Brit-Am Historical Reports
(3 September, 2018, 23 Elul, 5778)
Contents:
1. British Legal Thought Influenced by Non-Jewish British Talmud Scholar!
2. Did Turks Originally Come From Anatolia?
3. The Crown of David and the Sword ("Excalibur") of King Arthur?
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1. British Legal Thought Influenced by Non-Jewish British Talmud Scholar!
Forwarded by Mark Williams
The Talmudist in the Tower by NOEL MALCOLM
http://standpointmag.co.uk/node/7055/full
Extracts:
John Selden... His fame was earned as a lawyer (one of the cleverest, and absolutely the most learned, in 17th-century England), and as an MP who played a significant role in English political history from the 1620s to the 1640s. In the earlier period he helped to lead the House of Commons's opposition to Charles I, being awarded several years of imprisonment in the Tower of London for his pains; but in the 1640s his energies turned more to opposing abuses of parliamentary power, such as the 'Act of Attainder' against the Earl of Strafford, a kind of murder by legislative decree, or the exclusion of bishops from the Lords.
He acquired such an expertise in the study of Jewish texts, including the Talmud, the Aramaic Targums and many densely written rabbinical commentaries, that he was referred to, sardonically but also appreciatively, as England's Chief Rabbi; and the information he gleaned from these studies was put to use in a string of works in Latin, discussing such matters as Jewish testamentary law and the nature and powers of the Sanhedrin.Â
Selden also believed that Talmudic writers had preserved a fundamental set of natural laws, known as the 'Precepts of the Sons of Noah', which 'Noah being the ancestor of the entire human race after the Flood' formed the basis of all legal and political systems.
These seven precepts overlap with some of the Ten Commandments; unlike the latter, they are not mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, being later extrapolations by Jewish writers. They prohibit idolatry and blasphemy, and murder, theft and sexual misconduct, and they also require the maintenance of a legal system; but the seventh precept, forbidding tearing a limb from a living animal and eating it, has always posed problems for commentators.
In his great treatise on natural law, De iure naturali & gentium, iuxta disciplina Ebraeorum ('On natural law and the law of nations, according to the teaching of the Jews'), Selden gave these precepts a foundational role for all societies: they had been revealed by God, but in principle they could also be deduced by natural reason. Human beings could also deduce that God exists, and that God would not leave evil deeds unpunished; and this was sufficient to show that the precepts were not just pieces of good advice, but laws, issued by a higher authority.
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2. Did Turks Originally Come From Anatolia?
Mete Samsunlu:
I read an article related to your question. Some certain type of graves (old turkic style) were also found here in anatolia . This supported the theory that even long before residing next to China Turks might have been in Anatolia.
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3. The Crown of David and the Sword ("Excalibur") of King Arthur?
The Crown of David
https://www.answering-islam.org/Books/Legends/v4_04.htm
That Adonijah was not designated for the royal dignity, was made manifest by the fact that the crown of David did not fit him. This crown had the remarkable peculiarity of always fitting the legitimate king of the house of David.
Talmud, Sanhedrin, 21 b:
1-Kings 1:
5 Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, 'I will be king.'
Said Rabbi Yehudah, Rav said, From this we learn that he [Adoniyah] sought to make it [the crown] fit him and it did not.
Rashi Comments: "sought to make it [the crown] fit him and it did not." For he placed the Crown of Gold on his head and it did not fit him. The crown had a wedge of gold within its circumference from one end to the other.
It does not fit on the head of anyone who has not get an indentation on his skull [which the wedge fits into]. This is a testimony of the suitability of the House of David. Whosoever is suited to be king the crown fits on his head. And concerning whoever is not suited the crown does not fit on his head.
Yalmud, Avodah Zarah, 44;a
2-Samuel 12: 29 So David gathered all the people and went to Rabbah, fought against it and captured it. 30 Then he took the crown of their king from his head; and its weight was a talent of gold, and in it was a precious stone; and it was placed on David's head.
How was David able to place it on his head [since if was so heavy]? Rabbi Yehudah said, Rav said, It was said fit to sit on the head of David. Rabbi Yosi son of Rabbi Chanina said, it contained a magent. [which would pull it and raise it up and lessen its weight.] Rabbi Elazar said,
when it says its weight was a ton of gold it means that a precious jewel was inlaid on it which worth a talent of gold.
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