you don't have semikhah, you...

the thing is, you see, that the authority for humans to interpret the Torah comes from, well, the Torah. as i have pointed out numerous times, the source is devarim / deuteronomy 30, "lo ba-shamayim hi"; the Torah is not in heaven, but right here among us to be interpreted by humans, by majority...

umph... ben's take is, in my view, rather unusual in terms of what he considers valid and invalid. midrash is a multi-edged sword; look at nahmanides' barnstorming performance at the disputation "kangaroo court" in spain; it is abundantly clear that his accusers quite simply didn't understand...

this is really interesting as a subject. for me, it is particularly interesting when you look at what the ethiopian jews have - basically, it's what you would expect them to have given that they are basically a "first Temple" community, so have missed out on anything that relates to after the...

it should be pointed out that there were an awfully large number of candidates for the fundamentals - there were a lot of different authorities with their own schemes, including duran, hasdai crescas, sa'adia gaon and so on; maimonides is not the only game in town, although he is probably...

ok, now you made me laugh. yeah.... a productive way to deal with that, i'm sure. as you know, i take the view that anyone who actually understands the verse concerned let alone how halakhah works could not reasonably interpret it in the way that christian fundamentalists do, let alone act on...

that is more arguable than you might think - i myself consider it to be referring to "punishment rapes" as still widely practiced in war and prisons. also, breaking Shabbat is equally punishable - even the same form of death. yet, for some reason, we seem to have managed to avoid executing...

<mod>rybo - i suggest, quite strongly, that you stop being so aggressive and patronising to seattlegal. it is not for you to suggest what she does or does not "get" without actually providing an argument.</mod> with that said, this is an interesting thread and i'd like to see more of the...