It is important that before we dig into the Gospel texts themselves we understand some of the cultural background regarding ritual purity in the late Second Temple period. The Tosefta tells us that during this time “purity broke out among Israel.” Archeological evidence verifies that in the decades preceding the fall of the Temple in 70 CE ritual purity had become a major concern even among the common people throughout the land of Israel.
-Toby Janicki
“The Master and Netilat Yadayim”
Messiah Journal
Issue 108 – Fall – 2011/5772 p. 27
This isn’t the first time I’ve discussed netilat yadayim or the ritual handwashing, but I’m not making it my main focus this time. Rather, I want to address how Janicki supports his argument for Jesus advocating, or at least not dismissing this portion of First Century Jewish halacha. The clue is right in the quote that is just above. Not relying on the Bible alone to interpret the Bible.
That’s probably going to raise a few eyebrows among some people reading this. I’ve heard it said often enough that we should “let scripture interpret scripture”, which I take to mean using one part of the Bible to interpret another part. I wonder if that’s always possible or if we shouldn’t also take into consideration other information, such as the “archeological evidence” Janicki mentions. Of course, that’s not the only supporting data he cites.
While the washing of hands before eating bread is not specifically commanded in the Torah, the sages of the Talmud attempted to find a scriptural basis for it in various biblical passages. For example in Leviticus 15:11 there is the injunction, “Anyone whom the one with the discharge touches without having raised his hands in water.” They felt that the Torah made allusions to the entire scope of this practice in a roundabout way (citing Chullin 106a). -Janicki p. 27
I know that Mark 7 seems to be very clear that Christ disapproved of the hand washing ritual, but can we rely just on the text as translated into English without any contextual frame of reference to tell us the entire story? I know that Christians (and many “Messianics”) are rather squeamish when it comes to the Talmudic wisdom, especially since it was documented decades to centuries later than the events in Mark 7, but halachah did exist in Christ’s day, he was (and is) a Jew, and despite what supersessionist church teachings may say to the contrary, Jesus did not play fast and loose with his being a Jew.
I’m saying all this (and it’s not the first time) to illustrate that we cannot simply pick up a Bible, read a passage, and immediately know all of the details and subtle nuances that are being communicated. In fact, we don’t know what is being said and often, we don’t bother to try and find out. We, meaning Christians, tend to rely on the traditional church interpretation of the passage and believe that Jesus was talking about how all meats were clean and ham sandwiches were forevermore a really cool snack. However, a close reading of even the English text (minus Christian perspective) will reveal that he wasn’t talking about food at all.
Interestingly enough, from the Jewish point of view, scripture is interpreted by tradition as well, although the tradition points to the sages and the Mishnah. This is something completely foreign to Christians and many “Messianics” who say they embrace the “Jewish Jesus.” But from our early 21st century perspective, do we really know just how foreign Jesus would be to us if we could go back and meet him on the streets of his home village or in the courts of the holy Temple in First Century Jerusalem?
Connecting to the Master and thus to the God of our faith means entering worlds where we are considered strangers. We have to cross the barriers of time, culture, and education. We have to set aside our western preconceptions and look at the person Jesus as an ancient near-eastern man living in an occupied nation; a former carpenter turned itinerant Rabbi. This isn’t the Jesus you learned about in Sunday school or the European-looking actor you’ve seen portray him in half a dozen films.
To learn about the true “Maggid of Nazaret”, you’ll need to do what Toby Janicki did in researching the Master and the Netilat Yadayim. You’ll need to look for him in all of the ancient Jewish places, in all the traditional Hebrew texts. You won’t find him any place else.
Morning Meditations 
James,
Really good post! I don’t understand entirely what your saying about other books interpreting the scriptures. I do think it’s very interesting reading the, Talmud, but it’s not the word of God. I would think it’s full of wisdom, but not the commandments. Are you talking about trandtions vs scripture?
We here in the US, have been taught to believe what we believe and not search any deeper, just accept what the leaders say is true, especially if they have a lot of degrees behind their name. Just because someone has researched something does not make them an expert. The Sages were very wise and learned Men, but still they are not the absolute athority. So how do you seperate the two?
Michelle
All I’m really saying is that we can’t just read the Bible and always know what it is telling us. We need the context in which the Bible was written, which not only includes historical and archaeological evidence and data, but an understanding of ancient and sometimes modern Jewish thought processes. It’s not always about taking midrash at face value but using it to enhance our comprehension of what the people of the Bible were saying.
In Christianity, we get hung up about man’s word vs. the word of God, but we can’t understand God’s word in its unfiltered form because it is recorded by men (and women?) who lived halfway around the world thousands of years ago, who spoke another language and who used thought processes fundamentally unlike our own. As much as it may go against the grain, we must seek out other sources besides the English text of the Bible to understand the sometimes hidden meaning and subtleties involved. As you can see from the example I took from Toby’s article, it’s one thing to read Mark 7 all by itself and another thing to invoke other evidence, which significantly modifies the meaning of Christ’s words.
James,
I do agree with what your saying, but even within the Talmud, there is tranditions that are not scripture. What I’m asking is how do you seperate the true commandments of God from the tranditions of Men, (Sages, Rabbi)? I think your right the only way to truely understand who Jesus/Yeshua is, is to study the Jewish culture, learn Hebrew and get the real meaning behind the idioms and Eastern Mindset. We also need the help of the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth, without His leading, we may be deceived. I think the scripture is the absolute athority and we can learn from Jewish people the true meaning of scripture, yet we need to know what is trandition and what is written in the Bible and be able to seperate. If not, we may be worshiping God in a way that he never ment for us to. That is what I’m saying, we need to be careful what we accept as truth. This is some tranditions mixed in religions and that is not good.
