#rabbinical

The phrase is Rabbinical. The Jewish doctors often speak of עול מלכות שמים, "the yoke of the kingdom of heaven", and of persons taking it upon them; and which they exhort to, and express in much such language as here; קדישאקבילו עלייכו עול מלכותא, "take upon you the yoke of the holy kingdom", every day. They distinguish this from the yoke of the law, and say, "a man must first take upon him the yoke of the kingdom of heaven, and after that take upon him the "yoke" of the commandment.''

Their sense I take to be this, that a man must first make a profession of his faith in the God of Israel, and then live conformably to his law: agreeably to this, Christ exhorts such persons who come to him for rest and happiness, to profess their faith in him, to embrace the doctrines of the Gospel, to submit to his ordinances, and to walk according to those laws, commands, and orders, which he, as king of saints, has made, and requires obedience to: so those who come to him for life, and believe in him, as the Savior of their souls, though they are not to trust in, and depend upon any duties performed by them; yet they are not to sit still, or lay aside the performance of good works, or live a licentious course of life, but are always to be doing the will and work of their Lord. And this he calls "his yoke", in distinction from the yoke of the law of Moses, and of the traditions of the elders.

Baal Hasalaam

A Rabbi came in to class today to talk about modern Judaism. 

Judaism is not about belief, he said. You can  not believe in God and still be a good Jew. Judaism is about living a Godly life, not about believing in him. As long as you progress the world to where it needs to go and treat others with dignity, you're golden. They do it because they are advancing God's plan for the world.  They treat people with dignity because they're made in God's divine image.

But you don't have to. Not to be a good Jew.

I asked him why they need the belief at all then. Why would you base your actions and your life on a set of scripture whose validity and non-falsifiability is not relevant in your eyes? Why would you even look to the text, if you acknowledge that it is a work dictated by God, but written by primitive, misogynistic men?

God did not dictate the Hebrew Bible, he said. God cannot speak, he is not physical. 

If that is the case, what separates the Prophets (mouthpieces for God) from everyone else who is simply 'inspired' by God in some way or another?

I don't know, he says. When you get a rush of understanding, when something just clicks in your mind, when you suddenly realize a solution or are inspired on an issue, what is that? Is that God? Are you being inspired by God? I don't know. Does it matter? I believe it is God, but does it matter? The inspiration is what matters.

I'll admit, I'm having a hard time with this one. I personally think that inspiration and insight have more physiological explanations than metaphysical ones. If you have one, the law of Parsimony eliminates the use of the second one.

Nevertheless, it's good to know that at least the Jewish people of his congregation are much more humble and open than I had originally assumed Jews to be. 

I think I like this faith, though I'd not want it for my own. Thank you for making the world a better place, Rabbi Rick. I appreciate your words and your works.