There is a Jewish tradition to eat a dairy only meal during the holiday of Shavuot. This tradition comes out of Exodus 23:19, "You are to bring the best first fruits of your land into the house of ADONAI your God. You are not to boil a young animal in its mother’s milk." In discussing Shavuot and this verse, Rabbi Hayim Halevy Donin in his book, To be a Jew writes:
“Some see it as…emphasizing, on this festival which marks the giving of the Torah, the interdependence and unity of the Written and Oral Torah. For the very same verses that speak of bringing ‘the choicest first fruits of the land unto the house of the Lord your God’ in celebration of Shavuot also stress that, ‘You must not boil a kid in its mother's milk’ (Ex. 23:19, 34:6). On the basis of the latter part of these verses, the Oral Torah based its prohibition of eating meat and milk together. Hence, a separate dairy meal is deliberately eaten to emphasize the total unity of the verse and the authenticity of the Oral Torah." (Pg. 240-241)
This is why I do not eat a dairy only meal during Shavuot. As a Messianic Jew I do not believe in the "authenticity of the Oral Torah." For me if the Orthodox are "deliberately" doing anything to show the "authenticity of the Oral Torah" then it is my responsibility as a follower of Yeshua to make sure that my actions to do not conflict with my Chief Rabbi, Yeshua HaMashiach.
The Oral Torah is not bad. The Oral Torah is not evil. The Oral Torah should not be entirely thrown away. But, the Oral Torah was not given at Mt. Sinai. So, when the Oral Torah makes "laws" that God never made, then we should re-examine the intent behind these man-made laws and decide if our Messiah would follow them or not. Yeshua followed many "traditions" but, He also condemned leaders when they were treating man-made laws as if they were from God. And in doing so were lifting up the laws of men rather than the Written Torah that God gave at Mt. Sinai.
Mark 7 gives us an excellent example of this. The Pharisees in Mark 7:5 say to Yeshua, “Why don’t your talmidim live in accordance with the Tradition of the Elders, but instead eat with ritually unclean hands?” Yeshua answers in verses 8-9, “You depart from God’s command and hold onto human tradition. He said to them, “you have made a fine art of departing from God’s command in order to keep your tradition!” For these particular Pharisees the issue here is not whether food was kosher or not. The issue was if the disciples did not wash their hands "in accordance with the tradition of the Elders" then the kosher food they were eating was no longer kosher. The washing of hands is not commanded by God in the Written Torah. It is "commanded" in the Oral Torah and Yeshua clearly condemns these men for trusting in their own laws rather than what God actually commands in the Written Torah.
This is the same reason why I mix milk and meat on a regular basis. I have never "boiled a kid in its mother's milk." And I never intend to, mostly because that would be a weird thing to do. But the mixing of milk and meat is not boiling a kid in its mother’s milk. I recognize that I frustrate many of my Jewish brothers and sisters (and that many do not consider me a brother or a Jew). But, my identity is found in how the God of Israel views me not how anyone on this planet views me. I am a Jew because God gave me the last name "Rosenberg". I am a Jew because my father is Jewish (yes, my mother is not). I am a Jew because I trust in the God of Israel and His son that He sent as the "visible image of the invisible God" (Col. 1:15).
When the Oral Torah conflicts with the Written Torah; when Orthodoxy does something to celebrate the "authenticity of the Oral Law," we have a responsibility to check it with our Chief Rabbi who died and rose during Pesach, appeared for forty days during the counting of the omer, ascended to the right hand of the Father on the fortieth day and gave His Spirit on the same day as the Torah: Shavuot!
In short, Dairy Shmairy! Pass me a cheeseburger for the glory of God and in celebration for the authenticity of the Written Torah (Genesis - Revelation) and Yeshua our Messiah.
For more on Shavuot read: What The Heck is an Omer and Why Count 50 Days of Them?
“Some see it as…emphasizing, on this festival which marks the giving of the Torah, the interdependence and unity of the Written and Oral Torah. For the very same verses that speak of bringing ‘the choicest first fruits of the land unto the house of the Lord your God’ in celebration of Shavuot also stress that, ‘You must not boil a kid in its mother's milk’ (Ex. 23:19, 34:6). On the basis of the latter part of these verses, the Oral Torah based its prohibition of eating meat and milk together. Hence, a separate dairy meal is deliberately eaten to emphasize the total unity of the verse and the authenticity of the Oral Torah." (Pg. 240-241)
This is why I do not eat a dairy only meal during Shavuot. As a Messianic Jew I do not believe in the "authenticity of the Oral Torah." For me if the Orthodox are "deliberately" doing anything to show the "authenticity of the Oral Torah" then it is my responsibility as a follower of Yeshua to make sure that my actions to do not conflict with my Chief Rabbi, Yeshua HaMashiach.
The Oral Torah is not bad. The Oral Torah is not evil. The Oral Torah should not be entirely thrown away. But, the Oral Torah was not given at Mt. Sinai. So, when the Oral Torah makes "laws" that God never made, then we should re-examine the intent behind these man-made laws and decide if our Messiah would follow them or not. Yeshua followed many "traditions" but, He also condemned leaders when they were treating man-made laws as if they were from God. And in doing so were lifting up the laws of men rather than the Written Torah that God gave at Mt. Sinai.
