RLS 111_1000 -- Primary Sources

RLS 111/1000--Judaism, Christianity, and Islam--Bible and Koran Passages; Other Primary Sources (Summer 2011)

This page contains Bible and Koran passages as well as other primary sources referred to on the Textbook Draft Page, but not included there. The various sources are posted in reverse chronological order, with the most recent items posted on top of the page. Clicking one of the blue titles causes the page to scroll down to the item mentioned in the title.

Biblical foundation of the Jewish dietary law: Leviticus 11

The "deed" convincing Orthodox Jews that Palestine belongs to them: Genesis 17.1-8

The so-called Ten Commandments

The Pittsburgh Platform

The Song of Songs (a.k.a. "Song of Solomon"

Announcement of Jesus' birth (Luke 1.26-38)

Matthew's and Mark's accounts of the healing of the paralyzed man (Mt 9.1-8; Mk 2.1-12)

Jesus' entry into Jerusalem (Lk 19.28-40)

Jesus' speech against the scribes and Pharisees (Mt 23)

Jesus' interrogation by Pontius Pilate (Jn 18.33-40)

The last judgment (Mt 25.31-46)

The workers in the vineyard (Mt 20.1-15)

The need for forgiveness (Mt 18.21-35)

Koran Passages (The Koran passages relevant for the course are collected on a special page, accessible through this link.)

The need for forgiveness, Mt 18.21-35 [Back to text]

21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"

22Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven times.

23"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

26"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' 27The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

28"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.

29"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'

30"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.

32"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' 34In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

35"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

The workers in the vineyard, Mt 20.1-15 [Back to text]

¹"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. ²He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
³"About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. ⁴He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' ⁵So they went.
⁶"He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?'
⁷" 'Because no one has hired us,' they answered.
"He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'
⁸"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.'
⁹"The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. ¹⁰So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. ¹¹When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ¹²'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'
¹³"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? ¹⁴Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. ¹⁵Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'
¹⁶"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."

The last judgment, Mt 25.31-46 [Back to text]

³¹"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
³⁴"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
³⁷"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
⁴⁰"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
⁴¹"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
⁴⁴"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
⁴⁵"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
⁴⁶"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Jesus' interrogation by Pontius Pilate, Jn 18.33-40 [Back to text]

³³Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” ³⁴“Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?” ³⁵“Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?” ³⁶Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.” ³⁷“So you are a king?” asked Pilate. Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” ³⁸“What is truth?” Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. ³⁹But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?” ⁴⁰They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion

Jesus' speech against the scribes and Pharisees, Mt 23 [Back to text]

¹³"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
¹⁵"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
¹⁶"Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' ¹⁷You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? ¹⁸You also say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.' ¹⁹You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? ²⁰Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. ²¹And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. ²²And he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.
²³"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. ²⁴You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
²⁵"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
²⁷"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. ²⁸In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
²⁹"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. ³⁰And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' ³¹So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. ³²Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!
³³"You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? ³⁴Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. ³⁵And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. ³⁶I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation.
³⁷"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. ³⁸Look, your house is left to you desolate. ³⁹For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.' "

Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, Lk 19.28-40 [Back to text]

²⁸After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. ²⁹As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, ³⁰"Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ³¹If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it.' "
³²Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. ³³As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?"
³⁴They replied, "The Lord needs it."
³⁵They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. ³⁶As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
³⁷When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
³⁸"Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"
³⁹Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!"
⁴⁰"I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."

Jesus heals a paralyzed man (Mt 9.1-8; Mk 2.1-12) [Back to text]

Matthew's version

1 Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. 2 Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven." 3 At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, "This fellow is blaspheming!" 4 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? 5 Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. . . ." Then he said to the paralytic, "Get up, take your mat and go home." 7 And the man got up and went home. 8 When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.

Mark's version

1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." 6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 "Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" 8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . ." He said to the paralytic, 11 "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, We have never seen anything like this!

