There we go again... There's no question, that a historic Person called Jesus of Nazareth existed (can show you separately). Read e.g. His words in Mark 10:3 or in similar passages, which authenticate both Moses and his books.

There are so few sources from the ancient time periods (MB, LB and IRON 1 & 2) that making any claim at all on any character from that period is "imagination" not scholarship. It is hardly possible to verify information in many of the oldest cuneiform documents - and completely impossible to verify claims made about individuals (prophets, kings, etc). It has always eluded me as to how modern scholars decide who existed and who was fabricated - based on not so much as a sliver of real information. I'm not religious - but Rabbi Carmy's conclusions are, to the educated mind, much more logical than Cohen's.

Reform Judaism has been a trojan horse to Authentic Judaism, they are apostates and destroyers of Jewsih holiness and are no better than all the excommunicated Kairites and worthless Jewish traitor Christians. They all worship idols and themselves and not the one true G-d of Israel.

Reform Jews maybe be technically Jews but Reform Judaism is not Judaism which has been proven obviously by this article. There are formerly Jewish Chirstians, formerly Jewish-Muslims, formerly Jewish-Buddists and Reform Jews are formerly Jewish-fill in the blank.

CAN ANYONE TELL ME IF THE OTHER RELIGIONS ACCEPT AND/OR BELIEVE IN MOSES AS ONCE EXISTING IN ANY CAPACITY? OF COURSE THEY DO SO .................. THIS ENCYCLOPEDIA SHOULD BE BLACKLISTED. IMAGINE HOW MANY OTHER INACCURACIES IS PUBLISHED IN IT.

scrape your shoe over the curb you just stepped in doggie poo

the joke's on you sir

if we can eliminate Moses, we can also discount Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the ten commandments and perhaps the only thing of worth that we can be certain of is the Communist Manifesto. My apologies to these Jewish tradition hating rabbies

The drying up of Yam Suph (sea of reeds) and subsequent inundation of Pharaoh's chariots were caused by a tsunami emanating from the greatest volcanic eruption in history: Santorini -- which is fairly accurately dated. Egyptian records of THAT period show that the historical record, stone glyphs at Karnak Temple, were deliberately erased to conceal a national embarrassment, connected with the Habiru, during the time of the only Queen-Pharoah, Khat-shepsut (Hatshepsut) -- the princess who found Mosheh in the Nile. Egyptologists are as biased as the Pharaoh who erased the glyphs of the history of Khat-shepsut. It all comes together in my docunovel: The Mirrored Sphinxes, available in our website. Paqid Yirmeyahu Israeli Orthodox Jew Advancing Logic as Halakhic Authority Welcoming Jews & non-Jews www.netzarim.co.il

Doubts about Mosses existence, Doubts about Jesus existence. Any doubt about Muhammad existence. SO......TRULLY religion is ISLAM Desligitimate Jews, Christian and Israel.

One wonders why these people even bother with "Judaism" altogether. Then they get all upset when there is Holocaust denial.

In agreement completely with #3 and #4, I am saddened that Thompson-Gale would entrust any article -- let alone on Moses -- to a "Reform rabbi." Our record of the Tanach does not carry sufficient weight! -- what, we must find an Egyptian pottery shard with an inscription naming Moses before we accept that God gave the Torah to the Jewish people through Moses? I had been enthusiastic on learning of a second edition, despite its price that is beyond most of our budgets. If Sperling's "scholarship" is typical of this publication, we are better off without it.

Encyclopedia Judaica or the athiest handbook ? Its not going to be men like HItler who will be the biggest threat to judaism in the 21st century its going to be the reform movement that is destroying judaism from within by stealth.

Well done, really well done. That's how you actualy save Judaism from disappearing. These people just don't understand that questioning the existance of Moses(based on a skeptical view of the Torah) is questioning the Torah itself and therefore setting the ground to fully deny the very basis of Judaism.

Thank you Paqid for brightening up my evening. Your talkback was hilarious. I wanted to quote my favourite passages, but I would end up quoting the whole thing. I'm sure it all comes together in your docunovel! By the way, I used to think you were the only "Orthodox" Jew for Jesus, but time and websurfing has made me wiser; you're just the funniest.

orthodox scholars are the only scholars in judaism. the others are ignoramouses who dont feel comfortable facing the truth...

