#Jewish Parable

[mossiistars]

[jessicalprice]

not every story is a fable

(reposted from Twitter)

So in reading Christian commentary on NT parables, and its wild and ugly claims about first-century Jews and Judaism, I often find myself wondering how they got there. And I think I've discerned the process. 

It goes a little something like this: 

Christians receive traditional interpretations of what the parables “mean." E.g. the prodigal son means you should forgive people, the good Samaritan means you should help people in need. These meanings are, generally, banal.

Rather than reading the parables as stories, Christians read them as fables with a moral. They read them through the lens of that moral instead of approaching them without a predetermined interpretation.

Christians also believe that the parables must contain revolutionary, radical truths.

So now, they somehow have to resolve the idea that the stories are radical with the fact that their received interpretations are obvious/banal/the same thing plenty of other people have said.

And that goes a little something like this: 

Since (what they believe are) the morals of these stories don't sound radical to contemporary Westerners, they project that radicalness backward onto the parable's original context and audience. That is, it must have been radical/shocking at the time, to the people who first heard it.

Now they have to resolve the dilemma of how something that sounds so banal and obvious to us could have been radical and shocking and scandalous(!) to the original listeners.

Most of them aren't going to say "Jesus's Jewish listeners were incredibly malicious and/or incredibly stupid," at least out loud. So they move to: Projecting that onto Jewish culture, Jewish law, "religious law," etc. 

So then they need to make up norms/customs/attitudes that would make the parable "shocking." If they can find a source that maybe seems to say something that hints in that direction, they'll claim it says a lot more than it does and that it was normative. (E.g. Ben Sira saying you can tell things about a man from how he walks ends up meaning "the villagers would have stoned the father for running to greet his long-lost son" and of course that running to greet your long-lost son would be S H O C K I N G to the listeners.)

It's why they love throwing "ritual purity" in there so much. 

The father in the Prodigal Son story wouldn't embrace his son because he was ritually impure! (If the father was out doing farm stuff and wasn't going to the Temple any time soon, most likely, so was he.)

The kohen and the Levite in the Good Samaritan story passed by the dying man on the side of the road because they were afraid he would make them ritually impure! (The story is very clear they were headed AWAY from Jerusalem, and thus the Temple, so no.)

The Pharisee in the Temple has contempt for the tax collector and doesn't want to stand next to him because he's ritually impure! (No, if the tax collector is in the Temple, he is in a state of ritual purity.)

An anthropologist friend of mine told me that when anthropologists/archaeologists are confronted with an object from an ancient culture and they don't know what it's for, the default category is "ritual object."

Did you dig up a weird-shaped ax that doesn't seem well-designed for either being a weapon OR chopping things? Ritual object. 

Find a statue with some odd characteristics? Ritual object.

"Ritual purity" appears to be to Christian understanding of Jewish customs what "ritual object" is to anthropologists. Anything that doesn't make sense to you, put down to "ritual purity."

So, anyway, the process goes like this: 

parables must be shocking > 

they're not shocking to me > 

they must have been shocking to Jews > 

make up supposed Jewish customs/laws/attitudes that would have made normal behavior "shocking"

It’s exhausting. 

(Photo credit: Andrea Piacquadio)

[k1tty-wh1te]

had a strong urge to draw Stanley in this exact pose

[queenburd]

Every day I think about Stanleys big nose and the fact the other employees draw it as a big hooked nose and I go “yeah that guys not a white dude”

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

The Parable of the Prodigal Son

OJB

11 And Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach said, A certain ben Adam had shnei banim (two sons). 12 And the younger of them said to his Abba, Avi, give to me the share of the estate that falls to me. And his Abba divided his wealth between them. 13 And not many yamim later, having gathered together everything, the younger ben went on a journey to a far away country, and there he squandered his osher (riches) with gilui arayot (sexual immorality) and loose living. [YESHAYAH 59:2] 14 And when he had spent everything, there came a severe ra'av (famine) throughout that aretz, and he began to be nitzrach (needy). 15 And he went and became associated with one of the citizens of that aretz, and he sent him into his fields to feed chazirim, [VAYIKRA 11:7] 16 And he was longing to fill his mogen (stomach) with the pods which the chazirim were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. 17 When he came to his senses, his seichel told him, How many of my Abba's sachirim (hired workers) have more than enough okhel (food) and I am perishing here with hunger. 18 I will get up and go to my Abba, and I will say, Avi, I sinned against Shomayim and in your sight. [VAYIKRA 26:40; TEHILLIM 51:6(4)] 19 I no longer have the zokheh (merit) worthy to be called a ben of my Abba. Make me as one of your sachirim (hired workers). 20 And when he got up he came home to his own Abba. And while he was still a long way off, his Abba saw him, and was filled with rachmei Shomayim (heavenly mercy, compassion) and tears, and fell upon his neck and kissed him. [Gn 45:14] 21 And bno said to the Abba, Avi, I sinned against Shomayim and in your sight. No longer do I have the zokheh (merit) to be worthy to be called your ben. [Psa 51:6(4) 22 But his Abba said to his avadim, Shnel! (Quick!) Bring out the best kaftan and clothe him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals for his feet, [ZECHARYAH 3:4; BERESHIS 41:42] 23 And bring the fattened calf, and slaughter it, and let us eat and have a simcha, 24 Because this ben of mine was dead and now he has returned l'Chayyim! He had been lost and now he is found. And they began to make a simcha.

