Is the Pope Jewish? Infallibility in the Torah

Whilst Catholicism has a Pope who is claimed to be infallible, the common answer that rabbis give to this question, i.e. if Judaism has an infallible leader or Rabbi, is an emphatic “NO”.

However, things are not as they seem, and the answers given by Rabbis are often unreliable, or concealing something they do not wish us to know.

In a recent post, http://tanakhemet.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/rashi-brainwashy.html, I've shown how the mainstream rabbis reached hubris, and falsely claimed that we must accept whatever nonsense they spout, even when we know it is nonsense. Fortunately, the few rabbis in the Talmud Yerushalmi rejected this view, but they were outnumbered by the Catholic rabbis of the Babylonian Talmud.

The debate was not only within the rabbinic world, but it also took place between the Sadducees and Pharisees. In a previous post, http://tanakhemet.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/sadducees-vs-pharisees-case-of-false.html we see that the Rabbis considered themselves to be infallible in their judgement, once it had been carried out (according to some opinions). But the position of the Sadducees implies that the Judge or the Kohen can make mistakes or be deceived by false witnesses.

A definitive answer can be reached if we consult the TNK.

The prophet Jeremiah said

“2: 8 The priests said not: 'Where is the LORD?' And they that handle the law knew Me not, and the rulers transgressed against Me; the prophets also prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.”

This is explicitly denying any infallibility of Priest, judge or even Torah scholar. Furthermore, the Torah itself has a system for cases where the leadership errs, in Numbers Chapter 15 בְּמִדְבַּר.

Thus, why is there such a strong trend within rabbinic Judaism towards a Papal style infallibility? Well, the simple answer would be that it is keeping in style with its sister religion, Christianity. But what this means is that the rabbis were always in violation of the Torah, but their arrogance and hubris led them to see themselves very much like their Roman masters, as being demigods, and that their statements have the authority of the Torah (even though they frequently contradict it). As the saying goes, Power corrupts, Absolute Power corrupts absolutely!

So rather than concluding that the Pope is Jewish, a more accurate statement would be that the Talmud is far from Jewish.