Not Mosses...not Aaron....Not Cohanim.....Not Rabbis...Not Rabbi S. David Sperling...He doesnt exist either

Do you have any "real prove" of Israel 's God existance out of Bible. ?. May be G. must be expelled too out of the new Encyclopaedia Judaica

Reform and conservative rabbis think they can change judaism............ in 2007!! Who are they to question the foundations of judaism and still be refered to as jewish rabbis? PPL, the term rabbi these days means absolutely nothing. Back in the talmudic days when semicha still existed, rabbi actually meant something. It meant you had a link to moses. Im sick and tired of reading about rabbis who kiss ahmadinejad, attend anti-israel conferences or deny judaisms holiest tenets!!! This is the reason why our brothers who lead the reform and conservative movements cannot and should not be allowed deciding on anything regarding our religion, ex. gerim.... Long live the torah observant jew who seeks peace among his brothers... amen

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-chromosomal_Aaron If you don't believe that Moses existed, then you think the Torah is 99% fiction. In that case, why be Jewish at all? Come on, guys.

A Historian nowadays is just a celebrated and pompous amanuensis who is only capable of copying from ancient sources and comfortably writing a story from behind a desk. If he/she doesn't have the means to write a story, then we are told that the story is not a story, but a myth. Their lack of faith, intuition, initiative and common sense keeps hystoriography in the dark ages and people far from the truth! Congratulations!

And guess how you can tell with all certainty, beause his words were also prohetic. How true are these words. ".....and calamity will be bound to befall you at the close of days ', because you will do what is bad in the eyes of Yahweh, so as to offend him by the works of your hands.' Calamity befalling the jews, any witnesses to these words?

You believe that?? May I offer you a bridge for sale in Brooklyn? AND I suppose you also believe that the world was created 5767 years ago?

You don't believe that? The evidence is pretty conclusive, the Cohen gene is found in Jewish communities throughout the world. It is also to be found in large numbers in Italy, Greece, Albania, even Syria. Which makes sense, where do you think the lost tribes went? How do you explain the Aharon chromosome ? I'm curious

and i suppose YOU are jewish???

This is a classic foundationalist versus skeptic argument. Judaism is not a religion of skepticism. It assumes certain things are basic. Judaism is foundationalist and relegates skepticism to the status of a tool used to test conclusions drawn from that which is basic. Its clear in the text of the Torah (e.g., "I know God with my flesh" - Iyov) and throughout the Talmud that this is so. As a result, Reform rabbis aren't basing their philosophy on Judaism, let alone their practice. Reform Rabbi's are western skeptics through and throug, despite the fact that the skeptics have yet to answer the first question the foundationalists asked them. They don't have a yiddish kopf. Its really quite simple: "I know God with my flesh." (Iyov). The matter is simple: God exists and man can know him [via revelation]. What is the primary source of revelation: Tanakh, which includes Torah. And what does Torah tell us, over and over and over? That Moses was the source of that revelation. If you don't believe that, then in a Jewish sense you believe nothing at all.

I doubt it. His effort at a claim to fame, is quite sad... I'd rather believe what we read three times a week , since time immemorial, and will continue to read for ever, than this weak pathetic drivel.

This anti-Jewish movement carried out by Jews is strange indeed to a Gentile's eyes. If Moses is fictional then the God of Israel is fictional, the land promised by that God is fictional, and creation of the modern state of Israel on the land it currently occupies was an act of cruelty against the Palestinians; an illegal political action of the UN in 1948. The God of Israel can't be reasoned away as a "metaphor for the goodness in mankind" or some such nonsense. The intricacies of Hebrew religious law intertwined with the genealogy and history of the people that comprise the 12 tribes make such a reading of the Jewish scriptures ridiculous at best. I have no doubt that it is difficult to exist in a small country besieged by what is virtually the entire world. I doubt if I could summon the courage to go about my business under the daily threat of bombings, missile strikes, and random shootings. But to deny the God who is your identity is insanity. Such denial isn't a "coping mechanism" but suicide. Isn't the reality of the God of Israel the bedrock of your existence as individuals and a nation? Isn't faith in the promise of your eternal establishment what sustains you? If the above ideas are not true you will indeed be crushed by the enemies that surround you since no secular law or peace established by that secular law justify your existence.

I am a faithful, reform Jew and very proud of our movement. However I completely dissagree with the premis of this article. How can we follow the Jewish faith yet question the existence of Moses? It doesn't make sense. The overwhelming majority of reform Jews believe in the existance of Moses, the Patriarchs and the Matriarchs.