KJV

11 And he said, A certain man had two sons:

12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.

13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.

14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.

15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,

19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:

23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:

24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. — Luke 15:11-24 | Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB) and King James Version (KJV) The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved and the King James Version Bible is in the public domain. Cross References: Genesis 41:42; Genesis 45:14; Genesis 46:29; Deuteronomy 21:17; 1 Samuel 28:24; 2 Samuel 14:33; Job 33:27; Psalm 51:4; Psalm 119:59; Proverbs 13:25; Proverbs 15:17; Hosea 2:7; Zechariah 3:4; Matthew 7:6; Matthew 8:22; Mark 12:44; Luke 9:60; Luke 15:10; Luke 15:25; Luke 15:32; John 5:25; Acts 20:37; Romans 11:15

Read full chapter

What is the meaning of the Parable of the Prodigal Son?

[m0thmachine]

In other news, I borrowed my friend’s tanakh, and I’m reading it. This might sound weird, but I never realized how funny the Torah is.

Abraham bargaining HaShem down from saving Sodom and Gomorrah if there’s 50 innocent people to 10? The wife-sister thing happening not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES? Isaac naming a well “harassment” because people won’t stop trying to claim his wells? Those are all really good bits.

[julio-claudian-saberface]

[johnwicklover1999]

sharing my 4 jews in a room bitching tsp vision with the 2 people who will see this post anyways

^ this line stanley as hell

^ 432 at some goofy ass dead on shot

^ mariella and the camera does a fine ass spin like in 'it's over isn't it' on the long note

^ narrator does this entire segment but i can imagine him doing some goofy ass finger wag at 'who was up to no good'

[johninrags]

Aleph - Baptism of Air

"A farmer went out to plant some seeds. As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn't have deep roots, they died. Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants. Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted! Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand."

His disciples came and asked him, "Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?"

He replied, "You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. That is why I use these parables,

For they look, but they don't really see.

They hear, but they don't really listen or understand.

This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah that says,

'When you hear what I say,

you will not understand.

When you see what I do,

you will not comprehend.

For the hearts of these people are hardened,

and their ears cannot hear,

and they have closed their eyes–

so their eyes cannot see,

and their ears cannot hear,

and their hearts cannot understand,

and they cannot turn to me

and let me heal them.'

"But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn't see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn't hear it.

"Now listen to the explanation of the parable about the farmer planting seeds: The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message about the Kingdom and don't understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts. The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don't have deep roots, they don't last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God's word. The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God's word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced. The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God's word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!"

Matthew 13:3-23 (NLTSE)

[storytour-blog]

Who Is in Control of Whom?

A man was charged with committing a serious crime against the king and placed in prison until his trial. When it came time for him to stand trial, one of the king’s guards took him from his cell and escorted him to the place of justice. The king’s guard, suspecting that the prisoner might try to escape, took a pair of handcuffs from his pocket. He then placed one of the cuffs around the wrist of…

[exquisitelyeco]

The 10 plagues of Egypt, God or what?

When we think of God hardening the heart I think we mistake what is going on. It is not that God is being mean to Pharaoh. But that he is allowing Pharaoh to see that those things HE thinks are might, namely military power , power and his own will as supreme ruler, are actually nothing when compared with the goodness and justice of God. At every turn Pharoah thinks he can beat and crush God. And…

[trendfag]

for my history exam instead of taking the test should i just write about everything he got wrong about the bible in the last three weeks of class

[jessicalprice]

healers should get weekends too

(Reposted, with additions, from Twitter)

The story of the man with the withered hand (Mark 3:1-6; Luke 6:6-11) gets used a lot to make the Pharisees, the ancestors of contemporary Judaism, and by extension and implication, Jews and Judaism more broadly, look monstrous. 

