Oral Torah: Difference between revisions

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According to Rabbinic Judaism, numerous aspects of religious practice and precepts of observance were transmitted orally from Mount Sinai during the Exodus from Egypt, and were not written in the Torah. These practices, which encompass a wide swath of Jewish ritual, worship, and interpersonal relationships, from Kashrut to Sabbath and festival observance to marital relations, agricultural practices, and tort damages, are known collectively as the oral Torah, oral Law, or oral tradition (Hebrew: תורה שבעל פה, Torah she-be-`al peh) According to Jewish tradition, the Oral Torah was communicated by God to Moses in conjunction with the written Torah (Hebrew: תורה שבכתב, Torah she-bi-khtav), after which it was passed down orally through the ages.^[1]

The major repositories of the "oral Torah" are the Mishnah and Gemara, which together comprise the Talmud, the preeminent text of Rabbinic Judaism. Belief in the divine revelation of the Oral Torah is a fundamental component of Orthodox and Haredi Judaism, and was recognized as one of the Thirteen Principles of Faith by the preeminent medieval Torah scholar Maimonides. However, there have been historical dissenters to this view of the Oral Torah, such as Karaite Judaism, who rely on the most natural meaning of the Written Torah to form the basis of Jewish law, and in more modern times, Reform and Conservative Judaism.</ref>

Rabbis of the Talmudic era conceived of the Oral Torah in two distinct ways. First, Rabbinic tradition conceived of the Oral Torah as an unbroken chain of transmission. The distinctive feature of this view was that Oral Torah was "conveyed by word of mouth and memorized."^[2] Second, the Rabbis also conceived of the Oral Torah as an interpretive tradition, and not merely as memorized traditions. In this view, the written Torah was seen as containing many levels of interpretation. It was left to later generations, who were steeped in the oral tradition of interpretation to discover those ("hidden") interpretations not revealed by Moses.^[3] Instead, Moses was obligated to impart the explanations orally to students, children, and fellow adults. It was thus forbidden to write and publish the Oral Torah.^[4]

Jewish tradition identifies the individuals, starting from Moses, who were entrusted with the Oral Law and passed it down to subsequent generations. In his introduction to Mishneh Torah Maimonides provides a generation by generation account of the names of all those in the direct line that transmitted this tradition, beginning with Moses up until Ravina and Rav Ashi, the rabbis who compiled the Babylonian Talmud.

Following the destruction of the Second Temple and the fall of Jerusalem, it became apparent that the Hebrew community and its learning were threatened, and that publication was the only way to ensure that the law could be preserved.^[5]

Thus, around 200 CE, a redaction of oral law in writing was completed. Rabbinic tradition ascribes this effort to Rabbi Judah haNasi. The Mishna is generally considered the first work of Rabbinic literature.

Over the next four centuries this body of law, legend and ethical teachings underwent debate and discussion (Gemara) in the two centers of Jewish life, Israel and Babylonia. The Gemara with the Mishnah came to be edited together into compilations known as the Talmud.

According to modern scholarship, the traditions embodied in what later became known as the "Oral Torah" were developed over generations by the Pharisees, a group of Jews who were opposed to the adoption of Greek and Roman customs (Hellenization), and thus innovated a number of traditions and practices, which often were more detailed and complex than those outlined in the Written Torah, as a reaction to assimilation.^[6] The Pharisees, many if whom belonged to the middle and lower classes of Judean society, were opposed by the Sadducees, the priestly caste who dominated the Temple cult, who rejected the authority of the Oral Law, as well as populist notions such as the immortality of the soul and divine intervention.^[6] With the destruction of the Second Temple around 70 CE, the Sadducees were divested of their main source of authority, without which their theology could not survive. On the other hand, the Pharisees became the progenitor of the rabbinic class, who adopted and elevated the traditions of their predecessors to that on equal footing with the Written Torah.

Archaeologists have uncovered evidence that religious rituals and practices were current among Jews prior to the codification of the Mishnah, from which it can be inferred that Judah HaNasi and his contemporaries recorded, rather than innovated, normative Judaism as authentically practiced during the 1st Century CE and prior. For example, excavations at Qumran have yielded specimens of Tefillin and Parchment scrolls.^[7] Likewise, the structure and placement of Mikvah a ritual bath at the Judean fortress of Masada (see Map) appears to be consistent with the Rabbinic requirements per the Mishnaic tractate Mikvaot, but was constructed approximately 120 years before the Mishna was compiled.^[8] A clay seal discovered in Jerusalem in 2011 is consistent with the tradition recorded in tractate Shekalim chapter 5.^[9] The Elephantine papyri 419 BCE include a "Passover letter" which already included many of the pesach observances of today;^[10] Among the papyri is the first known text of a Ketubah (Jewish marriage contract) from about 440 B.C.E.

