Fewer than 1% of observant Jews reject the Talmud
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Well it's a good thing that Israel doesn't enforce religious orthodoxy on its citizens (the way gaza does). In fact Muslims, Christians and everybody else all enjoy the same freedoms. A Catholic cannot be Canada's Head of State, but a Muslim can be Israel's:
"The State of Israel … will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture."
https://knesset.gov.il/constitution/ConstMJewishState.htm
Tell me about the Law of Return, Rabbi
Not many are racing to Israel to take advantage of this , why do you ask?
Because it’s predicated on supposed race and not historical inhabitation of the land
They mean every Israeli has an equal sociopolitical right to become Jewish and qualify for aliyah rights. I guess aliyah rights are not sociopolitical then, but I'm not sure of the exact pilpul used to explain that given the Israeli Constitution.
Keep Waking up World. We need to escape the grasp of the People who control our.lives.
J. D. Hall says accurately that we should pray for the belief of Karaites (and for the strengthening of the belief of Messianics) as they face unique oppressions. So the overall post is well-intentioned, but a distinction needs to be made about the statement quoted by OP: "Fewer than 1% of observant Jews reject the Talmud, and they're called the Karaites."
I tell people that as a rough number 90% of Jews are secular and only 10% religious (the actual number that have cultural Jewish practices without significant religious content is higher); today's AI suggests there are only 2 million "observant Jews" out of about 15 million. I then say that 90% of the religious Jews don't care about the Talmud in detail and leave that to the remainder (even as they agree with the Talmudic-derived culture tacitly). I then say that 90% of those who care about the Talmud don't study it consistently; AI says only tens of thousands participate in the Daf Yomi program to read the Talmud daily. So only 0.1% of Jews are daily Talmud advocates, although a large chunk of the rest of Jews support the theory that Judaism should come from the Talmud as based on the Torah.
Now, current Karaite population is about 40,000-50,000, so it may be higher than the actual enrolled Daf Yomi population. So on a rough day we might hold that Karaites are only 1% of "observant Jews" (that really ambiguous term). But this does not represent that 99% of Jews do not reject the Talmud. Reconstruction Jews reject Talmud and number about 200,000. Reform Jews reject Talmud and number 2 million. And secular Jews reject Talmud and can hardly be counted, but are many millions, as this website is constantly portraying the exploits of secular Jews. These all believe in a Jewish people and in a generic Torah principle but not in any binding Talmudic system.
So we simply can't say fewer than 1% of observant Jews reject the Talmud when we actually mean 1%-2% are just Karaites, because there are many views on Talmud in Judaism.
Now, the actual OP article linked is https://insighttoincite.substack.com/p/talmudic-tyranny-understanding-israels and it begins rightly by attacking the modern resurgence of Judaizing, i.e. Jewish-style legalism. It participates in a little exaggeration of the type I've opposed, but it's not horrendous:
To be very brief, most nations have harsher penalties for noncitizens than for citizens for the same crimes due to the rights the nation guarantees for citizens; comparing humans to animals doesn't erode the Imago Dei because Jesus and the prophets did it; the one passage about boiling in excrement (not eternally, yet another misquote) is a joke about a generic Yeshu, not a slander; the (primary or only) passage about birth from a harlot is about Yeshu ben Pappos, fl. 130s AD; the ethics are comparable to patristic casuistry; and the opinion of Rabbi Yohanan about Gentile Torah study being capital was overruled by Rabbi Meir and the majority.
No evidence found: It demands all rulings be founded in Torah, and when it says to pay closer attention to its words than to Torah it refers only to the difference between daily regulated practice and general Torah principles (as if a legislator said pay closer attention to the promulgated regulations than to the statutory laws; regulations are assumed not to contradict laws).
Since I'm not neo-Judaism or neo-Judaizing, I feel free to answer. The majority rulings of Talmud do not contain jaw-dropping contradictions to the Old Testament (although they are often ignorant of the New Testament) and they do not claim divine origin (different from any other works of man) or highest authority. But as I just pointed out, yeah, probably a majority of Jews do not follow the Talmud, even as it's also possibly true a majority of Jews feel positive about the Talmud (pollster questions are easy to twist so as to create contradictions). Oh look, OP agrees:
Most Jews end up not really following anything all, whether the Bible or the Talmud.
Well, it looks like the argument even against the neo-Judaizers is lost then, and the plight of the Karaites is being played up even though it has nothing to do with the fact that many Jews, probably the majority, are irreligious about the Talmud at large. If OP meant Reform Judaism is bad because it teaches irreligion, right in one's own eyes, that would be fine; but Talmudic Judaism constantly teaches one very narrow path of obedience, legalism instead of libertinism. So to accuse the same people of making two contrary errors is rather naive. Horseshoe theory might explain why the two classes of people coexist, but it does not make one system into the other. Reform and Talmudic Judaism are two broad wings of Rabbinical Judaism, with Karaite Judaism being another component, and Messianic Judaism being opposed to modern Rabbinical Judaism.
