The Talmud is the deliberation itself

It is said that ideas are everything, and we are nothing without ideas. Conservative rabbi Arthur Hertzberg mentioned:

"I argue that the Talmud (Talmud is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law -- Halakha) is about the constant struggle to understand. This is underpinned by one of the great principles of the Talmud, which is to look at things from different perspectives."

It is often said that Jews are the most argumentative of all people. They disagree with each other about almost everything. Plus, they tend not to accept authority. Mossad's motto: "Where there is no guidance, a nation falls, but in an abundance of counsellors there is safety."

Old Yiddish jokes are typical:

"How many synagogues do you need in a village with just one Jew? Two, one to attend and one to boycott." "Two Jews and three opinions."

Once I climbed the staircase of the Great Synagogue in Tbilisi, Georgia. As I entered, I was surprised to see a wide range of documents: books of varying sizes, thicknesses, and colours, manuscripts, and piles of paper. Some were worn and torn. They were displayed on the large wooden cap rails attached to the pew backs. I saw large lockable boxes underneath. The place appeared like a research center. The curator followed me into the empty temple.

"Why are there so many different materials?" I asked him.

"Where are you from?"

When I said I was Lebanese Christian (to reassure him), he answered:

"Here, everyone is free to bring and read the document they like."

"How can people tell which document or book belongs to whom?"

"Everyone has his seat, which he may buy."

I was baffled, thinking of the Catholic churches, the Armenians, and even the Protestants, which most of the time have the same Gospel or Bible, plus the same prayer leaflets kept in slots behind each pew.

"Who decides about the seats?"

"The wealthier patrons own the pews at the front!"

I searched Jewish websites looking for religious teachings and found some interesting sayings:

"In Judaism, there are 613 biblical commandments, and the Talmud says that the chief commandment of all is study," attributed to Norman Lamm.

Historians Will and Ariel Durant noted a lack of consistency among the many authors of the Talmud. They said that the Talmud is not the product of deliberation; it is the deliberation itself.

Judaism, in general, regards the authority of Jewish law as emanating primarily from the assent of the people and the community through the generations, more so than from divine revelation. Rabbi Zecharias Frankel said that the purpose of Halakha is to offer guidance, not governance. He believed the very notion of theology was alien to Judaism. Defiance seems to be a key element of the Jewish religion. As such, Jews do not unquestioningly accept what is written and read, but interrupt and debate, with the continued search for knowledge as the driving force. Questioning and skepticism are integral to rabbinical traditions.