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From: dcs@homxa.UUCP (D.SIMEN)
Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish
Subject: Re: Pharisees and Marriage
Message-ID: <313@homxa.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 2-Aug-84 12:46:06 EDT
Article-I.D.: homxa.313
Posted: Thu Aug  2 12:46:06 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 4-Aug-84 00:04:09 EDT
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Holmdel NJ
Lines: 17

Paul Dubois writes:
> My understanding is that, to be a Pharisee, you had to have been
> married... Is my information incorrect?

Yes, it is.  Although marriage is mandated in Jewish law (the very first
commandment is "P'ru ur'bu," reasonably well translated as "Be fruitful and
multiply") the Pharisees constituted a philosophico-religio-political group,
and did not have tests for "membership" such as whether the individual was
married.  To understand the meaning of "Pharisee", try
    1.	Forgetting everything the Gospels say about the Pharisees, as those
	books were written with many axes to grind, and
    2.	Roughly equating "Pharisee" with "follower of the Rabbinic tradition,"
	which by Roman times was already well established in Jewish national
	life.  Most of the poorer people followed the Rabbinic teachings.

					David Y'hezqel ben Mord'kai Simen
					...!houxm!homxa!dcs