Announcement of the birth of Jesus (Lk 1.26-38) [Back to text]

²⁶In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. ²⁸The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
²⁹Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. ³¹You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. ³²He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
³⁴"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
³⁵The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. ³⁶Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. ³⁷For nothing is impossible with God."
³⁸"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

The "Song of Songs," a.k.a. "Song of Solomon" [Back to text]

¹ Solomon's Song of Songs.
Bride
² Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth--for your love is more delightful than wine.
³ Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens love you!
Daughters of Jerusalem
⁴We will follow you eagerly.
Bride
Take me away with you--let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his chambers. We rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine. How right they are to adore you!
⁵ Dark am I, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, dark like the tents of Kedar, like the tent curtains of Solomon.
⁶ Do not stare at me because I am dark, because I am darkened by the sun. My mother's sons were angry with me and made me take care of the vineyards; my own vineyard I have neglected.
⁷ Tell me, you whom I love, where you graze your flock and where you rest your sheep at midday. Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your friends?
Daughters of Jerusalem
⁸ If you do not know, most beautiful of women, follow the tracks of the sheep and graze your young goats by the tents of the shepherds.
Groom
⁹ I liken you, my darling, to a mare harnessed to one of the chariots of Pharaoh.
¹⁰ Your cheeks are beautiful with ear-rings, your neck with strings of jewels.
¹¹ We will make you ear-rings of gold, studded with silver.
Bride
¹² While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.
¹³ My lover is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts.
¹⁴ My lover is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi.
Groom
¹⁵ How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes are doves.
Bride
¹⁶ How handsome you are, my lover! Oh, how charming! And our bed is verdant.
Groom
¹⁷ The beams of our house are cedars; our rafters are firs.

Song of Solomon 2
Bride
¹ I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.
Groom
² Like a lily among thorns is my darling among the maidens.
Bride
³ Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my lover among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
⁴ He has taken me to the banquet hall, and his banner over me is love.
⁵ Strengthen me with raisins, refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love.
⁶ His left arm is under my head, and his right arm embraces me.
⁷ Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.
⁸ Listen! My lover! Look! Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills.
⁹ My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look! There he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.
¹⁰ My lover spoke and said to me, Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me.
¹¹ See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.
¹² Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.
¹³ The fig-tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me.
Groom
¹⁴ My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding-places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.
¹⁵ Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.
Bride
¹⁶ My lover is mine and I am his; he browses among the lilies.
¹⁷ Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, turn, my lover, and be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the rugged hills.

Song of Solomon 3
¹ All night long on my bed I looked for the one my heart loves; I looked for him but did not find him.
² I will get up now and go about the city, through its streets and squares; I will search for the one my heart loves. So I looked for him but did not find him.
³ The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. Have you seen the one my heart loves?
⁴ Scarcely had I passed them when I found the one my heart loves. I held him and would not let him go till I had brought him to my mother's house, to the room of the one who conceived me.
⁵ Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.
⁶ Who is this coming up from the desert like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and incense made from all the spices of the merchant?
⁷ Look! It is Solomon's carriage, escorted by sixty warriors, the noblest of Israel,
⁸ all of them wearing the sword, all experienced in battle, each with his sword at his side, prepared for the terrors of the night.
⁹ King Solomon made for himself the carriage; he made it of wood from Lebanon.
¹⁰ Its posts he made of silver, its base of gold. Its seat was upholstered with purple, its interior lovingly inlaid by the daughters of Jerusalem.
¹¹ Come out, you daughters of Zion, and look at King Solomon wearing the crown, the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, the day his heart rejoiced.

Song of Solomon 4
Groom
¹ How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilead.
² Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn, coming up from the washing. Each has its twin; not one of them is alone.
³ Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon; your mouth is lovely. Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate.
⁴ Your neck is like the tower of David, built with elegance; on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors.
⁵ Your two breasts are like two fawns, like twin fawns of a gazelle that browse among the lilies.
⁶ Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of incense.
⁷ All beautiful you are, my darling; there is no flaw in you.
⁸ Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, come with me from Lebanon. Descend from the crest of Amana, from the top of Senir, the summit of Hermon, from the lions' dens and the mountain haunts of the leopards.
⁹ You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.
¹⁰ How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much more pleasing is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice!
¹¹ Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride; milk and honey are under your tongue. The fragrance of your garments is like that of Lebanon.
¹² You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride; you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.
¹³ Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates with choice fruits, with henna and nard,
¹⁴ nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree, with myrrh and aloes and all the finest spices.
¹⁵ You are a garden fountain, a well of flowing water streaming down from Lebanon.
Bride
¹⁶ Awake, north wind, and come, south wind! Blow on my garden, that its fragrance may spread abroad. Let my lover come into his garden and taste its choice fruits.

