Israel Shahak: Blowing the lid off the Talmud and Judaism

http://800poundgorilla.100webspace.net/geeklog//article.php?story=20081030232126170Israel Shahak: Blowing the lid off the Talmud and Jewish fundamentalismIf you read only one author on the subject of Talmudic Judaism, it ought to be Israel Shahak. In his trilogy of books on the subject, Shahak -- a highly-respected Jewish-Israeli historian/researcher and human-rights campaigner -- reveals the horrific truth behind “Talmudic ideology” and its fundamentalist, anti-gentile world-view.Shahak’s most important academic contribution lies in the fact that he -- as a speaker of Hebrew -- is able to provide unparalleled insight into what is written in the Hebrew-language press itself about these contentious topics:“All modern studies on Judaism, particularly by Jews, ...bear the unmistakable marks of their origin: deception, apologetics or hostile polemics, indifference or even active hostility to the pursuit of truth,” Shahak writes on Page 22 of his “Jewish History, Jewish Religion.”Two pages later, he adds: “Modern scholars of Judaism have not only continued the deception, but have actually improved upon the old rabbinical methods, both in impudence and in mendacity.”Israel Shahak has written hundreds of thoroughly-researched articles and essays about these topics. His seminal work, however, is his brilliant trilogy of books, which consists of “Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years” (1994); “Open Secrets: Israeli Nuclear and Foreign Policies” (1997); and “Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel,” with co-writer Norton Mezvinsky (1999).Choosing selections from Shahak’s trilogy is difficult because it contains so much revealing and highly relevant material -- but here’s an attempt, nevertheless. The following quotations from “Jewish History, Jewish Religion” will hopefully encourage the reader to download and read all three books in their entirety (see below).[...]On the apparently Satanic nature of Jewish mysticism, or Kabala:“Other prayers or religious acts, as interpreted by the Cabalists, are designed to deceive various angels (imagined as minor deities with a measure of independence) or to propitiate Satan... Indeed, the Cabalists believe that some of the sacrifices burnt in the temple were intended for Satan.” (Page 34)On the centrality of the Talmud -- as opposed to the Torah, or Old Testament -- in modern Judaism:“There is yet another misconception about Judaism which is particularly common among Christians, or people heavily influenced by Christian tradition and culture. This is the misleading idea that Judaism is a ‘Biblical religion’; that the Old Testament has in Judaism the same central place and legal authority which the bible has for Protestant or even Catholic Christianity. Again, this is connected with the question of interpretation. We have seen that in matters of belief there is great latitude. Exactly the opposite holds with respect to the legal interpretation of sacred texts. Here the interpretation is rigidly fixed -- but by the Talmud rather than the bible itself.” (Page 36)“It should therefore be clearly understood that the source of authority for all the practices of classical (and present day Orthodox) Judaism, the determining base of its legal structure, is the Talmud, or, to be precise, the so-called Babylonian Talmud...” (Page 39)[...]Download “Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years” Read Full Book