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According to Rabbinic Judaism, the oral Torah, oral Law, or oral tradition (Hebrew: תורה שבעל פה, Torah she-be-`al peh) is the oral tradition received in conjunction with the written Torah (and the rest of the Hebrew Bible), which is known in this context as the "written Torah" (Hebrew: תורה שבכתב, Torah she-bi-khtav). The Mishnah is the record of the oral Torah.

According to Rabbinic Judaism, Moses and the Israelites received an oral as well as the written Torah ("teaching") from God at Mount Sinai. The books of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) were relayed with an oral tradition passed on by the scholarly and other religious leaders of each generation, and according to classical Rabbinic interpretation, the teachings of the oral law are a guide to that interpretation of the written law which is considered the authoritative reading. Jewish law and tradition thus is not based on a strictly literal reading of the Tanakh, but on combined oral and written traditions. Further, the basis of halakha (Jewish law) is the premise that the written law is inherently bound together with an oral law.

The "oral law" was ultimately recorded in the Mishnah, the Talmud and Midrash.

Existence and usage

The existence of an oral tradition is supported by writings in the Torah and the later books of the Tanakh. 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.

For example, 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," but the Torah does not record an earlier commandment.

Deuteronomy 24 discusses the laws of divorce in passing; they are assumed knowledge in a discussion about when remarriage would be allowed.

Knowledge of the laws of Shabbat and tefillin are similarly assumed by the text.

Similarly the blue string of tekhelet on the tzitzit is to dyed with a dye extracted from what some scholars believe to be a snail is a detail only spoken of in the oral Torah.

In other instances, the Tanakh refers directly to the Oral Law or can be seen as consistent only through the existence of an Oral Law.

Examples include:

• 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. Since the Torah requires that penalties be universally applicable, the phrase cannot be interpreted literally; it would be inapplicable to blind eyeless offenders. Further, personal retribution is explicitly forbidden by the Torah (Lv 19:18 Leviticus 19:18), such reciprocal justice being strictly reserved for the social magistrate (usually in the form of regional courts). The Talmud explains this concept entails monetary compensation in tort cases. This is the only interpretation consistent with Numbers 35:31. Additionally, this law cannot be carried out in practice, for both practical and ethical reasons (see also parashat Emor);

• The marriage of Boaz to Ruth as described in the Book of Ruth appears to contradict the prohibition of De 23:3–4 Deuteronomy 23:3-4 against marrying Moabites - the Oral Torah explains that this prohibition is limited to Moabite men.
• Ruth also relies on Oral Torah laws on kinsman redeemers and the conversion ritual.

Dissenting views

Since the era in which the Oral Law was recorded, there have been dissenting views within Judaism regarding it. The general argument made in the Rabbinic Judaism is that Written Torah cannot be understood on its own terms without the Oral Torah; its laws cannot be followed without the interpretations based on the Oral Torah, and that Oral Torah is actually more integral than just interpretation of the written text (according to Rambam, the law was originally taught in the form of the Oral Torah, and the Written Torah served as notes which helped the generations of rabbis remember the Oral Torah, just as lecture notes can help a professor remember the lecture but by no means constitute the whole lecture).

Sadducees

Sadducees rejected the Pharisaic tenet of an oral Torah, and created new interpretations based on a literal understanding of verses. In their personal lives this often meant an excessively stringent lifestyle from a Jewish perspective, as they did away with the oral tradition, and in turn the Pharisaic Jewish understanding of the Torah. An example of this differing approach is the interpretation of, "an eye for an eye". The Pharisaic understanding was that the value of an eye was to be sought by the perpetrator rather than actually removing his eye too. In the Sadducees' view the law was to be taken literally. From the point of view of the Pharisees, the Sadducees wished to change the Jewish understanding of the Torah.

Karaites

Main article: Karaite Judaism

Karaite Judaism or Karaism is a Jewish denomination characterized by the rejection of the Oral Law (the Mishnah and the Talmud) as Jewish law (halakha) and of Rabbinic Judaism, and its reliance on the Tanakh as scripture.

When interpreting scripture, Karaites strive to adhere only to the p'shat (plain meaning) of the text. This is in contrast to Rabbinical Judaism, which employs the methods of p'shat, remez (implication or clue), drash ("deep interpretation," based on breaking down individual words i.e. breaking down "be'ra'shit" to "beit" "ra'shit" which means 2 startings of) and sod ("secret," the deeper meaning of the text, drawing on the Kabbalah). In modern times Karaite Judaism has formed its own independent Jewish organization, and is not a member of any Rabbinic organization.

Codification

Original prohibition to write the Oral Torah

The laws transmitted to Moses were contained in the Torah written down on scrolls. The explanation however, was not allowed to be written down. Jews were obligated to speak the explanation and pass it on orally to students, children, and fellow adults. It was thus initially forbidden to write and publish the Oral Law: written material would be incomplete and subject to misinterpretation (and abuse).

