Smoke on Mount Sinai

[bananabrain]

first of all - what the *hell* is the point of quoting my ENTIRE post? why? what point does that make? what does that do other than waste our time scrolling??

This is a very big assumption(s) Banana. Who are you to judge others on their practical observance in the will of G!D or what an individual is searching for in the scriptures?

who am i? you've posted a question in the jewish forum and are engaging in discussion with two jews about how we interpret our own sacred text. you asked how we know what G!D wants - the answer is G!D TOLD US ALREADY - OBSERVE THE COMMANDMENTS! THAT'S WHAT THE TORAH IS - IT TELLS US WHAT COMMANDMENTS WE ARE TO FOLLOW. i can't make this any more simple for you - there are 613 commandments, made up of 248 positives and 365 negatives. there is a list at http://www.jewfaq.org/613.htm if you want to see where these are detailed.

i am not telling you what to search for in the "scriptures" because that is up to you. you're not jewish, so you can approach the Text differently - you have only 7 commandments to observe and an extra "testament" on top of that. all i am doing is telling you how jews practically observe the will of G!D, based upon explicit instructions given in the Torah. i'm not "judging" your practical observance, because i have no idea how you live your life. nor is it my job to check up on you. that is between you and G!D. what i will do, however, is tell you that the Torah (and i'm only talking about the Torah, not the "bible" or "scriptures" which is very vague) has a particular function and audience and that audience is us. you can make all the woolly-arse new age points you like about individual spiritual paths and how you can see angels in smoke, but it seems to bear very little relationship to the discipline of the study of Torah as it has been taught to me.

On the contrary I forgot the Joshua Xerox machine that printed millions of copies in over 100 languages and the AronUPS trucks that distributed them across the planet.

is that supposed to be sarcasm? very impressive putdown there. photocopying and logistics aside, i would suggest as a first step that if you can't even read the Text in its original language, you have little hope of understanding what it's talking about. would you understand a medical textbook without having been to medical school? no? then how do you expect to understand a jewish text without approaching it with an appreciation of the jewish context?

If the pillar was G!D or an angel or both it is not an issue for me.

well, i am no closer to understanding what the buggery-bollocks you're banging on about, what point you're trying to make, or what position you are attempting to expound. i'm happy to answer specific questions, but if i don't think the question makes sense, i kind of lose focus after too much mind-treacle.

b'shalom

bananabrain