Mathematical codes in previous scripture?

 

Mathematical codes in previous scripture?

 

Dr. Rashad Khalifa claimed that the previous revelations were composed according to the same mathematical pattern that he found in the Qur’an. Dr. Khalifa cites a medieval rabbinical source to bolster his claim. The source is attributed to Yehuda Ha Hasid (Judah ben Samuel of Regensburg 1150-1217), a Jewish mystic.  We will evaluate Dr. Khalifa’s evidence  to determine its viability as weight for the claim that divine scripture is mathematically composed. We will also discuss the problematic implications of the claim towards “mathematical” revelations.

 

The claim that previous divine revelations were composed mathematically  is well known. Dr. Khalifa used a reference he found in STUDIES IN JEWISH MYSTICISM , (Association for Jewish Studies, Cambridge, Mass., Joseph Dan & Frank Talmage, eds., Page 88, 1982), an old academic publication. The entry in STUDIES in Jewish Mysticism contains a quote from Yehuda Ha Hasid, a figure known to students of Jewish thought. Dr. Khalifa cites the claim in the first appendix to his Qur’an translations. Rashad however introduced the claim as early as July of 1985 in the Muslim Perspectives newsletter.  Dr. Khalifa was so happy about the quotation that he makes mention of it footnote Surah 46:10. Dr. Khalifa goes as far as to say 46:10 is a previous concerning Yeduha ha Hasid.  The followers of Dr. Rashad Khalifa such as Lisa Spray and Abdullah Arik continued to cite the source in their respective books (Jesus Myth and Message, chapter 9; Beyond Probability pg. 47)

 

We will cite the relevant quotation from Studies in Jewish Mysticism here:

 

The people [Jews] in France made it a custom to add [in the morning prayer] the words: " 'Ashrei temimei derekh [blessed are those who walk the righteous way]," and our Rabbi, the Pious, of blessed memory, wrote that they were completely and utterly wrong. It is all gross falsehood, because there are only nineteen times that the Holy Name is mentioned [in that portion of the morning prayer]... and similarly you find the word 'Elohim nineteen times in the pericope of Ve-'elleh shemot. . . . Similarly, you find that Israel were called "sons" nineteen times, and there are many other examples. All these sets of nineteen are intricately intertwined, and they contain many secrets and esoteric meanings, which are contained in more than eight large volumes. . . Furthermore, in this section there are 152 (19x8) words (pg. 88, 89 Dan, Joseph ibid)

 

Dr. Rashad Khalifa thought he found gold when he saw the above article in the academic journal. For Rashad and his followers, the notion that other scriptures previous to Qur’an contained a mathematical formula was proof of their assertions.  If the Torah or Injeel could be proven to be composed mathematically than it would be obvious that the Qur’an was also composed in the same manner. In fact, it would be a disservice to the Qur’an if it was not composed mathematically yet the previous scriptures were.  Were the previous scriptures composed mathematically? Dr. Khalifa and his followers continue to peddle Joseph Dan’s book to “prove” that not only were the previous scriptures composed mathematically but composed mathematically around the number 19.

 

Dr. Rashad Khalifa claims that the quote attributed to Yehuda Ha Hasid proves that that previous scripture is mathematically composed around the number 19.  Therefore, he did not want changes to it. The problem with the quotation is that Yehuda Ha Hasid is not talking about the Torah or any “scripture.” Rabbi Yehuda is discussing the text of the Amidah prayer also known as the Shimone Esreh (18 Benedictions.) The Amidah prayer is not believed in Judaism to be divine revelation in the sense of the Torah or prophetic writings. The Amidah prayer is believed by Jewish authorities to be composed by the men of the great assembly (knessset ha Gadol) some time prior to the destruction of the second temple. Interestingly there are 19 blessings in the semeoneh esreh (the Hebrew number shemoneh means 18) despite the fact there are 19 blessings recited today. But the 19^th blessing was added to the prayer at a later time. This final prayer which asks for the separation from heretics is believed to be made by the pre-rabbinical orthodoxy as a response to the Jewish followers of Jesus.

 

It is true that the Rabbi believed the item he was referring to was composed mathematically and wanted to use this as proof to not initiate any changes to the prayer.  Rabbi Yehuda was a kabbalist and gematria is a prevalent belief for them. The Amidah prayer is believed to be a holy prayer since it was believed to be composed by pious rabbis inspired by the holy spirit. But in any case the Amidah is not believed to be dictated by God.  Kabbalist thought no doubt is recognized as a valid thinking by Orthodoxy. It would not be correct to attribute the views of Rabbi Yehuda to be widespread.  Rabbi Yehuda himself would probably not view the Amidah in the same position as that of the Torah even if he believed the prayers were mathematically composed. The Amidah prayer is not scripture for Jews in any sense. Therefore, this particular prayer is not proof that Jews believed the scriptures were mathematically composed or composed specifically around the number 19.

 

There are many Jewish faithful that believe the Torah is mathematically composed. Orthodox Judaism does hold it a fundamental of faith to believe the Torah is written by God and given to Moses. The writings of Maimonides and other rabbis deem it necessary to believe that even the letters and particular spellings are from God. There is of course some variation that exists among orthodox faithful to this belief when it comes to the questions of the death of Moses being mentioned in the Torah or issues dealing with manuscripts that are beyond the subject here.  The Kabbalist world has spent a lot of time paying attention to gematria by finding interesting patterns in the Torah but I am not aware of any rabbinical theory that claims the whole Torah is based on a specific mathematical pattern in the way that Dr. Khalifa viewed.  Thirty years ago a famous book came out called the “The Bible Codes” which claimed to find certain patterns in the Torah based on letter skipping but these claims are considered amusement but not necessarily serious for most Jews.   

 

There are false premises behind the notion that any of the revelations contained numerical codes of any kind. Dr. Khalifa wanted people to believe that scripture was mathematically composed. But what exactly is scripture and why should it be significant?  Scripture is nothing but the manuscripts where divine revelations are written. So the real question is whether revelation, the divine communication between God and man, is numerically composed.  The Qur’an in the first place in addition to the previous scriptures speak about revelatory phenomena in a natural way without books falling from the sky. If revelation is something that comes to the heart then how could we talk about finding numerical patterns in written words when the words are at best verbal communications from the divine? We spoke about these questions elsewhere. Dr. Khalifa realized that belief in a mathematically coded revelations depended on books descriptions. That is why he wrongly claimed the Qur’an was given to the Prophet all at once in a book form. This is also why he considered the “mathematical miracle” to be physical in orientation.  But the claims are wrong.