Rabbinic Judaism Debunked

Rabbinic Judaism Debunked by Eitan Bar

This is a polemical book written by a Christian Jew. The gist of the argument is that Judaism is impeached by the Rabbinical Jewish doctrine of the Oral Torah.

The oral Torah is the set of unwritten law purportedly given by God to Moses at Sinai. The oral Torah supplements the written Torah. The oral Torah provided the basis for the Mishnah upon which the Talmud was a commentary.

I don't think non-Jews (or American reformed Jews) understand the role that the oral Torah plays in orthodox Judaism. For my part, I was surprised to find that most of the well-known rules are found in the Mishnah and not in the written Torah. The oral Torah, Mishnah and Talmud are not accepted by all Jews, including the Karaites and Reformed Jews.

Bar's argument is use the Talmud to highlight the importance of the Talmud to Orthodox Judaism. Bar supports his argument with quotations from the Talmud. Some of the quotes are eyebrow-raising, including some that suggest that the Rabbis get to tell God how the laws are to be interpreted. Since this is a polemical work, I suspect the quotes are in the text but that these quotes may be susceptible of a more charitable interpretation. Chalk this book up as an interesting survey of a maximalist interpretation of the influence of the Talmud.