Abusing Sources: Benjamin Blech on the New Testament

Today, we are going to be looking at a section of Understanding Judaism by Benjamin Blech. Most of the book is a decent introduction to Orthodox Judaism. I say decent because there are better books out there on the subject. If you want an introduction to Orthodox Judaism, To Be A Jew by Hayim Donin is the best one on that subject. Now back to our topic. Understanding Judaism takes the occasional jab at Christian doctrines. However, near the end of the book, the author goes seemingly into a rage, accusing Jesus of desecrating and abrogating the laws of Moses.

One technique the anti-missionaries (and conspiracy theorists and college professors) use is called smuggling assumptions. In a normal presentation about a controversial topic, the presenter will first introduce the issue with statements that are generally undisputed by all sides of the debate. The presenter will then tell his or her side of the argument and respond to objections. The less honest presenter, however, will smuggle statements that are in fact disputed by the other sides into his or her introduction statements, which are assumed to be uncontroversial. See how many smuggled assumptions you can catch in the following passage.

It was Jesus who, when walking with his disciples on a Sabbath through the wheat fields, allowed his companions to pick and eat ears of wheat. When rabbis censured them for desecration of the Sabbath law, Jesus replied, "The son of man is master of the Sabbath" (Matthew 12:1-8). This was not a case of mortal danger legitimizing the violation of the Sabbath. There was no emergency, and yet Jesus permitted the desecration of the Sabbath. The old law could be replaced with the new. The Old Testament would be dismissed as secondary and nonbinding in light of the New Testament, which stressed faith over law.

There is an unresolved discrepancy between Jesus' practice and his claim "Do not suppose that I have come to do away with the law or the prophets. I have not come to do away with them but to enforce them. For I tell you, as long as Heaven and earth endure, not one dotting of an 'i' or crossing of a 't' will be dropped from the law until it is all observed. Anyone, therefore, who weakens one of the slightest of these commands, and teaches other to do so will be ranked lowest in the kingdom of Heaven; but anyone who observes them and teaches others to do so will be ranked high in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:17-19).

When Jesus and his disciples failed to observe a fast, the justification was: "No one sews a new patch of unshrunken cloth on an old coat; for if he does, the patch tears away, the new from the old, and makes the hole worse than ever, and no one pours new wine into old wine skins; for if he odes, the wine bursts the skins. New wine has to be put into fresh skins" (Mark 2:21-22). The law was the old, and had to be done away with. If it had any justification, it was only for sinners: "I agree that the law is excellent--provided it is legitimately used, with the understanding the law is not intended for upright men, but for the lawless and disorderly, the Godless and irreligious, the irreverent and profane, men who kill their fathers or mothers, murderers, immoral people, men sexually perverted, kidnappers, liars, perjurers, or whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, as set forth in the glorious good news of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted" (1 Timothy 1:8-11). The righteous of faith do not need law. The dietary laws could be disregarded: "All foods are clean" (Mark 7:19). Clearly stated biblical laws could be disregarded: "They [the Jews] were told, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a Certificate of Divorce,' but I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife on any ground except unfaithfulness, makes her commit adultery, and anyone who marries her after she is divorced commits adultery" (Matthew 5:31f).

The list is long. The facts are incontrovertible. The one who claimed he came not to do away with the law or the prophets acted contrary to this assertion. By his deeds he taught that what God had said long ago could be revised, amended, and improved.

Blech then quotes anachronistically from Maimonedes, who, having Jesus in mind when he wrote this, said that the Mosaic law as understood and interpreted by the Rabbis is eternal and absolutely unchangeable. If anyone challenges the Rabbinic understanding of the Mosaic law, no matter how many miracles he conjures up to support his claims, is a false prophet.

In short, Blech's case is that Jesus violated the law of Moses, knew that he was violating the law of Moses, and then made excuses for his disobedience afterward. The main smuggled assumption in this section is that all sides agree that Jesus did violate the laws of Moses, and the debate is over whether his reasons for violating the law was justified. But did Jesus even violate the Mosaic law?

