The 'Chronicle' Is Not an Academic Journal: Rather Than an 'Oversight,' Sometimes Space Limitations Restrict Material

Dear Editor,
   The 1905 Jewish Encyclopedia says: "With the destruction of the Temple (AD70) the Sadduces disappeared altogether, leaving the regulation of all Jewish affairs in the hands of the Pharisees. Henceforth, Jewish life was regulated by the Pharisees; the whole history of Judaism was reconstructed from the Pharisaic point of view."
   In his biblical history lesson, Michael Ventura failed to mention what Jesus said about the Pharisees ["Letters @ 3am," March 5]. Also, there was no mention of the Babylonian Talmud and its position on Jesus and those who follow him. I guess I'll just have to chalk it up to subjective oversight.

   [Ventura replies: As I noted in the piece, there was a great deal that I didn't have space to include. Much scholarship has been devoted to Jesus and the Pharisees, with many contending that their relationship, though argumentative, was basically friendly: Jesus is invited to Pharisees' homes to eat, and in Luke 13:31 Pharisees warn him that Herod wants to kill him. But I only had so much space, and elected to devote it to Mel Gibson's most egregious departures from the gospels.]