If you’re not familiar with the story, it’s the one in which Jesus goes to the synagogue on Shabbat, and there’s a man with a “withered” hand there, and the Pharisees are watching him to see if he’ll heal on Shabbat. Jesus tells them off, and they decide to plot to kill him. 

This story is actually a prime example of how the gospels demonize--or get used to demonize--completely normal behavior from Jews in order to make Jesus (and Christians) look superior/enlightened/improved. 

The readings of this tend to be either: 

Oh, the Pharisees have a problem with Jesus healing on Shabbat? They value following a meaningless religious law over saving someone's life. Look how rigid they were, following the letter of the law instead of the spirit of the law, willing to let someone die rather than breaking a silly ritual prohibition.

Or, at least, they value following a meaningless religious law over alleviating suffering.

When Jews push back on these readings, we usually focus on pikuach nefesh, the principle that almost any Jewish law can be trumped by the need to save a life. You’re starving and all that’s available is pork? You eat pork. Someone gets a life-threatening injury on Shabbat? You do whatever you need to in order to save them. 

Of course, this has the effect of giving into the tendentious framing the gospels use--the man has a withered hand, not a life-threatening injury--but Jesus responds to the Pharisees by citing life-and-death situations.

It also throws the Pharisees under the bus: Judaism, practiced properly, would side with Jesus. 

But if the man had been dying, there wouldn’t be any disagreement between Jesus and the Pharisees. So I think we can all agree that the first reading of this story--that the Pharisees (and by extension, Jews in general) valued following religious law over saving a life--is nonsensical, and whether it's intended that way or not, antisemitic.

But what about the second reading? Did the Pharisees value following restrictions on activity during Shabbat over alleviating suffering?

There are two ways to look at it:

The Pharisees are just being used in the gospels as stock opponents for Jesus, so we shouldn’t assume it’s actually a historically accurate depiction of positions they held. (This is the easy one.)

The actual historical Pharisees did have an issue with people healing on Shabbat. (This is the more interesting one--why?)

The Christian (practicing or cultural) answer to this always seems to be an unexamined assertion of “religious law.” The Pharisees are either mindlessly following “religious law” and are too rigid to understand when it should be flexible, or they’re maliciously following “religious law” to punish??? people for being sick???

I think a lot of this trend in Christian thinking starts with Paul, and his near-constant assertion that Jewish law is burdensome, unpleasant, and ultimately impossible to follow or satisfy. If you believe that, then I guess it’s easy to imagine Jewish legal experts as superciliously holding people to impossible-to-meet standards that they knew they couldn’t meet themselves, making them both nitpickers and hypocrites.

But that’s not how Jews see Torah.

And I think you can sum up Jewish opposition to the idea of Jesus healing on Shabbat as:

Doctors should get weekends too. 

Let me back up. Again, reading the NT, you get the idea that Shabbat is a day of restriction, this time when we're not allowed to do stuff we want to do, but we have to hold off from doing it because otherwise God will be mad at us.

But in Jewish thought? Shabbat is a gift. 

 Every seven days, we get a holiday. It's an assertion of freedom: we're not slaves anymore. We get to have a day of rest, a day in which commerce is no longer a driving force, a day to not be workers.

So, if it’s a gift, why the harsh penalties in Torah for working on Shabbat? I mean, you can go with "because God said so," but the Torah's laying out rules for a society so usually there are societal reasons too.

And I think the obvious one here is economic competition. We can only all relax and enjoy Shabbat if we're not feeling like we should be working. If someone in our community, possibly a business competitor, is out there working 7 days a week, and we're only working 6, we're suddenly at an economic disadvantage. And the temptation, if one person is cheating, is for everyone else to cheat too, or at least to be worrying all day that they're losing out by not cheating. So what is supposed to be a day of rest and peace and not being ruled by the marketplace becomes a day of restriction and stress and worrying about the marketplace.

So yeah, if you're a first-century Jew, especially given that you're living in times of harsh economic oppression, you're going to disapprove of other Jews working on Shabbat. It's kind of a betrayal of everyone else who's trying to preserve that day of peace even under Rome.

The dude with the withered hand wasn't bleeding to death, and presumably has been living with it for a while. Why does he suddenly have to be healed today, on Shabbat? Again, if he had a life-threatening condition, Jewish law would be very clear: you do what’s necessary to save his life, even on Shabbat. But this isn’t a life-threatening condition. 

The implication is that healers should be available to work at all times, even on what’s supposed to be their day of rest. 

That’s actually really dangerous in a communitarian society, which emphasizes people’s duty to the community over their individual interests. Shabbat restrictions actually function as a check on people getting used up and exhausted by the needs of those around them. Healers have one day a week during which, barring a life-threatening emergency, they are free of demands that they work. 