First, let's take a look at different Rabbinical views of this issue. Remember that Benjamin Blech's objection is not that Jesus' view is inconsistent within the Christian system. His objection is that it is inherently wrong to abrogate the law of Moses or to violate it in any way outside of a life-or-death emergency.

When I was listening to a presentation by a Kollel Rabbi regarding the rulings in tractate Eruvin of the Talmud, page 13B. In it, the sages discuss what to do with contradictory rulings. Their solution was eilu v' eilu, both are the word of God.
To solve the problem of eilu v' eilu, one of the sages says this: Torah was given on 98 different levels. That means there are different levels in Torah. At each level, the practical manifestation will be different. If there is an argument between the house of Hillel and the house of Shammai, in 49 levels up there, the halacha follows Shammai. In 49 levels, we do like Hillel, and all levels are 100% right. We can only follow one of those 98 levels at any given time, but those other rulings and interpretations are not wrong. They are just attached to a different level.

So even according to the Rabbis, there are many different, coherent bodies of law. That way, Israel can follow one set of rulings in one age and another set of rulings in another age. If this is the case, what is the problem with Jesus interpreting the law of Moses? On this system, perhaps Jesus' rulings are one of those levels. So I don't even see why a Rabbi would even give such an objection.

What about the idea that all of the "forever" laws in the Pentatuch are eternal and immutable? Let's take a look at the Bible.

It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, in all your dwelling places, that you eat neither fat nor blood.
(Leviticus 3:17)

And the context does not restrict this to the priestly class, either. This is a command for all of Israel. No cholent for you!

But of course, we have to ask the question. Did Jesus even resort to something as drastic as changing the law? Let's examine the claims in order.

First up, Matthew 12. The passage says nothing about whether or not Jesus gave his disciples permission to pluck the heads of grain, but just that the disciples did so. No explicit violation of the Mosaic law has occurred. Instead the disciples are violating a Pharisaic interpretation of the law, and not the law itself. Also, nobody is stealing from the fields. Leviticus 19 allows people to take the grain from the edges of the fields.

In Mark 2, there is no indication that it was a fast day on the Jewish calendar. Mark states that the Pharisees and disciples of John were fasting, not the whole of Israel. This was a voluntary fast. No law was broken here.

In Mark 7, Jesus is declaring that it is not food that makes someone spiritually unclean, but wicked speech. The side comment that Jesus declared all foods clean is Mark's interpretation, if it was even in the original text at all (and there is strong reason to doubt this). Even if it was, it could easily be interpreted as Mark's suggestion to his gentile readership that they need not follow the Jewish dietary laws, which would have cut these gentiles off from their families and communities.

And besides, Midrash Tehillim 146:4 asks: "What is meant by '[The Lord] frees the prisoners'?" The answer given is: "Some say that every creature that is considered unclean in the present world, the Holy one blessed be He will declare clean in the age to come." So the idea of changing the dietary laws is not foreign to the Rabbis themselves. Remember that Blech's objection is not that changing the dietary laws is inconsistent within the Christian system. Blech's objection is that it is inherently wrong to change the dietary law. And to any follower of Rabbinic tradition, this objection is untenable.

The reference to 1 Timothy is an attack on Paul, not Jesus, and it misunderstands Paul's view of the law. Here is the whole paragraph:

Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.
(1 Timothy 1:8-11)

Paul did not hate the law. He explicitly said that the law is good. He also mentioned that the laws of Moses, as well as law in general, exists because of human wickedness. If we were all perfectly righteous, perhaps life would be more like it was in Eden, where a very simple body of law was all that was needed.

When you read passages such as the long passage I cited in Understanding Judaism, remember that the Rabbis and skeptics alike take a lot of creative liberty, quoting short passages and adding a whole lot of their own personal commentary, until the passage they are quoting doesn't even resemble its original meaning in the context of the New Testament. Watch out for this when reading Rabbinic literature.