After great debate, however, this restriction was lifted. Following the destruction of the Second Temple and the fall of Jerusalem, it became apparent that the Palestine community and its learning were threatened, and that publication was the only way to ensure that the law could be preserved; see Timeline of Jewish history.

Thus, around 200 CE, Rabbi Judah HaNasi took up the redaction of oral law; it was compiled into the first written work of rabbinic Judaism, the Mishnah. (There is also a tradition that the Midrashic-Mystical book "Pirke deRabi Eliezer" is the oldest Jewish book after the TaNaCh.) Over the next four centuries this body of law, legend and ethical teachings underwent debate and discussion, or Gemara, in both of the world's major Jewish communities (Israel and Babylon). The Gemara with the Mishnah came to be edited together into compilations known as the Talmud.

Thanks to the works of Professor Lawrance Shiffman, many of the exact, intricate terms (including detailed legal arguments) mentioned in the Talmud (200ce) can be verified a full 350 years earlier in the Dead Sea scroll known as MMT ( Miqsat Ma'ase Ha-Torah / Qumran Cave 4). Anyone interested in this information can contact the Biblical Archaeological Review for more information. In addition, a book called "Understanding the Dead Sea" scrolls now contains Professor Shiffman's article on this exact topic.

Ramification of Jewish law

Because halakha (Jewish law) must include codes of law and behavior applicable to virtually every imaginable circumstance, this body of teaching has subsequently developed throughout the generations in a constantly expanding collection of religious literature based on the Talmud. In antiquity, the Sanhedrin functioned essentially as the Supreme Court and legislature for Judaism, and had the power to create and administer binding law on all Jews - rulings of the Sanhedrin became halakha. That court ceased to function in its full mode in the year 40 CE. Subsequently, the boundaries of Jewish law have been determined through "the halakhic process." Thus, although the Oral Law has been in a written form for almost 18 centuries, it is still referred to as Torah she-be'al peh.

Halakha LeMoshe MiSinai

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 land.

One such law is the requirement that tefillin be dyed black.

Hidden mystical aspects of Torah

According to Rabbinic literature, Torah knowledge, in addition to its "revealed" component ("nigleh" נגלה) as discussed above, comprises a "concealed" component ("nistar" נסתר), today recorded in the Aggada (and, according to some, in Kabbalistic literature). The nigleh deals with the mitzvot and halakha, as outlined; the nistar, on the other hand, discusses esoteric subjects such as creation, prophecy, the world to come, the Jewish Messiah, and similar abstruse themes.

Although the "nistar" is regarded as a component of the oral tradition, it is not always regarded as part of the "oral law". This is because this material was not recorded in an explicit, mishnah-like, medium; instead, it is presented in a "concealed mode" and via "paradoxes". The difference, according to Orthodox Judaism, is that halakha is to be taken literally, while Aggadah can be allegorical in nature. According to Maimonides and other classical commentators, when expounding halakha, the sages spoke in distinct, understandable terms. On the other hand, higher and mystical ideas are not, necessarily, meant for the masses, and the mode of transmission here thus departs somewhat from that of the halakhic material. The aggadot are therefore presented as tales, folklore, historical anecdotes, moral exhortations, and business and medical advice, but may, generally, be interpreted allegorically. For Hasidic Judaism and other branches which accept it, the Kabbalah, is regarded as dealing with deeper, esoteric knowledge, further concealed and transmitted to elect individuals, and preserved only by a privileged few. In Chassidic communities, customs and choices between Halachic rullings are made according to Kabbalah (e.g., according to the Third Lubavitcher Rebbe Tzemach Tzedek, wearing a beard is not a custom but a Halacha for all Jews despite existing more lenient opinions); in Sephardic communities, if there is a dispute between a Kabbalistic and Halachic rulling, the validity of the former is accepted.

See also

• Oral history
• Oral law
• Oral tradition
• Traditional knowledge
• Uncodified constitution
• Karaite

References

• Oral Law @ JewishEncyclopedia.com
• "Maimonides introduction to the Mishnah Torah" (English translation)
• "Maimonides introduction to the Commentary on the Mishnah" (Hebrew Fulltext)
• "The Encyclopaedia Judaica", Keter Publishing (available in print or in an updated CD-ROM version.)
• "The Talmud", Adin Steinsaltz
• "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

External links

• The Oral Tradition, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
• The Torah She’Baal Peh, Rabbi Herschel Schachter
• On the Matter of Masorah, Rabbi Herschel Schachter
• Proofs Of An Oral Torah, Rabbi Gil Student
• FAQs about The Oral Law
• The History and Transmission of the Jewish Traditions, Mordechai Housman
• What is the Oral Law?, faqs.org
• The Oral Torah - The Oral law in Judaism
• Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Massorah" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.