Kingdom Harbor

Christians believe Jesus of Nazareth was the long-awaited Jewish Messiah and royal descendant of King David. Jesus was recognized as a great teacher/rabbi with unique authority and brilliance. He claimed to be fulfilling in himself all the prophetic hopes and promises found in the ancient scriptures.

Most astoundingly, he pronounced God’s judgment on the entire Temple system and its aristocratic leadership (Sadducees) which stood at the center of Israel’s entire way of life (political, religious, economic, social). He predicted the Temple would be destroyed within a generation, and if that wasn’t enough, he had the hutzpah to claim that he and his little ragtag community of followers were to be its replacement!

But he was an equal opportunity offender, so he next turned his attention to the powerfully influential Jewish group of teachers and law interpreters, the Scribes and Pharisees. He incited their wrath by claiming that his own teaching was on the same level as the Law of Moses, and even superseded it’s authority! Jesus, as I’ve argued elsewhere in “Rabbi Jesus & The Embodiment of Torah”, offered his very way of life as the perfect embodiment of the very heart and purpose of Torah.

Now, what many Christians don’t stop to think about is what happened to these rival Jewish groups that tussled with Jesus during his earthly ministry. Well, the Temple was destroyed precisely as Jesus predicted in 70 CE by the Romans, and with it went all the power, influence and wealth of the aristocratic Sadducees and chief priests.

In the aftermath of this traumatic watershed in Jewish history, the center of Jewish life and devotion shifted away from the sacrificial cult of the Temple and onto the synagogue and the study of the Scriptures (Torah). The Pharisees regrouped and organized themselves into “study groups” featuring the wise sages/rabbis and their students. This Torah-centered religion grew into the Rabbinic movement of the post-70 Judaism we often envision when think about great Jewish rabbis passing down their teaching to their devoted pupils.

What’s the point? Where am I going with this?

First, I want to point out that Christian teachers and Bible readers often read this post-70 CE “rabbinic Judaism” reality back into the life and ministry of Jesus, imagining him as a rabbi with his students, when this is in large part anachronistic. Granted, he certainly was called a rabbi and did gather a group of devoted followers around himself, but in many, MANY ways Jesus was doing things and saying things that merely a wise sage would never do and say. He had a lot more in common with the popular charismatic OT prophet figures and messianic revolutionaries of his day (though, in his case, non-violent) than a rabbinic sage surrounded by wisdom-seeking students.

Second, isn’t it interesting that the early church never developed into anything resembling the rabbinic model of education and organization? Paul was a Pharisee who studied under the great Rabbi Gamaliel in Jerusalem, and yet his style of teaching and apostolic ministry never resulted in training up Christian rabbis to pass on Jesus’ interpretation of Torah to eager students. Just read Acts and the Epistles and you find nothing rabbinic in shape about early Christian education.

Instead, the apostles’ teaching, or kerygma, focused on proclaiming the ‘gospel’ (=Jesus is Lord!) and invited believers to share in the redemptive power and benefits of Jesus’ life, suffering, death, burial, resurrection, ascension and eventual return. Much more needs to be said about why, including the Greco-Roman context of the early movement, but that’s enough for now. Let me now ask the questions that many Christians don’t ask:

What happened to the rabbinic movement of Jesus’ day? What happened to the Jewish sage and their disciples? What ancient wisdom did they pass on to their students? What shape did their teaching take? What was their attitude toward the study of Scripture (Torah) during these years (both in Jesus’ day and immediately after the Temple was destroyed)?

In my doctoral studies, I’m exploring ancient Jewish education, pedagogy, teacher- student dynamics, and the wisdom they sought to pass on to the next generation. Great news! We have the “sayings of the sages” preserved in the collection of rabbinic writings called the Mishnah.

Published around 200 CE, the Mishnah is the complex body of material known as oral Torah that was transmitted in the aftermath of the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. Rabbi Judah the Patriarch collected and edited a study edition of these halachot (laws) in order that the learning not vanish. Most passages in the Mishnah contain a dispute between different rabbinic sages living between the years 70 CE and 200 CE, with approximately two-thirds of the material coming from after the second war against Rome in 132 CE.

