The basic general problem with Pitre’s work (and much of Scott Hahn’s for that matter) is that you really can’t take things from the Talmud (c. 500 A.D) or even the Mishnah for that matter, and necessarily retroject them back to the first century. Some things in the Talmud MAY represent some form of the Jewish tradition at the time of Jesus, but maybe not. Rabbinic Judaism was significantly shaped by the destruction of the Temple, something that happened after the time of Jesus. Further, Rabbinic Judaism (including things like the Passover Seder) were likely influenced by Christian practices, so some apparent similarities may actually be working the other way.
So right - Passover which was traditionally celebrated within the home, as to quote, were celebrated with family and friend - and those who did not have a place to celebrate:
“The Jews were directed by Moses to gather in family and neighborly
clusters to eat and recall together, “And on that day you will
explain to your son, 'This is because of what Yahweh did for me when
I came out of Egypt” (Exodus 13, 8). The lesson of God’s freeing the
Israelites from slavery was to be taught in the fullness of both
intellectual knowledge and the warmth of the heart surrounded by
loved ones, family and friends.”
LINK
Many things had changed converting back again to original traditions. In Jerusalem, many customs took place at the temple but since the destruction of the temple, the synagogues ( and not replacing the long-since destroyed Temple in Jerusalem) became places for prayer. In Europe - and speaking about the school of Jewish learning and during the war (World War II), Poland was considered the place for higher learning - since then destroyed, Germany was equal or comparable. Now (like - the temple) these communities became smaller. My relatives had roots in all that - that’s how my great grandfather came to America. Both grandparents had died coming here, one died on the way and the other died soon afterwards - and their children (my great grandfather) and his brother grew up and raised their families - away from. Europe - was mainly Orthodox, traditional Judaism (somewhat) was scares. For the sake of repetition, there was a big different (in communities) Sephardi Jews (Jews from the Middle Eastern countries) and Ashkenazi Jews (Jews from Europe) - sometimes I think mostly competing when it comes to their studies. You will probably see more Sephardi lean toward Mishnah - because of Maimonides, but then again maybe not. Rabbinical Judaism - is diffidently more about the law.
The Talmud - is mostly made of laws dealing with issue about the community as a whole. Like I said if you want to know about a specific subject, these topic are categorized. They mostly deal with issues of purification laws, kosher (Kashrut: Jewish Dietary Laws), Moed (“Festival”), pertaining to the laws of the Sabbath and the Festivals (12 tractates), etc…
Depending upon what subject you want to learn - there is much information.
So really, the Talmud is for those students who are studying Torah - when you really think about it, there is the written law and oral. Most of the oral traditions are handed down from one generation to the next concerning a particular subject or on traditions. You can’t just jump in and learn it - you really have to have some familiarity with the general thought. A lot of memorization goes on…again, its because of the fact one generation is passing this knowledge to the next. That’s why Gary at the Jewish community center gives me such a hard time around the other Jewish women. He’s lucky that there not activist - these women are from Russia, around 80 years old and don’t speak very good English, yet.
Hope I helped and didn’t hurt.
[Artscroll Schottenstein Talmud
Making Talmud Accessible
From Lisa Katz, former
About.com Guide](
What Is the Torah?)
) and the Melchizedek=Shem identification, because of his somewhat over-reliance on later Rabbinic sources on both ideas. (I’ve talked about the various traditions surrounding the priest-king Melchizedek in this thread.) I can’t say much about Brent Pitre now since I haven’t read him. Yet. Probably will get to him someday.