The NT stacks the deck by having Jesus act like this is a matter of life and death, that if you’re not healing on Shabbat, you’re killing. It sure seems like he’s saying that healers shouldn’t get weekends. 

So yeah, I’m with the Pharisees on this one. If I need non-emergency surgery, I’d be an asshole to demand that the surgeon perform it on her weekend instead of waiting until Monday. 

If I’m trying to be charitable to Jesus, I guess I could assume that he believed the world as everyone around him knew it was about to end, and this was supposed to be a “let’s all pull together” moment. But it’s not sustainable in the long term.

Healers deserve weekends too. 

(Photo credit: Jonathan Borba) 

[aotreblogspam]

i truly do believe that christianity and autistic christianity are two completely different things...

[chicago-geniza]

From the translation project I'm hoping to resume and finish next week. Stefania wrote this between the end of 1939 and January 1940. The fragment is reportage-documentalist quasi-memoir in the style of Kafka's paradoxical parables, the Book of Kings in Lublin & Elijah as tailor. Calling the chapter that addresses Stefania’s. Unaddressed. Everything. About the Holocaust. “Ten dom, gdzie byla moja zona, to sie zawalil na moich synow.” 

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Childlike Humility

1 At that hour the disciples came to Yeshua, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

2 And He called a child to Himself, set him in the midst of them, 3 and said, “Amen, I tell you, unless you turn and become like children, you shall never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever then shall humble himself like this child, this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in My name, welcomes Me.

6 “But whoever causes one of these little ones who trust in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck and to be sunk in the depth of the sea! 7 Woe to the world because of snares! For snares must come, but woe to that man through whom the snare comes!

8 “And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away from you. It’s better for you to enter into life crippled or lame than, having two hands or two feet, to be thrown into fiery Gehenna. 9 If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. It’s better for you to enter into life with one eye than, having two eyes, to be thrown into fiery Gehenna.

Parable of the Lost Sheep

10-11 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father in heaven.

12 “What do you think? If a certain man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, won’t he leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go looking for the one that is straying? 13 And if he finds it, amen I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t stray. 14 Even so, it’s not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.”

Restoring a Lost Brother

15 “Now if your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault while you’re with him alone. If he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take with you one or two more, so that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand.’ 17 But if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to Messiah’s community. And if he refuses to listen even to Messiah’s community, let him be to you as a pagan and a tax collector.

18 “Amen, I tell you, whatever you forbid on earth will have been forbidden in heaven and what you permit on earth will have been permitted in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst.”

Lessons about Forgiveness

21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Master, how often shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”

22 Yeshua said to him, “No, not up to seven times, I tell you, but seventy times seven! 23 Therefore, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he had begun to settle up, a man was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But since he didn’t have the money to repay, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 Then the slave fell on his knees and begged him, saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I’ll repay you everything.’ 27 And the master of that slave, filled with compassion, released him and forgave him the debt.

28 “Now that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii. And he grabbed him and started choking him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe!’

29 “So his fellow slave fell down and kept begging him, saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I’ll pay you back.’ 30 Yet he was unwilling. Instead, he went off and threw the man into prison until he paid back all he owed.

31 “So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply distressed. They went to their master and reported in detail all that had happened. 32 Then summoning the first slave, his master said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Wasn’t it necessary for you also to show mercy to your fellow slave, just as I showed mercy to you?’ 34 Enraged, the master handed him over to the torturers until he paid back all he owed.

35 “So also My heavenly Father will do to you, unless each of you, from your hearts, forgives his brother.” — Matthew 18 | Tree of Life Version (TLV) Tree of Life Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society. Cross References: Genesis 4:24; Exodus 21:2; Exodus 22:3 Leviticus 19:17; 1 Kings 22:19; 1 Chronicles 29:7; Psalm 119:176; Psalm 131:2; Proverbs 21:13; Proverbs 25:9; Proverbs 28:3; Ezekiel 34:4; Matthew 2:11; Matthew 5:7; Matthew 5:22; Matthew 5:29-30; Matthew 6:14; Matthew 7:8; Matthew 7:24; Matthew 8:2; Matthew 9:12-13; Matthew 10:40; Matthew 13:24; Matthew 14:9; Matthew 15:30; Matthew 16:23; Matthew 17:27; Matthew 19:14; Matthew 25:15; Matthew 26:24; Mark 6:37; Mark 9:33-34; Mark 9:42; Mark 9:47; Mark 11:26; Luke 7:42-43; Luke 17:4; Luke 9:46; Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 1:7; Colossians 4:7; James 2:13