As in Christianity, there are a variety of ways for a Jewish person to approach scripture. On one end of the spectrum are the traditionalists who believe that the entire Torah (the body of Hebrew scriptures, the Pentateuch), its laws and its narratives, is the direct word of God. ‘However’, according to Rabbi Aryeh Hirschfield of Congregation P'nai Or in Portland, Oregon, ‘it should be noted that even among those who hold this view it has been considered acceptable for rabbinic authorities to interpret some of the more draconic laws of the Torah in such a way as to effectively make them inoperative. It is also important to note that, among traditionalists, allowing for multiple interpretations of the narrative portions of the Torah is considered praiseworthy’. On the other end of the spectrum are those who view the Torah and all the biblical scriptures purely as works created by human beings – at times inspired, at times relics of a bygone era. According to Rabbi Hirschfield, these people's relationship to and acceptance of the laws of the Torah is one of personal choice. There are also those, said Hershfield, who like himself, have an intermediate or moderate view of scripture as being the record of the people of Israel in their long encounter with the Divine. For them the scriptures speak, at times, with the voice and consciousness of people, at other times with the voice of God.