Based on the prophets and the Aleinu, I'd say that the Torah is given to the Jewish People for themselves and for the world. Our burden and glory to hear, to guard and live it until the time when the Temple is a House for All Peoples and all people become aware of the One. Even the prior temples had a court for gentiles.
As to what the Baptist kids learn, as with any group, depends on the kid.
Shabbat Shalom
I would not say crank; a lovely argumentative, questioning mind is what I'd say. And I wouldn't say comfort, pleasure, yes, comfort no. But as was once said about journalism: probably the purpose is the comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.
All Blessings
of course it's lovely circular reasoning. Obviously in some way "permitted" to stand. Again, I don't presume to understand the Cause; I can only describe my encounter with effect, including the Talmud. BTW. I concede to the impossibility of solving the "problem of evil." So let's not go down that labyrinthine way
Shabbat Shalom
Yes, I certainly have read Leviticus and it's a primary reason for the need for Rabbis. Not sure what Jews or the rest of the world learns from rules for setting up Mishkan in Canaan but I can tell you this from personal knowledge: there are a lot more Baptist kids who build scale models of the Mishkan in Sunday school than jewish kids who do so. Go Figure!! And there's always the "mystical interpretation" to rescue the text from irrelevance.
I think the Rabbis took care of that themselves via the famous story of Eliezer and the stream, carob tree, and leaning study hall.
"Torah/ Tanakh is just for Jews?" The evidence is to the contrary.
good point! And anyone who believes any text could be written that would be understood and applied uniformly by everyone at all times and in all places hasn't been paying attention to Civil, Criminal and Constitutional law. Better question than "Can G-d make a stone so heavy He can't lift it?" might be" Could G-d create a Torah that will be perfectly clear, in meaning and application to human being in all times and all places without explication?"
Not circular reasoning. i was just accepting the fact that the Torah exists as it does; As wiser people than i have said, the Torah speaks through the minds of man. Without the Rabbis we'd be left, for example, with the literal "eye for an eye." And, I'm not so bold as to tell G-d how He should communicate.
no, I was actually referring to the comments on this subject; we learn more about the commentators than the text itself. This is often true with literary criticism, interpretations, studies, and yes Torah commentaries. And, it's part of the beauty. There would be no Talmud if we adopted the idea, as some traditions have, that all we have to do is read the Torah for ourselves looking for the pshat.
question was "what will people say?" Not what the myriad of authors and contributors say, in any event who can know what those myriads would say now? I'm reminded of that we learn as much or more about the interpreter of a text than we learn about the original meaning of the text itself.
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lmadden42 
Ruckus