Some say the Bible has been tampered with. Lots of voices are saying this. But let me quote something from the Bible itself:

“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Psalm 11:3

This is a deep concern. I get emails from New Zealand by a couple of Noahides who are taking apart everything but the Moses Scroll (Shapira Scroll), which means that they hold none of Torah or Tenakh as valid, except, what was written by the hand of Moses. (I think I will unsubscribe). There is a book out there called “Who Wrote the Bible” which does the same thing. And it is not just these sources that are trying to rattle the foundations! Sometimes it is more subtle and has been around for a long time!

There are voices everywhere discrediting everything from the Bible. This is what is happening on one side. And among those who profess belief in the Bible, we hear rabbis stating that the only way to understand the Bible is to let them interpret it for you. Where have we heard this before? 

In my relationship with my Jewish friends, I rarely find someone who has read the entire Tenakh, other than listening to Torah readers at Synagogue in Hebrew read the current Portion so quickly, they are virtually not understandable.

On another side of the religious world, Catholics (especially in Spanish-speaking countries) have told me that since the mass is done in Latin, that only the priest can be trusted to know what God wants of them.  How much difference is there in what has been accepted in Judaism for thousands of years? Similarly, only a rabbi can interpret Torah. Really! And why does individual study of the Bible get so little attention? 

So we have our traditions, and often the Minhagim are fine and acceptable if one is really led to be more spiritual and more connected to the Source of all things. But, that being said, the question arises by critics in religious circles, “who can trust where these things came from?” 

And I will ask who can trust academics? We have seen how the colleges of today have gone down the woke path. I saw it beginning in secular colleges in the 90s. I could not believe how things had changed since I first attended college in the mid 70s. If things can change through academics in the political and educational fields, why would they not be influenced by hundreds of generations of teachers, (rabbis or preachers) who claim to know, but that were taught by others who claim to know, and so on ad infinitum, back for a couple of thousand years? Ever played telephone? Ever see how the message changes so much that when the last person receives the whispered sentence, it has nothing to do with the first person’s idea? And that is exactly how the chain of transmission has gone. There are some things that are so far from what the Torah says that you cannot recognize where they came from! So a young man goes to Yeshiva and everyone says “Wow”! And he graduates more confused than ever before. There are always arguments and debates on what the ancient Sages taught, who was right and whom does this would be “rabbi” choose to follow in his future career. Ever think of studying for one’self? Especially if you can learn Biblical Hebrew? 

But perhaps as in the first instance, the most dangerous trend out there is to discredit the Bible entirely, as many have been doing in recent years! As the Psalm says, “what can the righteous do if the foundations are destroyed?” So if we have to throw out the majority of the Tenakh because parts of it were somehow rewritten, then what are we going to use to guide our lives? Is there nothing? Perhaps a somewhat tarnished instrument is better than no instrument at all!

As to the evolutionary theory, I never bought into the idea that man descended from a monkey and such chaos. Perhaps if atheists could experience a living God who created the Universe, One who works in individual lives to bless, guide and strengthen, maybe, just maybe, we would see a different trend in the world. 

But then, there have always been haters of God, defiant of His leadership and law. 

We have several monsters raising their heads in the religious world. Beware of following them!

I would say in conclusion, let’s not “Throw out the Baby with the Bathwater!” 

What could be wrong with thinking for ourselves?

Ariella