It just says it was a Sabbath....
If you're talking about Ex. 34:21, then no it doesn't say the word Sabbath at all.
Again...what is this kind of thinking? You can't pick up the animals but you can pick up things to throw to it? Forgive me but, seriously is "we're supposed to" a Law, or an opinion about the Law?
You can't pick up things with your hands but can move them with your teeth or your elbow...? Why?
I know that you aren't really asking because you want to know, but for the sake of anyone else who happens to be reading here, I'll answer:
The issue is that there's a Rabbinic prohibition to handle things that can't or will not be used on the Sabbath. Since animals may not work on the Sabbath, it's forbidden to handle them. Pillows and blankets may be used on the Sabbath, so they are not forbidden. This prohibition was only enacted on the normal way of handling things, because it's ultimately meant to prevent someone from accidentally using that prohibited item. When handling something the normal way, a person may forget themselves and end up using the item for a prohibited activity. Handling the item in an abnormal way is a good way to prevent losing focus, so the Rabbinic prohibition was not extended to that.
So if a person inadvertently transgresses a law but has not intended to, do you see God's judgment as coming upon a person in the same way as one who did so deliberately? Isn't this why God gave the Law, so that the heart of individuals would move them to obey him out of love.....not out of fear.
Isaiah 11:3-4 says of God....
"And he shall judge the poor justly, and he shall chastise with equity the humble of the earth, and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips he shall put the wicked to death.
God deals differently with those who transgress his laws inadvertently, compared to those who do so deliberately,
Everything you said here is correct except the part about serving G-d out of love not fear. We're meant to serve G-d out of both love and fear as Deut. 6:5 and 10:12 make clear.
But again, the problem you have is that you are a Christian who does not know what it means to love G-d's Laws, because it's been drilled into your head that G-d's Laws are a burden. For us, G-d's Laws are wonderful treasures and we want to avoid transgressing them - or causing others to - even accidentally.
but what about those who look for ways to dodge the prohibitions? Are loopholes OK with you? Are they OK with God?
That depends on the nature of the loophole. Loopholes that were intended simply to dodge a prohibition or requirement are wrong and we're punished for them. Loopholes to one requirement or prohibition that are found in order to prevent the transgression of another prohibition are sometimes necessary.
So, trying to understand......what you go on is "a Rabbinical enactment prohibiting medical treatment on the Sabbath in many cases". Is a "Rabbinical enactment" the same as a Law of God? If different "Rabbinical" opinions leave some of these questions undecided, what is a devout Jew to conclude....do you just pick the Rabbi whose opinions agree with your own?
A Rabbinic enactment isn't the same as a Biblical Law. There are a number of differences between them. For instance, with Biblical Laws, when we're in doubt we take the more stringent approach, while we take the more lenient approach when in doubt about a Rabbinic enactments. Rabbinic enactments also can't push off Biblical prohibitions or requirements (except in certain cases where the Rabbinic enactment pushes off a Biblical requirement to prevent the transgression of a Biblical prohibition).
With regard to most cases, we follow the majority opinion. If there's no definitive opinion, then it depends. If it's about a Biblical Law, we follow the stringent opinion. If it's about a Rabbinic Law we follow the lenient opinion. If neither are more strict or lenient than the other, we are free to choose which opinion we want to follow unless there's a standing custom one way or the other.
I'm not sure why you've put "Rabbinical" in quotation marks.
So there is no scriptural basis as to why many medical treatments are forbidden on the Sabbath?
It depends on the type of treatment. Surgery would probably violate one of the 39 prohibitions. Taking medication or other non-invasive treatments though, is simply about ensuring that others don't prepare the treatments in a Biblically prohibited way.
I asked..."the question is whose laws are you obeying really?" Are you saying that the Rabbis, whose opinions apparently differ, are all speaking for God when they interpret the 39 restrictions in different ways? How is that possible?
Because G-d in His Infinite Wisdom wrote the Law in such a way as to be able to be interpreted in a number of ways. If G-d wanted to limit the possible interpretations further than He already did, He could have written the Laws even more clearly.
Its a wonderful "opportunity" for what? To perform rituals and enact restrictions that to outsiders make no sense at all, or was the Sabbath Law given so that a day of complete rest and engagement in spiritual activities could be enjoyed as a family and a community?
Well for one thing, why would it be important that
outsiders understand our rituals? For another,
outsiders clearly can make sense of them as we've hand many converts over the years.
But the most important point is that
you are making up your own reason for the Sabbat - at the expense of the reasons already given for it. There is no verse that says that the Sabbath was given for enjoying family and community.
It seems from the comments of other Jews that the Sabbath restrictions have to grow on you (or with you), being immersed in them from infancy, you gradually accept what to a child may seen unnecessary...even silly. That sounds like indoctrination, if you have to be virtually 'brainwashed' into "performances" as if that is all that God requires of you.
That's your indoctrination talking. The commenter you're referring to was speaking about being aware of the speed limit. There's no one who says that a driver is
indoctrinated to following the speed limit. The commenter was referring to the Laws becoming
natural so that you don't have to be constantly aware of it, like the speed limit that you
naturally follow once you've been driving a while.
No, I don't think so. I know that an Israeli is a Jew by nationality, but that not all Israelis practice Judaism.
That insight is not reflected in the comment you made that I had responded to.
Who said that Judaism, as it was handed down by the Jewish religious leaders in times past, is founded on the original Jewish 'religion' that was given to Moses at Mt Sinai? Doesn't Israel's history of disobedience make you cautiously question how valid any of the modern day practicers really are? Or do you blindly accept them without question?
No, Israel's history of disobedience does not make me question the validity of the Rabbis. It was the nation that disobeyed, not the spiritual leaders. It wasn't Menashe and Ahab who passed down our religious traditions. It was Nathan, Elijah, Ezekiel, Isaiah and Ezra and all the other
religious leaders.
