Talmud Tidbit: The Jewish Version of an Oracle
Posted by Nathan in Ramblings, tags: Bush, Judaism, Talmud, USHI want to share another fun tidbit from my reading yesterday. It has to do with consulting the Urim VeTumim. There are rules, this is Judaism, after all, there are always rules, about the proper method of consultation. However, the gist is there is a piece of parchment, given to Moses by G-d, with the tetragrammaton written on it, slipped into the fold of the breastplate worn by the Kohen Gadol that had the power to make the letters inscribed on the breastplate rise up or glow in order to spell out the answer to the question at hand. There is some debate as to how the Kohen Gadol would read and interpret this vision, but the essential process remains the same. While reading, I made note of the nice “take home message” not ask a multi-part question, but be clear and concise as to what you want to know.
This is well above and beyond the whole supernatural freakiness of this tale. Dad please take note: Indians are not the only ones who see the manifestations of the supernatural (I could not resist). I guess it isn’t any more strange than a burning bush that isn’t consumed, parting of the Sea of Reeds, and so on. I can just imagine the letters glowing and being transcribed and interpreted à la Indiana Jones or something. I go back to my earlier statements: rationalism, which I am a fan of, killed this kind of mysticism and Jews are one heck of a strange freaky cult!
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