One entire section of the Mishnah is called Abot, or the “Ethics of the Fathers” and includes a lot of sayings related to the sages, their students and study of Torah. So, if you’re in the mood, here’s a taste of ancient rabbinic wisdom and attitudes from the early Jewish sages!

Mishnah Abot 

1:4 — “Let your house be a gathering place for sages, wallow in the dust of their feet, and drink in their words with gusto.”

1:6 — “Set up a master teacher for yourself, and get yourself a fellow disciple.”

1:12 — “Be disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving people and drawing them near to the Torah.”

1:17 — “All my life I grew up among the sages, and I found nothing better for a person [the body] than silence. And not the learning is the main thing but the doing. And whoever talks too much causes sin.”

2:1 — “If you want to avoid sin, keep your eye on three things. Know what is above you: 1) An eye which sees, 2) an ear which hears, and 3) all your actions are written down in a book.”

2:2 — “All learning of Torah which is not joined with labor is destined to be null and cause sin.”

2:4 — “Do not say, “When I have time, I shall study,” for you may never have time.”

2:7 — “Lots of Torah, lots of life; lots of discipleship, lots of wisdom; lots of counsel, lots of understanding; lots of righteousness, lots of peace.”

“If one has gotten teachings of Torah, he has gotten himself life eternal.”

2:8 — “If you have learned much Torah, do not puff yourself up on that account, for it was for that purpose that you were created.”

2:10 — “Warm yourself by the fire of the sages, but be careful of their coals, so you don’t get burned.”

2:12 — “Get yourself ready to learn Torah, for it does not come as an inheritance to you.”

2:14 — “Be constant in learning Torah, and know what to reply to an Epicurean.”

3:1 — “Reflect upon three things and you will not fall into sin: Know 1) where you came from, 2) where you are going, and 3) before whom you are going to have to give a full account of yourself.”

“Where do you come from? A putrid drop.

Where are you going? To a place of dust, worms, and maggots.

Before whom are you going to have to give a full account? Before the King of kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be he.”

3:2 — “If two sit together and between them do not pass teachings of Torah, lo, this is a seat of the scornful…but two who are sitting, and words of Torah do pass between them—the Presence is with them.”

3:3 — “Three who ate at a single table and did not talk about teachings of Torah while at that table are as though they ate from dead sacrifices (Ps. 106)…But three who ate at a single table and did talk about teachings of Torah while at that table are as if they ate at the table of the Omnipresent, blessed is he.”

3:7 — “He who is going along the way and repeating [his Torah tradition] but interrupts his repetition and says, ‘How beautiful is that tree! How beautiful is that plowed field!’—Scripture reckons it to him as if he has become liable for his life.”

3:8 — “For anyone whose fear of sin takes precedence over his wisdom, his wisdom will endure. And for anyone whose wisdom takes precedence over his fear of sin, his wisdom will not endure.”

3:11 — “He who exposes aspects of Torah not in accord with the law, even though he has in hand learning in Torah and good deeds, will have no share in the world to come.”

3:13 — “Tradition is a fence for the Torah. Tithes are a fence for wealth. Vows are a fence for abstinence. A fence for wisdom is silence.”

3:16 — “If there is no learning of Torah, there is no proper conduct. If there is no proper conduct, there is no learning in Torah. If there is no wisdom, there is no reverence. If there is no reverence, there is no wisdom.”

3:16 — “Anyone whose wisdom is greater than his deeds—to what is he likened? To a tree with abundant foliage, but few roots. When the winds come, they will uproot it and blow it down….But anyone whose deeds are greater than his wisdom—to what is he to be likened? To a tree with little foliage but abundant roots. For even if all the winds in the world were to come and blast at it, they will not move it from its place.”

4:1 — “Who is a sage? He who learns from everybody.”

4:5— “He who learns in order to teach will be enabled both to learn and to teach. But he who learns in order to practice will be enabled to learn, to teach, to observe, and to practice.”

4:5 — “Do not make the Torah a crown with which to aggrandize yourself, nor use it as a spade with which to dig. As Hillel used to say: He who makes worldly use of the crown of the Torah shall perish. Thus you may infer that any one who exploits the words of the Torah removes himself from the world of life.”

