oct 12, 1813 - Thomas Jefferson on Judaism:
"‘Ethics were so little studied among the Jews,
that, in their whole compilation called the
Talmud, there is only one treatise on moral
subjects... what a wretched depravity of
sentiment & manners must have prevailed
before such corrupt maxims could have
obtained credit!"
Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, 12 October 1813
Description:
“‘Ethics were so little studied among the Jews, that, in their whole compilation called the Talmud, there is only one treatise on moral subjects. Their books of Morals chiefly consisted in a minute enumeration of duties. from the law of Moses were deduced 613. precepts, which were divided into two classes, affirmative and negative, 248 in the former, and 365 in the latter.—it may serve to give the reader some idea of the low state of moral philosophy among the Jews in the Middle age, to add, that of the 248. affirmative precepts, only 3. were considered as obligatory upon women; and that, in order to obtain salvation, it was judged sufficient to fulfill any one single law in the hour of death; the observance of the rest being deemed necessary, only to increase the felicity of the future life. what a wretched depravity of sentiment & manners must have prevailed before such corrupt maxims could have obtained credit! it is impossible to collect from these writings3 a consistent series of moral Doctrine.’”
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