Tag Archives: Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananiah

Not in Heaven: The Snake-Oven of Akhnai

‘The Death of Moses’ (Illustration from the Providence Lithograph Company)

In this week’s double parasha, Nitzavim-Vayelekh, Moses relays the famous words lo bashamayim hi, that the Torah “is not in Heaven”. It comes within Moses’ final inspiring speech to the nation. He tells his people, again, to serve God “with all your heart and all your soul”, and to always remember that Torah law is “not concealed from you, nor is it far away. It is not in Heaven, that you should say ‘Who will go up to Heaven for us and fetch it for us, to relay it to us, so that we can fulfill it?’ Nor is it across the ocean…” (Deuteronomy 30:10-13) The Torah is right here for us, available to all, clear and straight-forward.

This notion seems somewhat at odds with what we are typically told that Jewish law is really complicated, and requires rabbis and scholars to elucidate it for us. Indeed, the Torah does also say that Moses appointed wisemen to help him adjudicate cases and interpret Torah law for the nation (Exodus 18), and that Moses gathered seventy elders to guide the people (Numbers 11)—the basis for the Sanhedrin. And one of the most famous disputes in the Sanhedrin of the 2nd Century CE ended with Rabbi Yehoshua quoting Moses’ words from this week’s parasha: “It is not in Heaven!”

The Talmudic passage in question begins at the bottom of Bava Metzia 59a. Continue reading →

Time Travel in the Torah

Are there cases of time travel in the Torah and ancient Jewish texts? Is it possible that Adam, Enoch, and Moses were able to traverse the universe using faster-than-light technology? And how do we deal with apparent chronological contradictions in the Torah? Find out in this fascinating class, where we also uncover the true meaning of God’s Ineffable Name, propose a theory for how Adam was able to live 930 years, and calculate the speed of God’s divine “chariots”.

For a written summary and lots more information (including the time travel of Eliyahu briefly mentioned in the class), please see here.

For more on Block Universe Theory and Judaism, see ‘Time, Gravity, and Free Will’.

See also ‘How Did Adam Live 930 Years?’

On Eating Bugs

The Locusta migratoria species, with its two “jumping legs” clearly visible.

In this week’s parsha, Shemini, we are presented with the Torah’s extensive dietary laws. All bugs and insects are forbidden for consumption except those that are winged and have two large jumping legs in addition to their four other legs, ie. locusts (Leviticus 11:21-22). The Torah names four families of such locust species which are kosher. Rashi comments that we no longer know how to identify these species, so for practical purposes no one eats such insects anymore (although a small minority of Mizrachi and Sephardi communities did consume locusts until recently).

The bigger issue today is the broader prohibition of consuming bugs, and how it applies to inadvertent consumption of tiny bugs in fruits and vegetables. It has become common to hear extremely negative language regarding such accidental consumption, with people saying (untrue) things like inadvertently eating bugs on poorly-washed lettuce or strawberries is “five times worse” than consuming pork, and with reputable kashrut organizations pushing more and more stringent requirements for washing produce—using bright lamps and magnifying glasses and even doing “laboratory testing”. Is any of this actually required? What does Jewish law actually say about washing produce and consuming errant bugs? Continue reading →