Argument In Judaism

It comes as no surprise to any Jew, scholar or other, to state that text, and in particular, the Torah, is at the heart of Jewish theology, philosophy and ethics. Since its transcription it has been studied as a work of law, morality and more recently, literature. This is not, however, to limit the corpus of Jewish texts to the Torah. Subsequent writings of the prophets, Rabbis, and various scribes throughout have been analyzed and studied meticulously across the generations. The Mishnah, the Talmuds, the Midrashim - much of the texts that comprise Rabbinic Literature - all are dear to the Jewish student and scholar of Judaism. But if texts are focused upon, it is inevitable that all other sources of meaning in Judaism have been slighted, much less ignored. What Michael Swartz has

Although researching and discovering the sources can be enlightening, at some point reading the sources can get tedious. Admittedly, sources are the foundation of all the content and is wholly necessary. But when the number sources of one chapter alone lies in the upper teens, one worries how much of the author's own content is even there. In the second chapter numerous sources are provided to prove the same idea of pre-creation and gives lists of what was conceived and created before the rest of creation, albeit with minor differences. Yes, the variations are significant to proving the points made, but the endless sourcing proves to be a hindrance to the progression of thought. It is ironic that a book entitled “Non-textual Sources of Meaning In Ancient Judaism” is solely writing and texts. Besides for the cover, no pictures are present, no diagrams are provided and no ancient documents are shown. Not to judge a book by a cover can only go so far. All this notwithstanding, his conclusions drawn from the sources are surely innovative and