Song of Solomon 5
Groom
¹ I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey; I have drunk my wine and my milk. Eat, O friends, and drink; drink your fill, O lovers.
Bride
² I slept but my heart was awake. Listen! My lover is knocking: Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night.
³ I have taken off my robe--must I put it on again? I have washed my feet--must I soil them again?
⁴ My lover thrust his hand through the latch-opening; my heart began to pound for him.
⁵ I arose to open for my lover, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh, on the handles of the lock.
⁶ I opened for my lover, but my lover had left; he was gone. My heart sank at his departure. I looked for him but did not find him. I called him but he did not answer.
⁷ The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. They beat me, they bruised me; they took away my cloak, those watchmen of the walls!
⁸ O daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you--if you find my lover, what will you tell him? Tell him I am faint with love.
Daughters of Jerusalem
⁹ How is your beloved better than others, most beautiful of women? How is your beloved better than others, that you charge us so?
Bride
¹⁰ My lover is radiant and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand.
¹¹ His head is purest gold; his hair is wavy and black as a raven.
¹² His eyes are like doves by the water streams, washed in milk, mounted like jewels.
¹³ His cheeks are like beds of spice yielding perfume. His lips are like lilies dripping with myrrh.
¹⁴ His arms are rods of gold set with chrysolite. His body is like polished ivory decorated with sapphires.
¹⁵ His legs are pillars of marble set on bases of pure gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as its cedars.
¹⁶ His mouth is sweetness itself; he is altogether lovely. This is my lover, this my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.

Song of Solomon 6
Daughters of Jerusalem
¹ Where has your lover gone, most beautiful of women? Which way did your lover turn, that we may look for him with you?
Bride
² My lover has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to browse in the gardens and to gather lilies.
³ I am my lover's and my lover is mine; he browses among the lilies.
Groom
⁴ You are beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, majestic as troops with banners.
⁵ Turn your eyes from me; they overwhelm me. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Gilead.
⁶ Your teeth are like a flock of sheep coming up from the washing. Each has its twin, not one of them is alone.
⁷ Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate.
⁸ Sixty queens there may be, and eighty concubines, and virgins beyond number;
⁹ but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the only daughter of her mother, the favourite of the one who bore her. The maidens saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines praised her.
Daughters of Jerusalem
¹⁰ Who is this that appears like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, majestic as the stars in procession?
Groom
¹¹ I went down to the grove of nut trees to look at the new growth in the valley, to see if the vines had budded or the pomegranates were in bloom.
¹² Before I realised it, my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people.
Groom¹³ Come back, come back, O Shulammite; come back, come back, that we may gaze on you! Why would you gaze on the Shulammite as on the dance of Mahanaim?

Song of Solomon 7
¹ How beautiful your sandalled feet, O prince's daughter! Your graceful legs are like jewels, the work of a craftsman's hands.
² Your navel is a rounded goblet that never lacks blended wine. Your waist is a mound of wheat encircled by lilies.
³ Your breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle.
⁴ Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your eyes are the pools of Heshbon by the gate of Bath Rabbim. Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon looking towards Damascus.
⁵ Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel. Your hair is like royal tapestry; the king is held captive by its tresses.
⁶ How beautiful you are and how pleasing, O love, with your delights!
⁷ Your stature is like that of the palm, and your breasts like clusters of fruit.
⁸ I said, I will climb the palm tree; I will take hold of its fruit. May your breasts be like the clusters of the vine, the fragrance of your breath like apples,
Bride
⁹ and your mouth like the best wine. May the wine go straight to my lover, flowing gently over lips and teeth.
¹⁰ I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me.
¹¹ Come, my lover, let us go to the countryside, let us spend the night in the villages.
¹² Let us go early to the vineyards to see if the vines have budded, if their blossoms have opened, and if the pomegranates are in bloom--there I will give you my love.
¹³ The mandrakes send out their fragrance, and at our door is every delicacy, both new and old, that I have stored up for you, my lover.

