Charles Grodin Quotes
I wouldn't even dare read the Torah, let alone attempt a witty observation on the Torah.
Grodin, Charles. It Would Be So Nice If You Weren't Here: My Journey Through Show Business. William Morrow & Co., 1989.
The Torah, the first 5 Books of the Bible, are the statement of Jewish law. The Talmud is a compendium of commentary on Jewish Law—–reflecting the views of a number of learned Rabbis of old. In a sense, they are much like legal opinions from many different judges. They are disparate views and often contradict on another. Few if any other religions, have an official document like it. Other religions key documents are prescriptive, and where there are occasional contradictions , effort is made to rationalize. However Judaism has the strong religious tradition of dissent from singular dogma. Different Jewish sects and groups differ in what in the Talmud they follow, and Reform Jews, the largest group in America, assume a continuing discussion of the Talmud with the ancient Rabbis having no more weight in their opinions that modern thinkers—–theologians, philosophers, and others.
Torah is the first 5 books of the Old Testament. Shammai’s school was a contemporary (and competitor) of that of Hillel. Most Rabbinic thought to this day has historically been based in the school of Hillel. Shammai was more strict and rigorous. There is no known surviving picture of Shammai. The graphic is a photograph of his tomb.
This is an interesting quotation as it shows that there were opponents of literal interpretation of the Bible in the 17th century, and that they were among the leading men of the day. The argument that the Bible has divine inspiration but was written by men and should not be taken literally, has been made since the Ancient Jews received the Bible.
This quotation illustrates that in the late 19th Century, there were still very prominent American scientists who were Biblical Literalists as well—a virtual intellectual impossibility. Dana was a Yale professor, and yet he rejected Evolution and had the age of the rocks he studied all wrong. At the time, America had only 1 great world class scientist (Physicist Albert A. Michelson) and American Science really became great in the 20th century. Dana was not a total incompetent however. He had amassed vast descriptive knowledge of California and other areas and was at the time considered America’s preeminent Geologist despite his lack of understanding of many fundamental aspects of his own science which was understood by many English and European scientists.
Charles Grodin is an American actor, comedian, author, and former television talk show host. Grodin began his acting career in the 1960s appearing in TV serials including The Virginian. He had a small part as an obstetrician in Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby in 1968. In the 1970s he moved into film acting, including playing the lead in Elaine May's The Heartbreak Kid (1972) and supporting roles in Mike Nichols' Catch-22 (1970) and Warren Beatty's Heaven Can Wait (1978). He became a familiar face as a supporting actor in many Hollywood comedies of the era, including Real Life (1979), Seems Like Old Times (1980), Ishtar (1987), and Dave (1993). Grodin co-starred alongside Robert De Niro in the action comedy Midnight Run (1988), and in the family film Beethoven (1992). He made frequent appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and Late Night with David Letterman.
