JeromeW

I was viewing the Brick Testament and some other sites that point out the bizarre rules of the Old Testament (e.g., stoning rules, not letting lame people in temple). Obviously, Israel doesn't allow stoning, but do some Orthodox Jews want these rules practiced? Do they try to have the laws passed? If not, how do they reconcile this? Were there new religious rules that superceded these old rules?

andrewcriddle

Many of these rules cannot be practised given the destruction of the Termple.

The Talmud teaches that the study of Torah provides a substitute for the religious rituals of the temple.

Andrew Criddle

Anat

Not only is there no temple, but no sanhedrin either, thus no authority to hand down those death sentences. If you hang out at Orthodox Jewish fora you'll find those who are contemplating the restoration of smicha, which would enable the restoration of a sanhedrin. However there isn't broad agreement as to what would constitute a valid smicha procedure for the first generation of rabbis.

Other laws aren't followed to the letter because technical knowledge was lost - for example the process to make the techelet dye for the fringes of the tallit. Research into these questions is apparently in progress.

The consensus is that shortly before the coming of Messiah Elijah the prophet will arrive and answer all these questions. Personally, I am doing my share to delay the coming of Messiah as long as I am alive, for instance by posting on internet fora on Shabbat quite regularly

Anat

Also, to understand how Orthodox Judaism derives religious law (halakha) just reading the Hebrew Bible is insufficient. The belief is that on Sinai God gave Moses to Laws - a written law, that can be found in the Pentateuch and an oral law that explains how the written laws should be implemented. These teachings were supposedly transmitted orally until around 200 CE Rabbi Judah the Prince and his peers compiled them and wrote them down as the Mishna. The Mishna was further interpreted over the generations, leading to the Talmud and later rabbinical literature. Thus the Torah says 'an eye for an eye', and the Mishna says that it really means monetary compensation for the loss of an eye.

OTOH the Karaites split from Judaism because they did not accept the oral tradition. So theoretically the Karaites base their laws directly on Torah.