Song of Solomon 8
¹ If only you were to me like a brother, who was nursed at my mother's breasts! Then, if I found you outside, I would kiss you, and no-one would despise me.
² I would lead you and bring you to my mother's house--she who has taught me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the nectar of my pomegranates.
³ His left arm is under my head and his right arm embraces me.
⁴ Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.
Bride
⁵ Who is this coming up from the desert leaning on her lover? Under the apple tree I roused you; there your mother conceived you, there she who was in labour gave you birth.
⁶ Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame.
⁷ Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned.
Daughters of Jerusalem
⁸ We have a young sister, and her breasts are not yet grown. What shall we do for our sister for the day she is spoken for?
⁹ If she is a wall, we will build towers of silver on her. If she is a door, we will enclose her with panels of cedar.
Bride
¹⁰ I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers. Thus I have become in his eyes like one bringing contentment.
¹¹ Solomon had a vineyard in Baal Hamon; he let out his vineyard to tenants. Each was to bring for its fruit a thousand shekels of silver.
¹² But my own vineyard is mine to give; the thousand shekels are for you, O Solomon, and two hundred are for those who tend its fruit.
Groom
¹³ You who dwell in the gardens with friends in attendance, let me hear your voice!
Bride
¹⁴ Come away, my lover, and be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the spice-laden mountains.

The Pittsburgh Platform of 1885 [Back to text]

Declaration of Principles

1885 Pittsburgh Conference

Convening at the call of Kaufmann Kohler of New York, Reform rabbis from around the United States met from November 16 through November 19, 1885 with Isaac Mayer Wise presiding. The meeting was declared the continuation of the Philadelphia Conference of 1869, which was the continuation of the German Conference of 1841 to 1846. The rabbis adopted the following seminal text:

1. We recognize in every religion an attempt to grasp the Infinite, and in every mode, source or book of revelation held sacred in any religious system the consciousness of the indwelling of God in man. We hold that Judaism presents the highest conception of the God-idea as taught in our Holy Scriptures and developed and spiritualized by the Jewish teachers, in accordance with the moral and philosophical progress of their respective ages. We maintain that Judaism preserved and defended midst continual struggles and trials and under enforced isolation, this God-idea as the central religious truth for the human race.

2. We recognize in the Bible the record of the consecration of the Jewish people to its mission as the priest of the one God, and value it as the most potent instrument of religious and moral instruction. We hold that the modern discoveries of scientific researches in the domain of nature and history are not antagonistic to the doctrines of Judaism, the Bible reflecting the primitive ideas of its own age, and at times clothing its conception of divine Providence and Justice dealing with men in miraculous narratives.

3. We recognize in the Mosaic legislation a system of training the Jewish people for its mission during its national life in Palestine, and today we accept as binding only its moral laws, and maintain only such ceremonies as elevate and sanctify our lives, but reject al[l] such as are not adapted to the views and habits of modern civilization.

4. We hold that all such Mosaic and rabbinical laws as regulate diet, priestly purity, and dress originated in ages and under the influence of ideas entirely foreign to our present mental and spiritual state. They fail to impress the modern Jew with a spirit of priestly holiness; their observance in our days is apt rather to obstruct than to further modern spiritual elevation.

5. We recognize, in the modern era of universal culture of heart and intellect, the approaching of the realization of Israel s great Messianic hope for the establishment of the kingdom of truth, justice, and peace among all men. We consider ourselves no longer a nation, but a religious community, and therefore expect neither a return to Palestine, nor a sacrificial worship under the sons of Aaron, nor the restoration of any of the laws concerning the Jewish state.

6. We recognize in Judaism a progressive religion, ever striving to be in accord with the postulates of reason. We are convinced of the utmost necessity of preserving the historical identity with our great past.. Christianity and Islam, being daughter religions of Judaism, we appreciate their providential mission, to aid in the spreading of monotheistic and moral truth. We acknowledge that the spirit of broad humanity of our age is our ally in the fulfillment of our mission, and therefore we extend the hand of fellowship to all who cooperate with us in the establishment of the reign of truth and righteousness among men.

7. We reassert the doctrine of Judaism that the soul is immortal, grounding the belief on the divine nature of human spirit, which forever finds bliss in righteousness and misery in wickedness. We reject as ideas not rooted in Judaism, the beliefs both in bodily resurrection and in Gehenna and Eden (Hell and Paradise) as abodes for everlasting punishment and reward.

8. In full accordance with the spirit of the Mosaic legislation, which strives to regulate the relations between rich and poor, we deem it our duty to participate in the great task of modern times, to solve, on the basis of justice and righteousness, the problems presented by the contrasts and evils of the present organization of society.

