Jay, when I read your post about religion, I just couldn't find how Judaism fit into your argument about economics. By Judaism, I can only speak of Orthodox Judaism. There is no payout to anyone. I mean, rabbis are paid to teach and lead synogogues, but not to be rich. There never was any racket behind the religious leaders. The Levites and Priests (Cohanim) were not permitted to own land. They had cities to live in, but those cities also served as places of refuge (jails, for a modern day term) for people who killed by accident. They were paid a portion of food and livestock for sustenance. Their job, as part of being spiritual leaders, was to further in the study of the Torah, and to teach it to all. It was a pious existance. And I'm sure many Levites had a real job of some sort. I'm sure some were tailors and wood workers, and so on. But I don't see how the sole purpose for the lifestyle of Judaism was to economically support a priestly tribe. They got a tenth of what people grew/raised, there were a lot of them, and there was only so much food or cattle out there. If it was about economics, wouldn't the priestly tribe have demanded more than just enough to live on in the original document?

<sub>Will Eisner's last work - The Plot: The Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion
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