BRO— DO YOU EVEN TORAH?

RABBINIC LITERATURE AND THE GALILEE

We can read in between the lines, along the seams, and sometimes agains the grain of rabbinic texts to understand how the Galilee shaped Jesus. Although we discovered that rabbinical movement proper started when Judaean religious leaders, perhaps Pharisees, moved north after the destruction of the temple (70 C.E.) and flourished after the Bar Kochba rebellion was put down in 135 C.E., places where Galilee is critiqued harshly by the rabbis are likely older. This is because they speak to an antipathy which faded when the rabbis set up shop in the Galilee region. 

Whereas we saw in Josephus that the Galileans were portrayed as rebellious and staunch fighters against oppression and overrule, in the rabbis Galileans are stupid. The rabbis want to undermine the Galilean focus on embodiment rather than study by pointing out how foolish they are for not devoting themselves to torah study more fully. And so the Galilean Jews are mocked. 

WHO’RE YOU AND WHERE’D YOU GIT YER ARAMAIC?

One of the most common ways to do this was through dialect. It was believed that Galileans could not speak correctly because their Aramaic was was different. In one Talmudic passage a man from Galilee tried to make a purchase in Jerusalem and he called the item an amar. This caused the seller to make fun of him:

“You idiot Galilean— do you want something to ride on ( a donkey is hamar)? Or something to drink ( wine = hamar)? Or something to wear (wool= ‘amar)? Or something to sacrifice (lamb = immar)?”

b Erub 53.b

It sounds harsh but Galileans did sound different. In the gospels Peter is identified as a follower of Jesus after the crucifixion because his accent gives him away: “You are also one of them for your accent betrays you.” (Matt 26.73 or Mark 14.70). Galilean Aramaic had lost the normal differences between its gutturals. Or for example, the name Lazarus in the gospels is a Galilean mistake in pronunciation— it is a quieted initial guttural vowel form of Eleazar.

BRO- DO YOU EVEN TORAH?

The rabbis in the 3rd century joked that just as they lost the ability to speak well they lost the ability to study well. This is because of that “embodiment” of the Master business in contrast to teaching interpretation in terms of purity laws. Rabbis rebuked Galileans hasadim or pious men (think religious leaders) for being lax about the law and ignorant of how to practice ritual purity. 

But from the Galilean perspective, torah was lived out with your feet and embodied through the heart over the head. Rabbi Ben Dosa, another miracle working teacher from the Galilee also was derided as being lazy about the law like Jesus. Yose the Galilean was criticized for a a similar type scene we find in the gospels— visiting with a woman of ill-repute at a well:

You stupid Galilean! Have the sages not commanded: Do not have a long conversation with a woman?!”

b Erub 53.b (he’s quoting Pirkey Avoth1.5)

Or a quote preserved in the Talmud boldly says: 

Greater is the hatred of the am ha-aretz (people of the land) for the learned (think the rabbis who study) than the Gentiles for Israel.

bPes. 49b

WHO ARE THE PHARISEES IN THE GOSPELS?

When you read the gospels hold two ideas at once about the opponents of Jesus:

Ancient literature uses stock opponents to instruct. This means in New Testament literature the “Jew” or the “Pharisees” or the “teachers of the law” or the “scribes” function as the stock opponents of Jesus for the purpose of didactic literature. You are supposed to learn from the wrong views of the opponents of Jesus as much as his teachings. In early Christian writings this will soon change to the “pagan” or the “atheist” and in rabbinic literature it is the “Christian” or the minim (Jews but with incorrect belief) or the heretic or pagan or atheist. The big idea is that entire groups are painted with a broad brush, or closer to the point, they are reduced to holding simple ideologies for the sake of instruction against their views. This means you can understand when you see Pharisee that from the perspective of the gospel writers this is a religious leader antagonistic to Jesus who cares more about ritual laws than having a heart for God and others. It does not mean all Pharisees or their rabbinical ancestors held these views. In all actuality, serving God is the concern of both Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity and they differed on Messianic definition and acceptance. 

The Pharisees do historically thing Galileans are backwards. The dominant arc of rabbinical literature towards Galileans presupposes that the hasadim in Galilee, like Jesus, are lax in study of Torah and practice of purity laws. But the other side of the coin is the Galilean passion for letting your whole life embody the righteousness of Yahweh. There is an interesting passage in the midst of Jesus’ famous Woe! to the Pharisees section in Luke where tells them the following:

"Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.”

LUKE 11.42

Here’s what I think is astounding— Jesus does not downplay the importance of the law of tithing a tenth of the smallest, minuscule crops to God. Rather he says to tithe these while neglecting love of God and neighbor is where the Pharisees are so wrongheaded. And so he says you should have done both. 

DO THE LATTER WITHOUT NEGLECTING THE FORMER…

How many of us, if we are honest, only get half of the equation right? Maybe you are careful about religious duty. You go to church, synagogue, mosque, temple… you pray a certain amount of times every day. You give to God or an institution in the name of God every time you gain money. And yet, you struggle to love others or remain silent when others suffer. Jesus would say you practice religion while neglecting justice and the love of God…because for Jesus you show you love God by doing justice for others. And so it is time to stick your neck out for the causes the Master of the House has put in your bones. Whether it is kids in cages at the border, urban jungles where few work and fewer have hope, poverty and thirst, unnecessary and overcrowded prison populations, or promoting the armed forces at sporting events like it is a great idea… whatever your Maker has given you to say it is time to say it.

Or on the other hand, I have worked with countless students who were long on justice but short on devotion to God. They hare rigid about everyone getting their share and it is beautiful. But it is sad how they disrespect their bodies, don’t care what they put in their bodies, or hoard all their resources while claiming to care. They stand back from faith community, but it is hurting their individual decisions. It is like they have left the former undone and because of it their soul is at war. 

Which is it for you and how could follow Master Jesus in doing both? For Jewish and Christian tradition spiritual practice and social justice are two sides of the same coin and one sided coins actually have no value. Philo or Alexandria says brilliantly in De Decalogo that some are lovers of God and others are lovers of humankind, but both “only go halfway in virtue.” Rare is the path of practicing the latter without leaving the former undone.