So Christ condemned the traditions of the Mishnah (early Talmud) and those who taught it (Scribes and Pharisees), because the Talmud nullifies the teachings of the Holy Bible. So the modern day Pharisees (Jehovah's Witnesses) have their own compact version of the Mishnah which is the Elder's rule book? Perhaps we can find some similar points made in both books (THe Mishnah and Elders Book?
I_love_Jeff, you are correct.
I don't know if you could say that fairly, since 'nullifies' is a rather strong word. The oral laws were are attempt to comply or spell out the principles found in the Torah into specifics (as were dietary laws, kashrut, etc), but things get lost in translation sometimes in law where the "rubber meets the road".
King Solomon, I like how you pretend the Talmud is merely supplementary to the Torah SheBitchtav.
Amont the three levels of study in Judaism, the Bible (Torah SheBichtav) is the lowest form. The next best is the Mishnah. The highest is the Babylonian Talmud (the Germara). The Mishnah makes up the formative writings of Judaism founded on the Oral Law (Torah Shebeal Peh) of the first century A.D. Pharisees which Jesus confronted in His lifetime. As you can see, in Judaism the Torah can refer to either the Pentateuch (five Books of Moses contained in the Christian Bible) as well as the more authoritative Talmud (non-Biblical). There is a big difference between the two, and contrary to what King Solomon is saying, the Talmud has the most authority in Judaism and is not merely a spelling out of principles found in Torah SheBichtav. The Talmud contains huge amounts of laws and practices completely absent from and unrelated to laws in the Bible.
If someone presents you with "The Torah", ask them which one it is. They will probably be surprised you know there is more than one.
As far as the Kabbalah is concerned, consider that it is sometimes claimed that the Zohar (principal work of the Kabbalah) is not a basis for rabbinic law. However:
Not only did the author of the Shulchan Aruch not guard himself against the influence of the Kabbalah, he listened to it willingly as far as a great hahakhic scholar like him could reconcile his views with it. —Y. Katz, Jalahah ve-Kabbalah (Jerusalem, 1983), p. 76.
Additionally,
Rabbi Steinsaltz said that Kabbalah, despite a mystical and esoteric nature that's shrouded in mystery, is 'part of the Torah in the same way Talmud is part of the Torah.' —David Lazarus, Canadian Jewish News, Nov. 7, 2007.
