tim@k.cs.cmu.edu.ARPA (Tim Maroney) (09/18/85)
I'm hoping net.religion.jewish readers can help me out with a question about Judaism. I have been told conflicting things about Torah interpretation. Some people (both Jewish and non-Jewish) have told me that Judaism in all its branches views the Torah as an allegorical book, with multiple meanings as defined by the Talmud, and any particular passage probably should not be interpreted as literal history. On the other hand, some Jews have vehemently defended the Torah as a literal historical work, in addition to any additional meanings assigned by the Talmud. This seems a fairly clear contradiction, and with my limited resources the best way to resolve it is by asking the network. Is one source or the other correct? Or is this a controversy within Judaism? Any responses will be greatly appreciated. I feel this is a subject of general interest, so please respond to net.religion.jewish. Thank you. -=- Tim Maroney, Carnegie-Mellon University, Networking ARPA: Tim.Maroney@CMU-CS-K uucp: seismo!cmu-cs-k!tim CompuServe: 74176,1360 audio: shout "Hey, Tim!"