4:6 — “He who honors the Torah is himself honored by mankind. He who dishonors the Torah shall himself be dishonored by mankind.”

4:9 — “He who fulfills the Torah in poverty shall in the end fulfill it in wealth. He who disregards the Torah in wealth shall in the end disregard it in poverty.”

4:10 — “Engage little in business but occupy yourself with Torah. Be humble in spirit before all men. If you neglect Torah many causes for neglecting it will present themselves to you; but if you labor in Torah then God has abundant reward to give you.”

4:12 — “Let the honor of your disciple be as precious to you as your own; and the honor of your colleague as the respect due your teacher; and the respect towards your teacher as your reverence for God.”

4:20 — “One who learns Torah in his childhood, what is this comparable to? To ink inscribed on fresh paper. One who learns Torah in his old age, what is this comparable to? To ink inscribed on erased paper.”

4:20 — “One who learns Torah from youngsters, whom is he comparable to? To one who eats unripe grapes and drinks [unfermented] wine from the press. One who learns Torah from the old, whom is he comparable to? To one who eats ripened grapes and drinks aged wine.”

5:7 — “There are seven things that characterize that characterize a wise man. A wise man 1) does not speak before one who is greater than him in wisdom or age. 2) He does not interrupt his fellow’s words. 3) He does not hasten to answer. 4) His questions are on the subject and his answers to the point. 5) He responds to first things first and to latter things later. 6) Concerning what he did not hear, he says “I did not hear.” 7) He concedes to the truth [when the other party demonstrates it].

5:8 — “A sword comes into the world because of the delaying of justice and perversion of justice, and because of those who teach the Torah not in accord with the law.”

5:12 — “There are four types of disciples. 1) quick to grasp, quick to forget—he loses what he gains. 2) slow to grasp, slow to forget—what he loses he gains. 3) quick to grasp, slow to forget—a sage. 4) slow to grasp, quick to forget—a bad lot indeed.”

5:14 — “There are four types who attend the study house: 1) He who goes but does not carry out [what he learns]—has gained the rewards of going. 2) He who practices but does not go [to study]—he has at least the reward for the going. 3) He who both goes and practices—he is truly pious. 4) He who neither goes nor practices—he is truly wicked.”

5:15 — “There are four types among those who sit before the sages: the sponge, the funnel, the strainer and the sieve. 1) The sponge absorbs all. 2) The funnel takes in at one end and lets it out the other. 3) The strainer rejects the wine and retains the sediment. 4) The sieve rejects the coarse flour and retains the fine flour.”

5:21 — “Five years is the age for the study of Scripture. Ten, for the study of Mishnah. Thirteen, for the obligation to observe the mitzvot. Fifteen, for the study of Talmud. Eighteen, for marriage. Twenty, to pursue [a livelihood]. Thirty, for strength, Forty, for understanding. Fifty, for counsel. Sixty, for sagacity. Seventy, for elderliness. Eighty, for power. Ninety, to stoop. A hundred-year-old is as one who has died and passed away and has been negated from the world.”

5:22 — “Turn [Torah] over and over because everything is in it. And reflect upon it and grow old and worn in it and do not leave it, for you have no better lot than that.”

or

5:22 — “Delve and delve into [Torah], for all is in it; see with it; grow old and worn in it; do not budge from it, for there is nothing better.”

Mishnah Sotah – I found these two sayings from Sotah relevant as well; note the despairing mood and gloomy outlook after fall of Temple until the distraught conclusion: Nobody seeks [wisdom/Torah] anymore. 

Sotah 9:14 — “When the Temple was destroyed, scholars and freemen were ashamed and covered their head, men of wondrous deeds were disregarded, and violent men and big talkers grew powerful.  And nobody expounds, nobody seeks, and nobody asks.  Upon whom shall we depend? Upon our father who is in heaven.”

Sotah 9:15 — “From the day on which the Temple was destroyed, sages began to be like scribes, and scribes like synagogue attendants, and synagogue attendants like ordinary folk. And the ordinary folk have become more and more debased. And nobody seeks.”