"Debating" an Oxford Talmudist
By Michael Hoffman •
March 22, 2012
Since
the year 2000 and the publication of the first version of my book Judaism's Strange Gods I have sought to debate
an ordained Orthodox Judaic rabbi on the subject, "Is Talmudic Judaism the
Enemy of Humanity?" I proposed a bare minimum of ground rules: unedited
videotaping of the debate in its entirety, a neutral moderator, and a location
where Christians and gentiles who supported my views would have easy and safe
access. In twelve years there have been no takers.
Last
week I came upon what may be perhaps the next best thing: a video available for
online viewing of a lecture sponsored by the powerful Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidim
by an Israeli academic with a list of scholarly credentials a
mile-long. Unless (or until) it is removed by Chabad.org, as of March 22, the following link will take
you to a 20-minute video of a lecture given at Oxford University
by Dr. Asaf Yedidya:
"NAZI ATTACKS ON THE TALMUD: ANTI-SEMITIC READINGS OF JEWISH
TEXTS." http://www.chabad.org/
Dr.
Yedidya is "lecturer in Jewish History at the Center for Jewish Studies at
Bar-Ilan University;
a Fellow at the Oxford University Center
for Hebrew and Jewish Studies; former Fellow at the Center for Holocaust
Studies, Washington, DC;
and former Fellow at the International Institute for Holocaust Research at Yad
Vashem in Jerusalem."
You
should watch Dr. Yedidya's lecture first, and then the 19-minute response to
his lecture by this writer: http://
In
my reply, "The Other Side of the Talmud Debate: Michael Hoffman Refutes a
Defense of the Talmud," I point out the use of misdirection and
censored texts in the Oxford
lecture and the numerous errors and omissions employed to demonize Talmud
critics and whitewash the Babylonian Talmud. I document Talmudic racism and
permission for homicide by quoting from the Gemara itself, as well as
rabbinic authorities having the status of Posek Ha-dor and Gadol
Ha-dor.
Here
is a "debate" of a kind. Dr. Yedidya sets up a straw man and I
endeavor to knock it down. In my view, Zionist professors should not be allowed
to get away with this type of misrepresentation without a public rebuttal.
Until a better opportunity for debate affords itself, this will have to
suffice. I hope you will avail yourself of these two online videos and tell
others about them.
***
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