In general, many of the legalistic terms and concepts found in Rabbinic literature have antecedents in the Dead Sea Scrolls. This is especially true in the Halachic Letter (Miqsat Ma'ase Ha-Torah/ Qumran Cave 4).^[11]

Written texts will always require (some) explanation and interpretation; see hermeneutics. The significance of the Oral Torah, though, according to the traditional perspective of Rabbinic Judaism, is that its teachings were given by God alongside the written Torah to Moses and are therefore binding. To the Rabbis in late antiquity, the Oral Torah was thus seen as authoritative as the written law itself.

• Biblical verses assuming an oral tradition: Many verses in the Torah require interpretation. Some even presuppose that the reader understands what is being referred to. Many terms used in the Torah are totally undefined, and many procedures are mentioned without explanation or instructions, assuming familiarity on the part of the reader. Some examples follow.^[12][13][14] The discussion of shechita (kosher slaughter) in Deuteronomy 12 states "you shall kill of your herd and of your flock which God Lord has given you, as I have commanded you," yet the only earlier commandment given by the Torah is "you shall not eat the blood." Similarly, Deuteronomy 24 discusses the laws of divorce in passing; they are assumed knowledge in a discussion about when remarriage would be allowed. Also, that the blue string of tekhelet on the tzitzit is to be dyed with a dye extracted from what some scholars believe to be a snail is a detail only spoken of in the oral Torah.^[15] For other examples and further discussion here see Kuzari 3:35.

• Consistency between the oral tradition and biblical verses: The phrase "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot" Ex 21:22–27 is held in the oral tradition to imply monetary compensation – as opposed to a literal Lex talionis.^[16] This is the only interpretation consistent with Numbers 35:31. Further, personal retribution is explicitly forbidden by the Torah (Leviticus 19:18), such reciprocal justice being strictly reserved for the magistrate. A second example: The marriage of Boaz to Ruth as described in the Book of Ruth appears to contradict the prohibition of Deuteronomy 23:3–4 against marrying Moabites – the Oral Torah explains that this prohibition is limited to Moabite men. A third example: The rabbinic practice for the Counting of the Omer (Leviticus 23:15–16) is at odds with the Karaite Practice, which appears to accord with a more literal reading of these verses, but is in fact borne out by Joshua 5:10–12.^[17] The Targum Onkelos - 1st century CE - is largely consistent with the oral tradition as recorded in the midrash, redacted into writing only in the 3rd or 4th century.^[18]

Oral law was the basis for nearly all subsequent Rabbinic literature. It is therefore intricately related to the development of Halakha. As such, despite codification, interpretation of the "oral law" is likewise required. Although the Oral Law has been in written form for almost 18 centuries, it is still referred to as Torah she-be'al peh.

The term Halakha LeMoshe MiSinai, literally "Law [given] to Moses from Sinai", is used in classical Rabbinical literature to refer to oral law regarded as having been of direct Divine origin, transmitted to Moses at Mount Sinai at the same time as the written Torah, but not included in the Oral Torah's exposition of it. It is distinguished from the written Torah, on the one hand, and Rabbinical decrees, customs, and other man-made laws on the other hand. One such law is the requirement that tefillin be dyed black.

The Misrash provides a verse by verse discussion of the entire (written) Tanakh, per the oral Torah. The Talmud, relatedly, discusses and analyses the written Torah - both from an aggadic and halakhic perspective - drawing from (and recording) the oral tradition; here the framework for the discussion is the Mishna, and the discussion does not proceed verse-wise as with the Midrash.

The Rishonim provide the first formal Torah commentaries. These are, in the main, based on the oral law as recorded in the Midrash and Talmud. The chief of these is perhaps Rashi's commentary on Tanakh. This work clarifies the "simple" meaning of the text. His method, in general, is to address questions implied [1] by the wording or verse or paragraph structure, by drawing on the Midrashic, Talmudic and Aggadic literature. It has given rise to numerous counter- (e.g. Ramban) and super-commentaries (e.g. Mizrachi), all similarly drawing on the Oral Torah, and widely studied to this day (see Mikraot Gedolot).