Hillel, Nicodemus, Joseph, the scribe not far from the kingdom, Gamaliel, and Paul were all Pharisees who were positive about Jesus (evidence is that Hillel met Jesus when Jesus was 12, because Jesus cites Hillel later). There were many branches of Pharisaism, two of which were noted for serving God purely out of Fear of God, or Love of God, so we cannot characterize Pharisees as being one-sided because the Bible doesn't.
Nope, they are still "a fractured mosaic of sects, each vying for spiritual supremacy under Roman bootheels" today.
Sounds like Anan ben-David would be interesting to learn more about, I don't recall much about him. All the same, he clearly means "Sola Torah" because otherwise he betrays his argument; with that change it's a good illustration.
Now, the overall point of discrimination against Karaites is valid, and (like Messianics) they get worse treatment for supporting some of Talmudic Judaism but not other of it. But ultimately that comes up because the Talmudists recognize that certain rights are accorded by rabbinic authority and so they only flow to those who recognize that authority. It's greatly casuistic, but is completely parallel (as Hall notes) with how Catholics treat Protestants, and doesn't comment on the Talmud itself any more than Catholic abuses comment poorly on the Ecumenical Councils.
TLDR: It appears that Hall, new to the game after discovering the Kirk connection, is ramping himself up to speed while also speaking rashly to establish his authority. That means takeaways are rather varied. (1) Yes, pray for the Karaites to recognize Jesus the Messiah prophesied by the Tanakh. (2) No, neither Judaism nor Pharisaism is as fixated on Talmud as you think. (3) Also, pray for all the other Jews to recognize Jesus the Messiah prophesied by the Tanakh, because even upholding the Talmud doesn't exclude them from seeing Jesus (contrary to people's views about the Talmud without reading it in context). (4) Yes, oppose (neo) Judaizing because it is legalism, not because it's bad to derive local regulations from the Torah (Christians do that too). (5) Also, in praying for all nations (including Jews) to come to Jesus, recognize that the more one knows about Jewish and Talmudic history the more one can minister to them effectively by sharing the good news in their own cultural idiom, a task that has been more complicated than doing so with any other cultural idiom, as Paul prophesied in Romans 11.
More hits from a nation of degenerate devil-worshipers:
Coin clipping - this is why our coins have ridges as it is easier to see when someone cuts or shaves a part off. https://www.academia.edu/49497475/King_Edward_Is_Articles_of_Inquest_on_the_Jews_and_Coin_Clipping_1279
IDF raping Palestinian detainees (SFW, not graphic): https://news.sky.com/story/video-appears-to-show-idf-soldiers-sexually-abusing-palestinian-detainee-13193857 and https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-813732
There were riots in Israel for the right to rape prisoners. Video at link: https://www.reddit.com/r/UnitedNations/comments/1hrf02w/israeli_protesters_rally_for_the_right_to_rape/
Acting Head of Data & Al for Israel's National Cyber Directorate, was arrested in a Las Vegas child predator sting on Aug 13, 2025, charged with luring a child for a sex act. US reports confirm the arrest; he was released and returned to Israel. Israeli media describes it as brief questioning. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/16/nevada-arrest-israeli-official
Israel presents themselves as a haven for homosexuals. https://www.npr.org/2012/06/04/154279534/israel-presents-itself-as-haven-for-gay-community
Metzitzah B’peh (Direct Oral Suctioning) - after circumcision, a rabbi puts his mouth on the baby's penis and sucks the blood. Who does this at their church? https://www.nyc.gov/site/doh/health/health-topics/safe-bris.page
Kaparot - around the world sometime in September, jews will cast their sins to a chicken, kill the chicken, and believe their sins are gone. In 2025, the date is October 1st. Happy Kaparot everyone. https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-jewish-kaparot-ritual-pg-photogallery.html
Bedikot - jewish women will send their soiled panties to their rabbi for inspection. https://www.yoatzot.org/becoming-tehorah/603/
Jews are okay with having sex with three year olds. See Ishut Chapter 3 verse 11 - https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/952876/jewish/Ishut-Chapter-Three.htm
According to the Talmud, Jesus was raised by a necromancer. It says that Jesus is in hell, "punished with boiling excrement." Gittin 57a https://www.sefaria.org/Gittin.57a.4?ven=William_Davidson_Edition_-_English&lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en
Israel attempting to legalize pedophilia: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-741881
Jewish pedophiles hiding from justice through Israeli amnesty: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-jewish-american-pedophiles-hide-from-justice-in-israel/
The creator of gay "pride" is jewish (Brenda Howard) - https://jwa.org/discover/throughtheyear/june/glbt
Billy Graham conversation with President Nixon on jews. https://rumble.com/v1x9mlz-reverend-billy-graham-to-richard-nixon-2-groups-of-jews.-one-group-is-the-s.html
Track the AIPAC-guy. Almost every congressperson has an AIPAC guy which is why we continue throwing money at them - https://www.trackaipac.com/congress
NOTE TO IDF Bots - you will lose. Our numbers here are just a grain of sand compared to the people who feel this way. You don't stand a chance.