Exodus 20.1-17 (so-called Ten Commandments) [Back to text]

The Ten Commandments

¹ And God spoke all these words:
² I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
³ You shall have no other gods before me.
⁴ You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
⁶ but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
⁷ You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
⁸ Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
⁹ Six days you shall labour and do all your work,
¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.
¹¹ For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
¹² Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
¹³ You shall not murder.
¹⁴ You shall not commit adultery.
¹⁵ You shall not steal.
¹⁶ You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour.
¹⁷ You shall not covet your neighbour's house. You shall not covet your neighbour's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.
¹⁸ When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance
¹⁹ and said to Moses, Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.
²⁰ Moses said to the people, Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.
²¹ The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

Why Orthodox Jews claim that Palestine belongs to the Jews: Genesis 17.1-8 [Back to text]

The Covenant of Circumcision

¹ When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.
² I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.
³ Abram fell face down, and God said to him,
⁴ As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.
⁵ No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.
⁶ I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.
⁷ I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
⁸ The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.

Biblical foundation of the Jewish dietary law: Leviticus 11 [Back to text]

Clean and Unclean Food

¹ The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
² Say to the Israelites: 'Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat:
³ You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud.
⁴ 'There are some that only chew the cud or only have a split hoof, but you must not eat them. The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you.
⁵ The coney, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you.
⁶ The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you.
⁷ And the pig, though it has a split hoof completely divided, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you.
⁸ You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.
⁹ 'Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams, you may eat any that have fins and scales.
¹⁰ But all creatures in the seas or streams that do not have fins and scales--whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water--you are to detest.
¹¹ And since you are to detest them, you must not eat their meat and you must detest their carcasses.
¹² Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be detestable to you.
¹³ 'These are the birds you are to detest and not eat because they are detestable: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture,
¹⁴ the red kite, any kind of black kite,
¹⁵ any kind of raven,
¹⁶ the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk,
¹⁷ the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl,
¹⁸ the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey,
¹⁹ the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.
²⁰ 'All flying insects that walk on all fours are to be detestable to you.
²¹ There are, however, some winged creatures that walk on all fours that you may eat: those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground.
²² Of these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket or grasshopper.
²³ But all other winged creatures that have four legs you are to detest.
²⁴ 'You will make yourselves unclean by these; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening.
²⁵ Whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening.
²⁶ 'Every animal that has a split hoof not completely divided or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you; whoever touches the carcass of any of them will be unclean.
²⁷ Of all the animals that walk on all fours, those that walk on their paws are unclean for you; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening.
²⁸ Anyone who picks up their carcasses must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening. They are unclean for you.
²⁹ 'Of the animals that move about on the ground, these are unclean for you: the weasel, the rat, any kind of great lizard,
³⁰ the gecko, the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink and the chameleon.
³¹ Of all those that move along the ground, these are unclean for you. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean till evening.
³² When one of them dies and falls on something, that article, whatever its use, will be unclean, whether it is made of wood, cloth, hide or sackcloth. Put it in water; it will be unclean till evening, and then it will be clean.
³³ If one of them falls into a clay pot, everything in it will be unclean, and you must break the pot.
³⁴ Any food that could be eaten but has water on it from such a pot is unclean, and any liquid that could be drunk from it is unclean.
³⁵ Anything that one of their carcasses falls on becomes unclean; an oven or cooking pot must be broken up. They are unclean, and you are to regard them as unclean.
³⁶ A spring, however, or a cistern for collecting water remains clean, but anyone who touches one of these carcasses is unclean.
³⁷ If a carcass falls on any seeds that are to be planted, they remain clean.
³⁸ But if water has been put on the seed and a carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you.
³⁹ 'If an animal that you are allowed to eat dies, anyone who touches the carcass will be unclean till evening.
⁴⁰ Anyone who eats some of the carcass must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening. Anyone who picks up the carcass must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening.
⁴¹ 'Every creature that moves about on the ground is detestable; it is not to be eaten.
⁴² You are not to eat any creature that moves about on the ground, whether it moves on its belly or walks on all fours or on many feet; it is detestable.
⁴³ Do not defile yourselves by any of these creatures. Do not make yourselves unclean by means of them or be made unclean by them.
⁴⁴ I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves about on the ground.
⁴⁵ I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.
⁴⁶ 'These are the regulations concerning animals, birds, every living thing that moves in the water and every creature that moves about on the ground.
⁴⁷ You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between living creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten.'