Mark 7 gives us an excellent example of this. The Pharisees in Mark 7:5 say to Yeshua, “Why don’t your talmidim live in accordance with the Tradition of the Elders, but instead eat with ritually unclean hands?” Yeshua answers in verses 8-9, “You depart from God’s command and hold onto human tradition. He said to them, “you have made a fine art of departing from God’s command in order to keep your tradition!” For these particular Pharisees the issue here is not whether food was kosher or not. The issue was if the disciples did not wash their hands "in accordance with the tradition of the Elders" then the kosher food they were eating was no longer kosher. The washing of hands is not commanded by God in the Written Torah. It is "commanded" in the Oral Torah and Yeshua clearly condemns these men for trusting in their own laws rather than what God actually commands in the Written Torah.
This is the same reason why I mix milk and meat on a regular basis. I have never "boiled a kid in its mother's milk." And I never intend to, mostly because that would be a weird thing to do. But the mixing of milk and meat is not boiling a kid in its mother’s milk. I recognize that I frustrate many of my Jewish brothers and sisters (and that many do not consider me a brother or a Jew). But, my identity is found in how the God of Israel views me not how anyone on this planet views me. I am a Jew because God gave me the last name "Rosenberg". I am a Jew because my father is Jewish (yes, my mother is not). I am a Jew because I trust in the God of Israel and His son that He sent as the "visible image of the invisible God" (Col. 1:15).
When the Oral Torah conflicts with the Written Torah; when Orthodoxy does something to celebrate the "authenticity of the Oral Law," we have a responsibility to check it with our Chief Rabbi who died and rose during Pesach, appeared for forty days during the counting of the omer, ascended to the right hand of the Father on the fortieth day and gave His Spirit on the same day as the Torah: Shavuot!
In short, Dairy Shmairy! Pass me a cheeseburger for the glory of God and in celebration for the authenticity of the Written Torah (Genesis - Revelation) and Yeshua our Messiah.
For more on Shavuot read: What The Heck is an Omer and Why Count 50 Days of Them?
Shalom R. Matt Rosenberg, I appreciate your stance. I love your heart and think that you are a great leader. I think that there are a few things you might not have considered in your thinking above. First, you say "For me if the Orthodox are "deliberately" doing anything to show the 'authenticity of the Oral Torah' then it is my responsibility as a follower of Yeshua to make sure that my actions to do not conflict". I'm not sure how eating dairy on Shavuot conflicts any more than wearing a kippah, celebrating Chanukah, wearing a tallit, lighting shabbat candles, holding to the Jewish calender, having a Jewish wedding, going to synagogue on shabbat, and the list can go on. All of these things are not specifically stated in the Torah, but most MJ's (including yourself) do them. I can understand your position that you don't think the Oral Torah was given at Sinai, but I'm not sure what you mean by that. Strictly speaking there had to have been dozens (or more) of commandments that were not explicitly written down in the "written Torah". There's no where that says how to get married but the Torah certainly speaks of divorce, there's nowhere that states how to slaughter animals yet Gd expects us to do it in a specific manner (see Devarim 12:21 ff), nor could we even know how to pronounce the Torah without tradition.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious how in-depth a study of eating meat and milk you've done? You seem pretty sure that mixing the two isn't prohibited, so how did you come to that conclusion? (not trying to be snarky here, a sincere question). Have you read Aaron Eby's take in the book Biblically Kosher? I'd love to hear your thoughts as I think you have a lot of great things to say :^)
todah,
Yisrael
Yisrael,
DeleteThank you for you thoughtful repsponse. generally speaking the orthodox believe that Moses was given "laws" to pass down verbally at the same time that he was given what is written in the Torah. My stance, is that only what was written down (Bereshit - Devarim) are binding as commandments from God. When it comes to the Oral Law I believe we have the freedom to pick and choose which we follow since they were not commanded by God.
While I choose not to eat dairy on Shavuot I do choose to wear a Kipa. With an issue like Shabbat candles, I do not say the tradtional blessing becasue it says in it, "God who comanded us to light the Shabbat candles." Since there is no such commandment in the Torah I say a different blessing which talks of Yeshua and how we are supposed to be a light to the world.
I am not advocating that we throw away Jewish tradition (of which you are correct I do many). I am advocating that we know and have a reason for everything that we do or do not do. For me, because the orthodox do something is not a good reason for keeping a traditon since I am not orthodox.
I have done a study on eating milk and meat and to me the greatest reason to eat them together is Genesis 18:8 says it all, "Then he took curds, milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it all before the men; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate." Here Abraham and Adonai break all three parts of the oral traditions regaridng milk and meat. they are "prepared" together, served together, and eaten together. by Adonai and Abraham together. along with this scripture I see no commandement in the written Torah wich prohibts eating meat and dairy together.
This is all very interesting. I see value in both written law and oral traditions because they both provide guidance and they've both stood the test of time. However, I also know all to well that tradition can become entrenched, treated as law and cause more harm than good. But, how many oral laws can you dismiss before they're all obsolete? Which ones should be kept and which ones discarded? If everyone picks and chooses, do they have any value at all? When I was much younger, I resented stopping at red lights in the middle of the night when the streets were bare because I thought the lights were there to help me not to restrict me. After some thought, I decided if everyone ran lights when they had the urge, the order caused by street lights would be lost. A society can stand only so much rebellion before anarchy set in; but there is always a need to question what we do and why, to make sure a law is still viable.
ReplyDeleteThe oral torah violates written torah and supposedly it is not evil?? According to you the prohibition of eating dairy and meat is a man made commandment which in turn would violated Devirim 4:2. There are countless other examples of the torah being violated by the oral torah and yet somehow the oral torah is not evil. One of us is looking through a glass and darkly on this issue.
ReplyDelete