Hi, I'm sure some of your links are accurate and some overstated, but I chime in and comment where I know there are mistakes.
To call Ishut by Maimonides "one of their 'holy books'" is like calling any random Bible study a Christian "holy book". It's just one voice in Judaism and is not taken as authoritative. Majority Talmudic decisions are taken as authoritative if the minority concerns are also understood.
Ishut 3:11 states at your link, 'A father may consecrate his daughter without her knowledge while she is a minor. Even when she is a na’arah, he still possesses this right, as implied by Deuteronomy 22:16: “I gave my daughter to this man.” The money received as kiddushin belongs to her father. Similarly, he has the right to any ownerless property she finds, the wages she receives for her labor, and the money she receives as stipulated in her ketubah if she is divorced or widowed before the marriage bond is consummated. He is entitled to all these until she becomes a bogeret. Therefore, a father is entitled to receive kiddushin on behalf of his daughter from the day she was born until she becomes a bogeret. Even if she is a deaf mute or intellectually incompetent, if her father consecrates her to another man, she is his wife.' This is not about sex with 3-year-olds, this is (only in a culture that protects virginity until maturity and consent) about the right to betrothe (reserve) a minor girl on the assumption that formal marriage and consummation will follow her maturation. In those days child marriage was used to protect girls from abuse by reserving them in advance of puberty; obviously we don't have a culture today that can use that system (albeit our current systems aren't doing so well at protecting children either).
Now, the 3-year-old mark is notable for arising in Talmudic Judaism, but not with the misunderstanding proposed. The basic rule is that Gen. 2 teaches that sex is for mature marriage and so all deviancies are forbidden (and some are capital). Because the Talmud desires to describe every conceivable case no matter how abstruse (as illustrated by the Sadducaic question about the widow of seven men), they consider all cases about what would happen if there were child sexual abuse, and in particular the question of balancing undue further harm to the victim against the need to punish the criminal. The agreed ruling, if I'm saying it right, was that sexual abuse of a girl over three would be the capital offense of rape, but that for a lower age it would merely be ruled as child sexual abuse so that the victim's rights to a full marriage contract would not be harmed by her unwittingly being abused. Note, that is well advanced from the prevailing Roman law by which a homeowner could abuse or kill any child of the home, free or slave, as his own right. So there is no proof anywhere that "Jews are okay with having sex with three year olds", although if you take the Talmud out of context it might easily be misunderstood just as if you took US statutes about child abuse out of context. Excessive boring detail.
The Gittin 57a passage is the single most misquoted passage anywhere on Scored. (1) It does not refer to Jesus of Nazareth but to a stock character "Yeshu" that composites three or more marginal Jews of the same name from three different centuries. (2) It does not say Yeshu was raised by necromancy as a factual statement but in the context of a joke: in English if a text began "A pagan, a Roman, and a Jew walked into a seance", we would know right off it was setting up a punchline. (The punchline is that Yeshu, the Jew, unlike the others, still affirms the Jewish people after his death, so they must be unbeatable.) (3) The text says nothing about what Christians infer from the English word "hell" apart from being dead. (4) The text does not say "punished with boiling excrement", which is a paraphrase. It only speaks of boiling excrement being used as punishment indirectly, and contemporary views of this regard it as a time-limited punishment.
In short, Christians are being baited to go crazy about Gittin in the same way that Muslims go crazy over a single depiction of Muhammad as a live bomb. It's just an anonymous joke and may as well be about Yeshu the idolatrous student of ben Perachiah. If a few Jews took the passage as actually making fun of Jesus, it's no worse than Celsus making fun of him, or patristic texts making fun of non-Christian religions. It's certainly not a dogma just because it jokes about a Yeshu coming back from the dead with awareness of the pains of the afterlife. Excessive boring detail.
I'm all for exposure of truths, but not for distortions that compromise the other things you may be saying that may be true. To criticize the Talmud inaccurately is to be subject to being accused of being an IDF bot yourself, who is shilling by making anti-Semites look stupid; the Talmud can be accurately criticized for its superstition and insularity and casuistry without reference to distortions. NOTE TO ENEMIES OF TRUTH - "you will lose. Our numbers here are just a grain of sand compared to the people who feel this way. You don't stand a chance."
Thanks for your explanation and checking me on the accuracy. I'll edit it. Happy New Year.
Thank you, Pillar, you too! Looking forward to it. I'm all for making the Messiahship of Jesus an unavoidable issue to Jews worldwide (as J4J says), which includes being scrupulously accurate about such issues.