"But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds, and neglect justice and the love of God; it is these you ought to have practiced, without neglecting the others."

The portrait created of the Pharisees in the New Testament is completely distorted and untrue. It is part of early Christian polemics to prove the moral superiority of Christianity over Judiasm.

It is unfortunate that a liberal blog would choose this verse as the verse of the day. It encourages a distorted picture of Jews and Judaism.

The Pharisees were deeply religious religious people. They were trying to sanctify everyday life. They were scholars AND mystics. They were not hypocrites and they did care about justice. Modern Judaism developed from Pharasaic Judaism.

I would like to an explanation of who the Pharisees really were on this blog.

Posted by: Susan | August 31, 2007 6:50 PM