Michelle
I do agree with what your saying, but even within the Talmud, there is tranditions that are not scripture. What I’m asking is how do you seperate the true commandments of God from the tranditions of Men, (Sages, Rabbi)?
We have the Bible. We want to use what the Bible tells us as a guide to holy living. But we need to understand what the Bible is telling us. How can we do that? Part of the answer is to rely on the people who have been following the commandments of God for thousands of years before the Gentile nations ever heard of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In other words, like religious Jews, we use tradition to interpret the Bible.
Will we get a perfect understanding of what the word of God says from this? No. I don’t believe anyone has a perfect understanding of what the word of God says. I don’t believe anyone leads a completely Bible-consistent lifestyle. Yes, we have Jesus as our guide since he did lead a completely Bible-consistent lifestyle as a Jew. But 2,000 years later, we’re having as difficult a time understanding what Jesus was teaching as we are understanding what Moses was teaching.
That is what I’m saying, we need to be careful what we accept as truth.
I completely agree. Even turning to the Holy Spirit requires a certain amount of discernment on our part because as human beings, we can often mistake our emotional reactions for a “moving of the Spirit” (just because we feel good or bad after prayer doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit is manipulating our emotions as a “sign”). Doing the very, very best we can, we’ll still get something wrong (that’s my opinion, others may disagree). We will never get past the blending of tradition and the Bible because tradition is part of the interface we use to understand and “act out” the Bible. God told the Israelites to tie fringes on the four corners of their garments but He didn’t tell them how to do it (unless it was in the Oral Law given to Moses but not documented). Tradition tells a 21st century Jew how to tie fringes, how to pray, what to eat, and how to live. To some degree, tradition tells a Christian how to live as well (and how often are the “church fathers” revered for their understanding of Jesus?).
If not, we may be worshiping God in a way that he never ment for us to.
We probably are making mistakes all the time, at least a little. The Hebrew word kavanah means intention or direction and it’s part of what we include in our worship of God. If worship were only a matter of following the mechanics of a service or the order of prayer, then people would be closer to or farther from God based on how well they followed a set of steps, like putting together a piece of furniture. Kavanah means that we can get the steps not quite right and still be close to God anyway. It’s not just what we do and it’s not just what’s in our hearts. It all comes together and as messed up as we get it sometimes, God knows what we mean.
James,
I think i’m agreeing with everything your saying. I’m learning, The Torah myself and with that also learning that some things we where taught in Christian Churches are only man made rituals and the same with Judaism. Yes, it is a good thing God sees our hearts and has mercy on us, and yes no one has it 100% right. To think you got all the answers is in a way defining a cult.
I’m still a little leary of the Talmud, because I don’t want to get caught up in traditions. The traditions
we learned in church only distort the truth. I appreaicate your response to my questions.
Michelle
I can appreciate your concerns Michelle and agree that we don’t want to make stuff up just because we can. I think the really hard part for those of us without the benefit of a traditional Jewish education is understanding how the Talmud defines Judaism in such a way that it cannot be removed from Judaism without damaging what it is to be Jewish. From a Christian point of view, Judaism and Christianity are related religions and only the fact the Jews don’t accept Jesus as the Messiah makes them different. Christians see the Talmud as just a bunch of rules made up by guys who wanted to add more rules to the word of God.
But that’s not how Judaism sees the Talmud.
I just started reading The Cambridge Companion to the Talmud and Rabbinic Literature which defines the Talmud as “encapsulating the spiritual and intellectual core of Judaism” even more than the actual Hebrew Bible. In essence, the Talmud defines what it is to be a Jew, in all manner being, including religion and culture. Except for the Kararites, a religious Jew wouldn’t know how to be a religious Jew without the Talmud (although this would be less true in Reform Judaism than in the Conservative or Orthodox branches).
In setting aside the Talmud as a Christian, we must be careful not to disregard what it means to an observant Jew. If we want to understand Judaism, we have to at least attempt to grasp what Jews value in the Talmud, otherwise we won’t have a clue. It doesn’t mean we have to embrace the judgments of the sages, but we at least have to try and comprehend the Talmud’s significant role in Judaism.
As odd as the title may be, the best introduction I got to “basic Talmud” was The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Talmud. It presents a clear, easy to read, and comprehensive picture of the Talmud, and I’d recommend the book to anyone who want to learn more on the topic. If you’re curious, you might want to pick up a copy. With any luck, your local library will have one.
In setting aside the Talmud as a Christian, we must be careful not to disregard what it means to an observant Jew. If we want to understand Judaism, we have to at least attempt to grasp what Jews value in the Talmud, otherwise we won’t have a clue. It doesn’t mean we have to embrace the judgments of the sages, but we at least have to try and comprehend the Talmud’s significant role in Judaism.
James,
I don’t set the Talmud aside as one who would disregard it. I have the upmost respect for the Jews. I totally respect how they honor it. I don’t know how eles to say that.
Please don’t think I’m against it, I just want to know what God says in scripture, (how to serve him) with no disrespet to the Jewish faith. (my heart aches for the Jews) I love them more than my words can express.
I may check out the book you suggested in the future, as I’m learning Hebrew now. At the present, I have more books than time.
Thank you for your help,
Michelle
I just want to be clear that I’m not criticizing you, Michelle. I’m just trying to explain my point of view. Good luck with you Hebrews studies and thank you for all your comments.
understood.