In more recent, Acharonic, times, several (Orthodox) commentaries have been produced, which, to some extent, reverse the direction of the analysis. These originated in response to the (erstwhile) challenges of haskalah and Biblical criticism, and were intended "to demonstrate the indivisibility of the written Torah and its counterpart, the oral Torah” [2], and thus "showing the organic relationship between the Written Law and the Oral Law" [3] (often in the light of the above). Given this purpose, these provide a further detailed and explicit analysis here: The main of these:

• Ha'emek Davar ("The Depth [of the] Word") on Torah, and Davar Ha'emek on Nevi'im and Ketuvim, by Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, the "Netziv"
• Haketav VehaKabbalah ("The Written [Torah] and the [Oral] Tradition") on Torah, by Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg
• HaTorah vehaMitzva ("The Torah and the Commandment") by Meïr Leibush, the "Malbim", covers all of Tanakh except Kohelet and Eicha.
• Uebersetzung und Erklärung des Pentateuchs ("Translation and Commentary of the Pentateuch") by Samson Raphael Hirsch.
• Torah Temimah ("The Perfect Torah") on Torah, by Baruch Epstein.

Normative or traditional Judaism has long held the Oral Law to be of divine origin. The divinity and authoritativeness of the Oral Law as transmitted from God to Moses on Mount Sinai, continues to be universally accepted by Orthodox and Haredi Judaism as a fundamental precept of Judaism.^[19] Orthodox Jews hold that the unbroken historical chain from Sinai to the present day is attested to in the opening passage of the Mishnaic tractate Pirkei Avot ("Sayings of the Fathors"): "Moses received the Torah and handed it down to Joshua; Joshua to the Elders; the Elders to the prophets; and the prophets handed it down to the men of the Great Assembly."^[20]

At the same time, within Judaism (both of that era, and currently) several dissenting views have existed.^[21]

Sadducees rejected the Pharisaic oral traditions. They based their interpretations on their own traditions emphasizing a more literal understanding of the verses. In many respects, this led to a more severe observance than that of the Pharisees especially as regards purity laws and temple practice. Most aspects of Sadduceean law and methods of interpretation are not known.^[22]

Essenes, a monastic group of people, had a “monastic organization”. Though they had non-biblical rules, and customs, they reject much of the oral traditions.^[23]

Karaite Judaism or Karaism is a Jewish denomination which arose about the time of the completion of the Talmud. It is characterized by the rejection of the "Oral Torah" and Talmud, and, on its reliance on the Tanakh as scripture.

Some Karaites strive to adhere only to the p'shat (plain meaning) of the text. This is in contrast to Rabbinic Judaism, which relies on the Oral Torah and employs several interpretive methods which, at times, stray from the literal meaning.

Conversely, Reform Judaism only accepts the authority of the Written Law, as opposed to the "Dual Torah" espoused by Orthodoxy.^[19] Reform Jews generally consider the Oral Law to reflect interpretations or perspectives on the Torah disseminated by groups of Rabbis in Babylonia and Palestine over a period of time, which are not inherently more legitimate or authoritative than the opinions of Jewish scholars, philosophers, or religious leaders at any other time, including the present.^[19] Thus, while the views of Mishnaic and Talmudic scholars should be consulted and given consideration in legal rulings, Reform rabbis do not consider themselves bound by such teachings and are theoretically permitted to render alternative rulings to the extent that they do not conflict with the written Torah (Chumash).

Conservative Judaism (known as Masorti in Israel and less frequently in the Jewish Diaspora) takes an intermediate perspective, claiming that the Oral tradition is entitled to authority, but regarding its rulings as flexible guidelines rather than immutable precepts that may be viewed through the lens of modernity.^[24] Jewish scholar and philospher Ismar Schorsch as postulated that Conservative Judaism is tied to "sensing divinity both in the Torah and in the Oral Law," but not in a literalist manner.^[25]

• Oral history
• Oral Law
• Oral tradition
• Traditional knowledge
• Uncodified constitution
• Karaite Judaism
• Rabbinic Judaism
• Rabbinic literature
• Aggadah

Notes

Traditional Material

• "Maimonides introduction to the Mishnah Torah" (English translation)
• "Maimonides introduction to the Commentary on the Mishnah" (Hebrew Fulltext)

Bibliography

• "The Essential Talmud", Adin Steinsaltz, Basic Books; 1984
• "Introduction to The Talmud and Midrash" H.L. Strack and G. Stemberger, Fortress Press
• "The infinite chain : Torah, masorah, and man" Nathan T. Lopes Cardozo, Targum Press Distributed by Philipp Feldheim; 1989

• Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Massorah" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
• Oral Law, Jewish Encyclopedia